Formula One News
Charles Leclerc won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, the opening round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship, leading Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari 1-2.
Leclerc held off a stern challenge from Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen, who swapped the lead in the middle phase of the race. But Verstappen was forced out with a loss of power in the closing stages, handing Ferrari its 1-2 finish.
Red Bull’s day turned to disaster when Sergio Perez lost third place on the final lap when his engine cut out, handing Lewis Hamilton the final spot on the podium.
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How the Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded
From pole position Leclerc (on brand-new soft tyres) led Verstappen (on scrubbed softs). Sainz held third as Hamilton jumped up to fourth, passing Perez – who made a poor exit from Turn 1 – with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas also passing the second Red Bull soon after.
Mercedes’ George Russell rose to seventh from ninth on the opening lap, running ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, the latter tagging Mick Schumacher’s Haas into a spin at Turn 5. Ocon was penalized 5s for the clash.
Perez repassed Magnussen on Lap 3 at Turn 4, after Magnussen overshot Turn 1. Magnussen made a second error at Turn 1 and allowed Russell up to sixth.
Leclerc led Verstappen by 2.8s on Lap 10, the Red Bull man being told to drop back to cool his brakes. Behind them, Perez DRS-ed past Hamilton into Turn 4 on Lap 10 to take fourth.
Hamilton triggered the pit sequence, stopping for hard tyres on Lap 12. “No grip on this tyre,” he rued as he struggled for initial tyre temperature.
Verstappen, Sainz and Magnussen stopped on Lap 15 for another set of softs, while Gasly, Alonso and Ocon opted for mediums. Leclerc pitted a lap later for softs, along with Perez and Russell who took mediums, while Russell mirrored Hamilton and took mediums.
Verstappen was now right on Leclerc’s tail and went on the attack – taking the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 17 but Leclerc grabbed it back at Turn 4. They repeated those overtakes on the following tour, but on Lap 19 Verstappen had a huge lockup as he passed Leclerc at Turn 1 and Max then slipped out of DRS range while being warned about his brake temperatures again.
Hamilton ditched his hard tyres for mediums on Lap 28, with Verstappen also going for mediums on Lap 32 and Leclerc covering him a lap later. Leclerc rejoined with just enough breathing space over Verstappen this time, who blamed the team for telling him to take it easy on the out-lap.
Sainz ran longer and led for a few laps, pitting on Lap 34 as did Perez – who went for softs on his alternate strategy to those ahead.
The Red Bulls then triggered a sequence of third pitstops, with Sainz stopping to cover Perez as Leclerc stayed out – now leading by 25s. Verstappen complained of steering issues after he rejoined but his team reassured him it wouldn’t lead to a retirement.
Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire causing a safety car on Lap 46. Leclerc pitted, taking softs like all of those behind him.
The restart heralded a charge to the finish, with Leclerc leading Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Hamilton and Russell. Sainz challenged Verstappen as Leclerc jumped clear, while Perez held off an attack from Hamilton.
Verstappen then hit power issues, allowing Sainz to outdrag him into Turn 11 on Lap 54 before coasting into the pits. Perez also hit power issues, allowing Hamilton right on to his tail.
Perez spun at Turn 1 at the start of the final lap as his engine cut out, promoting Hamilton to third from Russell.
Magnussen finished fifth, ahead of Valtteri Bottas (who recovered after a poor start in his Alfa Romeo), Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Alonso and a point on his debut for Alfa’s Guanyu Zhou.
