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From pole, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton could start the race, who scored his 98th F1 start in Saturday’s time trial. Next to him was Valtteri Bottas, while from the second row, the Red Bulls could wait for the red light to go out.
Ferrari drivers did not make the top 10 in qualifying – Sebastian Vettel cut it down to 11th place and Charles Leclerc only cut it from 12th place for the flashy race.
BRUTAL ACCIDENT AFTER START
Hamilton got off to a great start, but Bottas got stuck badly, so Verstappen, Perez, Albon and Ricciardo could get through as well. Immediately at turn 2, a major accident altered the mood: Romain Grosjean crashed into Daniil Kvyat’s car after a final draw, then crashed into the railing at tremendous speed. Haas broke in two and caught fire in the accident, but Grosjean was able to get out on his own. He suffered minor burns and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
The race, of course, was immediately interrupted and then restarted after a break of almost an hour and a half. Hamilton did well at the beginning again, but Verstappent was attacked by Perez, but the Dutchman was able to repel the attack. Shortly after, the safety car had to be sent to the track, as Daniil Kvyat collided with Lance Stroll. Racing Point was over his head in the accidentHowever, the Canadian fortunately escaped the shipwreck unscathed. Kvyat was later sentenced to 10 seconds for causing the accident.
While the safety car was on the track, Valtteri Bottas was called to the box, fitted with hard mix tires on his car.
The Safety Car left the track on lap 9 and Hamilton retained first place against Verstappen. In third place was Pérez, in fourth place was Albon, ahead of Norris, Ocon and Leclerc.
On lap 12, Sainz passed Leclerc with a beautiful maneuver at the finish line of the Bahrain track, and Ricciardo arrived shortly after. who was also able to walk beyond Monaco. On the next lap, Pierre Gasly also came behind Leclerc, and at the finish line he was also able to overtake the Ferrari driver with relative ease.
Lewis Hamilton reached the end of lap 20 for his first wheel change.: He also got the medium compound tires for the second stage, and Verstappen and Pérez were one lap later. Hamilton’s lead after wheel changes was 6 seconds.
Verstappen also arrived for his second wheel change at the end of lap 34, the hard mix tires being reinstalled on his race car. Hamilton was also a lap later, of course his car had hard tires this time too. At the end of lap 36, Sergio Pérez also arrived at the box for his last planned show, meanwhile Verstappen cut his deficit against Hamilton to 3.6 seconds.
Bottas also had his third wheel change on lap 39, the Finn was disappointing, finishing only 11th. Alex Albon overtook Carlos Sainz with a beautiful maneuver on the same lapand rose to fourth place.
On lap 41, Sainz returned from the area behind Leclerc, but McLaren proved to be more competitive than Ferrari, and the Spaniard got ahead of Monaco with relative ease.
Sebastian Vettel ran a disappointing race: the German had no chance of gaining places and finished 15th on lap 44 ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Lando Norris in the same circle ahead of Gasly, he moved to fifth position.
HAMILTON CAN’T BE CAUGHT
Ten laps before the knockout, Lewis Hamilton’s lead increased to 4.3 seconds over Verstappen, with Perez retaining third place ahead of Alex Albon. Verstappen was also taken out of the box for new medium alloy tires, presumably to get the fastest lap.
On lap 51, Sainz overtook and overtook Pierre Gasly, the Spaniard came to sixth place behind his partner.
PEREZ FALLS OFF THE SQUARE!
Under Sergio Pérez, the Racing Point car was stopped 2 laps before the crash due to an engine failure, the safety car was sent to the track due to the race car being started and the race was also scheduled behind the car of security.
Lewis Hamilton finally won the Bahrain Grand Prix without a hitchAnd Max Verstappen finished second. Alexander Albon could have made it to the bottom of the podium.
Norris, Sainz, Gasly, Ricciardo, Bottas, Ocon and Leclerc also scored points. Sebastian Vettel only finished 14th and finished the weekend without a point.
The Formula One World Championship will continue next weekend at the same location in Bahrain, but already on the outer oval line.
The final result of the Bahrain Grand Prix:
