The Briton, who had finished fourth in Saudi Arabia, had said: “Red Bull are just as quick in qualifying. They're just as quick as us in the race. Just because we're quick in practice, people just keep coming up with all this this crap.

Bahrain showed just how costly anything less than perfect from Lando Norris can be when it comes to shipping points

Verstappen started on pole but was handed a five-second penalty for cutting the corner to stay ahead of Piastri at turn one, allowing the Australian to take the lead at the pit stops. He went on to a comfortable win and with it assumed the lead of the drivers' championship for the first time in his career,