Mercedes' Allison: "Mass hysteria when Hamilton crossed the line first"

The Mercedes team has won quite a few races in recent seasons. In fact, the 2020 season was their most dominant season to date with no less than 13 wins. Still, victory in Bahrain will feel like one of the sweetest of recent years for the Brackley-based team.

That feeling also underlines Mercedes' Chief Technical Officer, James Allison. "It was one of the most exhilarating but also nerve-wracking experiences I've ever had on a circuit," Allison tells Formula1.com. "We were all holding our breath, crossing our fingers and hoping with everything we had that Lewis would be able to hold out until the very end."

So the 53-year-old Briton agrees that Bahrain was a special race: "Last year we won a lot of races through strong performances, but not many of those races are as memorable as this one in Bahrain."

Hamilton's performance was the cause of particular euphoria: "To do it in such style, with such perfect positioning of his car when Max tried to overtake him in Turn 4, he did it with so much class. And when he finally crossed the line there was an eruption of mass hysteria in our garage. Pure, ultimate pleasure."