Max Verstappen cruises to victory at the F1 season opener in Bahrain as Red Bull shake off Christian Horner's texting drama to seal a 1-2 finish with Sergio Perez second... while Carlos Sainz takes final podium spot

Max Verstappen did as Max Verstappen does. Oh yikes, the opening race of the season in Bahrain followed the pattern of last year, the Dutch master winning comfortably.

On a weekend of extraordinary drama off the track, this was a race as dull as you could imagine. Much as you can't fail to acknowledge a genius at work it doesn't add up to competition. Verstappen, cantering for sure, was 22 seconds clear of his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez by the end of the 57 laps.

But, still, credit to the triple world champion for keeping his calm amid the cacophony within the team, where his boss Christian Horner is fighting accusations of sending sexually suggestive texts to a female employee – a tranche of which came into the public domain on Thursday.

The build-up to the race was marked by this. It started with Horner, 50, making his way through a gate behind the team's hospitality area and slipping behind its red netting to meet up with his ex-Spice Girl wife Geri as she arrived an hour and 45 minutes before the lights went out.

They then came in hand-in-hand through the main gates, accompanied by photographers and onlookers all craning the necks for the sight of the couple putting on a show of solidarity amid the worst crisis of their lives. She smiled. He smiled.

Max Verstappen won the Formula One season opener in Bahrain in dominant fashion

Reigning world champion Verstappen's victory followed the same pattern as last year

Besieged Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was accompanied by wife Geri Horner

He winked to somebody – a friendly, half-defiant, nervous wink – and they went up the steps, his hand supportively on her back, to a sanctuary of sorts, namely the team hospitality area whence he had slipped a few minutes before to greet his wife of nine years.

She in a soft lemon dress and carrying a black handbag, joined him in talking to Heineken owners, heiress Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and husband Michel. All smiles. Cameras clicked.

By this point, Jos Verstappen, father and mentor to unstoppable Max, had left the confines of the Red Bull areas for the wider paddock. 

He chatted elsewhere but he could see what was happening as he looked up to follow every move, his stomach churning for he is no fan of the besieged Horner (who it should be said was cleared by an internal investigation by Red Bull's parent company earlier in the week – a process involving a 150 page report compiled by a KC).

The Horners sat down at the back of the hospitality area. Cutlery was brought. The Red Bull PR man sat down with them. So did Flavio Briatore, the former Benetton and Renault boss, joined, too. 

Later, Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai majority shareholder of Red Bull, and his wife, drew up a pew. Horner hugged Chalerm. Some believes the Englishman owes him his continued employment as £8million-a-year team principal to this billionaire – his protector, it is alleged by doubters, from the accusations that have hit him.

Verstappen fist-pumped in front of Red Bull's engineers after starting the new season superbly

Sergio Perez took second place to seal a 1-2 for last season's constructors' champions

Perez powered beyond Mercedes' George Russell and held off the charge of both Ferraris

Horner kissed Geri, 51, before leaving for the grid. Geri did not join him out there for the pre-race preparations – she usually doesn't, actually. It seems she slipped out before or during the early stages of the race, perhaps to contemplate the misfortunes that have beset her.

She didn't miss much. Verstappen, starting on pole, took his 18th win in 19 races and his 36th since Lewis Hamilton last won, in Saudi Arabia, the race before the Abu Dhabi debacle that shook him to the core as he missed out so controversially on an eighth title.

Verstappen came over the radio to say: 'Great start to the year, guys, a one-two finish as well, so fantastic.

Horner replied: 'As you say, Max, pole position, one-two finish, fastest lap, a clean sweep. A brilliant way to start the year. Thanks very much.'

Perez, in the other Red Bull, turned himself into runner-up by passing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on lap 11 and Mercedes' George Russell three laps later. 

No matter what you think of Horner, he runs a mighty team. 

Mercedes were disappointing. Russell, who started second finished fifth. Hamilton started ninth and finished seventh, 50 seconds behind Verstappen. Oh dear. 

The Ferraris were marginally better: Carlos Sainz started fourth and finished third – not bad for a guy about to be chucked overboard to make way for Hamilton from 2025. Leclerc started second and finished fourth after some early-race problems with oversteer.

McLaren's Lando Norris finished sixth and team-mate Oscar Piastri eighth.

Sorry, nothing much else to report.