Max Verstappen opened his title defence with a bone-chillingly emphatic win in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso, 38 seconds back, finished third for Aston Martin – but only after a Ferrari nightmare, an apparent engine failure on the car of Charles Leclerc, then lying third. Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari after being passed, after a slight wheel-bang, by Alonso on lap 46 of 57. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, 51 seconds adrift, and George Russell seventh, 56 short. The Spaniard came out from his second stop on lap 35 some second-and-a-half behind the Briton. In the first 10 laps, Verstappen opened up a seven second advantage over Leclerc, who was lying second at that stage, having passed Perez by getting his elbows out at the start.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•