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Mercedes squandered a possible double win with a single series of breakdowns at the Sakhir GP in Bahrain. Shortly before the end of the race, the tires of Hamilton’s main replacement George Russell and race runner-up Valtteri Bottas were changed, after which Russell also suffered a puncture. This allowed Mexican Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) in the 190th race to win the first Grand Prix ahead of Esteban Ocon. Bottas finished eighth, Russell only ninth at the end.
The 22-year-old Russell appeared to be on the road to a sensational victory long after taking the lead from poleman Bottas at the start and had been in the lead for most of the 87-lap race. But shortly before the finish, during a safety car phase, Mercedes completely screwed up a tire change that was only intended to be a safety stop, swapping tires at Russell and Bottas. Russell started a race to reach second place, but a “puncture” finally put an end to his hopes of victory.
A week after the fiery hell in the Romain Grosjean crash in Bahrain, there was another crazy and dramatic Grand Prix during the race on the “Outer Circuit”, this time short, but this time with three outsiders on the podium. While the 30-year-old Pérez celebrated his first GP victory in the 194th race, never before has a premier class driver taken so long, Renault driver Esteban Ocon took the podium for the first time. Perez’s teammate Lance Stroll came third, which, thanks to two cars on the podium, was especially happy for Andreas Weißenbacher of Austrian title sponsor BWT.
Russell, who was on duty for world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was suffering from Covid, continued his sensational performance, which was already on show in qualifying, with a flawless start under the spotlights, and immediately took the lead in turn one in front of the poleman Bottas. Three laps later there were sparks and fire again as Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Pérez’s car touched. Max Verstappen crashed into the wall with his Red Bull while trying to evade and fell.
Perez was able to continue the short-distance chase for 87 laps after a pit stop. The Mexican made his way successively from 18th and last place and then was the big winner at the end. “I think I’m dreaming,” the second winner of the Mexican Grand Prix since Pedro Rodríguez in 1967 and the 110th in Formula 1 history was initially surprised. This surprise hit could still result in a booth for the still-club-less Mexican in 2021. One possibility would be Red Bull.
After the initial yellow flag, Russell also rebooted in the style of a world champion and then had little trouble hanging out in the car of seven-time champion Hamilton Bottas. The Finn soon had a comfortable advantage over Carlos Sainz. And that’s despite the fact that both Mercedes were on the road on the slower yellow medium tires. As a result, Russell and Bottas were able to stay on the track longer and stretched the first period to lap 46 and pitted for the supposedly only time.
Later, Russell was briefly surprised by a sensor error message about a supposed loss of performance. In the end, however, it was human error that deprived the young driver of his first GP victory. Because in a new phase of safety car, with a clear advantage from Mercedes, both cars were taken to the pits and everything broke down because the tires of the two drivers were mixed and badly positioned. Russell had to go back into the pits to clean up his set of “mixed” tires.
The Briton grabbed Bottas, Stroll and Ocon one after another and, thanks to the fastest lap of the race, came within three seconds of Pérez. Eventually, he was denied a happy ending due to the finish puncture in the left rear. Whether he would at least have the points for ninth place and the fastest lap in the race was also initially uncertain due to a possible penalty for the wrong tires. “What else can I say? It’s a shame,” Russell said.
With Sergio Pérez, however, luck returned. A week ago he was third in Bahrain shortly before the end. This time he got his first victory, although he had returned to the end of the field after the collision on the starting lap.
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