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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix race results: Leclerc wins wild Bahrain GP

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.

2022 Bahrain Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval Points
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc 57 -     26
2 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. 57 5.598 5.598 5.598 18
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 57 9.675 9.675 4.077 15
4 United Kingdom George Russell 57 11.211 11.211 1.536 12
5 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 57 14.754 14.754 3.543 10
6 Finland Valtteri Bottas 57 16.119 16.119 1.365 8
7 France Esteban Ocon 57 19.423 19.423 3.304 6
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 57 20.386 20.386 0.963 4
9 Spain Fernando Alonso 57 22.390 22.390 2.004 2
10 China Zhou Guanyu 57 23.064 23.064 0.674 1
11 Germany Mick Schumacher 57 32.574 32.574 9.510  
12 Canada Lance Stroll 57 45.873 45.873 13.299  
13 Thailand Alex Albon 57 53.932 53.932 8.059  
14 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 57 54.975 54.975 1.043  
15 United Kingdom Lando Norris 57 56.335 56.335 1.360  
16 Canada Nicholas Latifi 57 1'01.795 1'01.795 5.460  
17 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 57 1'03.829 1'03.829 2.034  
18 Mexico Sergio Perez 56        
19 Netherlands Max Verstappen 54        
  France Pierre Gasly 44        

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.

MercedesGeorge 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.

2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 1'34.570     206.018
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 51 1'35.440 0.870 0.870 204.140
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 52 1'35.740 1.170 0.300 203.501
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 52 1'36.089 1.519 0.349 202.762
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1'36.228 1.658 0.139 202.469
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 56 1'36.302 1.732 0.074 202.313
7 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 53 1'36.599 2.029 0.297 201.691
8 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 53 1'36.623 2.053 0.024 201.641
9 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 39 1'36.685 2.115 0.062 201.512
10 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 44 1'36.733 2.163 0.048 201.412
11 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 37 1'36.956 2.386 0.223 200.948
12 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 51 1'36.988 2.418 0.032 200.882
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 53 1'37.104 2.534 0.116 200.642
14 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 53 1'37.110 2.540 0.006 200.630
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 49 1'37.146 2.576 0.036 200.555
16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 50 1'37.261 2.691 0.115 200.318
17 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 34 1'37.324 2.754 0.063 200.189
18 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 50 1'37.355 2.785 0.031 200.125
19 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin 49 1'38.201 3.631 0.846 198.401
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 51 1'38.251 3.681 0.050 198.300

2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3 4
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari S 15 S 19 M 15 S 14
2 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari S 17 S 19 M 11 S 16
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes S 13 H 17 M 17 S 16
4 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes S 18 H 19 M 12 S 14
5 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas S 14 S 23 M 12 S 14
6 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo S 17 M 22 M 9 S 14
7 France Esteban Ocon Alpine S 14 M 16 H 13 S 17
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri S 15 M 14 S 15 S 16
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine S 14 M 14 H 17 S 15
10 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo S 15 M 22 M 8 S 15
11 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas S 12 M 23 S 24    
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin S 18 S 20 M 7 S 12
13 Thailand Alex Albon Williams S 13 M 22 M 13 S 14
14 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren M 17 S 16 H 11 S 13
15 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren M 24 H 17 S 4 S 15
16 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams S 14 S 18 M 13 S 15
17 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Aston Martin S 19 S 18 M 7 S 13
18 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull S 18 M 18 S 13 S 16
19 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull S 17 S 16 M 13 S 14
  France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri S 17 M 18 H 12    
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