Lewis Hamilton called his narrow 0.7s victory over Max Verstappen at the Bahrain Grand Prix one of the hardest races in recent memory.
Hamilton held off a charging Verstappen to win the season opener. The closing stages saw Verstappen reeling Hamilton in and, briefly, get ahead with four laps left.
However, Verstappen had passed Hamilton with all four wheels off the track and had to give the position back immediately. Hamilton was able to stay in front for the final laps to claim the 96th victory of his career.
"What a difficult race that was," Hamilton said after the race.