31/03/2019
NEWS STORY
While absolutely refusing to go in for the hyperbole beloved of broadcasters and the like, today's race has the makings of a real cracker.
On the other hand it could prove to be a total disaster.
Understandably, Sebastian Vettel did not look best pleased following yesterday's qualifying session. A mistake early in the session not only ruined a set of tyres, it also clearly broke his rhythm, and the German never fully recovered.
Though he sits alongside Charles Leclerc today, the German, a keen historian when it comes to F1, knows the score with Ferrari. Just as Michael Schumacher was forced out to make room for Kimi Raikkonen, so the Finn was subsequently forced out for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard eventually moving on in order that a certain German could take his place.
At Maranello it is always a case of, 'the King is dead, long live the King'.
Aware that Leclerc is the young pretender to the Maranello throne, Seb will be on red alert, and we all know how it usually goes when that red alert turns into red mist.
For the sake of all that is good, Vettel must realise that the race cannot possibly be won on the opening lap today, it can only be lost.
On the other side of the grid, we know that Leclerc is learning and thereby prone to mistakes. He is under intense pressure today, but, like Seb, he must appreciate that failing to convert pole into a win is nowhere near as bad as colliding with your teammate, or indeed anyone else.
Ferrari has said that its drivers are free to race, however it has also said the priority will be given to Vettel in the opening phase of the season. What happens today, and how the team reacts, could well decide how the season plays out for the red team.
As if that wasn't enough for the Maranello pair, behind sit the Silver Arrows, who, in many ways, face a situation similar to their Ferrari rivals.
Despite the smiles, Lewis Hamilton was clearly irked by Valtteri Bottas' performance in Melbourne, and throughout the Bahrain weekend, thus far, he has clearly been trying to reassert himself. However, the pace of the Ferraris, the handling of the W10 and Bottas' desire to build on the season opener ensure Toto Wolff will be ket on his twitchy toes this afternoon.
Pity too Max Verstappen, who, in addition to hold on to the back end of the Ferraris and Mercedes, will be under fierce attack from Kevin Magnussen. Indeed, despite his grid penalty, Romain Grosjean should be up there assuming he has no problems at the start, as Haas continues its move up the grid.
The midfield is where the real fun is going to be this afternoon, for while the first lap may provide the initial excitement in terms of the bigger teams, the battle to establish the midfield pecking order could last for much of the race.
A strong qualifying performance sees both McLarens in the top ten, thereby offering the Woking outfit the chance of a double pint finish. However, veteran Kimi Raikkonen is in there, as is Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian free to choose his starting tyres and also keen to establish himself at Renault following a miserable home race.
The Toro Rossos, like the Bulls, have not looked strong this weekend, and appear destined to spend the afternoon battling the Racing Points and those drivers for other teams who are beginning to lose touch with their teammate.
Gasly and Hulkenberg start out of position, and both should be fun to watch on a track that allows overtaking at the best of times, and this year features an extra DRS zone.
The quickest strategy today is to start on the medium tyre for 20 laps, then finish the race on the hard tyre. However, as nobody in the top ten will be starting on the medium, the second-quickest strategy is to start on the softs for 15 laps, then hards to the end.
There are a few two-stop strategies that could also work, the most favourable is to start on the softs for 15 laps, then mediums for 21 laps, then another set of mediums to the end.
The pitlane opens, and as the drivers head out the most noticeable thing is the wind, which is exceedingly strong and gusty. While it is blowing down the pit straight, between turns 3 and 4 it will come at the drivers from the side, and again between turns 13 and 14.
As ever, once parked on the grid the drivers head off. Shortly after, as the band strikes up the national anthem, Vettel and a couple of others are seen running to be in place in time for the race.
As the drivers return to the their cars, the air temperature is 26 degrees C, while the track temperature is 29.5 degrees.
As the field prepares for the warm-up lap, all are on the red-banded soft tyres.
The grid forms.
