Max Verstappen won a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix after a delayed start, multiple safety cars, tyre gambles and late drama, with Kimi Antonelli second and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium after an astonishing comeback.
The race started more than an hour late after heavy rain fell around 45 minutes before the scheduled start. The first attempted restart was aborted when Hamilton and several other drivers suffered software issues on the formation lap, losing positions as a result. The FIA ordered that the original starting order be honoured, despite it being pointed out that the rules suggested a different course of action should have been taken.
Early chaos and tyre gambles
When the race did get under way, Ferrari and McLaren were the highest-profile teams to gamble on slick tyres. Oscar Piastri abandoned that plan at the end of the formation laps, which proved to be the right call, as those who stuck to their guns quickly tumbled down the order and were more than a minute down on the intermediates-shod leaders within just a few laps.
At the front, Mercedes enjoyed a lightning start off the line. Antonelli swiftly swept into the lead with Russell flying up from seventh on the grid to immediately fight with his team-mate. Verstappen slipped down to third with a comparatively poor getaway but, once he found grip, he soon showed quicker pace than those ahead and began to hunt them down.
Safety car and strategy shifts
The Dutchman was past Russell before long and soon all over the back of Antonelli. That battle for the lead was paused when Valtteri Bottas spun off track, prompting a safety car. While that allowed those slick runners who had lost so much time to narrow those gaps, it was terrible timing for them as, on the previous lap, the crossover had been seen for the first time – intermediate tyres had only just started to be slower.
So those on the inters were all able to grab a cheap change to the slicks behind the safety car. Mercedes chose the mediums for their two drivers while Verstappen went for the softs, and made full use of them as he was all over the back of Antonelli at the restart. They went side-by-side through the first few corners of the lap, but the Red Bull just had more grip and made the move stick.
Late drama and Russell's heartbreak
Antonelli, perhaps driving with extra caution given his championship lead, also lost out to Russell and rather meekly gave up the place to the other Mercedes. He knew that even finishing just one place behind the other Silver Arrow would largely keep his significant points advantage intact and take him one step closer to the title.
That said, he was not going to throw away an opportunity when it arose. As Russell began to manage his tyres, Antonelli reeled the Brit back in and soon flew past. By half distance of the 55-lap contest, the Italian was four seconds clear of Russell but already 8.5 behind Verstappen who was disappearing into the distance.
Hamilton produced an impressive stint on the soft tyres to get himself up to fifth by the time he swapped onto the mediums. His pace wasn't quite so strong with the yellow-wall tyres and so he took the opportunity to jump back onto the softs when the virtual safety car came out as Alex Albon pulled over with a problem. Antonelli initially stayed out while Verstappen and Russell pitted, but came in a lap later as the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car. Albon's Williams was stuck in gear and the marshals were unable to wheel it off the circuit, and so a crane was needed to remove it from danger.
Russell, who had been running strongly, suffered heartbreak in the late stages as he retired from the race. Hamilton, who was more than a minute behind the leaders within a few laps, completed an astonishing comeback drive to finish third, while Charles Leclerc was fourth having been running last at one point in the early stages.
