WATCH: Mazepin crashes out in action-packed Bahrain Grand Prix start

The opening race of the Formula 1 season got underway on Sunday evening – and there was incredible action from the start. After a delayed start, caused by Sergio Perez’s Red Bull stopping on the original formation lap, the race had only just got underway when Haas rookie Nikita Mazepin lost control coming out of Turn 3 and speared into the barriers, ending his maiden F1 race in a matter of seconds.

Afterwards, Mazepin accepted his error: "Well, very simple, made a mistake, the tyres were cold, I got on the kerb and took too much throttle and spun," he said.

"Totally my mistake, very sorry for the team because they deserve to do much better than that. So very angry with myself and yeah, very sorry for the team."

Despite the off, Mazepin said there were still some learnings he could take from his debut weekend.

"Obviously there is always positives to take, my days on track are very long," he said. "They include loads of things so the learning experiences are obviously there. Yeah, and obviously you learn a lot through the days and you have your ups and downs and today is one of the biggest downs but that’s life."

You can watch the opening action in the video above, and tap here to follow the latest from the race in our live blog.