2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 3 of 20 in the 2017 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details [1]
Date	16 April 2017 (2017-04-16)
Official name	2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix [2] [3]
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.412 km (3.362 miles)
Distance	57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 miles)
Weather	Clear
Attendance	93,000 (weekend) 33,000 (Race Day) [4]
Pole position
Driver	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Time	1:28.769
Fastest lap
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:32.798 on lap 46
Podium
First	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 16 April 2017 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race was the third round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the thirteenth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The winner of the previous Bahrain Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg, did not compete as he had retired after the 2016 season. Sebastian Vettel entered the race as the championship leader, equal on points with Lewis Hamilton but recognised as leader on a count-back. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship by one point over Ferrari.

Background

Driver changes

Further information: 2017 Formula One World Championship § Teams and drivers

After missing the opening two rounds of the season due to injury, Pascal Wehrlein returned to competition with Sauber. ^[5] Antonio Giovinazzi, who replaced Wehrlein in the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, resumed testing and reserve driver duties for Ferrari.^{[ citation needed ]}

Qualifying

During the first qualifying session, Carlos Sainz, driving for Toro Rosso, experienced power loss to his car, leaving him in 16th position. Several other drivers were affected by flags waved for Sainz's stoppage, resulting in early exits from the session. ^[6]

During Q2, McLaren driver, Fernando Alonso, was left in 15th position after a broken power unit prevented him from setting a time. Front-end problems stopped Williams driver, Lance Stroll, from leaving the garage until late in the session, where he was eventually pushed down into 12th position. ^[6]

During the final qualifying session, Hamilton broke his previous pole time while attempting to receive his 55th pole position. However, Valtteri Bottas managed to improve on his teammate's time, winning his maiden pole position by two-hundredths of a second. ^[6]

Qualifying classification

Pos.	Car no.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:31.041	1:29.555	1:28.769	1
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:30.814	1:29.535	1:28.792	2
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:31.037	1:29.596	1:29.247	3
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:31.667	1:30.497	1:29.545	4
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:30.988	1:29.843	1:29.567	5
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:30.904	1:30.307	1:29.687	6
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:31.057	1:30.169	1:29.842	7
8	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.373	1:30.677	1:30.074	8
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:31.691	1:30.857	1:30.763	9
10	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:31.458	1:30.899	1:31.074	10
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:31.531	1:30.923		11
12	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.748	1:31.168		12
13	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber-Ferrari	1:31.995	1:31.414		13
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:31.774	1:31.684		14
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:32.054	No time		15
16	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	1:32.118			16
17	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	1:32.313			17
18	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.318			18
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.543			19
20	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.900			20
107% time: 1:37.170
Source: [7]

Race

At the start, Bottas led away with Vettel in hot pursuit after he beat Hamilton into 2nd off the line, Vettel pitted early as did Verstappen, however Verstappen had a brake failure soon after and had to retire from the race. A collision between Stroll and Sainz occurred and with Stroll's car stuck on the track the safety car was deployed to clear it away. Hamilton then pitted but was penalised 5 seconds for holding up Ricciardo into the pits, he served his penalty at his second stop costing him a chance of winning the race. Alonso's frustration boiled over in a radio message saying he has never had so little power in his life before later retiring with engine problems. Vettel won from Hamilton who was let through into 2nd by Bottas with 10 laps to go. ^[8]

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	57	1:33:53.374	3	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+6.660	2	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	57	+20.397	1	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+22.475	5	12
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	57	+39.346	4	10
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	57	+54.326	8	8
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	57	+1:02.606	18	6
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	57	+1:14.865	9	4
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	57	+1:20.188	7	2
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	57	+1:35.711	14	1
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	13
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	56	+1 Lap	11
13	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	56	+1 Lap	10
14 1	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	54	Power unit	15
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	50	Gearbox	19
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	12	Collision	16
Ret	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	12	Collision	12
Ret	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	11	Brakes	6
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	8	Electrical	20
DNS	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	0	Water pressure	— 2
Source: [9]

Notes

• ^1  – Fernando Alonso retired from the race, but was classified as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
• ^2 – Stoffel Vandoorne did not line up on the grid as a result of a power unit issue. ^[10]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Sebastian Vettel 68 2 Lewis Hamilton 61 1 3 Valtteri Bottas 38 1 4 Kimi Räikkönen 34 2 5 Max Verstappen 25 Source: [11]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 1 Ferrari 102 1 2 Mercedes 99 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 47 1 4 Force India-Mercedes 17 1 5 Williams-Mercedes 16 Source: [11]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2017 Sakhir Formula 2 round

References

1. "2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2017 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
3. Mitchell, Malcolm. "Bahrain International Circuit - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
4. "F1 reveals overall rise in 2017 attendance". Gpupdate.net. 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017.
5. Howard, Tom (12 April 2017). "Wehrlein returns for Bahrain Grand Prix". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
6. "Qualifying - Bottas scores his first F1 pole in Bahrain". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
7. "Qualifying". formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 15 April 2017. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017.
8. "Vettel beats Hamilton in Bahrain thriller". BBC Sport.
9. "2017 Bahrain Grand Prix Race – Official Classification". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 16 April 2017. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017.
10. Barretto, Lawrence (16 April 2017). "McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne won't start the F1 Bahrain GP". Autosport Media. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017.
11. "Bahrain 2017 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.

External links

• The race on the official Formula One website

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