Toto Wolff believes Mercedes need to make "radical" changes after suffering "one of the worst days in racing" at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Red Bull dominated in Sakhir on Sunday, Max Verstappen leading a one-two ahead of Sergio Perez.

Lewis Hamilton could only finish fifth and his Silver Arrows team-mate George Russell was seventh in the first race of 2023.

Seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton crossed the line 50.977 seconds after Verstappen, who is a strong favourite to clinch a third consecutive title.

Mercedes team principal Wolff knows his team are unable to challenge Red Bull and must go back to the drawing board.

"One of the worst days in racing," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"Really not good at all, we were just lacking pace front, right, and centre.

"Red Bull is just on a different planet. That is what hurts because they are so far ahead, it reminds me of our best years because we just put a second on everybody else.

"That is the benchmark and we have to do one step after the other to come back and we can do that. We can, absolutely we can.

"I think it needs to be much more radical in the steps than hope for a three-tenths upgrade."

The second race of the season will be staged in Saudi Arabia on March 19.

Charles Leclerc believes Red Bull are on "another planet" to their Formula One rivals after they dominated the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen's title defence got off to a comfortable start with a victory on Sunday, with his team-mate Sergio Perez second and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in third.

Leclerc looked on course for a podium finish for Ferrari, but an engine failure led to his retirement.

The issue came despite Ferrari changing a component ahead of the race, one of only two permitted alterations allowed over the course of the season, which could lead to further pain for the Scuderia in future races.

While the cause of the problem was unknown to Leclerc, he made it clear the team must secure as many points as possible to keep Red Bull in sight.

"I have no idea what happened to the car when I lost the power, the only thing I know is that I did, I don't know for what reason," he told Sky Sports F1.

"I don't know if it is related to the change we had this morning, so I don't want to comment on that, but it is a shame.

"We expected to be on the back foot this weekend, especially in the race to Red Bull. That team is on another planet right now.

"But that's what exactly why most weekends we need to make sure we bring maximum points possible home and we didn't manage to do so."

Max Verstappen was delighted to break his Bahrain Grand Prix hoodoo, but Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is promising a tight Formula One title race in 2023.

The reigning world champion picked up his first career victory at the Bahrain International Circuit to kick off the new season where he left off last term.

Verstappen led a one-two ahead of teammate Perez, while Fernando Alonso came third on his Aston Martin debut.

Having failed to win on any of his previous visits to Bahrain with the team, the Dutchman acknowledged he was gratified to finally claim a win at the circuit.

"I was very happy to finally win here in Bahrain," he said in his post-race interview. "It was a very good first stint. From there, it was about looking after the tyres.

"[There are] just little things we want to fine-tune. I think we have a good race package. I think it will depend race-to-race, [but] we can definitely fight with this."

Perez, who was aided in securing second by the late retirement of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to an engine issue, feels he can press his team-mate this year though.

After finishing third in the standings last term, the Mexican is looking to ensure he can stay on the heels of the Dutchman as the latter eyes a third consecutive crown.

"We worked really hard over the winter, so it is nice to see all the boys enjoying the first race," he added. "It was important today to get both cars to the end.

"Finishing second was the maximum I could do today [with my start]. It is a long season. I think I am getting closer every single session and I will give my best."

Alonso, who departed Alpine for Aston Martin during the off-season, nabbed his first podium finish since he came third at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.

For the Spaniard, the oldest driver in the field at 41, it marked a vindication of his decision to make the move as he continues to defy expectations.

"[It is] amazing for the team, [it] was [a] great weekend," he added. "Finishing on the podium in the first race of the year, it is just amazing.

"What Aston Martin did over the winter to have the second-best car on race one, it's unreal."

Toto Wolff conceded Mercedes must change their car design in order to return to the top of Formula One.

Mercedes endured a dismal 2022 season, with Lewis Hamilton suffering the first winless campaign of his F1 career.

Much of their struggles were put down to issues with the car, but Mercedes stuck with their unique "zero pod" design for the 2023 season, despite the success of Red Bull's "side pod" model.

Yet after a disappointing qualification session that saw George Russell place in sixth and Hamilton in seventh for Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Wolff confirmed changes will have to be made.