They're away. Vettel gets the better start and as thet head down the straight to T1 Leclerc falls in behind his terammate. Into T1 and Vettel has the inside while Leclerc has the outside, the Mercedes are side-by-side, while Magnussen is boxed in and loses a couple of positions.
As Vettel pulls away, Bottas is all over Leclerc, with Hamilton in hot pursuit.
Bottas passes Leclerc in T4, the youngster clearly struggling for grip, while Hamilton also seeks a way past, the two briefly touching.
As the Ferrari and Mercedes battle, Verstappen almost gets through on the inside, a cheeky move from the Red Bull driver.
Further back, Stroll appears to have a problem, sparks from the Racing Point filling the air. The Canadian, who is running behind his teammate, has a Renault on one side and a Haas on the other, with no room for error. Unfortunately, there is an error, with Stroll and the Haas (Grosjean) touching and causing the Frenchman to run wide. Albon gets a grandstand view of the incident.
At the end of the opening lap, Vettel leads Bottas by 1.561s, with Leclerc third, ahead of Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Magnussen, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Perez.
Leclerc and Bottas are both struggling for grip, but the Ferrari driver gets past the Mercedes in T2, with Hamilton attacking and then passing his Mercedes teammate.
Grosjean and Stroll both pit at the end of the first lap.
Leclerc now appears to be happier with his tyres, and while 1.3s down on his teammate, is 2.5s ahead of Hamilton.
Ricciardo really pushing Raikkonen as they battle for 9th, while just ahead there is a fierce battle between Sainz and Magnussen. The Spaniard gets past the Dane and takes on Verstappen, they touch, and the McLaren goes wide after suffering front wing damage.
Sainz pits at the end of lap 4, rejoining in 20th.
Courtesy of DRS, Leclerc, who tells his team he is quicker, sweeps past his Ferrari teammate at T1, the pair continue to scrap and on the pit-wall Mattia Binotto tries not to look worried. That said, replay suggests Vettel didn't appear to defend his position too vigorously.
In no time at all, Leclerc is 1.1s clear of Vettel, who is 1.4s ahead of Hamilton. Bottas is 4.3s adrift of his teammate and under pressure from Verstappen.
At the back of the field, Sainz posts a fastest lap (35.842).
Asked if there is damage to his front wing, Raikkonen replies: "I don't know, you'll have to tell me." Love him.
An error sees Leclerc run wide, thereby allowing Vettel close the gap.
Magnussen is under pressure from Norris and Gasly, the McLaren managing to squeeze by the Haas. The Dane had previously lost a place to Ricciardo following a mistake in T10.
At the end of lap 9, Perez makes the first 'ordinary' pit stop of the afternoon, Raikkonen, Gasly and Albon follow suit.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Sakhir, here.
The stewards decide no further action needed over Stroll / Grosjean clash at T4 on the first lap. However, they are now investigating the Verstappen / Sainz clash.
Next time around, Norris and Magnussen pit and rejoin in the thick of the Albon / Gasly scrap.
As Verstappen pits, at the end of lap 11, Hulkenberg is up to 6th. Russell also pits, as Verstappen rejoins in 9th.
Bottas pits at the end of lap 12, as does Hulkenberg, while Kvyat has a spin, following a nudge from Giovinazzi in T11.
Though he rejoined behind Bottas, the Red Bull driver gets ahead of the Finn.
Leclerc pits at the end of lap 13, as does Hamilton. They rejoining in third and fourth, the Ferrari on mediums the world champion on softs.
A great move sees Bottas sweep around the outside of Verstappen in T4 to take back fifth, DRS allowing some very aggressive moves today.
Vettel pits at the end of lap 14, as Verstappen posts a new fastest lap (37.277). Vettel rejoins in fourth, behind Ricciardo - yes, Ricciardo - Leclerc and Hamilton.
Leclerc makes short work of Ricciardo as it is revealed that Verstappen had a slow puncture. However, rival teams thought he was going for the undercut and that's what triggered a manic round of stops.
