While 2021 produced a nail-biting showdown between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, 2022 has delivered a season opener in which neither finished in the top two.
Instead, Ferrari secured a first triumph in almost three years - and Leclerc completes their first grand slam (pole, race win and fastest lap) since Fernando Alonso in 2010.
F1 has entered a new era via a huge car redesign - and Ferrari seem to be the big winners with their F1-75: Impressive in preseason testing, sensational in qualifying on Saturday, and capitalising on that pole position well on Sunday. Carlos Sainz closed out the Scuderia’s 1-2.
MORE: The huge 2022 F1 rule changes explained
Reigning champion Verstappen trailed Leclerc throughout Sunday’s encounter in the desert, save for a total of six corners in which he edged ahead. However, the Dutchman ultimately lost not only P2, but any points on offer. After complaining of tyre degradation early on, then steering issues, then a battery problem, he was forced into the garage with three laps left.
Incredibly, fellow Red Bull Sergio Perez then stopped short of finishing the race too, spinning to a halt on the final lap. Hamilton made the most of it, and ends week one with an unlikely podium finish. And, for all of Mercedes’ porpoising issues and poor qualifying, George Russell ensured they took both P4 as well as P3.
An even better story comes just behind them, however, as Haas incredibly had a top-five finish. Kevin Magnussen - only back in the sport following Nikita Mazepin’s dismissal - had a night to remember.
Further down the standings, Guanyu Zhou - as overjoyed as Magnussen in the Bahrain paddock afterward - claimed a point on his F1 debut. With Valtteri Bottas taking P6, it’s a double for the usually-lowly Alfa Romeo, showing the capability of the Ferrari-powered engine in this new generation.
Recap the action from the Bahrain Grand Prix below, with Sporting News delivering live coverage from Sakhir.
Bahrain Grand Prix results
Bahrain Grand Prix as-it-happened
All Times Eastern
12:42pm: A thrilling end to the season opener here, thanks to the two Red Bull failures in the final knockings. Sainz makes it a Ferrari 1-2. Hamilton is P3 and Russell on his (second) Mercedes debut is P4. Magnussen is P5. Yes, a Haas is in the top five!
12:41pm: CHARLES LECLERC WINS THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX!
12:40pm: Perez spins out on turn 1 and comes to a halt! Perhaps an engine failure, and Hamilton is into P3 on the final lap!
12:38pm: Thrilling end here in the chase for P3, as Hamilton closes in on Perez! Just three-tenths behind now.
12:37pm: Verstappen is done! He’s retiring, complaining of battery issues. His first Grand Prix with the No.1 on his car has ended in disaster!
12:36pm: Sainz overtakes Verstappen!
12:35pm: With three laps to go, Leclerc is now 3.4 seconds ahead. Surely we are in for a Scuderia victory here - and the question is more over whether Sainz can make it a 1-2!
12:33pm: In the midfield, Schumacher and Zhou are duelling, both in search of their first F1 points, exchanging P12 and P13 three times. Five laps left now.
12:30pm: We go racing again! Now on lap 51, there are sparks flying again on the straight into turn 1, but the order remains: Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Perez.
12:29pm: After last year’s debacle in Abu Dhabi, the lapped cars - every single one of them - will of course be allowed to unlap themselves. We are still under the yellow flags, though, so the racing laps are ticking down. Sans controversy, it could be another Abu Dhabi-esque shootout!
12:26pm: Verstappen is suffering with steering issues, but the team confirms via the radio he will not need to come in - no reliability issue evident. But the Dutchman complains of the difficulty steering at speed again a couple of minutes later.
12:22pm: Being a real safety car rather than the virtual, the cars have bunched up, and so Verstappen is now on Leclerc’s tail. We’re still under the yellow flags with nine laps remaining.
12:20pm: Now under the safety car, Leclerc has been afforded a very cheap pit stop. He’s on the soft tyres now, too.
12:17pm: Gasly’s car is on fire! He’s seemingly escaped without harm, and the safety car will now come out.
12:16pm: Ferrari seemingly happy with Leclerc’s level of tyre degradation so far, but Sainz has come in.
12:15pm: No such problems for Red Bull, with Verstappen in and out the pits again. Red Bull going for the three-stop, while Leclerc will surely stay out on his current mediums for the last 13 laps. This could be a thrilling chase here.
12:14pm: It’s really been a day to forget for McLaren, who now fumble and clock in a 5.5 second pit stop for the struggling Norris, in P19.
12:11pm: As we head into the final 15 laps of this season opener, the battle for the victory is starting to fall flat. And that’s simply because Leclerc, in this new F1-75, has been brilliant. He’s a full four seconds ahead of the reigning champion.
12:06pm: The two Alpines, this weekend in the pink livery, seem to be having their own little race in P9 and P10. Ocon gets past Alonso on lap 39.
12:04pm: This Ferrari engine is really doing something this year! Haas’ Magnussen, after his second pit stop, gets beyond Gasly and Zhou and is now back into P7.
11:59am: The No.2 drivers for the top teams - Sainz, Perez and Russell - have now all pitted again too. Hamilton is up into 5th spot.
11:55am: This time, Leclerc gets out a second ahead of Verstappen as the Monegasque stops for the second time, but he’s still lost some of his advantage. Verstappen fumes that he’s “never, ever” going easy on the tyres in an out-lap again, as he feels he could’ve taken the lead if he was more aggressive.
11:54am: Again, Verstappen stops a lap earlier than Leclerc for his next set of tyres and is onto the mediums.
11:52am: Halfway through the race, we still have 20 cars running. For those just joining us: Leclerc is in P1, followed by Verstappen, Sainz, Perez and Russell to round out the top five.
