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The 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix was a thrilling race and was a fantastic curtain-raiser. There was plenty of action to keep an eye on throughout the field so here are a few key takeaways from the weekend’s action.
Haas Disaster
The American team had an absolute disaster at the Bahrain Grand Prix. With their two rookie drivers starting 18th and 19th thanks to Sebastian Vettel’s grid penalty and setting lap times over four seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s pole time in qualifying, the Ferrari powered cars had plenty of work to do.
On the exit of turn three on the opening lap, Nikita Mazepin lost control of his struggling Haas car as he was sent skipping through the gravel trap and into the barriers. This was his fourth crash of the Grand Prix weekend and people are now starting to question if the Russian is out of his depth.
Mick Schumacher didn’t start his F1 career as he’d hoped either. Following the safety car restart on lap four, the 22-year-old had a very similar spin to his teammate but was able to regain control and carry on with his race.
The German came home in 16th so he will take some satisfaction from the weekend as he made the chequered flag on his F1 debut.
Haas said before pre-season testing that they were effectively writing off the development of the 2021 car to focus on the development for the 2022 regulation change so this will be a long, tough season for the team.
Ferrari’s Impressive Showing
The Scuderia had a fantastic weekend in Bahrain. Despite their 2020 disappointment, they have come into the 2021 season refreshed and raring to go and started the season well.
In the exciting qualifying session, Charles Leclerc set a fantastic 1:29.678 time which put him fourth, and his teammate Carlos Sainz qualified eighth on the grid just six-tenths behind the Monegasque.
Leclerc drove a solid race, as well as narrowly losing out in a well-fought on-track battle with McLaren’s Lando Norris who eventually finished fourth.
Sainz will be happy with his first weekend in red as he finished eighth after winning a tussle with his compatriot Fernando Alonso and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.
Both Ferrari’s finished in the top ten which is a great platform to build on going forward this season as they hope to challenge McLaren and take the fight to Red Bull and Mercedes.
Sergio Perez’ Heroic Comeback
The Mexican was a deserved recipient of the fans’ Driver of the Day award as he drove the wheels off his Red Bull on his debut for the team.
After a disappointing qualifying which put him 11th on the starting grid, Perez suffered a loss of power on the formation lap before his Red Bull car grounded to a halt. Luckily for the 31-year-old, he was able to rectify the issue and start from the pit-lane.
Thanks to the safety car on the opening lap after Mazepin’s crash, Perez was able to catch up to the back of the pack.
From that point on he strung together 56 perfect laps and nailed his tyre strategy as he cut his way through the field like a hot knife through butter, finding himself up to fifth on the final lap.
The F1 veteran has a great record at the Bahrain International Circuit and will be delighted with how his race panned out after his formation lap mechanical scare.
After the criticism that came his way on Saturday evening following his poor qualifying, Sergio Perez certainly silenced the critics with his outstanding race performance and justifying why he should be partnering Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
Vettel’s Struggles Continue
The four-time world champion’s woes from last season seemed to have carried over to this season. Another race to forget for the driver who joined Aston Martin to hopefully challenge at the top of the midfield, but the German could only find pace to qualify 15th.
Vettel was forced to start from the back of the grid after his lap was deleted for ignoring yellow flags at turn one where Nikita Mazepin had lost control of his Haas car as he slammed on the brakes at the end of the long pit straight.
The German struggled in the race too as in the latter stages of the race he out-braked himself into turn one and rear-ended Esteban Ocon on lap 45. Vettel was given a five-second time penalty by race control which added to his woes.
Hamilton vs Verstappen is On
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went toe-to-toe all weekend, and from Sunday’s thriller Formula One fans worldwide will be hoping that this will be the story of the season. Mercedes have been incredibly dominant in F1 for seven years now so the Red Bull car being the closest challenger yet, which sets the season up to be a cracker.
Verstappen managed to place his car on pole by three-tenths ahead of Hamilton in qualifying which set up Sunday’s race to be a feisty battle between the top drivers on the grid.
From the early safety car restart, the Dutchman was able to replicate his blistering pace all weekend and pull away from the Brit.
Red Bull and Mercedes swapped positions through the pit stop windows as both teams ran alternate strategies.
In the final stages of the race, the Red Bull was taking almost a second out of Hamilton’s lead per lap as he had his eyes prized on the victory.
On lap 53, Verstappen overtook Hamilton at the tricky turn four, however was forced to concede the position later that lap as he allegedly gained an advantage on the Brit after running wide at the exit of the corner.
Hamilton was able to hold off Verstappen for the final three and a half laps to take victory, which left Verstappen annoyed with his Red Bull team as he asked, “Why didn’t you let me go?”
This adds plenty of fuel to the fire and the rapid Dutchman will be wanting to get one over Lewis Hamilton in three weeks time as F1 travel to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
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