Motorsport News 01/04/21

World champion Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged the threat from rival team Red Bull and its driver Max Verstappen after victory at a thrilling season-opener in Bahrain on Sunday. The Mercedes man won his 96th race in the desert but had to endure a strategic tussle with Verstappen. The Dutchman actually took the lead with four laps to go but was forced to hand the place back as he had completed the move off the circuit. Hamilton said he had predicted that victory in the opening race – only the third time he had claimed the F1 curtain raiser win – would be a difficult task. “Max was all over me at the end and I was just about able to hold him off. That was one of the hardest races I’ve had for…

Formula 1 returned with a bang in Bahrain and it seems like it will be a genuinely competitive season. Max Verstappen might not have quite been able to dominate in the desert, but he and the Red Bull team gave it a mighty good try. The portents for 2021 look mouth-watering. Verstappen’s decision – although prompted by a call from race control – to hand back the hard-won lead with four laps to go showed a great deal of maturity. So often it has been the case where instructions like that have been ignored, the cars have crossed the line in the order they were on track and the arguments are then played out in the officials’ room afterwards. That would have been a highly unsatisfactory end to what had been a…

Red Bull star Max Verstappen says that his team will learn the lessons from his defeat in Bahrain last weekend and come out even stronger for the remainder of the season. The Dutch star, running on preferable harder tyres, hunted down leader Lewis Hamilton over the closing stages of the opening grand prix of the season and made a pass into Turn 4. However, the Honda-powered car ran off the circuit and Verstappen was forced to back off and allow the Mercedes to retake the initiative. Verstappen was unable to mount a further attack in the remaining laps and crossed the line just 0.7 seconds behind Hamilton. The second-placed finisher said that he would work with the strategy boffins at Red Bull to try to defeat Mercedes in the future, but he…

Two-time World champion FernandoAlonso said that he enjoyed his Formula 1 return withAlpine and had a fun race until he was forced to retire with overheating brakes just beyond the halfway point. The Spaniard made it into Q3 on Saturday and lined up in ninth position and was running in 16th place when he had to pit to retire the car. The 39-year-old said: “We had some brake issues at the end that stopped us seeing the chequered flag.Apparently some debris came into the brake duct, which is a little bit unfortunate. “The race was fun until that point. The start, the first couple of laps, some battles with my old colleagues and I did enjoy it. But I’m disappointed not to see the chequered flag.”…

Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou took his second career Formula 2 win in the feature race in Bahrain to lead the championship after the opening meeting of the season. Zhou started the race on the harder tyres and switched to the softer Pirells, but a mid-race safety car caused the order to shuffle and put Richard Verschoor ahead. However, after Zhou’s tyres sparked into life he retook the lead. Brit Dan Ticktum was second for Carlin despite late-race contact with Oscar Piastri. Kiwi Liam Lawson was third. Lawson and fellow Red Bull driver Jehan Daruvala fought out the win in the opening sprint event. Lawson, driving for Hitech GP, shot from third on the grid to the front on the first lap and controlled the race to finish just under a second ahead…

Williams driver George Russell has been appointed as one of the directors of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, the body which has an input into the safety measures that are in place in Formula 1. The Briton replaced Romain Grosjean, who has left Formula 1 to compete in IndyCar in 2021. Russell is joins chairmanAlex Wurz and fellow director, four-time World champion Sebastian Vettel. TheGDPAhas also appointedAnastasia Fowle, its legal secretary, as a director. Russell added: “I appreciate the support of my fellow drivers in entrusting this role to me and recognise the responsibility it entails. In its six decades in existence, the GPDAhas been an integral part of supporting and shaping F1 safety, for the sport and our fans. “I am looking forward to tackling the new challenges and opportunities alongside Anastasia,…