Charles Leclerc embarked on Formula One's new era in triumphant style, leading team mate Carlos Sainz in a one-two for a resurgent Ferrari in Monday's (NZ time) season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Monegasque crossed the line 5.5 seconds ahead of Sainz, who moved up to second place after world champion Max Verstappen retired three laps from the end.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton snatched a shock third for struggling Mercedes ahead of new team mate George Russell on the final lap after Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez spun at the first corner, with neither Red Bull making the finish.
"I keep repeating myself, but the past two years have been incredibly difficult for the team," said Leclerc, after ending a 45-race winless streak dating back to Singapore 2019 for the sport's most successful outfit.
"It was a huge opportunity for the team - we couldn't hope for better."
The win was the third of Leclerc's career and Ferrari's first since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. It was also the Italian team's seventh at the Sakhir desert track.
The result puts Leclerc in the overall lead of the drivers' standings with another 22 races to go.
Ferrari, who opened the 2017 and 2018 seasons with a win but have not won a championship since 2008, lead the constructors' standings ahead of Mercedes.
Leclerc, who also took the fastest lap and was voted driver of the day by fans, started the race from pole but it was not an unchallenged cruise to the flag for the 24-year-old.
He engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Verstappen after the first pitstops, with the pair passing and repassing each other for the lead over several laps.
He also perfectly judged the restart after a safety car period, breaking away from Verstappen as the field returned to racing speed.
Red Bull's race came undone at the very end.
Verstappen's car, hobbled for much of the race by a steering issue, appeared to suddenly slow. Perez reported a loss of power immediately afterwards and blamed the engine for his sudden spin.
"Firstly, a big congratulations to Ferrari, happy to see them doing well again," said seven-times world Hamilton, who for much of the race was running a distant fifth.
"I think it was such a difficult race, we struggled throughout practice but we did the best we could," the 37-year-old Briton added.
F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen put Haas back in the points with a solid fifth-place finish.
The result put the team, who in 2021 finished last and were the only outfit to not score a point, third in the overall standings.
Valtteri Bottas was sixth in his first race for Alfa Romeo, ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who served a time penalty for pushing the Haas of Mick Schumacher into a spin.
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth for AlphaTauri ahead of Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Guanyu Zhou, who became the first Chinese driver to race in Formula One, scored the final point in tenth on his debut for Alfa Romeo.
Schumacher missed out on scoring his first points but still took home his best result so far in 11th.
Pierre Gasly failed to finish after his AlphaTauri expired in a plume of smoke and flame.
Reuters.