He said: "I don't think this package is going to be competitive, eventually.

"We gave it our best go also over the [off-season] and now we just need to all regroup, sit down with the engineers who are totally not dogmatic about anything and decide what is the development direction we want to pursue in order to be competitive to win races.

"It's not only like last year that you're scoring podiums and eventually you get there.

"I'm sure we can win races this season but it's really the mid-and long-term that we need to look at which decisions you need to take."

Wolff believes Mercedes "gave it our best shot" but ultimately the team must accept their model has not worked.

"We hit our targets. That's why we gave it our best shot," he continued. "The moment comes and the stopwatch comes out and that showed us that it's simply not good enough.

"We haven't got enough downforce and we need to find solutions to fix that."

Two-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen claimed pole position in Saturday's qualification, with team-mate Sergio Perez completing a front-row lockout for Red Bull.

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start in third and fourth respectively, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso occupies fifth on the grid ahead of Russell and Hamilton.

After a close-season of significant change, the starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix has a familiar look with Max Verstappen starting the new campaign on pole ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

Pre-season testing at Sakhir had suggested the reigning world champion and his team would maintain their superiority to start the 2023 campaign, and further evidence to back up that point was provided in Q3.

Ferrari topped the timesheets in the opening two qualifying sessions, but it was Verstappen who reassumed command in the top-10 shoot-out with a time of one minute and 29.708 seconds.

Ominously for the two Ferraris on the second row, Charles Leclerc in third and Carlos Sainz in fourth, Verstappen's lap came following some significant struggles with the balance of the car, issues Red Bull fixed in time for the Dutchman to set the pace and put himself in position to dominate on race day.

Verstappen told the post-qualifying press conference: "I'm particularly happy because my whole weekend up until qualifying was very difficult.

"I couldn't really find the comfortable balance I had in testing and I was just struggling a lot to just get the car together, really. I went into Q1 and everything already felt a bit better, but it was still not, let's say, perfect. So yeah, I'm very happy then in Q3 that we could put these laps in.

"I still think it's not perfect, but in a better direction. So, for sure, for the next race we will have to analyse a bit why from the test to the race weekend it's so different for us, and also for me driving wise.

"But nevertheless, we are sitting here with two cars. So coming off last year I think this is again a very strong start for us. So yeah, very happy with that.

"Luckily in qualifying that's probably the best balance I've had throughout the weekend so far."

Asked about the race, he added: "That should normally be our stronger point than the one-lap pace. So hopefully we can show that again tomorrow."

Verstappen, though, knows he can take little for granted, acknowledging the field is closer than it was last season.

In Q1, first-placed Sainz and Nyck De Vries in 19th were separated by just over a second and, in addition to looking over his shoulder at the Scuderia, Verstappen may also have to concern himself with the threat of Aston Martin, who saw Fernando Alonso qualify fifth in his debut for the team ahead of the two Mercedes.

"They are all very close to us," Verstappen said when asked about to name his closest challengers. "Of course, we have shown really good race pace but we still need to show that tomorrow, and a lot of things can happen also during a race, which sometimes is not in your control.

"So yeah, we just, of course, need to focus on ourselves and try to do the best we can. And hopefully no crazy things will happen."

But Leclerc did not express much hope of Ferrari overhauling Red Bull in the race.

"I think we are only happy if we win," said Leclerc. "But again, realistically, they seem to be very, very quick.

"So I think in those weekends where we are a little bit underneath, that's exactly those weekend that we need to maximise and, and try to get what we can in terms of points.

"So yeah, if a win is possible tomorrow, I will go for it. If not, we'll try and get the maximum points."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will do anything it takes to see Lewis Hamilton win his record-breaking eighth world title.

Wolff would go as far as pushing Hamilton "around the track" if it meant the 38-year-old clinching his eighth Formula One triumph.

That would see Hamilton surpass Michael Schumacher, with whom he shares the record of seven championships.

Hamilton and Mercedes endured a difficult campaign last year, however, as he suffered the first winless season of his F1 career.

Mercedes' 2023 season did not off to the greatest start on Saturday, with Hamilton qualifying seventh and his team-mate George Russell in sixth for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.

