The Bahrain Grand Prix Stats Rundown

We all knew Red Bull were taking the fight to Mercedes the moment Max Verstappen put the RB16B on pole, but we certainly didn’t know the battle would go down to the last corner at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton not only silenced all those who doubted the Silver Arrows’ capabilities but swept away a few records as well at the season-opening race in Sakhir.

Here are all the numbers from the 2021 Bahrain GP –

GENERAL –

• The Bahrain Grand Prix was held just 105 days after the 2020 season finale in Abu Dhabi, the shortest off-season the sport has seen since 1982.
• The winning margin (0.745s) was the tightest finish for a season-opener since the 1998 F1 championship. Mika Hakkinen pipped David Coulthard by just 0.702s at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix.
• Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen have shared the podium on 14 occasions (in any order), tying the record for the most common podium trio in Formula 1 set by Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.
• Sergio Perez’s car stalled during the formation lap resulting in an aborted race start, something which last occurred at the 2017 British GP (Jolyon Palmer suffered a hydraulic issue).

  

MERCEDES –

• Hamilton won a curtain-raiser race for the first time since 2015.
• The seven-time champion has won three successive Bahrain Grands Prix, becoming the most successful driver at this track with five wins overall.
• After the 42nd lap, Hamilton broke Michael Schumacher’s long-standing record for most laps led in F1. The former has currently led 5126 laps in the sport.
• He broke another Schumacher record on Sunday, by registering his 117th podium with Mercedes, the most any driver has taken with a constructor.
• Hamilton has ended on the podium at every Bahrain race he’s been a part of in the turbo-hybrid era.
• This was the Brit’s 15th consecutive year with a win in F1, equalling Schumacher’s all-time record.
• Although he didn’t partake in the 2020 Sakhir GP after contracting COVID-19, this was Hamilton’s 50th consecutive points finish.
• Mercedes haven’t lost the lead of the drivers’ and constructors’ championship ever since Sebastian Vettel crashed out of the 2018 German Grand Prix.

  

RED BULL –

• Red Bull’s ill fate with season-opening races continues as they haven’t won one since 2011.
• The Austrian team haven’t won the Bahrain Grand Prix in the turbo-hybrid era either.
• Finishing second meant it was Verstappen’s best race result at Bahrain, and the first time he’s led more than one lap at this circuit.
• Honda took their 200th podium finish in F1, 26 of which came 2019 onwards.

ASTON MARTIN –

• When they took to the grid on Sunday, Aston Martin marked a return to the sport after 944 races, the longest interval for a constructor.
• Lance Stroll scored Aston Martin’s maiden points as a constructor in their sixth F1 championship appearance.
• Sebastian Vettel hasn’t scored points in four consecutive races, something which has happened only once before for the four-time champion, in the 2008 F1 season.

  

HAAS –

• Haas had two rookies at the wheel on Sunday, the first time there were two debutants for a team since Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto in 2016.
• Both Michael and Mick Schumacher made their F1 debuts at the age of 22 and failed to score points in their first race.
• The last Russian to debut in F1, Sergey Sirotkin, also retired from his first race at the 2018 Australian GP.

ALPINE –

• Fernando Alonso, making a return to the sport has now retired from three of his last four season-openers.
• Esteban Ocon had scored points in each of his previous races in Bahrain, including a podium the last time out. Sunday was his first non-points finish at this track.

 

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ALPHATAURI –

• Yuki Tsunoda became the 76th driver to score points on his F1 debut. The last driver to do so was Stoffel Vandoorne at this very track in 2017, when he deputized for Fernando Alonso.
• The AlphaTauri rookie became the first Japanese driver to score points since Kamui Kobayashi in 2012.

McLAREN –

• McLaren registered a double-points finish for the sixth successive time, a feat they last achieved during the 2011 F1 season. Impressive signs for the team.

FERRARI –

• Sunday was just the sixth time since the start of the 2020 season where both Ferrari cars scored points.
• Carlos Sainz went home empty-handed in each of his first five races in Bahrain but has scored points in his last three outings here.
  

   

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