2022 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: What does the Drivers' Championship look like after the race?
Calling the 2022 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix dramatic would certainly be an understatement. With Charles Leclerc starting in pole position for Ferrari and Red Bull's Max Verstappen breathing down his neck from a close second, the race looked set to go in favor of the two teams. While the reigning F1 world champions at Mercedes came into the Bahrain Grand Prix with little to no hopes of sipping on some podium champagne, the first race Sunday of the 2022 season certainly did not go as expected.
Charles Leclerc scored a glorious victory for Ferrari after a phenomenal start once the lights went out at the Bahrain International Circuit. His teammate Carlos Sainz came in second, giving the Prancing Horse a phenomenal 1-2 finish. It also lent the team the championship-winning hopes that they have craved for so long. With an extra point for the fastest lap by Leclerc, Ferrari took home the maximum possible points this weekend, placing them right at the top with a whopping 44 points.
Despite their struggles during testing and qualifying, Mercedes found themselves in a decent position towards the end of the race. With both Red Bulls out of the running, Lewis Hamilton took a podium and George Russell finished right behind his team-mate in fourth, putting the Silver Arrows in second with 27 points to their name.
Haas had an absolute dream of a race weekend with Kevin Magnussen clinching fifth in the race, putting the team in third place with 10 points. The team finished the 2021 F1 season dead-last and was the only team to take home absolutely no points all year long. If this isn't the greatest comeback of the season, we don't know what is!
P5... P5!!!
What an incredible return to #F1 action for @KevinMagnussen 👏👏👏
#BahrainGP @HaasF1Team https://t.co/sGSvSpLW7e
Alfa Romeo stands in sixth with both cars also finishing in the points and rookie Guanyu Zhou making it to the top ten in his very first F1 race. Last season's rivals for fifth, Alpine and Alpha Tauri, now stand in fifth and sixth respectively, despite Pierre Gasly's retirement during the second half of the race. Alpine had a double-points finish while Yuki Tsunoda took home 4 points for the team from P8.
First race, first #F1 point 🙌
No wonder @ZhouGuanyu24 is emotional 😀
#BahrainGP https://t.co/dSu8lVxiS4
While Red Bull seemed set to take second, all hopes went right down the drain for the Milton Keynes-based team when reigning world champion Max Verstappen started suffering critical reliability issues with the car. Both Red Bulls ended up retiring within the final three laps of the race, placing them in seventh place in the constructors' standings with zero points to take home. McLaren, Aston Martin, and Williams also stand last in the standings after a difficult first race for all three teams.
Here is the current 2022 F1 Drivers' Standings