Leclerc ends Ferrari’s second-longest win drought, Hamilton is the first driver to score in 250 races and Zhou scores a point on his debut. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix!
LECLERC ENDS FERRARI’S WIN DROUGHT
Charles Leclerc took victory at the season-opening 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, taking the third victory of his Formula 1 career. This was his first win since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix and the first victory for Ferrari since Sebastian Vettel’s win at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. The 2019 Marina Bay race was also the last time that the team recorded a 1-2 result.
Leclerc is the ninth different driver to win at Bahrain International Circuit and is Ferrari’s fifth different winner at the track. This was Ferrari’s seventh victory in total at the track. Ferrari have held the record for most wins here since the inaugural race in 2004.
Leclerc’s victory ended the second longest win drought in Ferrari’s history. The only longer wait between victories for the Scuderia came between the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix and the 1994 German Grand Prix – a wait of 3 years and 10 months.
This was the first time a team has recorded a 1-2 result since McLaren did so at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. It’s also the first 1-2 result for a team in Bahrain since the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix.
On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Carlos Sainz equalled his career best result with second place. This was the third time that Sainz has finished as runner-up, after the 2020 Italian Grand Prix and the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix.
Crossing the finish line for the 30th race in a row, Sainz becomes only the fifth driver – after Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen – to reach the chequered flag at 30 consecutive races.
This was also the sixteenth consecutive race in which Sainz has scored. It’s the 20th occasion on which a driver has scored at 16 Grands Prix in a row.
While Ferrari lead the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since the 2018 German Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc leads the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career. Leclerc becomes the ninth driver to have led the title race after a single round of the World Championship.
BOTH RED BULLS RETIRE
Max Verstappen challenged Charles Leclerc for victory but retired only three laps from the end of the race. Team-mate Sergio Perez joined him on the sidelines just two laps later. This was the first time Red Bull have recorded a double retirement since the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, as well as the team’s first double DNF in Bahrain since 2018.
Verstappen becomes only the second driver, after Jenson Button to record as many as five non-finishes in Bahrain.
Perez retired for the third race in a row. It’s the first time in his career that he has retired at three consecutive Grands Prix.
Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly was the first retirement from the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. Gasly became the 61st different driver to record the first DNF of the year. Gasly’s retirement came 45 laps into the race, which is the longest into the season before a driver has retired. It broke a record which had stood for 65 years, since Peter Collins became the first retirement of the 1957 season 27 laps into the race.
HAMILTON RECOVERS TO THE PODIUM
Mercedes were not on the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull but, following Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s retirements, Lewis Hamilton was able to salvage a podium finish on a difficult weekend for Mercedes. Hamilton’s third place saw him become the first driver to score points in 250 Grands Prix.
With 3rd place at the #BahrainGP, Lewis Hamilton is the first driver to score points in 250 Formula 1 races! Meanwhile, Bottas equals Rosberg for ninth in the all-time list! #F1 pic.twitter.com/HRx1jelKKL
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 20, 2022
This was Hamilton’s eleventh podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Overall, it was the thirteenth podium for a British driver at the circuit. That sees Britain overtake Finland as the nation with the most podium finishes in Bahrain.
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix marked the 80th time that Hamilton has stood on the podium without winning the race. Kimi Raikkonen is the only driver to have recorded as many second and third places in Formula 1.
With Ferrari finishing first and second and Hamilton third, this was only the second race to feature a Ferrari 1-2 with a Mercedes driver in third place. The 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix is the only other time it has happened. Ferrari and Mercedes are now tied for most podiums in Bahrain on sixteen apiece.
This was the fifteenth time that Hamilton has crossed the finish line at the Bahrain Grand Prix, equalling Kimi Raikkonen’s record of most finishes at Bahrain International Circuit.
George Russell finished in fourth place, meaning that Fernando Alonso remains Lewis Hamilton’s only team-mate to finish ahead of him in their first race at the same team. Russell finished 1.536 seconds behind Hamilton – 0.261 seconds further behind than Valtteri Bottas finished in his first race as Hamilton’s team-mate.
A FANTASTIC DAY FOR HAAS
After qualifying in seventh place, Kevin Magnussen finished in fifth place. This was the first top five finish for a Haas driver since both Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finished in the top five at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, it was the first time Haas have scored any points since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix and the first time that Magnussen has scored since his ninth place result at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Magnussen equalled Haas’ previous best Bahrain Grand Prix result. The team also finished fifth here in 2016 and 2018.
While Mick Schumacher was unlucky to miss out on points in eleventh place, Magnussen’s fifth place means that Haas sit third in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s the team’s best-ever placing in the standings. Their previous best was fourth place after the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.
ALFA’S BEST BAHRAIN RESULT IN 14 YEARS
Valtteri Bottas finished in sixth place on his first appearance with Alfa Romeo. Sixth place is the team’s best result since both drivers finished in the top five at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Scoring eight points, Bottas becomes the fourth driver to have scored 100 points at Bahrain International Circuit. This was the tenth consecutive race at the track in which Bottas has scored.
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first Formula 1 race to feature a Chinese driver. Zhou Guanyu impressed on his debut, scoring a point with tenth place on his first outing. China becomes the 34th nation to score points in F1, while Zhou is the 66th driver to score points in his maiden Grand Prix.
With both Bottas and Zhou in the points, this was the first time both of the former Sauber team’s drivers have finished in the points in Bahrain since 2008. That year, Robert Kubica finished on the podium while Nick Heidfeld finished fourth when the team was in its BMW Sauber guise.
THE OTHER POINTS SCORERS
Finishing in eighth place, Yuki Tsunoda became the first driver to score in Bahrain from sixteenth on the grid since the inaugural race at the track in 2004. Fernando Alonso finished sixth having started sixteenth in the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Tsunoda’s points made this the sixth consecutive Bahrain race in which the Red Bull junior team have picked up points.
Fernando Alonso finished in ninth place, making 2022 the 18th Formula 1 season in which he has scored. He’s only the fourth driver to have scored in eighteen different seasons. The other drivers to have done so are Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello.
McLAREN OFF THE PACE
Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finished only 14th and 15th in the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. This was the first time since 2017 that McLaren failed to score in a race at Bahrain International Circuit and the first time that McLaren have failed to score in any race since the 2020 Russian Grand Prix.
It wasn't all bad news for @DanielRicciardo at the #BahrainGP. He overtakes Nico Rosberg and moves into the top 10 of most Grand Prix finishes! #F1 pic.twitter.com/CdpFEQhGEq
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 20, 2022
This was the 175th Grand Prix at which Daniel Ricciardo has crossed the finish line. That sees him move into the top ten of most races finished by a driver, usurping Nico Rosberg from tenth in the list.
For the first time in five F1 appearances at the track, Norris failed to pick up any points. Alex Albon also lost his 100% points rate at the venue.
WILLIAMS REACH 2,000 LAPS
With both Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi completing every lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Williams became the first team to race 2,000 racing laps at Bahrain International Circuit. Williams have not scored a point at the circuit since 2017.