Max Verstappen did what Max Verstappen does. Oh yes, the opening race of the season in Bahrain followed last year’s pattern, with the Dutch master winning comfortably.
On a weekend of extraordinary off-track drama, this was a race as boring as you could imagine. As much as you need to acknowledge genius at work, it doesn’t create competition. Verstappen, who certainly galloped, had a 22 second lead over his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at the end of the 57 laps.
Still, it’s to the credit of the three-time world champion to remain calm amid the cacophony within the team, where his boss Christian Horner is fighting allegations of sending sexually suggestive texts to a female employee – some of which went public on Thursday domain came. .
The run-up to the race was characterized by this. It started with Horner, 50, pushing his way through a gate behind the team’s catering area and slipping behind the red netting to meet his ex-Spice Girl wife Geri when they arrived an hour and 45 minutes before the lights went out arrived.
They then entered the main gate hand in hand, accompanied by photographers and onlookers who all craned their necks to watch the couple put on a show of solidarity amid the worst crisis of their lives. She laughed. He smiled.
He winked at someone – a friendly, half-defiant, nervous wink – and they went up the stairs, his hand supporting her back, to a kind of refuge, namely the team hospitality room from which he had slipped out a few minutes earlier to greet her . his wife of nine years.
She, dressed in a soft lemon dress and carrying a black handbag, joined him in chatting with Heineken owners, heiress Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and husband Michel. All smiles. Cameras clicked.
At that moment, Jos Verstappen, father and mentor of the unstoppable Max, had left the confines of the Red Bull areas for the wider paddock.
He was talking somewhere else, but he could see what was happening as he looked up to watch his every move, his stomach churning because he’s not a fan of the beleaguered Horner (who should be said to have been cleared by an internal investigation by Red Bull’s parent company earlier in the week – a process that involves a 150-page report being prepared by a QC).
The Horners sat in the back of the catering area. Cutlery was taken. Red Bull’s PR man sat down with them. This also applied to Flavio Briatore, the former boss of Benetton and Renault.
Later, Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai majority shareholder of Red Bull, and his wife founded a bank. Horner hugged Chalerm. Some believe the Englishman owes his continued employment as £8million-a-year team boss to this billionaire – his protector, doubters claim, against the allegations that have hit him.
Horner kissed Geri, 51, before heading to the grid. Geri didn’t join him during the pre-race preparations – she doesn’t normally do that. She appears to have slipped away before or during the early stages of the race, perhaps to reflect on the misfortunes that have plagued her.
She didn’t miss much. Verstappen, starting on pole, took his 18th victory in 19 races and his 36th since Lewis Hamilton last won in Saudi Arabia, the race before the Abu Dhabi debacle that shook him to his core when he controversially eighth title missed out.
Verstappen came on the radio and said: ‘Great start to the year guys, also a one-two, so fantastic.
Horner replied: ‘As you say, Max, pole position, one-two finish, fastest lap, a clean sweep. A brilliant way to start the year. Thank you very much.’
Perez, in the other Red Bull, took second by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on lap 11 and Mercedes’ George Russell three laps later.
Whatever you think of Horner, he leads a powerful team.
Mercedes was disappointing. Russell, who started second, finished fifth. Hamilton started ninth and finished seventh, 50 seconds behind Verstappen. Oh dear.
The Ferraris were marginally better, with Carlos Sainz starting fourth and finishing third – not bad for someone who was about to be jettisoned to make way for Hamilton from 2025. Leclerc started second and finished fourth after some problems with early race upset.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished sixth and teammate Oscar Piastri eighth.
Sorry, not much else to report.