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Formula 1 Bahrain GP

F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race

Minute-by-minute updates for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured the first pole position of the year by beating reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen in qualifying by 0.123 seconds, with Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr taking third to complete a strong Saturday for the Italian team.

With Sergio Perez qualifying in fourth place for Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton led the charge for Mercedes in fifth but was over half a second off the pace of the frontrunners, as the defending F1 world constructors’ champions continue to struggle to solve the porpoising issue.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Haas returnee Kevin Magnussen also starred in qualifying, with sixth and seventh respectively, to see the two teams shake-up the midfield order.

Sebastian Vettel is out of action after testing positive for COVID-19, with Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified in 17th place, taking on the super-sub role which he undertook for the team on three occasions in 2020.

Daniel Ricciardo is back for McLaren after recovering from his own positive COVID-19 test which forced him to miss the Bahrain pre-season test, with the Australian set to start the race from 18th on the grid.

The 57-lap race gets underway at 3pm GMT (6pm local time).

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Pit stop
It's soft tyres for Verstappen, and softs for Perez too. Sainz responds by pitting and takes on the soft to boot.
Pit stop
Now here's interesting: Verstappen's making another pitstop! Perez also follows suit: three stoppers abound!
Pit stop

All 20 drivers are still in this race which, given it is both the first race of the season and the first race of these new cars, it makes for some remarkable reliability. Norris the last to pit for the second time, swapping hards for softs.

Make that 4.8s - Verstappen's shipped a lot of time in the middle sector to Leclerc.
As of lap 42, Leclerc's lead over Verstappen now stands at 4s - while Sainz has managed to build a little bit more of a buffer over Perez.
Alonso drops out of the points now as Tsunoda darts by at Turn 1 with the aid of DRS to take 10th place. Pretty easy move for the Japanese driver, in truth.
Perez is chipping little nuggets of time out of Sainz ahead, with 2s the gap between the pair. Sainz is on the harder tyre, so you'd expect him to have the legs on Checo for the time being.
Alonso doesn't put up a fight to let Alpine team-mate Ocon take ninth place at Turn 1. That releases the French driver to go hunt after Gasly and Magnussen ahead.
Magnussen continues his really strong showing on his return for Haas to climb back up to seventh place, ahead of both Alfa Romeo drivers. Gasly follows suit to move up to eighth.
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"Oh my god, that guy nearly crashed into me" says Sainz, nearly vulnerable to Albon into Turn 1 as the Thai driver left the pits. Sainz has, erm, previous experience of that - having been the aggressor a few years ago.
Leclerc has taken his advantage of Verstappen back up to 2.5s now, as the Ferrari looks strong in the middle sector around here. Verstappen was told he's free to push, but only within the bounds of looking after his tyres for 20 laps.
Magnussen isn't behind Gasly for long though, as he gets back ahead a lap later at Turn 4 after the French driver got slowed by a slide out of Turn 2.
Magnussen pits from sixth, ditching the softs for the mediums - and emerges just ahead of Pierre Gasly, who darts around the outside at Turn 4.
Sainz now pits, and is followed in by Perez. Mediums for the Ferrari, and softs for Perez.
On lap 33 Hamilton repeats the trick at Turn 1 to take sixth off Magnussen.
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"This is two times I've taken it easy on the outlap and I could have been in the lead, I'm never doing it again," says a clearly irate Verstappen. Leclerc's absolutely gunned it in the middle sector, and has a 2s advantage over the Red Bull.
Hamilton, on his fresh mediums, charges by Gasly at Turn 1 for seventh place. Not a fair fight with Gasly still yet to pit again.
Very swift stop again for Ferrari, a 2.5s lay-off, and Leclerc has enough in hand over Verstappen to retain the lead for the time being.
Pit stop
And indeed, Leclerc pulls in for the medium tyre - can he get out ahead of Verstappen?
Pit stop
The second pitstop window is blow open so the running order is shuffling around once more. Ocon and Tsunoda the latest to pit.
Pit stop
Verstappen once again attempts the undercut strategy, pitting for the medium compound. Leclerc's been told the medium is stronger than expected, so we can expect him to pick those up shortly.

A collector’s item for this race - a McLaren driver pulling off an overtake. It's been a nightmare race so far for the team, but Ricciardo gets by Latifi at Turn 8 for 17th to provide a crumb of comfort.

Verstappen continues to be unhappy with the life in his tyres, continuing to ship tiny bits of time to Leclerc out in front.
Pit stop
Hamilton pits from fifth place, trading in the hard tyres for a set of mediums. That's the full gamut of tyre compounds for the Mercedes driver.
Pit stop
Alonso is the first to make a second stop, taking on fresh hards on lap 26, and quickly gets by Albon to put #14 into 14th place.
Leclerc has dropped into the 1m38s now, but is still lapping quickest among the front runners - sitting 4s clear of Verstappen now. Perez's progress over Sainz appears to have stalled out slightly.

Tsunoda is defending valiantly from Bottas in the fight for 11th but the Japanese driver has been warned about track limits at Turn 4.

Pit stop
Norris finally pits at the end of lap 25, having been overtaken by Stroll, and switches his mediums for hards. Sainz just suggested a three-stopper, but Norris looks set for a one-stopper.
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"Think about three stops," Sainz says to the pitwall. He's feeling the degradation out there, struggling to keep life in his soft rubber.
After an eventful opening handful of laps Magnussen now leads the midfield runners in seventh place, 6.1s ahead of Gasly, but he is on the softs and the AlphaTauri is on the mediums.
After weathering Verstappen's earlier assault, Leclerc begins the 22nd lap of 57 with a 2.4s advantage. Sainz has upped his pace now, as Perez looks good on the medium compound.
Norris, still yet to pit, is bleeding time to the rest with his last lap 4.5s slower than Zhou who charges by at Turn 11 for 13th place. Schumacher repeats the feat a lap later on the McLaren to take 14th.
Now the pitstops have shaken out, it's as you were in the top six; Leclerc continues to lead over Verstappen, with Sainz three seconds ahead of Perez. Hamilton and Russell are fifth and sixth on hard tyres.
Stroll finally pits, coming in at the end of lap 18, and cycles back in the order to 19th place. Just Norris and Hulkenberg yet to visit their team mechanics this afternoon.
Verstappen tries again on Lap 19, but locks up heavily into Turn 1 and can't complete another move on Leclerc! That might allow Leclerc to find enough clearance to keep his rival out of the DRS range next time around.
Verstappen kicks off lap 18 with another move on Leclerc, getting a very good run with DRS and gets past again at Turn 1! But Leclerc's exit from Turn 3 is excellent and now takes the inside for the lead once again!
Verstappen posts a 1m36.905s on his first full lap on his fresh tyres, and dives past Leclerc into Turn 1! But Leclerc comes back at him, and clears him on the outside of Turn 4! Great stuff from both drivers!
Pitstops a plenty for the bulk of the field, so the running order is chopping and changing. Just the Astons and the McLarens yet to pit, so those four cars are promoted up the order as it stands.

By: autosport.com

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