In ninth, Hulkenberg posts a new fastest lap (35.215), however, Leclerc responds with 33.914.
After 16 laps, all bar Ricciardo and Giovinazzi have pitted, at which point the Italian duly stops.
The Kvyat / Giovinazzi incident is under investigation, the stewards having declared the Verstappen / Sainz clash a racing incident.
Game over for Grosjean, who is in the Haas garage still sitting in his car. Apt that Déjà vu is a French term, for the Frenchman had a similarly torrid start to his 2018 season.
To add to Haas' misery, Albon passes Magnussen, dropping the Dane to 13th, just ahead of Giovinazzi. Magnussen is told to "make a one-stop work". He is on the mediums.
Hamilton is losing ground, and 4.5s down on the race leader, is now just 2.3s ahead of Vettel.
Hulkenberg passes Raikkonen for seventh.
Be it the wind or tyres, Hamilton is struggling, as is Bottas. Vettel is just 0.7s behind the world champion... and closing.
"I'm in big trouble," reports Hamilton. Indeed, he is, Vettel uses DRS to nail the Briton in T4, and despite a minor lock-up for the German, it's a Ferrari 1-2 again. "I'm a sitting duck," says the Briton.
Still to stop, Ricciardo is currently sixth, with his Renault teammate 1s behind.
Somewhere, somehow, Hamilton has found some grip, and closes down Vettel again.
As Hamilton falls back again, Ricciardo pits after 24 laps on those softs.
At this point it's: Leclerc, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Norris, Gasly and Perez. Albon is eleventh, ahead of Magnussen, Ricciardo, Giovinazzi and Kvyat.
As Norris passes Raikkonen in T1, Sainz makes his second stop of the afternoon. The Finn makes a typically valiant attempt to re-take the position but soon Norris is 0.9s clear.
On lap 27, as Russell pits, teammate Kubica is the first driver to be lapped by the race leader. Albon also pits.
Raikkonen continues to shadow Norris, while Ricciardo is closing on Magnussen and Sainz is all over Kubica.
Ricciardo passes Magnussen on the main straight, the Renault driver just outside the points now.
Stroll is all over Verstappen, not to take 5th but to un-lap himself. Behind them Sainz and Kubica are scrapping.
Almost shades of Brazil as Stroll and Verstappen almost touch, the Dutchman only knowing one mode - and it isn't party.
Talking of Verstappen, he pits at the end of lap 32, emerging in 7th on mediums. Hulkenberg also pits, the Renault driver taking on medium also.
Emerging behind Raikkonen, Verstappen makes short, but worrying, work of the Finn. The Alfa driver subsequently pits, as does Magnussen.
Out front, Leclerc leads his Ferrari teammate by 8.6s, with Hamilton 5s behind. At which pint, the Briton pits as does Perez.
In successive corners, Raikkonen passes both Toro Rosso drivers, as Hamilton rejoins in fourth on mediums.
Norris pits at the end of lap 34, with Vettel pitting next time around. The German rejoins in third on mediums, 0.8s ahead of Hamilton, who has gone quickest in the final two sectors.
"I'm struggling a lot," reports Leclerc. The Monegasque duly stops at the end of lap 36. He rejoins still leading, 2.1s ahead of Bottas as Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (33.528).
Hamilton and Vettel go head-to-head, they are side-by-side, real heart in the mouth stuff, as the German holds off the Briton.
Taking time off from Hamilton, Vettel passes Bottas just before he pits. Again they battle, and as Hamilton gets by, Vettel appears to push too hard and spins. "argh, damage," reports the German. Indeed, other than ruining his tyres, the Ferrari driver subsequently loses his front wing, which has been loosened by the vibration following his tyre damage, as he is passed by some back-markers. He pits and rejoins in 9th.
As they battle for 6th, the Renault duo touch in T1. No quarter given. "He hit me," claims Hulkenberg.
