The teams and drivers were in Bahrain for the first or two weekends that the circuit. This time is was for the FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2020. The race was won by Lewis Hamilton, but it was overshadowed by a scary crash for Romain Grosjean in the opening lap of the race that caused a lengthy delay. The Frenchman was lucky to escape the fiery accident and was transported to hospital for burns and other minor injuries.
When the lights went out, Lewis Hamilton had a good start from pole position. His teammate had a terrible start alongside from the front row, dropping back multiple positions. Alex Albon had a good start from P4 on the grid, but he wasn’t able to capitalize on it because of the slower Bottas blocking his way. Sergio Perez also had a brilliant start, shooting up the middle into P3 because the first corner.
Sebastian Vettel collided with the sidepod of Lance Stroll’s Racing Point in turn 2. This caused a lot of bumping throughout the field and created an accordion effect. Romain Grosjean had a good exit out of turn 3 relative to the cars around him. He moved to the right side of the circuit to avoid the slower cars in front of him.
However, he was not clear of the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat. The rear of the Haas made contact with the front tyre of the AlphaTauri, spinning Grosjean towards the barrier and causing one of the worst accidents Formula One has seen in well over a decade.
Grosjean’s car punched through the Armco barrier. The barrier split the car in half just behind of Grosjean’s seat. The car, loaded with fuel at the start of the race, erupted into flames. The cockpit was engulfed in flame with Grosjean still inside. The medical car arrived on the scene within seconds, having started the race at the rear of the grid, as is the standard procedure. The staff from the medical car were able to combat the flames with their fire extinguisher, helping Grosjean climb from the car. Grosjean was trapped within the inferno for 10-20 seconds.
Grosjean was able to walk from the car under his own power. He was transported to hospital with burns and potential broken bones. The accident was a graphic example of just how far safety has come in Formula One and highlighted the amazing work of the marshals who work tirelessly to keep everyone safe. Most of all, the crash also showed the value of the Halo, which almost certainly saved a life in Bahrain.
The race was immediately stopped so clear the debris and to make extensive repairs to the barriers. The damaged section of Armco barrier was replaced with temporary concrete blocks. It was a lengthy delay and it was an opportunity for everyone in the paddock and those watching on TV to regain composure after this shocking start to the race.
The race was resumed via a standing start. Hamilton got away well again from pole position. Verstappen didn’t have a great start, but was able to hold off Perez in the first corner. Albon was fighting wheel-to-wheel with Bottas through the turn 5-6-7 sequence.
But it was not a clean start to the race, as Lance Stroll found himself hanging upside down in turn 8. He turned into the apex of the corner, but Daniil Kvyat was there. The two made wheel-to-wheel contact, rolling Stroll’s car over. Kvyat was later given a 10 second time penalty for the incident. Fortunately, it was not as bad as the first incident, although it was enough to bring out the safety car.
Bottas dropped down near the back of the field during the safety car period. He had to pit for a new set of tyres, after picking up a puncture from some debris on the circuit.
The race restarted on lap 9. Verstappen responded well to Hamilton’s acceleration into the final corner, but did not get a great run out of the final corner, allowing Hamilton to pull a gap down the main straight.
Charles Leclerc dove up the inside of Esteban Ocon into the first corner, but Ocon wasn’t giving up without a fight. He fought back in the first sector, retaking the position.
A few laps later, Carlos Sainz overtook Leclerc on the inside of the first corner for P7. Leclerc fought back, but nearly lost the rear of the car. This cost him some speed, putting him behind Daniel Ricciardo. Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari was at the rear of the field complaining that the car was “undriveable”.
The pit window opened on lap 17. Ricciardo was one of the first cars to pit for fresh tyres, taking a set of the hard compound tyres. Hamilton pitted for a set of medium tyres on lap 20, as did Albon. Verstappen and Perez took a different strategy to the race leader, taking sets of hard tyres the following lap.
The middle section of the race was quite orderly.
Verstappen opened the second pit window, taking a new set of hard tyres on lap 35. The pit stop was slow with some issues at the rear of the car. Hamilton responded to Red Bull’s pit stop. He pitted the following lap for a set of new hard tyres. Perez did the same a lap later.
After the second round of pit stops, Verstappen was a little more than 3 seconds behind the leading Mercedes, but the gap was increasing in size.
In the other Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas had managed to recover to within the points scoring position, after having dropped to the rear after the first safety car.
Verstappen made another pit stop for a set of used medium tyres with ten laps remaining in the race. The move allowed him to improve on his fastest lap time, securing the extra point for the fastest lap. The strategy call also gave Verstappen an edge, if there was a late safety car, as he would have the fresher and softer compound than Hamilton.
With less than five laps remaining in the race, Perez’s race ended in heartbreak. His car came to a smokey end on lap 55 and he had to pull off the circuit to get marshals to extinguish the flames pouring out the rear of the car.
Safety car was deployed to remove the car. This could have given Red Bull a big advantage, but with not enough laps remaining in the race for the marshals to remove the car, the race was finished behind the safety car.
Hamilton took the victory ahead of Verstappen, who also collected an extra point for the fastest lap. Albon joined them on the podium, inheriting P3 from Perez. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz rounded up the top 5.
The F1 circus will stay in Bahrain for another race. With just two weeks of racing left in the season, the race at the outer loop layout of this circuit will take place next weekend on December 6.
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Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