But Wolff is sure they will have more success than in 2022, and he will go to extremes to ensure Hamilton gets his eighth title at some stage.

"We're going to get his eighth. He has, compared to [Aston Martin's Fernando] Alonso, another four years in him as a minimum so we just need to get it done," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"Even if I have to push him around the track to win the eighth I am going to do everything that is needed."

Hamilton himself was confident he could close the gap on pole-sitter Max Verstappen in Sunday's season opener, and Wolff echoed the sentiment even if he conceded it was an ultimately disappointing qualifying session.

He added: "The gap is not ridiculous considering we only ran one tyre at the end but it is not where we want to be. 

"We are continuing to develop the concept and thinking we could land it and fight for pole position and that wasn't the case today. 

"That is the gap and this is what we need to find, or more, to win. 

"We could have potentially overtaken Alonso [in fifth] with both cars but this is where we are. We are super critical with ourselves and what we need to achieve.

"We are looking at everything to get it right with the concept, should we have reacted earlier, all of that.

"Everybody in the engineering team thinks like that and we just need to get our act together."

It was a similar story for Russell, who said: "Our goal was to make sure we've got a car we can build upon and that there aren't any significant problems.

"We spent probably three-quarters of last year problem solving and now I feel we've got a car which is nice to drive.

"It generally feels like a good car, and now we can focus on adding downforce and performance which is what the team have done for so long. 

"There are definitely signs to be positive, but we've got a lot to improve."

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen surprised himself by claiming pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen, on the hunt for a third straight world title, will start at the front of the grid in Sunday's season-opening race after recording a quickest lap of 1:29:708 on Saturday.

Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez qualified in second to complete the front row, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz behind them on the second row.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had to settle for seventh behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with Fernando Alonso wedged in fifth.

Ferrari had topped the opening two qualifying sessions but with Verstappen coming good in Q3, they elected against heading out again, instead choosing to conserve their tyres.

"It has been a bit of a tough start to the weekend yesterday and today not really finding my rhythm, but luckily in qualifying we managed to put the best pieces together," Verstappen said.

"I am very happy to be on pole. For the whole team coming off last year and again having such a strong car with Checo up there as well. It is amazing and I am looking forward to tomorrow. 

"The changes slowed down the car a bit but we are still going faster, which is great to see. Throughout the year, you will see everyone increasing their performance again a lot and that is the beautiful thing about Formula One.

"I was actually positively surprised to be on pole after the struggles I had in practice. Normally our race car is better, so let's see."

Despite having plenty of work to do to compete for a podium finish, Hamilton was in a buoyant mood.

"We went in with a really open mind," he told Sky Sports. "I woke up thinking we were going to be a lot further behind, and so the fact we're even getting into Q3 was great.

"We made a step forward today and the car was feeling much more alive this morning, and all of a sudden we were in a different place to where we were the day before. But then we got to qualifying and for me the car just didn't feel alive, it felt kind of average.

"It's not an impossible mountain to climb, so that's a positive, and I know everyone back at the factory has been working so hard. We can definitely close the gap, we've just got really focus and push like never before."

Leclerc, meanwhile, was happy with Ferrari's strategy despite believing he had the chance to fight for pole.

"There wasn't any issue. I think we were in the fight for pole, which was a good surprise to be honest because I did not expect that after testing and after free practices that were a little bit difficult," Leclerc said.

"We managed to find that pace for the qualifying pace, which was great. However, we need to keep in our mind that on the race runs, we seemed to be a little bit on the back foot compared to Red Bull.

"I think that we're in a better place starting third with new tyres than starting first with older. I don't know if I would have been in pole or not but it would have been close."

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
6. George Russell (Mercedes)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

Lance Stroll has been passed fit to race at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix after recovering from a wrist injury that threatened to derail Aston Martin's plans for the season opener.

Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich was put on standby after Stroll hurt his wrist in a freak cycling accident and had to miss pre-season testing.

There had even been speculation of a Sebastian Vettel comeback, after team principal Mike Krack initially refused to rule out the possibility of the German coming out of retirement.

However, that idea was knocked on the head eventually, and now Drugovich can stand down, too, with Canadian Stroll cleared to take part after undergoing surgery.

The team announced Stroll's involvement in a statement on their website, with the 24-year-old driver saying: "It was frustrating not to be out in Bahrain for the pre-season test and I was disappointed to miss the three days of running. However, given the injury to my wrist, the team and I felt it was best to focus on recovery so that I would be ready for this weekend and the long season ahead.

"It was an unfortunate accident – I fell from my bike when my tyre caught a hole in the ground – but thankfully the damage was not significant and a successful minor surgery on my right wrist fixed the problem very quickly. Since then, I've been working hard with my team to ensure that I am fully fit to compete this weekend.

"Now I'm ready to get my head down and concentrate on racing this weekend – something I'm really looking forward to."

Stroll will be entering his seventh season in Formula One and hoping for a first top-10 finish in the drivers' championship. He finished 15th overall last year, three places behind then team-mate Vettel.

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso will be Stroll's team-mate in the new campaign, having switched from Alpine.

Formula One returns this weekend with Red Bull clearly the team to beat after a dominant 2022 season.

Max Verstappen won his second straight drivers' championship but in far more comfortable fashion than the previous year when the most dramatic of finales saw Lewis Hamilton pipped.

And unlike in 2021, it was a double celebration for Red Bull as the team also took the constructors' title after a run of Mercedes triumphs.

But Red Bull's commanding campaign did not start as strongly as it finished, and hope of a repeat will encourage the chasing pack at this week's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Red Bull pair Verstappen and Sergio Perez were both forced to retire at this event a year ago, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc controlled proceedings with pole position, the fastest lap and a race win.

Unfortunately for the Scuderia, it was not a sign of things to come.

Verstappen was back on the top step of the podium at the next race and soon disappeared into the distance.

That initial result was nothing out of the ordinary as Red Bull have only once won the first race in the calendar, back in 2011 when they took the first two.

Those slow starts clearly do not hamper Red Bull across the rest of the season, although they will hope to avoid a similar early setback this time and have both Verstappen and Perez off to a fast start.

Charles the chief threat

If Red Bull are to be beaten again this week, last year's victor Leclerc appears the man most likely to profit. In the past six races in Bahrain, he is the only man to secure pole twice. A third would make this his favourite event.

Meanwhile, podiums for both Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz would make Ferrari the first team to tally 800 in F1.

But Leclerc has been guarded on the merits of his SF-23 car, telling F1's Beyond the Grid podcast: "Sometimes I've had a car that feels good, and until you see the lap time, you're like, 'okay, this feels pretty good'. And then you have a very bad surprise watching the lap time. Sometimes it is the other way."

All eyes on Lewis

The driver of most interest this weekend might be the man who finished the season sixth last year. Lewis Hamilton vanished from contention, and while Mercedes' issues were the key factor, he also trailed new team-mate George Russell.

At the very least, Hamilton will expect to fight back and beat Russell this year.

Only in Abu Dhabi (10 points) and Great Britain (zero points) has Russell won fewer points than his 12 in four editions of the Bahrain GP, so the opportunity is there for Hamilton to forge an early lead.

Record crowds at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix might have been welcome to organisers, but drivers on the Formula One grid have expressed concern on where it currently sits on the calendar.

Before a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Albert Park circuit traditionally hosted the first race of the season, since the Australian GP's move to Melbourne from Adelaide in 1996.

With pre-season testing in Bahrain leading into the season-opener at the Sakhir circuit for the 2021 and 2022 season, however, Melbourne's traditional status has been rendered impractical.

While the crowds underlined the appetite for F1 in the region, the drivers were cool on the Australian GP's scheduling as a standalone week, before the series continues in Italy.

"It works well at the moment because we are doing the winter testing in Bahrain, it makes sense to stay there," Red Bull's Sergio Perez said. "Just coming to Australia for a single race is quite painful for everyone.

"We all want to come here, but there are ways we can improve and in fairness to F1, Australia hasn't been on the calendar for the last [two] years. I'm sure that going forward they can have a look at it."

While Mercedes' George Russell said the previous scheduling at Albert Park was "cool", the back-to-back arrangement with Bahrain requires a rethink for Australia.

"I think Melbourne here as the season opener was really cool because everybody came up here early and there was a lot of excitement and anticipation," he said.

