Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb, Tom Howard

Summary

Leaderboard

  1. Leclerc, Ferrari
  2. Sainz, Ferrari
  3. Hamilton, Mercedes
  4. Russell, Mercedes
  5. Magnussen, Haas
  6. Bottas, Alfa Romeo
  7. Ocon, Alpine
  8. Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
  9. Alonso, Alpine
  10. Zhou, Alfa Romeo
  • F1 Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 6pm local time (3pm GMT)
  • Leclerc begins on pole from Verstappen, Sainz
  • Leclerc leads Verstappen at the end of the opening lap, Hamilton and Magnussen pass Perez for P4 and P5 respectively. Perez recovers to P5 on Lap 2/57
  •  Ocon (Alpine) picks up a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Mick Schumacher (Haas) 
  • Perez recovers to P4 by passing Hamilton on lap 10/57
  • After first round of pit stops, Leclerc leads Verstappen, the two tussle for the lead, swapping positions.
  • Leclerc continues to lead Verstappen after second round of stops on lap 35/57
  • Red Bull opt for a late three-stop strategy, Sainz, Hamilton react 
  • Safety Car lap 46/57 - Gasly's AlphaTauri stops, car catches fire, leader Leclerc pits
  • Verstappen retires due to a mechanical issue with four laps remaining 
  • Perez spins out of the race from third on the penultimate lap.
  • Leclerc wins the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sainz claims P2 for a Ferrari 1-2. Hamilton third for Mercedes, Russell fourth. 
  • Points for Magnussen, Bottas, Ocon, Tsunoda, Alonso and Zhou 
Status: Stopped
And that's all from us today - thanks so much for joining us, and stick with us for all the round up and reaction. We'll see you next week for the Saudi Arabian GP at Jeddah.
Win #3 for Charles Leclerc - and the double dose of the Monegasque and Italian national anthems. Could you ask for a jollier duo of anthems?
Hamilton: "Firstly, a big congratulations to Ferrari, happy to see them doing well again! I think it was such a difficult race, we struggled throughout practice, but we did the best we could."
Sainz: "First of all, congrats to Charles and congrats to Ferrari - Ferrari is back! For me, it's been a tricky weekend, I'm not going to lie. I've got some homework to do over the next few days, but we'll come back stronger."
Leclerc: "Again, I keep repeating myself but the past two years have been incredibly difficult for the team. It was a huge opportunity for the team - we couldn't hope for better."
That's a very happy Ferrari team - great to see after a sparse couple of years for the team. Meanwhile, big inquest to go on in the newly-formed Red Bull Powertrains division, as three RBPT-powered cars end the day early.
Ferrari hasn't won since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix - that was a 1-2 then, too. Big return for the Scuderia - a statement of intent.
 
Bottas takes sixth in his first Alfa Romeo race, ahead of Ocon, Tsunoda, Alonso, and rookie Zhou takes home 10th on his debut.
Lewis Hamilton bags third ahead of George Russell, as Kevin Magnussen bags some sweet points for Haas in fifth!
But after all of that, it's victory for Charles Leclerc - and Carlos Sainz Jr completes the Ferrari 1-2!
Hamilton bangs on the DRS, right on Perez's tail - and Perez spins at Turn 1! His rear just locked - and that's it! Both Red Bulls done - and Hamilton up to third!
"I'm losing power!" says Perez - he's struggling too! Huge powertrain problems - he's being gee'd up by engineer Hugh Bird to get the car to the finish.
Verstappen's retirement has, obviously, promoted everyone behind up a spot, so it means Alonso is into the final points place.
Hamilton's gunning for a podium here now, as he's all over Perez's tail. Russell's staying close too.
"We can see the issue Max, it's not battery related - there's not a lot we can do." He's pitting - day done for Verstappen!
Sainz grabs DRS second time around, however, and stays close on the infield section. Verstappen is effing and blinding over his battery, as Sainz dives past Verstappen at Turn 11 - it's Ferrari 1 and 2!
Zhou tucked up the inside of Schumacher at Turn 10 and with a better exit powered ahead into Turn 11 to take 12th place. Schumacher won't lose any further places because nobody is behind him as they were all the lapped cars.
Sainz has dropped out of DRS range of Verstappen as it's once again activated following the restart. Leclerc's lead, however, is continuing to grow once more at 2.9s at the start of lap 54. Four to go.
F1 debutant Zhou also sniffed an overtake on Schumacher but the German defends at Turn 1 to keep position. But not for long as Zhou fights back and takes 12th.
Leclerc's after an early break and with Sainz keeping Verstappen, he's building it.
Alonso also overtakes Schumacher, getting by at Turn 11, to take 11th place.
Tsunoda the only key mover at the restart, getting up to 10th ahead of Schumacher at Turn 4.
Leclerc gets us underway, as Sainz tees up a move on Verstappen! Verstappen holds second, but Sainz is on him like a rash!
Here we go, restart ahoy!
All drivers are on softs for this restart. Seven-lap sprint to the finish. Here we go!
The safety car will come in at the end of lap 50. Verstappen's going to have to do this without the benefit of consistent power steering - although the situation is apparently "stable".
Abu Dhabi GP flashback intensifies.
"Lapped cars may now overtake". That's ALL lapped cars, not just any.
"It's more and more difficult to steer with speed," Verstappen reports over the radio.
Gasly's stricken AlphaTauri remains stranded trackside, still smoking gently after the fire was put out, which looked like an electrical fire.
"We don't believe it's a reliability concern at this stage," says Gianpiero Lambiase - Verstappen's engineer.
 
The safety car picks up Leclerc, as Verstappen still continues to struggle with issues with his power steering. However, he stays out, and will sit behind Leclerc.
TV replays show Gasly coming out of Turn 1 and losing all power before smoke starts to emerge from the rear of his car and he pulls over and stops. Thankfully he is all OK.
Leclerc's being called into the pits, so he should be able to stay in the lead out there - it's just about hanging on at the restart, as we've now got a full safety car.
Gasly's AlphaTauri is on fire! He parks up and hops out of the car.
Verstappen's struggling with something out there, but he's going quickly on those softs. Hamilton also pits for softs.
 

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA