2018 Bahrain Grand Prix

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2018 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 2 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
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Bahrain International Circuit--Grand Prix Layout.svg
Race details [1]
Date8 April 2018
Official name Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
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 95,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:27.958
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:33.740 on lap 22
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Mercedes
Third Mercedes
Lap leaders
  • 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) [1] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 8 April 2018 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. [3] The race was the second round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 14th time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

Contents

Sebastian Vettel was the defending race winner. He entered the round with a seven-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. [4] [5] In the World Constructors' Championship standings, Ferrari hold a ten-point lead over Mercedes.

Report

Practice

Daniel Ricciardo was fastest in first practice with Kimi Räikkönen fastest in second and third practice. [6] [7] [8]

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole position with a time of 1:27.958, a new outright track record, with teammate Kimi Räikkönen second. Mercedes locked out the second row, although Lewis Hamilton subsequently took a five place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change and started from ninth on the grid. Pierre Gasly made Q3 for the first time in his career, eventually qualifying in sixth. Max Verstappen started the race in fifteenth position, having been prevented from taking part in Q2 following a crash in Q1 after he lost control of his throttle as his car rode over a kerb. [9]

Race

At the start, Vettel got away well, leading into turn 1. Bottas overtook Raikkonen to claim 2nd, and Gasly also overtook Ricciardo to claim 4th. However, Ricciardo got 4th place back at turn 4, on the first lap. Max Verstappen made up ground on the first lap so he was behind Lewis Hamilton, who'd fallen to 10th place. The pair fought at turn 1 on lap 2, with Verstappen puncturing his left rear tyre. His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, experienced an electrical shutdown at the same time, forcing him to retire. Brendon Hartley received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sergio Pérez. Verstappen then lost drive, also forcing him to retire from the Grand Prix. This was the first time in 8 years that both Red Bull Racing drivers retired from a Grand Prix, and the first time since the 2016 Russian Grand Prix that Red Bull did not score a point. It was also the first time since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix that neither Red Bull was classified. Hamilton overtook Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg into one corner to move up into 6th place. He then passed Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly in the next few laps to move up into 4th place.

During his second pit stop on lap 35, Kimi Räikkönen struck Ferrari tyre changer Francesco Cigarini with his left rear tyre as his car left the pit box, breaking Cigarini's tibia and fibula. [10] The incident was caused by the Ferrari pit box's light incorrectly switching to green despite the fact that the left rear tyre had never actually been changed. [11] After analysis, the faulty green was determined to have been caused by the pit system checking (only) if the wheel was securely fitted, and if the wheel gun had been "sufficiently active" beforehand. [10] Räikkönen immediately stopped in the pit lane on advice over team radio and retired the car. Räikkönen's retirement promoted Lewis Hamilton to the podium, and Ferrari was subsequently fined €50,000 for an unsafe pit release. [12]

Räikkönen's pit lane incident meant that teammate Sebastian Vettel could not carry out his second pit stop on schedule, and had to extend the stint on his soft tyres for 30% longer than the expected lifespan of the tyres, as stated by Pirelli. Towards the end of the race, with Vettel struggling with his tyres, Bottas got within DRS range of Vettel, but could not pass for the lead of the race. Pierre Gasly finished the race in P4, equalling Toro Rosso's best result in 2017, scoring Honda's best result since returning to F1 and earning him his first points in F1.

After the race, Brendon Hartley and Sergio Pérez both received 30 second time penalties for failing to maintain position on the formation lap. [13]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.Car
no.
DriverConstructorQualifying timesFinal
grid
Q1Q2Q3
15 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.0601:28.3411:27.9581
27 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:28.9511:28.5151:28.1012
377 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:29.2751:28.7941:28.1243
444 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.3961:28.4581:28.2209 1
53 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:29.5521:28.9621:28.3984
610 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:30.1211:29.8361:29.3295
720 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:29.5941:29.6231:29.3586
827 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:30.2601:29.1871:29.5707
931 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:30.3381:30.0091:29.8748
1055 Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:29.8931:29.8021:29.98610
1128 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:30.4121:30.10511
1211 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:30.2181:30.15612
1314 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1:30.530 2 1:30.21213
142 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1:30.4791:30.52514
1533 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:29.374No time15
168 Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:30.530 2 16
179 Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.06317
1835 Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1:31.41418
1916 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.42019
2018 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:31.50320
107% time: 1:35.177
Source: [14]
Notes

Race

Pos.No.DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 571:32:01.940125
277 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 57+0.699318
344 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57+6.512915
410 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 57+1:02.234512
520 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 57+1:15.046610
627 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Renault 57+1:39.02478
714 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 56+1 lap136
82 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 56+1 lap144
99 Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 56+1 lap172
1031 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 56+1 lap81
1155 Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 56+1 lap10
1216 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 56+1 lap19
138 Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 56+1 lap16
1418 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 56+1 lap20
1535 Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 56+1 lap18
16 1 11 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 56+1 lap12
17 2 28 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 56+1 lap11
Ret7 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 35Wheel2
Ret33 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 3Transmission15
Ret3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1Electrics4
Source: [16]
Notes

Championship standings after the race

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  2. "Record Attendance at Sold Out 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix". f1destinations.com. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile . 6 December 2017. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  4. "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.
  5. "Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  6. "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – Practice 1". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  7. "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – Practice 2". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  8. "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – Practice 3". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  9. Anderson, Ben (19 April 2018). "Why the Verstappen bubble has finally burst". Autosport.com. Autosport Media UK. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Ferrari explains error that injured mechanic in Bahrain Grand Prix". Eurosport. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  11. "Ferrari mechanic suffers broken leg when hit by Kimi Raikkonen in pits at Bahrain GP". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  12. "Ferrari handed big fine for Raikkonen unsafe release". Formula1.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  13. "Hartley and Perez penalised over F1 formation lap mix-up". www.crash.net. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  14. "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  15. "Hamilton set for gearbox penalty". Speedcafe . 7 April 2018.
  16. "Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  17. 1 2 "Bahrain 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
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