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Camille Sutton led off Formula One's new era with triumph in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with yet another AlphaTauri 1-2, whilst reigning world champion Max Verstappen retired.
Polesitter Sutton had a stellar weekend leading up to her win, and participated in an epic battle with her teammate Pierre Gasly for P1. Sutton stayed in the lead throughout the entire race, scoring an extra point for the fastest lap and winning by two lengths.
Verstappen encountered engine problems following a safety car period and was passed by Charles Leclerc into turn 11, before the Dutchman parked his car in the garage halfway through the course.
RedBull's disastrous participation came unexpected to many as both cars failed to complete the race with Sergio Perez dropping out at a critical speed near the end of the race. All this trouble enabled Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to score a Ferrari 3-4.
Ferrari had struggled to keep pace with AlphaTauri's performance throughout the weekend, and it appears that a good portion of this unexpected success was attributable to RedBull's lack of competition. In particular, Ferrari had faced an unusual mix of races in the previous seasons.
After a dominant perfomance from Sutton, she finds herself leading the championship for the first time in her career. While Sutton has come close several times in the past, never have her results been quite so satisfying. AlphaTauri can be sure that their season will not be like the last one.
Kevin Magnussen scored 8 points on his return to F1, while Lewis Hamilton recovered from an awful start. The seven-time world champion is expected to return to the front row sooner than later, but he took home a respectable fifth place finish.
Despite receiving a five-second time penalty for colliding with Sebastian Vettel on the first lap, Fernando Alonso took ninth place, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and behind Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon.
Vettel retired from the race following the incident with Alonso. Despite his initial reluctance to go into retirement after the crash, he found himself unable to pursuit the checkered flag and accepted the loss graciously.
It was a dramatic start of the season for McLaren, finishing outside of the points they became so familiar with in the previous season. However, McLaren supportors needn't worry too much about McLaren being left behind. It is still early enough in the season for the team to prove its worth.
The first race of the season showcases AlphaTauri in a dominating lead, but everyone is forced into relative silence when it comes to the final standings.
POINT SCORERS 1. Sutton 2. Gasly 3. Leclerc 4. Sainz 5. Hamilton 6. Magnussen 7. Bottas 8. Ocon 9. Alonso 10. Russell
