Lewis Hamilton opened his winning account for the new campaign in Bahrain on Sunday.
The five-time world champion took advantage of Charles Leclerc’s dramatic late engine failure to take the chequered flag.
Here, Press Association Sport looks back at five things we learned from round two of the Formula One season.
1. Leclerc emerges as championship contender
First career podium! #Charles16 #essereFerrari pic.twitter.com/ZXlWRTiMDk
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 1, 2019
Ahead of the new campaign, Ferrari indicated that Sebastian Vettel would still be their main man. For how much longer? Leclerc should have been crowned the sport’s third-youngest winner in Bahrain, only to be denied by a cruel engine failure in the closing stages. At just 21, the Monegasque displayed mighty speed to put his car on pole, and then race craft beyond his tender years to fight his way back past Valtteri Bottas, and Vettel, following a poor start. Vettel has not been subjected to such a thrashing from a team-mate since Daniel Ricciardo joined Red Bull in 2014. That rivalry ended with Vettel leaving the team. Leclerc may have been hired as a number two, but his dominant display may leave Ferrari wondering whether they will have to revise their strategy.
2. What’s going on with Vettel?
3. Hamilton knows there is work to be done
4. Bottas left in Hamilton’s shade
From 4th to 2nd in Bahrain ???#VB77 #F1 #BahrainGP@MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/kUk4wpPKqw
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) March 31, 2019
There was a suggestion in the paddock that Bottas, who won in Australia, had returned as a meaner machine this year following a disappointing 2018. Normal service was resumed in Bahrain, however, with the Finn unable to match team-mate Hamilton. Bottas still leads the championship standings, but unlike Leclerc at Ferrari, he does not have the speed to unsettle his team-mate as the top dog at Mercedes.
5. McLaren on the march
Yes! Sixth. SIXTH! Really happy. First points for me but the team deserves it all, everyone out here and everyone back at the factory have put in a tonne of hard work. The car has potential and it’s good to get some coins in the kitty ? pic.twitter.com/ujR7MYo7LK
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) April 1, 2019
McLaren have been subjected to plenty of stick in recent seasons, and rightly so after turning from championship contenders into also-rans. Yet, there was a noticeable air of enthusiasm around the team in Bahrain. Carlos Sainz was racing with Verstappen’s Red Bull before their collision. British teenager Lando Norris then drove to sixth, to secure his first career points and McLaren’s best result in more than a year. No wonder chief executive Zak Brown was all smiles as he tucked into a late-night feast at Bahrain Airport ahead of his return to London.
