Verstappen leads F1 Bahrain Grand Prix after near collision with Leclerc

Max Verstappen managed to get away fastest on the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, racing away from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as two drivers came together into turn one.

Lance Stroll started his 2024 off in poor fashion, failing to get into Q3 on Friday, before getting entangled with the lower midfield right at the start of Saturday's race.

He spun around having made contact with the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, who needed to pit at the end of the first lap following front wing damage in the collision.

This brought out the first yellow flag of the season, following three practice sessions and qualifying which were pretty lacking in incidents.

A similar incident could have happened further up the grid, with Leclerc and Verstappen almost making contact, but both surviving the early skirmishes.

READ MORE: Horner and Red Bull saga has created paddock 'GOLDFISH bowl'

Verstappen dominates early exchanges

Following a great getaway off the line, Verstappen didn't look back, scampering away from the battles occurring behind him.

Mercedes' George Russell managed to past Leclerc, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton made a move on Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso.

Russell originally looked to be gaining on Verstappen once up to second, but the three-time world champion flexed his muscles in his new RB20 car, and started to pull away in the succeeding laps.

Ferrari team-mates Carlos Sainz and Leclerc ended up fighting each other, rather than their Red Bull and Mercedes rivals in the early stages of the race, and both found themselves outside of the podium positions.

READ MORE: F1 team-mate battles: Hamilton pressure is on at Mercedes as rivals clash

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