The Bahrain Grand Prix was won on Sunday by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in an exciting race ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton managed to get P3 on the last lap due to the failure of Sergio Perez with technical problems on his Red Bull car.
Max Verstappen who tried to beat Monegask the entire race from P2 lost speed 3 laps before the end and had to finish in the garage.
At the Bahrain International Circuit, the race started with Charles Leclerc in pole position followed by Max Verstappen in P2 and Carlos Sainz in third place. In the run to the first corners, a combination was won by Leclerc, which meant that the Dutchman had to attack for the lead. Sainz followed but seemed to be under pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Kevin Magnussen in de Haas had a dream start and moved up to P5 ahead of Sergio Perez.
After two laps there seemed to be some peace in the resulting ranking. This was slightly changed by a braking error by Magnussen which allowed Perez to take advantage. George Russell also saw this and was keen in the battle for P6. Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren had a bad start which left the Australian in last position behind Nicholas Latifi. A touch came between Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and Mick Schumacher’s Haas, but both drivers were able to continue on. The German did lose positions and dropped to P13.
Pole position Leclerc brilliant team result according to Ferrari
Loud applause from the stands as Sergio Perez overtook Lewis Hamilton in the battle for P4. The Red Bull driver passed the Mercedes slightly and then drove away. Perez’s teammate, Max Verstappen, once again complained over the radio about loss of traction. While that was happening Hamilton made his first pit stop just like Fernando Alonso. The Briton dropped back to P12 between Guanzy Zhou and Alex Albon. Alonso came back on track and dropped to P20. The pit stops alternated, which changed the battle order in the field.
In lap 15 action at Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen made a pit stop and got new tires as the Dutchman fell back to P4 behind Russell. Sainz also opted for new tires and followed the world champion. Ferrari also had Leclerc make a stop, which allowed the fight for P1 to ignite between the Dutchman and the Monegask. Verstappen was able to make an action on Leclerc and passed the Ferrari. However, Leclerc was able to hit back and build a defense. Sainz was able to follow the ruffs at 9 seconds.
The titanic battle between Verstappen and Leclerc lasted until the twentieth round. The cat and mouse game was won by the leader of the match, Leclerc. because the Dutchman lost his DRS distance on the Ferrari and had to stop the attack for the time being. In midfield, Bottas was engaged in a fight for P11 with Yuki Tsunoda.
On lap 26 Fernando Alonso made his second pit stop which saw the Spaniard relinquish P9 to teammate Esteban Ocon. Alonso dropped back to P14 behind Albon but was able to quickly pass the AlphaTauri. Now Schumacher came in the hare in the sights of the veteran. For the German, the fight for P9 was on between Tsunoda, Bottas and Zhou.
Lewis Hamilton made another pit stop on lap 28, the Briton dropped behind Pierre Gasly due to the tire change from P4 to P8. Perez took advantage and advanced to P4 with a 20 second lead over Russel. Kevin Magnussen followed the top 5 calmly.
On lap 31 Max Verstappen came in and switched to the medium tire the Dutchman thought of an undercut and it seemed to go well. Ferrari acted on the action of the Dutchman and Leclerc ran inside. The Monegask switched to the red belt and after his switch was able to keep Verstappen’s RB 18 behind him once back on the track. Carlos Sainz took the lead for the time being due to the tire change, with a lead of 2 seconds over Perez. That didn’t last long when the aforementioned duo came in for a tire stop. At that point Hamilton passed Kevin Magnussen in the battle for P5 after 35 laps
In the middle of the field, Tsunoda attacked Alonso’s Alpine and was now able to hunt for the Spaniard’s teammate, Ocon, in P10. While 40 laps of racing had passed. Zhou seemed to be able to manifest himself well in his first race in P12 behind teammate Bottas. Verstappen again took the initiative by opting for a three-stage strategy on lap 43 by going for new rubber again. The Dutchman was able to make a free stop. and was followed into the pit lane by teammate Perez. Charles Leclerc did not react for the time being and continued undisturbed. Sainz did go in for new tires. At that time, a radio message came to Red Bull that the Dutchman had a problem with his wheelhouse. yet the Limburger was on his way quickly.
The battle was somewhat neutralized by a stationary and heavily smoking AlphaTauri car of Pierre Gasly after the first corner. The driver came out of his car unscathed, causing a Virtual Safety Car situation that was converted to a physical Safety Car. Leclerc seized the situation to make a free pit stop and was therefore able to remain in the lead. The VSC became a Safety Car that stayed on track until lap 50. Leclerc was allowed to set the pace and lead the restart.
The Ferrari driver pushed hard and made drove off. Carlos Sainz saw his chance in an attack on Verstappen while Leclerc already had a gap of 1.4 seconds on the Dutchman. Sainz was 0.679 seconds from the Limburger. Perez followed with Hamilton behind him.
The final phase came in the last 5 laps while Hamilton could start thinking about an attack on Perez. Sainz in turn smelled blood and crawled within the DRS distance of Verstappen. The Dutchman seemed to be having problems with his batteries and was not happy. The Dutchman was passed who clearly has technical problems. The Dutchman had to come in with 3 laps remaining. On the last lap Leclerc was able to drive undisturbed to the finish for the win followed by Sainz. Perez was unable to keep Hamilton to himself as the Mexican spun as the engine stalled at the exit of Turn 1. The drama pushed Lewis Hamilton through to P3. George Russell in P4 saw Kevin Magnussen close the top 5 for Haas.
Results FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2022
