Max Verstappen of Red Bull  wins Formula 1 in the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, his 55^th grand prix victory, brushing off controversy surrounding his team principal Christian Horner who has been at the centre of a complaint of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague for the last month.  He dominated and overcame Ferrari challenge from Charles Leclerc early on. Verstappen led team-mater Sergio Perez home ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.   

On Wednesday  Red Bull’s head office announced that the grievance had been dismissed but an email containing a cache of messages purporting to involve Horner was sent to Formula 1 personnel and leaked to media 24 hours later.

Horner’s wife,Geri, the former Spice Girl flew into Bahrain for the race, as the pair made what appeared to be a studied and calculated appearance for the cameras.

Verstappen, of course was fully focused on the race  went into the race as a strong favourite, after winner a closer-than-expected battle for pole position with Leclerc. Both Mercedes  were struggling with engine overheating which forced them to turn their power-units down. Hamilton also had battery issues for at least 10 laps which cut his performance further.