Elsewhere, on lap 39, Kvyat and Magnussen pit.
Vettel passes Norris to take 7th, then sets about closing in on Ricciardo who is still hounding his teammate.
After 43 laps, it's: Leclerc, Hamilton (+ 10.3), Bottas (+36.8), Verstappen (+ 43.3), Hulkenberg (+ 61:09) and Vettel, who has passed Ricciardo. Norris is eighth, ahead of Raikkonen and Albon.
Vettel soon despatches Hulkenberg, his next target being Verstappen who is 26s up the road.
As Norris battle s Ricciardo, Raikkonen hangs back to see what is going to happen.
On those worn mediums there is little Ricciardo can do when Raikkonen makes his move, as Gasly passes Albon for tenth.
"Something's strange with the engine," reports Leclerc. Indeed, the youngster is losing pace.
Raikkonen is all over Norris as all eyes are on the race leader. "What's happening?" he asks, the panic in his voice obvious.
Hamilton is now just 4.3s down on Leclerc, who is losing 25 km/h on the main straight. It appears the MGU-H on the Ferrari has failed.
As Hamilton closes on the youngster, the mood in the Ferrari garage is despondent. The Briton puts Leclerc out of his misery and takes the lead as they head into T14.
With 8 laps remaining, Bottas is 28s behind Leclerc, can the youngster hang on?
Check out our Sunday gallery from Sakhir, here.
Asked the gap, the crew tell Leclerc, "the gap to Bottas is fine, if we keep the temperatures like this". That said, it is now 21s, he's lost 7s in one lap. No doubt the team simply doesn't want to panic him.
"Oh my God," says the youngster, "I will cry."
Bottas is now 14s behind with Verstappen another 6s down the road, meaning Leclerc could end up fourth.
Elsewhere. Phew. Raikkonen continues to hound Norris, while Ricciardo is under pressure from Gasly.
"Downshifts are very clunky," reports Hamilton. More drama?
Indeed, as Bottas closes to within 2.6s of Leclerc, Hamilton is also losing ground.
Bottas sweeps past the Ferrari going into T1, as Verstappen sets about closing the 5.4s gap to the stricken SF90.
Hulkenberg is the second retirement of the day, and Ricciardo the third. But it is unclear why.
"Everything just cut out," reports Ricciardo, who pulls off just seconds after his teammate suffers what looks like an engine issue. "Something happened with the engine," reports Hulkenberg.
With the two Renaults by the side of the track, the safety car is deployed. At which pint Sainz pits and retires... three Renault-powered cars in one go.
If the safety car stays out for two laps, Leclerc will hold on to third.
"Will it finish behind the safety car," asks Leclerc. "Not sure," comes the reply. But it seems it will.
The double Renault DNF, means that Gasly is eighth, Albon ninth and Perez tenth.
"The safety car will come into the pitlane, and then it will be the chequered flag," Hamilton is told.
"That was extremely unfortunate for Charles, he drove a great race," says Hamilton, "we have work to do."
"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say," says Leclerc.
Though he has every right to feel cheated, Leclerc can console himself with the fact that this was a mere hiccough, for there will be many more trips to the podium, many of them to the top step.
We talk about fairy-tales but not all stories have happy endings, though in all honesty this was merely a chapter.
In the cool-down room Hamilton expresses his sympathy for Leclerc, but makes clear that he has many wins ahead.
A dramatic race from start to finish, and while Ferrari will be bitterly disappointed, what of Renault, which lost two cars in a matter of moments, not forgetting Grosjean and Sainz suffering successive DNFs.
Then there was Sebastian, pushing too hard and losing out when, had he kept his cool, a podium was clearly within his grasp.
A great performance from Norris, the youngster doing well to fend off the highly experienced Raikkonen in a battle we're sure both enjoyed.
Gasly gets his first points for Red Bull, while Albon finishes just behind in the Toro Rosso.
Definitely one of the better advertisements for F1.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Sakhir, here.