If the battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen is any measure of the season to come in Formula 1, it is going to be quite a year.
Mercedes’ struggles with their car after the huge change of regulations for 2022 have taken Lewis Hamilton out of the title battle – for now, at least, and possibly for the year if his team cannot find some rather large solutions quickly.
But Leclerc and Verstappen staged a gripping contest in the Bahrain Grand Prix. They raced wheel to wheel for two laps, swapping the lead five times, before the Ferrari driver came out on top.
If their battle was the highlight of the race, it was not the most dramatic moment. That was saved for the final three laps, when both Red Bulls retired with the same problem – something to do with the fuel system, the team said – and lost second and fourth places.
Leclerc’s consummate victory – a drive that had pace, control, maturity, coolness and aggression – has put him in a strong position but it means little at the start of F1’s longest ever season other than one very important point: Ferrari are back with a bang.
Source- BBC
