Lewis Hamilton wins nail-biting thriller at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton took home the win in the season opener in Bahrain as he edged out the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in a thrilling finish that went down to the very last lap. Verstappen led the grid from pole position at the start and built an early lead in the race but Hamilton was able to leap the Dutchman after the first round of pit-stops. After the second set of stops, Verstappen had fresher tyres and kept chasing down the 7-time World Champion before passing him on Lap 53 but the move was deemed to be illegal as he had gained an advantage by going off the track and had to give the position back to Hamilton. After this error, Verstappen was unable to close down the Mercedes and Lewis eventually took home the victory by 0.7 seconds to start the 2021 season with a bang.

Verstappen had to settle for 2nd while Valterri Bottas finished a distant 3rd coming in the other Mercedes but was crucially able to get the fastest lap bonus point on the very last lap of the race. 

Lando Norris finished a fantastic drive to come fourth for McLaren while Sergio Perez had a race to remember in the other Red Bull on his debut with the team. The Mexican faced electrical issues during the formation lap and was forced to start from the pit lane but managed to perform a brilliant rescue act to take the car to P5 and earn some crucial points in the opening race of the season. Both Ferraris Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were also able to finish in the points in P6 and P8 and Lance Stroll handed Aston Martin their first championship point on their return to F1.

Elsewhere on the grid, it was a day to remember for Yuki Tsunoda who drove an outstanding race on his F1 debut to finish P9 and become the first Japanese driver to earn a world championship point since 2012.

In the end, the Bahrain Grand Prix will be remembered for the epic desert duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. If this race was a precursor of what is yet to come in the 2021 season, the next 22 races are going to be full of excitement and wheel-to-wheel action and this could be the year where we finally see a championship battle that goes down to the wire.