Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Max Verstappen sent out a chilling message to his Formula 1 rivals with a crushing victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

He brushed off controversy surrounding his team principal Christian Horner to dominate after a brief challenge at the start from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez home ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc recovered from dropping to fifth early on to pass Mercedes' George Russell for fourth in the closing laps.

Read more here.

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Right, time for us to wrap things up as Max Verstappen starts as he no doubt means to go on, with a dominant win.

I'll you with Andrew Benson's report. See you later!

George Russell, who started in third but finished down in fifth in Bahrain, said afterwards: "We both faced a similar problem (with Lewis Hamilton) for some reason we had massive engine overheating and the battery wasn't working properly. I made a really good start, got into second and then suddenly I had these big red alarms on my steering wheel and I had no battery left, we had to turn the power down, we were loosing about four-tenths a lap just in power.

"It's a shame that we didn't get to show any real potential of this car, so a bit of a strange day.

"It's nothing really to be concerned about all we needed to do was put a slightly bigger bodywork on. Our forecast of the conditions were incorrect so we need to go round that loop and ultimately it cost us a lot.

"I think all of the teams have maybe five or six different cooling specifications and we went with our most aggressive option and clearly just went too far, it was just simply a decision that we chose the wrong bodywork for the conditions of today."

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Former Team Principal of Haas, Guenther Steiner speaking to Sky Sports on what Toto Wolff will do to fill Lewis Hamilton's seat: "If I were Toto I would want someone with speed and is consistent or maybe invest in someone for the future.

"I think Toto is in a good position because nothing moves until he moves.

"He has a prodigy in Kimi Antonelli, maybe he's a talent like Max Verstappen and so Toto can take the gamble. Otherwise you have the drivers without contract at the end of the season."

Up next is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix next weekend.

That was a Red Bull one-two last year, although it was Sergio Perez who took victory with Max Verstappen finishing second.

Lewis Hamilton talking to Sky Sports after finishing seventh at the Bahrain Grand Prix: "Personally I feel great, physically I feel great. I think there is a feeling of disappointment within the team. I thought we would have been better today than we were. It was a close race, degradation was high.

On the positives going to Saudi Arabia next: "I mean, the car's reliable. Today was a struggle in the car. I was giving everything but there wasn't a lot of performance. If I qualified better, naturally I would've been a bit ahead. It was about discovery, I found out a lot about the car."

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Oscar Piastri speaking to Sky Sports after finishing P8: "I think finishing P8 and P6 [Lando] it wasn't what we wanted, but it wasn't a bad way to start the season given the last few years in Bahrain. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few races. We've got points, which is not a bad way to start the year.

"The biggest thing to learn from last year was probably race pace and tyre management, today it was a decent race from that point of view. I think qualifying yesterday was more shaky than I would've liked."

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Lando Norris speaking to Sky Sports after finishing sixth: "If you're comparing to last year anything is better. It was a good day for us.

"A lot of gains with strategy, undercuts and overcuts. So I think we can be happy. It does like things could be a little better. Today was realistic."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on managing his issues during the race after finishing fourth: "I couldn't go round Nine and Ten for the first 10 laps even though I was having crazy break balances through the rears, I was locking every lap and I was making big changes.

"It has been a very frustrating race because I was waiting for this race, I wanted to show what we were capable of. In the end we cannot show anything on my side because we were completely out of place."

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That's a 55th career win for Max Verstappen and an eighth in a row. He led for 57 of 57 laps, after securing pole position yesterday.

A dominant weekend for the defending champion.

Neal Gibson: F1 can be tedious and predictable but I find it astonishing that first race of the season after limited testing that all 20 cars finished with no mechanical drop outs. That is some phenomenal engineering.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished in third at the season opener in Bahrain, he said afterwards: “I felt really good out there today, the start wasn't ideal but from then on I managed my tyres well and then from there I could do my pace, overtook a few cars on the way to the podium.

"Keeping up with the Red Bull at the end was a pleasant surprise, still not enough from where we want to be but a good step forward compared to last year."

On the tyres and learning from the race, he added: "We had a very clear plan using soft and then two hards, with the hard in our car we feel a bit more comfortable because it overheats less and degrades less. We could play around a bit with strategy today."

On next week's Saudi Arabian GP, he said: "It will be a bit of a surprise for everyone where we are, I expect the cars like the McLaren and Red Bull that last year they were very good in high speed circuits to be competitive there, but our car has also improved in the high speed so hopefully we can be also stronger."

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Sergio Perez, who placed second at the Bahrain Grand Prix speaking to Sky Sports: Well I think it was the maximum we could achieve. It was a tricky race with the management of the tyres, there is plenty we will learn from tonights race, which is important to the championship, but overall it was a great way to start the season.

"The tyres were compound to compound with the amount of sliding we were having, we had issues with engine braking and drivability which is not easy because here there are plenty of low speeds, but I'm sure we will analyse all that tonight and learn for Jeddah.

"The team definitely had good momentum, we've got to keep it up for the coming weekends."

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Max Verstappen stands at the top of the podium which, if that dominant win is anything to go by, will likely happen many more times this season.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen, who won the Bahrain Grand Prix, speaking to Sky Sports: "Unbelievable, I think today went better than expected. We had a lot of pace, it was super enjoyable to drive. We stayed out of trouble. It's a good start to the year, it couldn't be better.

"It was a lot of fun, I felt good in the car, it's very special to have days like today. It doesn't happen often, when everything is ok with the car.

"I think the start was good. The first corner is a tight hairpin, but from there onwards we focused on our own race."

On the next race at Saudi Arabia: "It's fine. it is a long season, it's a great place in the world to be. A couple of days rest and we go again."

Max Verstappen says he had a lot of fun and that the Red Bull was lovely to drive.

A concern for the rest of the field as he feels so comfortable in a car that finished so far ahead of the others.

11) Zhou

12) Magnussen

13) Ricciardo

14) Tsunoda

15) Albon

16) Hulkenberg

17) Ocon

18) Gasly

19) Bottas

20) Sargeant

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter

Red Boss boss Christian Horner said post-race: "Look it's been the best possible start to the season, very clinical race by the team and well executed. The perfect start."

1) Verstappen

2) Perez

3) Sainz

4) Leclerc

5) Russell

6) Norris

7) Hamilton

8) Piastri

9) Alonso

10) Stroll

Verstappen: Simply lovely, what a great race. great start to the year guys, really good, 1, 2 as well."