Four tales of woe from Bahrain and Corsica

1. Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton, who knew he was plain lucky to inherit his 74^th Formula 1 victory, showed class as he consoled Ferrari’s fantastic new star by saying he has “a lot of race wins coming in the future”.

That appears to be an absolutely safe prediction where Charles Leclerc is concerned, but it won’t take away his agony right now after a deserved and utterly convincing first grand prix victory became merely a first podium instead. 

Leclerc had already shown his intent with a maiden pole position, and even a shaky first lap in the race only offered evidence to show just how seriously we must now take the 21-year-old as a world title threat in this, only his second F1 season. Having dropped to third, he fought back to pass Valtteri Bottas and four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel to open up a convincing lead.

Only an MGU-H failure in his hybrid powertain robbed him of victory, the lack of power making the Ferrari defenceless as Hamilton homed in. Cruel, but Leclerc had already ensured the 2019 Bahrain GP will be remembered as significant, as the race in which a shining new star burst through the desert darkness.

2. Sebastian Vettel

Leclerc might be hurting right now, but there’s good cause to argue his team-mate is the one who should feel most depressed after Bahrain. 

First, Vettel was outqualified by his young team-mate, before being left in his dust during the race. Then came yet another clanger and further humiliation.

A spin as Hamilton passed him for what was then second place again raises doubts about Vettel’s resilience in the heat of battle, following the string of mistakes that cost him his title challenge in 2018.

Vettel’s evening only got worse when tyre vibrations led to his front wing shattering from his car following the big drop. He still finished fifth, but as the tone in his voice on the radio following the spin suggested, this had been embarrassing.

3. Renault’s duo

Daniel Ricciardo’s switch from Red Bull hasn’t exactly been seamless following his retirement in Australia, and in Bahrain his race had slid into mediocrity when Renault’s race ended in a whimper.

Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg had passed Ricciardo and survived a clumsy bump from his team-mate to be running sixth when his engine failed, and just moments later, at the same point on the circuit, Ricciardo’s Renault fell silent with an electrical problem.

The double retirement, and specifically Ricciardo’s car being left in an awkward place, did at least save Leclerc’s podium. The safety car was called upon, and at this late stage of the race that meant it led the cars to the finish.

Leclerc had already lost his lead to Hamilton and second place to Bottas, but the anticlimactic finish to a good race that deserved a more fitting conclusion spared the Ferrari further demotion by Max Verstappen’s rapidly closing Red Bull.

Small mercies? In the circumstances, yes. Leclerc put a brave face on his disappointment. But a first podium is still a career landmark, even for a talent with potential of this magnitude.

4. Elfyn Evans

Earlier in the day, on the island of Corsica, Britain’s leading rally star lost a second WRC career victory in a fashion that was almost a direct parallel to the fate that awaited Leclerc.

Elfyn Evans had shone from the start of the Tour of Corsica, the M-Sport Fiesta ace fighting it out for the lead with Toyota’s Ott Tänak on Friday. When the Estonian picked up a puncture on Saturday, Evans was back on top and looked set for his first overseas WRC victory, following his breakthrough home soil success on Wales Rally GB in 2017.

On Sunday, Evans began the final stage with an 11.5sec advantage, a gap surely too large for Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville to overcome. But a puncture on the Powerstage left the Welshman devastated and opened the door for Neuville to score his first win of 2019.

Like Leclerc, Evans clung on to finish third behind six-time world champion Sebastien Ogier. And also like the Monegasque, the performance marks a strong indicator of a bright young star’s growing potency. But that’s probably only of minor consolation right now.

Just ask his F1 comrade in misfortune. Leclerc would understand.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.