Bahrain Race F1 2022 : Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two

Bravo Charles Leclerc, spectacular performance! KMag mega effort, and great job Zhou on debut. Great start to the new era but desperate for McLaren.

Charles Leclerc returned to victory this Sunday under the spotlight of the Sakhir circuit by winning the opening race of the 2022 season of the Formula 1 world championship.

F1 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix – Full Race Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Dif	Pit
01	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1h38m	3
02	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+5.598	3
03	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+9.675	3
04	George Russell	Mercedes	+11.211	3
05	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+14.754	3
06	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	+16.119	3
07	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+19.423	3
08	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	+20.386	3
09	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	+22.390	3
10	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	+23.064	3
11	Mick Schumacher	Haas	+32.574	2
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+45.873	3
13	Alex Albon	Williams	+53.932	3
14	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	+54.975	3
15	Lando Norris	McLaren	+56.335	3
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	+61.795	3
17	Nico Hülkenberg	Aston Martin	+63.829	3
18	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+1 tour	3
19	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	DNF	4
20	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	DNF	2

Charles Leclerc dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix to take the opening race win of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

Despite leading a majority of the race, Leclerc was forced to work for his position on occasions, most notably when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen launched a three-lap attack on the Ferrari driver.

Also see : 2022 F1 Team Driver Line-Up

Leclerc and Verstappen ran first and second after the opening number of laps, however Verstappen opted to make his first pit stop one lap before Leclerc, with the undercut slicing the gap between the top two.

Verstappen moved ahead of Leclerc three laps in row, however Leclerc immediately responded in the following corners to move ahead again.

A lock-up at Turn 1 proved to be the end of Verstappen’s assault, before later in the race he retired with a mechanical issue three laps from the end.

Leclerc was forced to deal with a late Safety Car restart after Pierre Gasly’s Power Unit caught fire, however he was unchallenged thereafter to the chequered flag.

Carlos Sainz was second to ensure Ferrari scored a one-two finish, while Lewis Hamilton came home after in third place after Sergio Perez’s engine gave way on the final lap, denying Red Bull points.

F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen scored Haas’ best race result since the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, as he benefitted from the Red Bull retirements after running best of the rest through most of the race.

He was behind George Russell at the chequered flag, the Briton scoring fourth for Mercedes in his first outing as a fully contracted driver to the team.

Despite a poor start from sixth on the grid in which he fell back to 14th, Valtteri Bottas climbed back through the order and managed to cross the line in sixth.

Alpine scored points with both of its cars in seventh and ninth, Esteban Ocon leading Fernando Alonso with the former also picking up a five-second time penalty for an opening lap collision with Mick Schumacher.

As the sole remaining AlphaTauri in the race, Yuki Tsunoda classified eighth, while rookie Zhou Guanyu scored a point for Alfa Romeo on his debut in the sport. 

McLaren endured a miserable opening round to the 2022 campaign, languishing toward the rear of the field for much of the grand prix.

Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in 14th, ahead of Lando Norris in 15th. Mick Schumacher missed out on his first points in F1 in 11th place, leading Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll across the line.

Rounding out the runners who made it to the end was Nicholas Latifi for Williams and Aston Martin substitute Nico Hulkenberg.

Bahrain Race F1 2022 Bahrain Race F1 2022

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