Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has secured his first victory for 2019 in what was a dramatic end to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton started the race in third behind the two Ferraris and trailed leader Charles Leclerc for the majority of the race until the drama began with just 10 laps to go.

After taking out pole and on track for his maiden victory after putting in a sensational performance all race, disaster struck Leclerc when his Ferrari faced engine issues.

The heartbreaking issue caused him to fall behind Hamilton and the five-time champion’s teammate in Valterri Bottas, as Hamilton held onto the lead for the remainder of the race.

The outcome could have been worse for Leclerc, however issues to both Renault cars late in the race resulted in an underwhelming safety car finish and Leclerc managed to hold onto a career first podium ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. 

It was another disastrous day for Daniel Ricciardo and Renault as both French cars lost power around the same time in the final laps forcing both to retire and the safety car’s deployment.

Hamilton and Bottas’ finish secured another Mercedes one-two lockout marking a dominant start to the year for the German manufacturer as they extended the gap over Ferrari to 39 points.

Hamilton’s victory now takes him one point behind Bottas in the driver standings, while Leclerc moved into fourth outright to within one point of Verstappen after obtaining the race’s lap time bonus point.

“That [finish] was extremely unfortunate for Charles," Hamilton said post-race.

“He drove such a great race. He was an outlier all weekend, and he was so much faster than his teammate.

"I was not expecting that result. We’ve got work to do to keep these guys off our tails.”

The next round of the 2019 Formula 1 season is the Chinese Grand Prix which takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit on 14 April.