March 28 (Reuters) - Seven times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday after an epic battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen over the final laps.
Verstappen, who had started on pole position and passed Hamilton close to the end only to have to hand back the lead for exceeding track limits, finished a mere 0.745 seconds behind. Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas was a distant third.