After all the unbridled excitement in the build up to the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, it’s safe to assume that no one imagined the first lap of the race would be another formation lap. As the field completed one more suspense-filled tour of the Bahrain International Circuit while Sergio Pérez trundled into the pitlane, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft asked: “We’ve waited 105 days since Abu Dhabi, what’s an extra lap to anyone?” Well David, for nervous team members and anxious fans all over the world, it was torture!

Good things come to those who wait though, and the race certainly delivered – but all you fans out there don’t need us to tell you that. Judging by your reaction you had a whale of a time, so much so we thought we’d let you do the talking as we reflect on the first round of the 2021 Formula 1 season.

This is the Bahrain Grand Prix according to social media...

Before Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo had even turned a wheel, excitement was reaching fever pitch and things were starting to get ‘schwifty'.

Norty… sorry, Lando, was quick to keep up a tradition from previous seasons during Friday free practice:

As night fell in the desert, a hero was needed. But, with reports of Batman responding to the Bat-Signal over Gotham City at the time of FP2, Formula 1 opted for the Speedmark-Signal instead. P2 and P6 for Lando and Daniel respectively, despite neither being overly happy with the car, was a heroic effort of sorts and one we reckon Bruce Wayne himself would be proud of.

Of course, keeping your body properly fuelled and hydrated – especially in the heat of Bahrain – is always important, even if you are Batman, a honey badger, or 100% recyclable...

The first qualifying of the year was tense, really tense...

But the boys delivered “good times” with Daniel qualifying P6 and Lando P7 – just 0.047s separated them on the timesheet:

By the time race day arrived, excitement had reached the ‘I feel like a child who’s just eaten a load of blue M&Ms’ level: 

However, some fans were still grappling with the biggest dilemma of the weekend: what to wear on the big day?

@andersonlaura12 summed up the sense of anticipation particularly well, leading us to wonder if race days should now be known as ‘Send It Sundays’.

Lando wasted no time sending it around the outside of Daniel and Pierre Gasly at Turn Four in the opening stages of the race and, by lap seven, Charles Leclerc was on his radar… 

With Leclerc despatched and Valtteri Bottas stationary in the pitlane for more than 10 seconds due to a sticking right-front wheel, Lando briefly moved up into a podium position.

…which resulted in:

Lando and Daniel’s on-track exploits weren’t the only cause for elation, a new season brings with it new helmets.

Although Team Quadrant’s attempt at drawing attention to Lando’s new lid didn’t quite get the response they were looking for from some quarters…

Speaking of tweets that didn’t work out quite as well as expected…

After crossing the finish line, with fourth place and a strong start to the season in the bag, Lando’s thoughts immediately turned to the pyrotechnics trackside.

While @Lottieeee’s post-race reflections were so spot-on they could have featured in our Bahrain Grand Prix race report:

Aw shucks, @f1mrfox. It’s almost as if you knew we were putting this article together...

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