Charles Leclerc headed Carlos Sainz in a one-two finish for Ferrari following a dramatic conclusion to the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Leclerc comfortably led from pole position despite briefly trading the lead against Max Verstappen on Laps 17 and 18, before eventually surviving a late Safety Car to take his third F1 victory and lead the championship for the first time.
Leclerc also picked up the point for fastest lap meaning that he sits top of the standings with 26 points.
Sainz finished second for a first Ferrari one-two finish since 2019 Singapore Grand Prix after Verstappen suffered a power unit failure on Lap 54, with Hamilton rounding out the podium for Mercedes in his first race since he was cruelly denied an eighth title last season in Abu Dhabi.
George Russell finished fourth on his full-time debut for Mercedes ahead of Kevin Magnussen who returned to F1 after an one-season absence, with Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top nine.
Guanyu Zhou became the first Chinese driver to score points in F1 on his debut for Alfa Romeo after snatching one point, having finished tenth.
Sergio Perez meanwhile suffered a race-ending spin on the final lap to heap further misery on Red Bull after Verstappen’s retirement just moments earlier.
At lights out, Leclerc got a clean start to lead from Verstappen and Sainz as Hamilton and Magnussen cleared Perez for fourth and fifth.
Perez however was able to clear Magnussen two laps later after the returning Danish driver ran wide at Turns One and Four, with Russell also passing Magnussen two laps later to demote the Haas driver to seventh.
Hamilton chased Sainz in the opening laps but soon fell away and found himself passed by Perez on Lap 10, as the pit window opened two laps later with Hamilton first to make his stop as he gambled for hard tyres but had to stop twice again later in the race.
Up front, Leclerc built a near four-second gap to Verstappen when the latter pitted at end of Lap 14 for new soft tyres, with Leclerc following suit a lap later which left him closer to Verstappen then prior to his stop.
Verstappen twice attempted first corner lunges which successfully saw him briefly lead on Laps 17 and 18 but Leclerc got the traction to retake around the outside then inside respectively on both laps.
Leclerc eventually secured the lead on Lap 19 after Verstappen attempted another first corner lunge but locked up and ran wide, which enabled the Monegasque to breeze back past into the lead, as he controlled the race through the second and third pit-stop windows.
Lap 46 however saw the Safety Car deployed for five laps after Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire out of Turn Three, which denied this race the prospect of being the first season-opener without a single race retirement.
On the restart, Leclerc sprinted away unchallenged to victory as Sainz duelled with Verstappen until he was able to get past at Turn 11 for second on Lap 54, as Verstappen’s power unit eventually gave up and he retired in the pits.
Perez meanwhile fought off Hamilton but his power unit locked up in the middle of the first corner on the final lap, sending the Mexican into a race-ending spin to gift Hamilton third place ahead of Russell and Magnussen.
Bottas managed to finish sixth on his Alfa Romeo debut ahead of Ocon, Tsunoda, Alonso and Zhou who rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | 1h 37m 33.584 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 57 | + 5.598 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | + 9.675 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | + 11.211 |
| 5 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 57 | + 14.754 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 57 | + 16.119 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 57 | + 19.423 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 57 | + 20.386 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 57 | + 22.390 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 57 | + 23.064 |
| 11 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 57 | + 32.574 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 57 | + 45.873 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | 57 | + 53.932 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 57 | + 54.975 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | + 56.335 |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 57 | + 61.795 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin | 57 | + 63.829 |
| RET | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 56 | Spin |
| RET | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 55 | Power Unit |
| RET | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 45 | Power Unit |
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