Ferrari are fast, Mercedes have a mountain to climb and Red Bull are confident they can fix their fuel system problems
Quietly confident in testing, Ferrari played down expectations before the season opener. After Bahrain, though, their form cannot be denied and on this performance they are title contenders. The car is fundamentally quick and is a well-balanced platform at which they can begin to throw upgrades as fast as Maranello can churn them out. Equally, in Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz they have a driver pairing more than capable of making a tilt at titles. Leclerc, especially in the manner of his victory, was superb. Calm, confident and driving with steely grit, he has made unforced errors in the past but there were none in Bahrain. Best of all was his no-nonsense precision in the thrilling scrap with Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is used to muscling around the track but when they went wheel to wheel and Leclerc came back at him, particularly at turn four – heading to the outside, braking late and then turning in across the Red Bull – he laid down his own marker in emphatic terms.