Why no one wants to win the first Grand Prix of the season
General
- GPblog.com
It would be the dream start for Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen to win the first race of the season immediately. In Bahrain, F1 will be driving new cars for the first time, and a win would be the perfect start to the season. However, results from recent years show that Red Bull would rather not have to want to win the first race with Verstappen.
Since the beginning of the hybrid era, it has only happened twice that the winner of the first Grand Prix of the season actually won the title. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg both managed to do so, but since the German's title, the winner of the first race has come up short every year.
Last season, Verstappen seemed to win the first Grand Prix, but due to track limits, Lewis Hamilton crossed the line first. Whether the trend continues this year remains to be seen. In any case, it would be a bad omen for Verstappen if he does manage to win the first race of the season this year.
The winners of the first race and the eventual champion since 2014
| Year: | Winner first Grand Prix: | Championship winner: |
| 2014 | Nico Rosberg | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2015 | Lewis Hamilton | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2016 | Nico Rosberg | Nico Rosberg |
| 2017 | Sebastian Vettel | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2018 | Sebastian Vettel | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2019 | Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2020 | Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2021 | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen |