Formula One is back but Max Verstappen still in ‘different galaxy’ after dominant win in Bahrain Grand Prix
- Dutch driver says he felt ‘at one with the car’, having started on pole, led every lap and posted fastest lap
- ‘The performance is extraordinary,’ Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says after his team miss the podium, with a cooling miscalculation cited
Max Verstappen was described as being in “a different galaxy” to his rivals after his bid for a fourth consecutive Formula One title began in crushingly dominant style in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver took the chequered flag 22.4 seconds clear of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez driving a similar RB20. He did it having started from pole, led every lap and with the fastest lap.
“Unbelievable, I think [the race] went even better than expected,” Verstappen said. “It was a lot of fun, I felt really good in the car. It’s special to have these kind of days, where it all feels perfect and you feel at one with the car.”
A close-run qualifying on Friday and a constant changing of the guard in practice, with three different teams occupying top spot in the three sessions and none of them Red Bull, had raised the prospect of a closer-run race on Saturday evening, local time.
The seemingly untroubled ease of Verstappen’s win in the first race of a record 24-round season swiftly dashed those hopes, instead giving way to a sense of resignation and foreboding.
