Hamilton holds off Verstappen to clinch win in Bahrain thriller
Hamilton seals thrilling win, but he’s pushed all the way by Max
wHEN all the drama was over and fireworks popped, the result read: winner — the world’s greatest driver; runner-up — the world’s second greatest driver.
That, anyway, is how it was at the wind-blown Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton triumphant with one of the greatest defensive drives of his life to deny Max Verstappen as he hounded him all the way to the first chequered flag of the season.
For us the spectacle was a welcome antidote after occasionally wanting to grab a mechanic’s wheel gun and turn it on our temples, such has been the predictability of Hamilton’s recent world championship triumphs.
Or as Hamilton put it: ‘Twentytwo more races this season. Holy c**p. I’ll be grey by the end of it.’
As Basil Fawlty might say, don’t mention his age. The seven-time world champion is entering the final year of his contract at — whisper it — 36 and there is much talk of this being his final season. So when he had won for the 96th time, he came over the radio to say: ‘I’ve still got it.’
To which his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington replied: ‘Not bad for an old man.’
This is how the late action unfolded between Hamilton in the Mercedes and Verstappen in the Red Bull, the two best cars: the Dutchman, reshod on hard tyres 11 laps fresher than Hamilton’s matching rubber, had the last 16 laps to reel in the Silver Arrow ahead of him.
The gap stood at 8.5sec. Verstappen reduced the margin with aggressive stealth until he was right on the tail of his prey.
With three laps remaining, Verstappen made his move at Turn Four. Hamilton hung on and, while they slugged it out, his pursuer ran wide.
Yes, Verstappen went in front, briefly. But race control came on to Red Bull telling him to hand the place back. No arguments with that. But, still, the battle was not quite over. ‘After that I couldn’t believe I was just able to keep him behind,’ said Hamilton. ‘He couldn’t get close. He ended up wide in some places, which gave me the edge.
‘Bono kept telling me how many laps were left. He was like three laps, two laps, and I was like, “Bono, I can count, I have got it”. He was just nervous.
‘When I got through Turn Four on the final lap, I knew I was in a good position. But then I had oversteer out of Turn 10, nervousness out of 11 and snap oversteer in Turn 13, and I thought Max had got me.’
Hamilton (below), who finished 0.7sec ahead, added: ‘I loved every minute of it. We knew we were behind in performance. To come away with this result is a real boost. We don’t know how much better Red Bull will be in other places.
‘I am excited and happy the fans are excited. This is something they have wanted for a long time. It is only one race and we don’t know what the future holds. With the pace Red Bull have, they could be ahead a lot more, but we are going to work as hard as we can to stay close. I hope for more of these races with Max.’
It had been a slow burner of a grand prix set up by Mercedes, with little to lose, inventively bringing Hamilton in earlier than Verstappen for both his stops.
The aggressive strategy was used to every advantage by Hamilton, who itched another sore by the manner of his win.
His mind turned back to the race he missed last December when he was laid up with Covid-19 and George Russell dazzled in his place. ‘It’s all about the car!’ the cry went up. That rankled with Hamilton and this victory was his glorious riposte.
Recalling his drive in tranquillity, he added: ‘Today was definitely a blessing in disguise. There are always chances to prove people wrong and today was definitely one of them. But there have been many in the past, too.
‘I have been here a long time and I hope there are many opportunities in the future to show what I did today. We were fortunate that Max went wide, but that won’t happen again, so we have to do better, be smarter.
‘We don’t have the fastest car, but that is all good for me. I don’t mind having to pull out extra in order to make the difference.’
It should be underlined that Verstappen drove magnificently all weekend — quickest in every practice session, the pole man, and maker of two outstanding starts, from lights out and after a safety car for Haas debutant Nikita Mazepin’s first-lap spin.
Cast deep into Hamilton’s shadow was team-mate Valtteri Bottas in third place.
A word of acclaim for McLaren’s Lando Norris in fourth with perhaps his best drive.
What else? Fernando Alonso, back after two years away, retired with brake problems in his Alpine. All round a good first day back at school.
Scuttling around the paddock, new F1 supremo Stefano Domenicali stopped to pass his verdict. ‘The perfect advert for F1 and this season,’ he said with a smile.