Red Bull's Max Verstappen won his first race of the season in a dramatic rain-affected Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli finished second in the Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton completed the podium after fighting back from an incorrect tyre choice. Antonelli extended his championship lead to 84 points, while George Russell retired with an engine failure.
This weekend features the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay. Andrew Benson answers fan questions regarding wet-weather racing. A fan asks if overly cautious approaches prevent exciting wet races when rain falls before the start.
Benson explains that the Malaysia delay was caused by a bug in the FIA's wet-weather engine settings, affecting Verstappen and Hamilton on the front row. The formation laps had to be aborted, and a new code uploaded. By race start, the track had dried after 25 minutes, though a safety car on lap nine helped intermediate tyre users switch to slicks.
On a general level, F1 has no fundamental objection to wet racing, but there is a collective agreement not to race when visibility is poor. Another fan queries if Hamilton could have won Bahrain had he started on intermediates. Benson clarifies there was no direct pace comparison, as Hamilton started on slicks while Verstappen used intermediates, and tyre age significantly impacted performance.
Hamilton was within 0.1 seconds of Verstappen late in the race, but the outcome remains speculative. Regarding Malaysia's future, a fan asks about a permanent return. The simple answer is money; the government stopped paying the rights fee, feeling the expense did not justify the return.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing