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Formula 1's bosses have long championed that one of the key aims of the future is to make drivers the stars again. However much fans love the battle between teams, and the rampant technology development that makes F1 cars so sophisticated and fascinating, it's the gladiatorial moments of wheel-to-wheel action that really get people talking.
In years to come, we will remember Sergio Perez's brilliant charge from the back of the field to take his maiden win at the Sakhir Grand Prix, and we will recall that defining moment when George Russell pulled a decisive overtaking move on Valtteri Bottas at the Sakhir chicane. These are the moments where the drivers surpass the quality of their cars, and that's always been a fundamental thing in driving forward the sport's popularity.
But for all the huge wave of interest surrounding the heroes that were made on the Bahrain outer loop last weekend, Russell and Perez's brilliance has also set some alarm bells ringing about where F1 stands right now. The fact that F1's newest grand prix winner may be left on the beach next year, and its newest young hero may face another year of battling to get out of Q1, is not a good optic for a series that is supposed to be doing all it can to make the drivers the real heroes.