11:49am: Meanwhile, Hamilton is back in the pits and now onto the mediums - the potential one-stop strategy has failed miserably. He’s also told not to push too hard on the out-lap.
11:48am: We’re onto lap 28, Verstappen is now a distant 3.8 seconds off the pace, and he tells his team that his tyres are “almost dead again”. In fairness, he did go pretty rough on them!
11:44am: Yuki Tsunoda has gained the most places so far today, currently running in P11, five higher than he qualified in. Bottas is struggling to get past him.
11:40am: A word for Kevin Magnussen, who on his unexpected return to F1, is running P7 more than a third into this Grand Prix. Geunther Steiner will be over the moon.
11:38am: On lap 21, there are only two drivers on the hard tyres: Hamilton and Russell. Mercedes playing a bold strategy here, though their men are running P5 and P6 right now. Will going long prove to be decisive here?
11:34am: We very nearly get a three-peat! Again with the DRS on that straight, Verstappen looks to have got back into P1 at turn 1, but he locks up just as he’s coming out of it so the Ferrari man is still in the lead.
11:32am: The same thing happens on the very next lap! Verstappen steams into turn 1 and gets in front, before Leclerc bites back at turn 4.
11:30am: Verstappen posts fastest lap, and with sparks flying, overtakes Leclerc at turn 1! But by turn 4, Leclerc is back out in front. Great racing.
11:28am: We have a race on! Leclerc pits and only comes out 0.4 seconds ahead of Verstappen! Hugely successful pit from Red Bull.
11:27am: Verstappen is in the pits. Four seconds behind Leclerc, Red Bull blink first. He comes out in P4, on another set of softs. Carlos Sainz does the same, and is in P5.
11:25am: A change of strategy for Perez. He’s told on the radio Red Bull are “going plan B”…
11:24am: Potentially bad news for the seven-time champ, though, who tells his team he has “no grip on this tyre”. Seconds later, he overtakes Zhou and is now hunting down ex-teammate Valtteri Bottas, who incidentally has been the biggest loser of this race so far.
11:22am: Hamilton is immediately into a duel with Guanyu Zhou, who will be very pleased with his P11 running so far.
11:21am: Verstappen is again on the radio, telling his team he has “zero traction”. Meanwhile, rival Hamilton is in the pits already! The Brit is now on the hards.
11:19am: And the commentator’s curse strikes, as Perez overtakes Hamilton! The Mexican is back into P4, where he began. He does it with relative ease, too - at least a lot easier than it would’ve been a year ago.
11:18am: This season was meant to be all about closer racing, but as of now, there are some sizeable gaps. In fact, no two cars in the top nine spots are within two seconds of each other.
11:15am: Stewards have confirmed a turn-four incident between Lando Norris and Lance Stroll won’t be investigated any further. They’re currently running 18th and 17th, respectively. Norris is on medium tyres, so will start to see the benefit of that as the laps tick by.
11:13am: Now into lap 7, Leclerc is a full two seconds ahead of Verstappen. Esteban Ocon is given a five-second penalty for a collision with Mick Schumacher.
11:10am: Verstappen tells his team there are “funny things” going on with his braking, with the Dutchman now 1.5 seconds behind leader Leclerc.
11:06am: Hamilton gets ahead of Perez who drops down two places on the first lap, while Ricciardo has a terrible start which sees him bringing up the rear of the pack.
11:04am: It’s lights out and away we go!
10:50am: We are now just 10 minutes away from the return of Formula 1! Live updates from the Bahrain Grand Prix are coming up next…
10:40am: A much happier man is Hamilton’s ex-teammate Valtteri Bottas, who he will incredibly line up alongside on the grid today, despite the Finn now racing for Alfa Romeo. On his P6 finish in qualifying, Bottas said in the paddock last night: “It’s pretty cool! It should be fun. If someone had told me in Bahrain we’re going to be starting side-by-side with Lewis, I’d take it!”
10:30am: Many eyes will be on the performance of Lewis Hamilton, although yesterday’s headlines were not only dominated by the Mercedes’ performance in qualifying, which saw the seven-time champion in P5 and George Russell in P9. Indeed, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fallout is raging on.
On yesterday’s release of the FIA report looking into the decision-making of Michael Masi, which ultimately cost Hamilton a title, the Brit commented: “I haven’t seen the report. I’ll read it maybe after the weekend. Look, I wasn’t expecting an apology. It wasn’t something I was focussed on. We know that’s the way it is. The transparency at least is a positive step.”
10:20am: One man who doesn’t need any sympathy today is Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari man is in pole position for the 10th time in his career. In the Bahrain paddock ahead of the weekend, the Monegasque said on the supposed pressure of the hype this season: “I don’t feel it as extra pressure.
“I see it as a positive - it’s a good sign if people expect us to be fighting at the front. It means we are doing something right, and what we’ve shown in testing - even though it was only testing - was enough to make people think we are in front. It’s good to have these headlines back because in the last two years it didn’t happen much!”
10:10am: Spare a thought for Sebastian Vettel. His attempt at usurping Rubens Barrichello’s consecutive F1 race entries record of 326 is over. The German misses the Grand Prix weekend through Covid, meaning his streak ends at 280. Coincidentally, Lewis Hamilton’s streak also came to a halt in Bahrain, and also due to Covid, back in 2020.
10:00am: Welcome to Sporting News’ coverage of the 2022 Formula 1 season opener. We are live from the Bahrain International Circuit, with an hour to go until lights out.
All Times Eastern
What time does the F1 race start today?
Date: Sunday, March 20 Start time: 11am ET (6pm local time)
How to watch the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix
TV channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ABC Live stream: FuboTV
For US-based viewers, every race in the 2022 Formula 1 season will be available on ESPN’s family of networks.
For those who choose to live stream, FuboTV carries ESPN, and also offers a free trial.
