AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
LEWIS Hamilton was extra impressed with the win because, as a seven-time world champion, he knows how close his victory at the Bahrain season opener was, just a mere 0.7 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The tight race and the scintillating finish is what F1 race drivers live for. And the special skills set and class to hold on by the skin of his teeth to win the race is what separated Hamilton from Verstappen on the day.
“I love the challenge. I love this sport. What a way to start the season. Today is a reminder that through harnessing and channeling our collective power, we can accomplish great things. It’s great to be back,” Hamilton said.
Verstappen said:
“We have definitely made good steps forward and it’s been a strong start to the championship but it’s of course a shame not to get the win when it is so close like that. We were having to manage a couple of issues throughout the race which I had to drive around so we will have to look into that but there are positives to take from today and the whole weekend. Mercedes did the undercut but we stuck to our strategy which was working fine, the problem is that with these cars, it’s so hard to pass and once you have that track position it’s pretty powerful. As soon as I got close enough to Lewis I had one shot and I just went outside of the track at Turn 4 so I gave the position back, but by then my tyres weren’t in a good state anymore to put the pressure on. We have to look at the positives, we’re taking the fight to Mercedes and I think that’s great, it’s good to start the season this way and we managed to score some good points for the Team. We will analyse what we can do better as there are always things you can improve and it’s great to get Honda’s 200th podium this weekend. Now it’s full focus on the next race.”
In many ways the race at the Bahrain Interational Circuit provided a preview of what the 2021 season has in store – a cat and mouse game between Hamilton and Verstappen.
The victory was Hamilton’s first step towards a historic 8th world championship.
There was a heart stopping moment in the 53rd lap when Verstappen overtook Hamilton but he did so illegally, with all his tyres off the track, and he was ordered to surrender the lead to the defending world champion.
Hamilton’s teammate Valteri Bottas drove excellently to grab the last spot on the podium. His drive was not easy, he had many battles with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles leClerq.
Red Bull debutant Sergio Pérez managed to work his way through the field to finish fifth.
Driver of the Day Perez was a happy man. “Considering my race almost didn’t happen today, I think overall we can be pleased with the race and take away the positives as the pace was really good and the potential is there. On the formation lap, all of a sudden the car shut down and I was so close to jumping out but I stayed in and somehow the car got going again which was a miracle really. That meant we had to start from the pit lane which wasn’t ideal but we managed to recover and I was just happy to complete the race and get that important mileage under my belt. It was really important to get that and of course it’s a shame that Max didn’t win the race for the Team but it will come I’m sure and we will get there. We’ve got a lot of data to analyse now so that we understand everything and make sure we come back stronger at the next race in Imola,” he said.
Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda earned his first F1 points for Scuderia AlphaTauri in ninth as Frenchman Pierre Gasly failed to finish.
The race was also a tough one for F1 freshmen Nikita Mazepin and Ralph Schumacher. Mazepin crashed out early in the race and Schumacher, who battled in the Haas and had to settle for a 17th.
