Sundaram Ramaswami
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been known to provide some spectacular races ever since they made the shift to racing under lights in 2014. However, Sunday’s Grand Prix will be remembered for the horrific and heart-stopping incidents Romain Grosjean and Lance Stroll endured, a reminder of how safety has evolved and improved over the years. In terms of numbers, if not many, there were certainly some facts which raised a few eyebrows, with Mercedes reaching a couple of milestones once again.
Here are all the numbers from the 2020 Bahrain GP –
GENERAL –
- The Grosjean incident on lap 1 brought out the red flag for the first time since the Tuscan GP, and the first one ever at Bahrain.
- The Bahrain GP lasted 2 hours and 59 minutes, the longest F1 race since the 2016 Brazilian GP.
- Although Max Verstappen set the fastest lap (1:32.014) in the dying stages of the race, Pedro de la Rosa still maintains his fastest lap record at the track (1:31.447).
MERCEDES –
- Lewis Hamilton secured his 95th win in F1, and fourth in Bahrain.
- He’s now won 5 consecutive races, equalling his best winning streak from 2014.
- Victory on Sunday meant Hamilton has won 11 of the 15 races this year, equalling his best-ever tally from 2014, 2018 and 2019.
- The Brit has led 613 laps this year, the most he’s ever led in one season.
- With 238 race finishes to his name, Hamilton has now gone past Michael Schumacher in the all-time list, with only Fernando Alonso (245) and Kimi Raikkonen (258) ahead.
- Hamilton has shared more podiums with Max Verstappen this year (10), than with Valtteri Bottas (9).
- Mercedes have won 115 races, surpassing Williams to become the 3rd most successful team in F1, behind McLaren (182) and Ferrari (238).
- The team’s 100% podium record at Bahrain in the hybrid era has now ended, with Bottas’ 8th place finish.
- Mercedes led their 150th race in 225 race starts in F1.
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RED BULL –
- Alex Albon registered his 2nd career podium, after his maiden one at the Tuscan GP this year.
- Red Bull scored their first podium in Bahrain since 2013, a race Sebastian Vettel won from the front row.
- The was the team’s first double podium finish since the 2017 Japanese GP.
- With 2 races left in the season, Verstappen is just 12 points behind Bottas in the drivers’ standings.
RACING POINT –
- Sergio Perez was on par to secure back-to-back podiums for the first time in his career, but a late engine failure brought an end to his 18-race points scoring streak.
- Lance Stroll has managed to score just 2 points in the last 7 races, one of which he missed after contracting COVID-19.
- Racing Point’s first non-points finish since the 2019 Singapore GP meant McLaren have a 17-point lead over them in the constructors’ standings.
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McLAREN –
- Carlos Sainz finally scored his first-ever points in Bahrain in his 6th appearance here. His first 3 Bahrain GPs ended in retirements.
- Lando Norris has finished in the top-6 in the 2 Bahrain Grand Prix starts in his career.
- This is McLaren’s best race result since Italy, where Sainz and Norris finished 2nd and 4th respectively.
- McLaren’s 22-points haul is their best ever in Bahrain, their ‘home race’ of sorts. The Bahrain royal family’s investment company, the Mumtalakat group, owns 56% of McLaren and 100% of the Bahrain International Circuit.
FERRARI –
- Ferrari managed to bag just a solitary point on Sunday, their worst race result in Bahrain since 2005.
- Sebastian Vettel finished 13th for the 3rd time this season.
- Charles Leclerc scored points for the 7th successive race in 2020.
RENAULT –
- With P7 on Sunday, Daniel Ricciardo achieved his best race result in Bahrain since 2017. He failed to finish his last 2 races here.
ALPHATAURI –
- Pierre has finished in the top-8 in each of the 3 Bahrain GPs he’s participated in.
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