‘Just let me go’: Verstappen fumes at team after handing Hamilton lead

Max Verstappen was furious at his team after being asked to hand back the lead to Lewis Hamilton in a cliff-hanger finish at the Bahrain GP.

Lewis Hamilton is still leading the pack. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Lewis Hamilton produced another stunning demonstration of his supreme racing talent on to resist a charging Max Verstappen and win a thrilling “cliffhanger” season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion defended with great skill over the closing laps in his Mercedes to hold off the Red Bull driver and claim a record 96th Formula One victory.

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Hamilton came home seven-tenths of a second ahead of the Dutchman, who was forced to hand back the race lead in the closing laps after passing him with a move that had taken him off the track.

Verstappen was left fuming after overtaking Hamilton at Turn Four with three laps remaining. Officials correctly deemed he had executed the move while off the track but the Dutchman was angry at his team after the race for instructing him to allow the Mercedes to retake the lead — instead of just attempting to surge away and increase the lead to greater than the five-second penalty he would have been hit with.

“Why didn’t you just let me go, man?” he said on team radio.

“I could have easily pulled those five seconds. I am prepared to lose a win like that than be second like this.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner explained to Verstappen they had no choice after being instructed by race control.

Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen congratulates Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton on the podium021. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

As expected, the champion and his heir apparent delivered an exhilarating exhibition of racing as they raced to the flag — the pair leaving third-placed Valtteri Bottas, in the second Mercedes, to finish adrift by 37 seconds.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth, with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo back in seventh.

It was Hamilton’s first season-opening triumph since 2015 and surprised many observers after Red Bull had dominated pre-season testing and two days of practice and qualifying ahead of the race.

“Firstly, can I just say it’s the first time I’ve seen fans in a long time!” said a delighted Hamilton.

“What a difficult race that was – stopping early we knew it was going to be tough, but we had to cover Max and it was always going to take something pretty special to do it.”

A disappointed Verstappen said: “Of course, it’s s shame, but you also have to see the positives. We’re putting the fight on to them so it’s great to start the year like that.”

Norris finished ahead of Sergio Perez, who had started from the pit lane in the second Red Bull, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Ricciardo.

Carlos Sainz was eighth for Ferrari ahead of Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Starting from his fourth pole position, Verstappen advanced smoothly and held the lead ahead of Hamilton as the lights went out, but the opening lap was soon halted when Russian rookie Nikita Mazepin of Haas speared into the barriers at Turn Three.

The crash revived memories of a similar first lap accident at the same corner last season, when his predecessor Frenchman Romain Grosjean escaped from his blazing car after going into the barriers.

Mazepin escaped unhurt, but the race was paused for a Safety Car intervention for two laps.

On the restart, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly lost his front wing after a clash with McLaren new boy Ricciardo while rookie Mick Schumacher spun off in his Haas at Turn Four – and a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed briefly.

Hamilton stayed within two seconds of Verstappen until lap 14 when he pitted as Mercedes went for an undercut to switch him from mediums to a new set of hards.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton compete for position on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Verstappen, complaining about differential problems, came in and took mediums as Hamilton swept into the lead for the first time.

By lap 23, Hamilton’s lead was 3.8 seconds on the Red Bull man, but it was soon reduced to one.

Sensing Verstappen closing in, Hamilton pitted again for more hards on lap 29, rejoining 20 seconds adrift of the Dutchman.

Verstappen pitted again on lap 40. He rejoined second, eight seconds behind the champion to set up a chase for a grandstand finish. An immediate fastest lap trimmed the gap to six seconds.

“Make sure you’ve got enough tyres to challenge him at the end,” warned his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

By lap 49, the lead was two seconds. “Leave me to it, Bono,” snapped Hamilton when his engineer advised him Verstappen was on his tail. The tension was palpable.

With five laps to go, the champion ran wide at Turn 10, enabling Verstappen to close up. He squeezed by at Turn Four, on lap 53, but having gone off circuit had to hand the position back.

Hamilton continued to resist, Verstappen began sliding for grip and the champion hung on.

Finishing order

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1hr 32mins 03.897sec

2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) at 0.745s

3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 37.383

4. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 46.466

5.Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 52.047

6. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 59.090

7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:06.004

8. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:07.100

9. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:25.692

10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:26.713

11. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:28.864

12. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1 lap

13. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1 lap

14. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap

15. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1 lap

16. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap

17. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 4 laps

18. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 4 laps

DNF: Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault), Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda), Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams)

Fastest lap: Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:32.090

— AFP