Picture Credit: Twitter
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was all smiles after he finished at the podium of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which concluded on Sunday. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished the F1 race in the third spot. Meanwhile, Ferrari had a memorable start to the 2022 F1 season, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing first and second at the podium, respectively.
With the result, Hamilton has again registered his name in history books with some more F1 records. He now has the record of finishing at podium for 16 years in a row. The record was previously held by legendary driver Michael Schumacher. Hamilton also became the only driver to score points in 250 races.
Mercedes struggled for pace through the qualifying session, but Hamilton and young driver George Russel showcased great determination to stay high up in the fray. Once Verstappen was forced to retire, Perez took over the Red Bull mantle but what could have been a duel right for the team ended in Mexican spinning out. The day turned out to be a memorable day for Haas, with Kevin Magnussen driving his car to the fifth spot, followed by Valtteri Bottas in Alfa Romeo.
Amongst the big surprises, McLaren racer Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished at the end, while Pierre Gasly had to retire due to a fire.
"While we are not performing as expected, the results are great," said Hamilton after the race. "Of course we were fortunate, but ultimately we've done a better job, we have better reliability," added Hamilton. Team boss Toto Wolff also added that putting both drivers on hard tires was a wrong move. "If we had come in last year third and fourth, it would have been very frustrating, but I think we are punching above our weight class this year," said the Austrian.