The 2021 season kicked off in fantastic style with the FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2021. Max Verstappen started on pole position, but many were anticipating an intense battle between Red Bull and Mercedes. The race led to an intense battle in the final laps, but it was Lewis Hamilton that finished on top.
After a poor qualifying result for his first race on Aston Martin, things went from bad to worst for four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel. He was handed penalty points and a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags during qualifying, dropping him from his P18 slot on the grid to the rear for the field.
There was also drama for Sergio Perez on his Red Bull debut, as his car lost power on the formation lap. The team had already swapped the control electronics and energy store on Perez’s car before the race. This caused the race start to be aborted and another formation lap to be performed. Perez was eventually able to get going, but had to start the race from the pit lane.
When the lights finally went out, Max Verstappen got away well from pole position. Lewis Hamilton slotted in behind the leading Red Bull. Charles Leclerc briefly challenged Valtteri Bottas for P3 in the first corner. The McLaren teammates were battling side-by-side for much of the opening lap.
The first lap was neutralised when the safety car was deployed for an incident at the rear of the grid. It was the Haas of rookie Nikita Mazepin who spun into the barriers on the outside of turn 3. He lit of the throttle on the exit of the corner, but didn’t have the grip to keep the car in a straight line.
Verstappen complained on the team radio about a potential issue with his throttle. At the race restart, he waited until the start/finish line to speed away,leaving Hamilton almost into the clutches of Leclerc.
Mick Schumacher appeared to have the same traction issue as his fellow Haas teammate, also spinning on the outside of turn 3. However, he was able to continue the race.
Lando Norris showed the pace of the new McLaren with Mercedes power, overtaking Pierre Gasly around the outside of the corner and pulling alongside the Ferrari of Leclerc. Gasly lost his front wing after contact with the rear of Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren. The virtual safety car was deployed to clear the debris from the destroyed front wing of the AlphaTauri.
Norris continued to show the pace of the McLaren when racing resumed, duelling with the Ferrari of Leclerc. He attempted to overtake around the outside of turn 4, but was forced wide by Leclerc, which made Norris slightly irritated. He got by Leclerc the following lap on the inside of the first corner.
The pit window opened on lap 12 and Fernando Alonso was the first taker, trying to undercut Lance Stroll. Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll pitted the following lap, but Stroll was not able to fend off the undercut of Alonso. Ricciardo pitted a lap after his teammate. He lost out to Alonso on the pit stop, but came out of the pit lane narrowly in front of Stroll. Stroll tried to overtake the McLaren using his warmer tyres, but was not able to.
Hamilton pitted on lap 14, putting on a new set of hard tyres since the team had no new sets of medium compound tyres available to use. To the surprise of many, Verstappen did not cover off the undercut the following lap, effectively conceding the lead of the race to Mercedes. Verstappen pitted on lap 18 for a new set of mediums, but that gave Hamilton a 7 second lead.
Perez was in P3, having only pitted under the safety car at the start of the race. He was quickly overtaken by Bottas, potentially throwing another wrench into Red Bull’s plan. Perez pitted for a new set of hard tyres on lap 20, dropping back down outside of the points.
The battle for P8 gave the fans some entertainment, as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz battled it out on the track. Alonso overtook Vettel into T1, but his locked up and ran wide. Sainz, who had followed Alonso by Vettel, then overtook Alonso to take P8. Vettel had a huge lockup in turn 1 on the following lap, showing just how worn his tyres were.
At the halfway point in the race, Verstappen had cut Hamilton’s lead down to just 2 seconds. Mercedes responded by pitting Hamilton for a new set of hard tyres for the three-stop strategy. The team was going to keep Bottas out for a longer stint, but they called him in two laps later. But Bottas’ pit stop was slow due to an issue with the front-right tyre, making the pit stop take 10.9 seconds. He rejoined the race narrowly ahead of Ricciardo.
Fernando Alonso’s debut race in his return season was cut short by a brake issue. He pulled into the Alpine garage on lap 34.
Sergio Perez pitted for his third stop of the evening on lap 39, taking a new set of medium tyres. He rejoined the race in a battle with Lance Stroll over P7, which he eventually won. Verstappen pitted for a new set of hard tyres, having the first sub-two-second pit stop of the 2021 season.
On lap 45, Vettel and Ocon collided in the first corner. Ocon overtook Vettel down the straight, but Vettel locked up in the braking zone, slamming into the back of the Alpine. Crucially, both cars were able to resume the race, avoiding a safety car that would have severely hurt Mercedes’ race strategy. Vettel suffered damage to his front wing. The incident caught the attention of the stewards, earning Vettel a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision.
In the closing laps of the race, the battle for the lead between Hamilton and Verstappen was materialising. Hamilton didn’t have a lot of grip on his older tyres, evident by his big lock up into turn 10, that allowed Verstappen to get close with just 5 laps remaining.
On lap 53 of 56, Verstappen pressured Hamilton into the first corner, but he was not able to get by. He then overtook Hamilton around the outside of turn 4, but he ran wide outside the track limits, like many other drivers had done throughout the race. This move prompted the team to tell Verstappen to return the position to Hamilton by the instruction of race control.
By the last lap, Verstappen was able to get back within DRS range of the leading Mercedes, but he was not able to challenge the Mercedes for victory. This gave Hamilton his first opening race victory since 2015, while Bottas collected the additional point for the fastest lap and the bottom step of the podium.
Not to be forgotten, Perez made a great recovery after starting from the pit lane due to a mechanical failure on the formation lap, finishing the race in the top 5.
It will be another 3 weeks before the drivers will be back on track, as they return to the Imola Circuit after its F1 return last season. The race will be held on the weekend of April 18.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L. Hamilton | ||
| 2 | M. Verstappen | ||
| 3 | V. Bottas | ||
| 4 | L. Norris | ||
| 5 | S. Perez | ||
| 6 | C. Leclerc | ||
| 7 | D. Ricciardo | ||
| 8 | C. Sainz | ||
| 9 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 10 | L. Strol | ||
| 11 | K. Raikkonen | ||
| 12 | A. Giovinazzi | ||
| 13 | E. Ocon | ||
| 14 | G. Russell | ||
| 15 | S. Vettel | ||
| 16 | M. Schumacher | ||
| 17 | P. Gasly | ||
| 18 | N. Latifi | ||
| DNF | F. Alonso | ||
| DNF | N. Mazepin | ||
