Hamilton reacts to race win in Bahrain: "What a difficult race that was"

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18:45, 28 Mar 2021

Max Verstappen hunted down Lewis Hamilton during the final ten laps, but it was Hamilton who came out on top to win the first race of the 2021 Formula 1 season. The British driver had older tyres in the final chapter of the race.

Tough race

"What a difficult race that was. Stopping early was going to be difficult but we had to cover, Max. They've had an amazing performance all weekend so it was going to take something pretty special," Hamilton said in the post-race interview.

"We had to find the right balance from not pushing too much and looking after the tyres. Max was all over me at the end but we just about managed to hold him off. Massively grateful to the men and women at the factory to keep pushing the boundaries."

Red Bull Racing had a strong pre-season testing and Verstappen topped the timesheets in all four sessions ahead of the race. Hamilton was pleased to get ahead of his rival early.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	90
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	88
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	60
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	58
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	43
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	29
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	26
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	26
11	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	15
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	13
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Hamilton reacts to race win in Bahrain: "What a difficult race that was"

Tough race

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