Kevin Magnussen

Crash.net F1 journalist Connor McDonagh runs through the field's driver ratings following the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Ferrari was the superior package on race day with its better straight-line speed and performance in the middle sector of the lap. Gasly ran as high as eighth in the first stint and was on for a couple of points before his car caught fire on Lap 46. Stroll fared better in the race and given Aston Martin’s poor level of performance currently, 12th was probably the maximum. Magnussen was the clear winner of the midfield and the star of the Bahrain GP weekend. Verstappen took the lead on three occasions with Red Bull’s efficiency on the straights paying off but Leclerc’s defence was impressive. Bottas recovered well into the points and was closing down Pierre Gasly before the Frenchman’s retirement at the end of the race. After losing out to Hamilton and Magnussen at the start, Perez soon recovered back up to fourth. It was one of Fernando Alonso’s weaker races since returning to F1 at the start of 2021 with the Spaniard struggling with tyre degradation. The race didn’t get any better for the Woking outfit with Norris and teammate Ricciardo running around at the back of the field with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. A lot of work to do going into Saudi Arabia this weekend. Zhou looked assured when wheel-to-wheel and will come away from Bahrain more confident going into the rest of the season. While he did benefit from some of the retirements ahead of him, Zhou shadowed more experienced teammate Bottas throughout the 57 laps. Mercedes’ choice to switch to the hards was perplexing but ultimately it had no effect on the end result with a big buffer to the midfield behind.