"But I think having Melbourne in between races, especially as a stand-alone is too tough for the teams and everybody."

Before the Australian GP moved to Melbourne, Adelaide traditionally held the final race of the Formula One calendar, circumventing these logistical issues.

If Bahrain was to retain the opening of the season, Russell believes pairing Melbourne with other Asian races is a possible solution.

"If it is geographically correct…we are happy for it to be at any point of the season," he said. "We obviously race very far east with Japan and Singapore, China obviously not this year, but it is on the calendar from next year onwards.

"I just think there is a better compromise to be had. I know there is a huge amount of limitations involved."

Lewis Hamilton hopes he can continue to use his position within Formula One to push for greater diversity, saying such an achievement would be "more rewarding than any championship".

The Mercedes driver has won a joint-record seven world titles across his career, tied only with Michael Schumacher, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest in the sport's history.

Yet he has commanded just as much attention for his off-track activities in recent years, with the Briton leading anti-racism and pro-LGBTQ demonstrations within F1.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – where he protested against anti-LGBTQ laws last year – Hamilton revealed he hopes to thrive in continuing to push for broader change.

"That's my role here I think to continue to hold those conversations, sit with Stefano [Domenicali] and say what are you doing and how can we work together?" the 37-year-old told Sky Sports.

"It goes back to bringing people on the journey rather than calling people out and unfortunately it takes a lot of yapping, but I think people seem more keen to be on the journey together and they empathise more with it and say yes, we can do a better job.

"I've got this platform and I am able to apply pressure in an uncomfortable way sometimes, but also it is a real opportunity to spark that change and that for me is more rewarding than any championship.

"My goal is that in the next five, 10 years you're looking back at the sport and I am watching TV, hopefully with my kids, and they see young women engineers and mechanics and they'll know there is an opportunity."

Having lost the 2021 F1 World Championship to Red Bull's Max Verstappen in controversial circumstances, Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth title.

But while winning honours remains a motivation for Hamilton, he feels such feats do not move the needle on the matters he wishes to help solve.

"I think as I started getting older, I started thinking I am winning these championships but what does it really mean?" he added.

"I realised that these championships are very rewarding personally, but they're not changing anything.

"You have another credit to your name, but it doesn't change the world, it doesn't change the fact we still have wars, we still have racial injustice.

"There are still people being abuse, there are all sorts of things out there, so what are we going to use this medium for, what are we going to use this platform for?

"I guess I really discovered my purpose – it's not just being a racing driver."

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali is buoyed by Ferrari's resurgence, saying it is ultimately good for the sport.

Charles Leclerc's win in the 2022 season opener in Bahrain on Sunday was Ferrari's first since 2019, and the last time Ferrari claimed a win from pole position in the season opener was with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, who went on to win that year's driver's championship.

Along with passing on his congratulations to the team, Domenicali - a former team principal with Ferrari - believes it will invigorate interest in the sport.

"Next week there will be another race, then there is Melbourne and then Imola," he told Sky Sport. "I am convinced that we will find the [stands at the] Tosa and Rivazza corners as full as in the good old days.

"The satisfaction for the new regulations lay in seeing a beautiful, intense and interesting race for everyone.

"Then seeing Ferrari so competitive is an extraordinary sign. I say this with caution, but I am very happy. I was certainly pleased for Mattia [Binotto, the current team principal], for the drivers and for everyone who works there."

Ferrari's return to the top step on the podium has come with changes to Formula One regulations, which Domenicali and managing director Ross Brawn were tasked with implementing.

The 56-year-old believes technical regulations have allowed for unprecedented variety in design and engineering, which will positively impact the championship.

"The new F1 brings the technological challenge back to the centre. Last year I remember how many people said F1 would flatten out and talked about the cars all the same," he said.

"I have been in F1 since 1991 and there has never been such a great diversity between the cars, from a technical and technological point of view. This will also affect the competitiveness of the championship. There will be faster cars on some tracks and some faster cars on others."

Lewis Hamilton admitted he does not think Mercedes will be more competitive at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but believes his podium finish in Bahrain has still boosted spirits.

Mercedes struggled with their new W13 car through much of the weekend at Sakhir, but came away with a surprise third-place finish after both Red Bulls failed in the final laps, allowing Hamilton – who had qualified fifth – to capitalise.

