The 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship has picked up right where 2021 left off as its new era began with a drama-filled Bahrain Grand Prix, won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
 
Having secured pole on Saturday ahead of Max Verstappen, the 24-year-old produced a dominant drive throughout the 57-lap race, leading teammate Carlos Sainz to a Ferrari one-two.
 
After qualifying a lowly P18, Daniel Ricciardo’s tough weekend continued overnight, as he finished the F1 season opener in 14th and just one place ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
 
In what turned out to be a forgettable weekend for the team, which saw their starting tyre strategy fail to work, Ricciardo had a poor start of his own when he made a made bad decision.


From then on, Ricciardo was in damage control but couldn’t do much as he and Norris were racing against the back markers – signalling the team has plenty of work to do ahead of the next round.
 
“I remember in Turn 6 or 7 in the chicane, from memory I saw some smoke and then I saw Lando I think go to the left and cut off track,” Ricciardo said post-race.
 
“So my initial instinct was to follow him because I thought maybe there was a car spun in the middle of the track so I did that. I still don’t know if there was a car in the middle of the track but then I remember two or three cars passing me.
 
“It lost me positions but I don’t know if I could have done anything better at the time or at least I didn’t feel it was safe to. The race was tricky.
 
“There was definitely a lot to understand.
 
“Obviously we’re not where we want to be but we just have to work, figure it out and try and improve as quick as possible.”
 
As for the winner, it was a stellar performance from Leclerc who despite being passed by reigning champion Max Verstappen twice in the early stages of the race, fought his way back into the lead before holding onto it for the remainder of the race – winning Ferrari’s first race since 2019. 
 
And although Verstappen would have settled for second place, his car lost power with just three laps to go, the same fate suffered by Sergio Perez, allowing Lewis Hamilton to cruise into third place and start the year off with a podium. 
 
Hamilton’s new Mercedes teammate George Russell enjoyed a nice start to his career with the Silver arrows with fourth place, while Kevin Magnennsun claimed a surprise result for his return to Haas with fifth.
 
Russell and Magnenssun were not the only ones to enjoy great beginnings to the new chapters in their careers, with Valtteri Bottas finishing sixth – his Alfa Romeo teammate and F1 debutant Guanyu Zhou rounding out the top 10.
 
The next round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship will now head to Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on 28 March.