Sergio Perez won his first ever Formula 1 race earlier today at the Sakhir Grand Prix after a truly extraordinary evening of racing.Perez, 30, managed to beat his Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll and Renault’s Esteban Ocon on his way to securing a first-place finish.Ocon, 24, and Stroll, 22, finished second and third respectively, meaning that Racing Point secured two podium places.Perez will not be the only one who will be in the headlines, however, as this evening’s race marked the debut of George Russell in a Mercedes vehicle, who was promoted due to Lewis Hamilton being unable to compete after testing positive for coronavirus.Russell, 22, was a huge underdog going into the race, but he put on a great performance and showed maturity beyond his years.The 22-year-old was dominant in the early stages of the race, and it looked as if the rookie could have been victorious on his first outing in F1 with Mercedes.The young driver also had a commanding five-second lead over his teammate Valtteri Bottas prior to Mercedes calling in both of their cars for new rubber on lap 63 of 87.

But there was a strange mix up in the Mercedes camp during this pit stop, as their mechanics gave Russell the incorrect tyres as he was pitted under their Safety Car, which forced another pit stop to undo the error.

Russell then suffered a puncture that left him in ninth position at the flag for his Mercedes debut, a respectful finish, however, it could have been even better for the young British driver.

While Russell finished in ninth, Bottas secured an eighth-place finish.