Sakhir, Bahrain – Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen comfortably won Saturday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix despite confusion over Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen started from pole position and was never seriously challenged until he held off teammate Sergio Perez for a commanding one-two victory for Red Bull.
“Today went better than expected,” Verstappen said. “That was very fun.”
He said he felt “a sense of oneness with the car.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third after a fierce battle with teammate Charles Leclerc.
As the longest F1 season in history begins at 24 races, Verstappen is already showing signs of repeating his near-perfect record since 2023, when the Dutch driver won 19 of the 22 races and is aiming for his third consecutive title. There is.
Saturday was Verstappen’s eighth consecutive win since September last year. Last season, he set an F1 record with 10 consecutive wins.
Horner arrived on race day hand in hand with his wife Geri Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice from the pop group the Spice Girls.
The race came after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said in comments to the Financial Times that the confusion surrounding Horner was “damaging the sport”.
All eyes in the F1 paddock this week have been on the Red Bull team principal, with Verstappen saying on Saturday that the team principal was “probably a little distracted”.
On Wednesday, the team’s parent company dismissed allegations of misconduct by Mr. Horner against team employees.
The next day, during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, a file purporting to contain evidence against Horner was emailed to approximately 200 people in the F1 paddock, including Liberty Media, F1, the FIA, nine other team representatives, and multiple media outlets. Sent in
The authenticity of the file has not been verified by The Associated Press. The file was sent from a common email account.
Charles Leclerc was fourth, George Russell fifth, McLaren’s Lando Norris sixth and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who had an uneventful race in his second Mercedes, seventh. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished eighth, ahead of the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
