F1: a fabulous start to motor racing’s “new era”
Last Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix wasn’t just any old season-opener, said Luke Slater in The Daily Telegraph. It was hailed as the starting point for a “new era” for Formula 1 – an era that will usher in a raft of technical changes designed to increase the sport’s competitiveness by making it easier for drivers to overtake. And as curtain-raisers go, F1 “couldn’t have asked” for more, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. Full of “triumph and disaster”, the race was dominated by an enthralling duel between reigning champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s
Charles Leclerc. Leading from the grid, Leclerc refused to be cowed when the 24-year-old Dutchman repeatedly came at him: in one captivating passage, Verstappen overtook the Monacan on successive laps, only for Leclerc to regain the lead twice. A spectacular showdown beckoned; but then, with two laps to go, Verstappen’s Red Bull developed engine problems and he had to pull out.
Minutes later, his teammate Sergio Pérez suffered the same fate – a double withdrawal that bumped Britain’s Lewis Hamilton up to third, behind a “Ferrari one-two” of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The season may be in its infancy, but there are signs that this “new generation of cars” is going to affect the sport in positive ways, said Rebecca Clancy in The Times. The changes have “brought Ferrari back into the mix” after a long period in the doldrums. And there were enough intriguing battles “up and down the grid” to suggest this season can “live up to the one that preceded it”. If so, the timing couldn’t be better, said Jake Helm in The Sunday Times. Thanks to the hugely popular Netflix show Drive to Survive, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at F1, the sport has recently gained a “new audience” – many being younger fans. If this season proves a classic, it will bring delight to millions.