LECLERC LEADS FERRARI’S REVIVAL AS NEW ERA BEGINS
“Ferrari is back. And it is properly back.” So said Carlos Sainz Jr, fresh from the joyful parc ferme scenes at the 2022 Formula 1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, where he finished as runner-up to team-mate Charles Leclerc. But for all his good work across the weekend, the Spaniard wasn’t the story of the first race of the campaign, which acted as the start of the championship’s much-vaunted new era. That centred on Leclerc’s brilliance against the reigning world champion, who put in a sterling display of his own, battling car issues throughout the contest, long before a dramatic Red Bull reliability meltdown cost Max Verstappen dearly.
Before Leclerc lined up to take the start from the 10th pole of his F1 career, he was surrounded by expectation. Grid revellers and media swarmed his car in scenes reserved only for Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen in recent years, but the 24-year-old nevertheless took time to fulfil his pre-race ritual. He sat by the barrier, facing his machine, taking stock of what was to come.
Ferrari hadn’t been sure how its 2022 start performance would match up against Red Bull’s with the redesigned machinery, but Leclerc and Verstappen moved off the line in unison. Using the distance advantage of pole, Leclerc moved swiftly to his right to chop off his rival’s line to the inside and held the lead through the opening corners. Verstappen braked later for Turn 1 and got fully alongside, but Leclerc’s critical move to seal the inside of the tight right-hander was enough.
Behind, Sainz was briefly threatened by the fast-starting Hamilton, who attacked to the outside, which became the inside of Turn 2 as the pack’s staggered positions unwound. That meant the