While Hamilton has already stated their result was "the best result we could have got" in the circumstances, the seven-time world champion doubts they will be up to the pace in Jeddah.

"No, I don't think so," he said in a news conference. "Of course we've learned a lot from this week. The car was very hard to drive but it could always be worse.

"I’m hoping for the next race we manage to find some improvements but it's a fundamental issue that's going to take a little bit longer I think to fix."

Mercedes previously considered their objective in Bahrain to be damage limitation given their disadvantage, but Hamilton agreed they had been lifted by their unexpected reward.

"I think [it is] incredibly motivating for the whole team," he added. "Everyone’s stayed positive, everyone's just kept their head down and kept working. No one moaned.

"In terms of our processes, in terms of squeezing absolutely everything out of the car, I think that's what we did today. I think that's a true showing of strength within.

"It is such a long season. It's going to be such a hard battle but we love a challenge. I really do enjoy a challenge."

Hamilton would have missed third without the double retirement that hit both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, but the seven-time world champion refused to consider it karma for last year's Abu Dhabi final.

"I don't have a response to it," he added. "I just focused on our job. Obviously it was unfortunate for them today but, yeah, I just focus on positives."

Charles Leclerc and Carlos claimed a Ferrari one-two to emerge as the early pacesetters of the season.

Formula One managing director Ross Brawn is tentatively satisfied by the racing impact of new regulations, following the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

Following an era dominated by the Mercedes team, significant regulation changes have been made for the 2022 season, to allow for closer racing.

Brawn, who was tasked with implementing the regulation changes by Formula One, praised the "raceability" of the current cars in comparison to previous years.

"We're delighted," Brawn told Sky Sports F1 post-race. "It is the first race so we have to be careful but all the signs are that we have moved in the direction that we wanted to move in, and the ability of the cars to race each other has improved.

"In the past we have always focused on car safety and performance. Now we should focus on raceability. That should be in there as well, because there's never been any attention paid to it."

Some of the biggest regulation changes for 2022 relate to aerodynamic output and cleaning up the turbulent wake that quickly overheated following cars in recent past, affecting the potential of wheel-to-wheel racing, despite the optimal increase in performance.

Though lap times during winter testing reflect slower overall performance, Charles Leclerc's win at Sakhir on Sunday didn't come until after a closely fought battle with reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

Brawn believes Formula One is on the path to finding balance.

"We could see from previous cars, you could simply see the downforce or the aerodynamic performance of the car that was following degrading hugely when it was behind another car," he said.

"We (Formula One) can't see the data because we're the commercial rights holder, but the FIA will now look at all the data of the cars and from that, put that into the research program to see how we can improve it further.

"I think anecdotally, you could see the cars can race a lot better."

Carlos Sainz declared Ferrari "properly back" after finishing second in a Scuderia one-two that gave Mattia Binotto sweet relief following two barren years.

Ferrari had not celebrated a race win in Formula One since Sebastian Vettel led a one-two at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc was the junior driver on that occasion, but in Bahrain on Sunday he moved to the top of the drivers' standings for the first time in his career.

Leclerc was a deserving winner, while Sainz profited from a double Red Bull retirement to claim second.

"Ferrari is back and properly back with a one-two, where the team should be and should have been the last few years," Sainz said afterwards. "The hard work is paying off and we are there."

Team principal Binotto had expected Red Bull to be "stronger" and expects both they and Mercedes will "come back very soon", but for now he enjoyed being able to revel in a precious victory.

"It's a relief, it's fantastic. A one-two was unexpected," he told Sky Sports. "It has been a great race and Charles defended the position.

"It was nice to see him battling and fighting for the position, for the win.

"In the end, it was a bit lucky, certainly. It was a heart attack for me on the pit wall, when you're consolidating the position and you've got the safety car 10 laps from the end [before Verstappen retired]."

There is always expectation on Ferrari, so this result should go some way to easing the pressure very slightly.

"The pressure is high, very, very high," Binotto said, "but what we need to do is try to focus on what we are doing and forget about it; otherwise, I think it would be too much stress.

"We came here focused on the performance, trying to have a clean race. The drivers have done the job."