By Joe Murphy
Instead of the conventional analysis piece, the very nature of how the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded, lends itself to a split piece such as this. Because yes, over the duration of the opening weekend, there were various winners and losers across the grid. With surprises nobody would have predicted and stories evolving with every team, there is much to dive into.
WINNER – FERRARI
The easiest and most obvious choice to start with. The clear winner was Ferrari and their drivers (we’ll get to them). A perfect start for the Scuderia claiming maximum available points not only gives them a healthy lead to start the season but also gives them incredibly strong foundations going forward. This win came 45 races after their last, with fans having to go back to Sebastian Vettel’s Singapore success of 2019 to see such a result, one that also ended up in a 1-2 finish with Leclerc involved. They look like the team to beat and appeared, in Bahrain at least, to have the fastest car. Unless something drastic happens, the Red team appear to be serious World Title contenders.
LOSER – RED BULL
To think, if this race was two laps shorter, Red Bull may very well have had a start which they would have considered ‘successful’. Max Verstappen was comfortable in second and posed the only credible threat to Charles Leclerc up front. Moreover, the sister car driven by Sergio Perez was chasing down Carlos Sainz in the hunt for a podium place whilst simultaneously leaving both Mercedes far behind. But then, Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri caught fire and it all went wrong for Christian Horner’s team. A matter of months after one of the Constructor’s happiest days in the sport, came one of their worst. With a couple of laps remaining, Max Verstappen lost drive and was forced into retirement and his podium disappeared. His Mexican teammate then did his best impression of the Dutchman by also running to a DNF, pulling over at Turn 1, on the final lap. With mere Kilometres left, Red Bull were now scoreless and what looked like it could have been a strong opening weekend, turned incredibly sour. It was later revealed that both cars had suffered the same fuel pump issue, with the exact cause unknown. With eyes moving extremely quickly onto next week, Red Bull will need to bounce back immediately and stamp down their genuine title credentials.
WINNER – CHARLES LECLERC
Literally, the winner of the race and fastest lap award, has to be the biggest winner from this weekend. Another pole position to add to his collection took him into double figures for his career, the 24 year old enjoyed a pretty flawless opening weekend to the season. Picking up only his third ever win in Formula 1, Leclerc demonstrated mastery well beyond his years and was the deserved ‘Driver of the Day’. His mini-battles with Max Verstappen could be a sign of things to come from this campaign and showed two truly excellent drivers showcasing their best abilities. It is good, for neutrals and fans alike, to see Ferrari on the top step again after such a hiatus. From what we saw in Bahrain, Charles could be the major challenger to Max’s World Championship. Whilst Carlos Sainz had a very promising result, it was the Monaco born driver who understandably stole the headlines, becoming the first Monegasque to ever lead the Driver’s Championship standings. Whilst the celebrations will be rightfully fruitful, there is a long way to go in the season before we can really consider Leclerc the championship favourite. From the evidence of the opening weekend, it certainly appears as if Charles and Max are the frontrunners.
LOSER – MCLAREN
One of the biggest talking points was the awful showing McLaren endured in the desert. Both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo had nightmare showings over the weekend, with events on Sunday somewhat replicating the awful McLaren of 2018. Daniel Ricciardo was last for most of the race and they had arguably the slowest car on the grid. The Williams and Aston Martin cars didn’t seem up to much in regards to pace, but both frequently got the better of the McLaren. Whilst they ended up in the mid-teens, the McLaren pair were nowhere near the points. Major questions will be asked of the team in the build up to Saudi Arabia next week. Only time will tell just how competitive McLaren will be this season or whether they have taken a huge step backwards, that is for sure. At the moment, they are in a worrying position.
WINNER – KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
Realistically, the entire Haas team were winners this weekend. However, the return of Kevin Magnussen to Formula 1 was nothing less than miraculous. A team that have scored almost no points at all over the last couple of years, scored double digits in one outing in Bahrain, with the Dane’s 5th place finish enough to add ten points to their haul to kick off the campaign in the best possible way. The Ferrari engine seems to not only benefit its namesake, but also the other two WINNERS on this list, one of them being the American team. The Haas cars look like they will compete for points regularly this season, which is great to see. Whilst Mick Schumacher narrowly missed out in Bahrain, his veteran teammate made a triumphant return to the grid, after over a year away from the sport. As Steiner said, a Viking return indeed, for K-Mag.
LOSER – MERCEDES
Now this one was a difficult one. Now, technically, Mercedes won this weekend. Considering the state of the car, the Silver Arrows couldn’t have hoped for a better result. A surprise podium for Lewis Hamilton and a solid fourth for George Russell on his second debut for the constructor is a good result for the team. However, the reason why they ‘lost’ this weekend, they are clearly outsiders for their own Constructor’s Title. Before a fortunately timed Safety Car, Mercedes were competing with the Haas, were clearly the third fastest team struggling to keep up with the Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s and, maybe most telling, were nearly a minute behind the lead at the two-thirds stage of the Grand Prix. A difficult season could be ahead for the two British drivers, if they can’t improve their pace over the coming season. At the moment, should there be no retirements or luck, podiums look like they could be in short supply.
WINNER – ALFA ROMEO
A double points finish, a stunning result for debuting Valtteri Bottas and a spectacular result in his F1 debut, for rookie Zhou sums up a pretty stunning chain of events for Alfa Romeo. The other team to benefit hugely from their power unit, the Alfa too, looks like it could be competitive this season, something which we haven’t really said before. Whilst it would have been brilliant to witness Kimi Raikkonen in such a car, it was great to see Guanyu Zhou make a positive start to his Formula 1 career. Long may it continue.
LOSER – PIERRE GASLY
The Alpha Tauri seemed to be running as expected. A solid yet unspectacular eight place finish seemed to be an inevitability for Pierre, with Yuki Tsunoda appearing to be just short of the points himself. Then, with only the final portion of the race to go, that all changed. The Frenchman’s car set ablaze in a fireball that Romain Grosjean would be proud of. Whilst it was great to see Pierre get out unscathed, it was a shame that his race had to end this way. Whilst the number 10 car was certainly a loser from these circumstances, they did set up that grandstand ending that benefitted the fans. So whilst Pierre will look to bounce back next week after a miserable opening round, the fans were the winners here. A pretty average race turned into an unmissable spectacle thanks to that burning engine. Whilst it is of course true that we don’t want to see cars and drivers encounter such problems, there is no doubt that it made the Grand Prix itself, more interesting to spectators.
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