SuperMax lives up to his name by starting the F1 season for Red Bull the way he ended last season.
Sparks were flying on this abrasive track in Bahrain for the twentieth time within F1.
The Red Bull team will be walking away with a sprint in their step not only with Verstappen P1 but Perez P2 with the highest amounts of points they could get.
It was a smooth journey after making his stance in staying first from when the lights went green stopping hungry Leclerc.
Verstappen speed mounted up to a 22 second gap between his team mate.
But it wasn't a smooth ride for everyone at Bahrain International Circuit.
Leclerc struggled to sustain his position leading Sainz to take the third pole and him following behind fourth.
The new car has gave us a good impression compared to last years car hinting they could be second within the pecking order of teams.
This gave a great amount confidence not only for Ferrari but Sainz as a driver despite the shuffle coming in 2026.
Mercedes started off in good stead with Russell leading third on the grid with some great overtakes including Leclerc's within the first laps.
But both drivers found it hard to maintain a fast speed leaving themselves P5, Russell and P6, Hamilton.
Hamilton did creep from qualifying P9 making us feel the new Mercedes car isn't all bad.
Eventhough in pre testing the Mercedes car was hinting at progression Hamiltons feedback is making us feel otherwise for the future of the season.
There was a bit of action between cars at the start of the race where unfortunately Stroll spun out leaving Hulkenberg drifting into the back of his car.
Both drivers for Mclaren landed in the top ten with Norris, P6 and Piastri, P8 which was great to see them working together.
They were threats to many drivers on the track especially Alonso and Leclerc which was fun to see them pushing the older ones and more experienced shall we say.
No signs of fighting from Alpine which was sad to see so hopefully the two find some hope for their car during the new season.
Bottas suffered a 52 second pit stop with a tyre issue being wrong which was hard to watch taking him back to Monaco.
It got heated for Tsunoda with a few changes to the teams decisions during the race involving Ricciardo.
Sainz was voted as Driver of the Day as he should with his push to overtake and get higher up on the grid even if it meant coming wheel to wheel with Leclerc.
Now it is not long till round two on Saturday 9 in Saudia Arabia at 5pm.
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