Despite not topping any of the free practice sessions, Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominated Saturday's race, with the Dutchman crossing the line 22.5 seconds ahead of his teammate.
IMAGE: BBC
The opening race in Bahrain came with added anticipation after mixed-up practice session results and a close qualifying with all 20 drivers covered by just over a second.
Despite this, after a clean getaway from his pole position grid slot, it was clear after the first few laps that Verstappen would be victorious.
His teammate Sergio Perez had a good start from fifth place, jumping one place by turn one as he got ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. There was a brief yellow flag as Nico Hulkenberg went deep and spun the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll round, knocking them both the back of the pack.
In the opening 20 laps, it was clear that Charles Leclerc was struggling to slow down his Ferrari, especially in turn 11, where he locked his front tyre multiple times. This cost him massively in battles with George Russell, Sergio Perez, and his teammate Sainz.
The Mercedes drivers also started to develop cooling issues, with the team later admitting they went 'too aggressive' with their cooling setup. Russell had strong pace at the start but dropped off as the race went on and the issue worsened.
In the second round of pit stops, Valtteri Bottas suffered a painfully slow pitstop of 52 seconds after a wheel nut issue left the Finn stranded.
Stroll made an impressive recovery to 10th place, come the chequered flag, but it was Sainz who was voted driver of the day by the fans after his impressive drive to third place following close battles with teammate Leclerc.
Verstappen set the fastest lap in the race, extending his advantage in points from seven to eight as a result.
Tensions were high at the end of the race between the two RB drivers, with Yuki Tsunoda being told to move over to allow his teammate Daniel Ricciardo past to attempt to pass the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in the closing laps for 12th place.
Tsunoda was noticeably unhappy with this call as he overtook Ricciardo on the in-lap post race, narrowly avoiding contact, which led to an angry but composed Ricciardo radio message.
Formula 1 will return this weekend for round two of this season with another Saturday race in the Middle East, but this time in Saudi Arabia.