What an utterly dramatic race! And I thought the start would be the most eventful and exciting part of the race! The world of Formula 1 is filled with mouth-opening surprises and adrenaline-filled action. The night of Bahrain was definitely magical... Unfortunately for the Red Team it was cursed.
Lights went out at Sakhir in extremely windy conditions. Sebastian in P2 got an ideal start and accelerated into the lead. Another superb start was taken by Mercedes' Bottas from P4. The Finn made a self-confident move on his teammate and then also on Leclerc, who had lost the lead to Sebastian. It was a perfect opening lap for Bottas indeed. Unfortunately, in Turn 1 on the second lap, the Finn got surprised by the wind and locked up, losing positions both to Leclerc and Hamilton.
However, Leclerc proved fast like the wind in Bahrain and wasn't going to settle for playing the second fiddle. By lap 6 he had closed the gap to teammate Sebastian, and with the help of DRS it was quite easy for the Monegasque to take the lead back. Like in the qualifying, Sebastian seemed absolutely unable to match his teammate's storming pace.
Bottas was the first top driver to pit on lap 13. Predictably, the Finnish Mercedes ace opted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. Ferrari reacted right away and called Leclerc in on the following lap. He switched to the medium compound as well, whilst Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. Sebastian pitted on lap 15, for a similar tyre choice to his teammate, and re-joined the track in P4. After the first pit stops Leclerc had a firm lead in the race. Renault's Ricciardo was second, as the Australian hadn't pitted yet. However, it was an easy job for Hamilton to overtake Ricciardo and move second.
Soon Hamilton was struggling with the soft tyres, and he started to lose ground to Sebastian. With determination Sebastian made it within DRS distance from his arch enemy, and on lap 23 the German made his move on the first DRS zone. Sebastian made it past Hamilton in style.
At the halfway point of the race the situation seemed stabilized within the top five drivers. Race leader Leclerc had managed to build up an 8-second lead to his teammate. Hamilton was two seconds off Sebastian, and the Briton had built up a 10-second gap to his teammate Bottas. Verstappen at the wheel of his RB15 was fifth, unable to match the two top teams' pace.
After the second pit stops the order of the top five remained the same. However, Hamilton's third stint on the medium tyres turned out much more competitive than his second one on the soft Pirellis. The reigning world champion was right at Sebastian's tail, lurking passionately for a chance to make a move. Turn 4 was the perfect hunting place for the Briton, who ingeniously used the tail wind to leave the braking as late as possible. Once Sebastian managed to defend his position successfully, but a lap later the battle saw a dramatic turn. Again the calculating Briton braked as late as possible and dived alongside Sebastian in Turn 4. Sebastian saw Hamilton coming and hit the throttle a bit too early; Sebastian span and lost the position to Hamilton! The failed duel had also another consequence in addition to the spin. The tyres of Sebastian's Lina were vibrating so badly, that it made the entire front wing to fly off in full speed, with sparks flying all over! Sebastian had no choice but to pit for a new nose, which meant giving up on hopes for a podium finish. This kind of drama I wouldn't have wanted to see! A mistake under the pressure seemed like a repetition from last year.
Gutted of his own mistake, Sebastian started his overtaking show. In no time he had made it past Norris in his McLaren, Kimi in his Alfa Romeo Racing and Albon in his Toro Rosso, climbing up to P7. The Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg was soon in the German's sight. Sebastian first made it past his ex-teammate and then past his fellow countryman. However, Verstappen in P5 was already 30 seconds ahead, so there was no catching the flying Dutchman.
But what another dramatic turn the race saw 11 laps before the chequered flag. Leclerc had been cruising to victory, until the Monegasque suddenly reported on the team radio about engine wows. There seemed to be an issue with the energy recovery system, which made Leclerc lose 5-7 seconds each lap! It seemed so cruel, as Leclerc had dominated the whole weekend in a superior way. Hamilton inevitably closed the gap to unlucky Charles, who couldn't do anything but to watch the Silver Arrow of Hamilton close up on him and storm past only a few laps later. Bottas was the next one to chase Leclerc, whose SF90 reminded more of an F2 car due to the power loss. With only three laps to go, Bottas had hunted down groveling Leclerc, and snatched the second place. Also Verstappen had begun his hunt...
There's no doubt about Leclerc's aching misfortune, but on the other hand, he got his share of luck at the end of the race. Both Renaults came to a sudden halt simultaneously on lap 54, which brought out the safety car. As there were only two laps remaining, as the safety car came out, it meant that the order was going to remain unchanged until the chequered flag. Had there been a re-start, it would probably have seen Leclerc dropping out of points. It was an anti-climax to see the cars finish the race behind the safety car, but it brought even a glimpse of justice for the unlucky Ferrari debutant.
Amazing but true, Mercedes managed to make it a 1-2 in a venue, that was supposed to be Ferrari's turf! I was happy for Charles, who climbed on the podium for the first time, in spite of the dramatic technical problems. Charles also scored the extra point for the fastest lap time. Verstappen finished the race 4th for Red Bull, and Sebastian dropped himself off the podium by making the costly mistake in the battle against Hamilton. Norris continued his excellent performances by finishing sixth for McLaren. Kimi drove a very consistent race at the wheel of his C39. The Iceman seemed to enjoy his wheel-banging battles in the midfield, showing some classy overtaking moves as well. P7 meant valuable points for the Swiss team. Red Bull's Gasly, Toro Rosso's Albon and Racing Point's Perez completed the top ten.
The F1 circus now moves to China with Bottas at the top of the drivers' standings. However, the lead to teammate Hamilton is one point only. Verstappen is third with 27 points, Leclerc fourth with 26 points and Sebastian fifth with 22 points. Mercedes have a dominant lead in the constructors' standings, with 87 points to Ferrari's 48. Leclerc has definitely proved, that Ferrari has hired the right man for the job. What a diamond the team has in Leclerc! However, my heart beats most for Sebastian. He looked so disappointed after the race. It seems, that the difficulties continue haunting him. But the turnaround is there, I can feel it. I always believe in you, Sebastian! A new race always provides a fresh chance for success!
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