F1 Bahrain GP Live Updates - race day | Live text

By: Jake Boxall-Legge

Summary


	Hamilton wins F1 Bahrain GP from Verstappen and Albon as race finishes behind safety car due to Perez engine failure
	Race delayed by an hour due to barrier damage following Grosjean's scary lap one crash
	Haas driver makes remarkable escape from wrecked and flaming car before being taken to hospital for checks on burns to his hands and ankles
	Hamilton dominates from pole ahead of Verstappen as Bottas suffers puncture from debris
	Verstappen suffers slow second stop attempting to undercut Hamilton and makes an extra stop in a successful bid to get fastest lap
	Perez running third when engine lets go with three laps to go, promoting Albon to second podium of the season
	Racing Point double DNF after Stroll tipped into a barrel-roll by Kvyat, as strong day swings the race for third in the constructors' in McLaren's favour

Status: Stopped

20:33 Thanks everyone for joining us this evening and sticking with us. If you're feeling a little shaken, that's okay - I think we're all feeling it a bit. Take it easy, stay safe and join us again next week!

20:32 And here's the report from Bahrain:

F1 Bahrain GP: Hamilton wins following Grosjean's fireball crash

Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in Formula 1's 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, which featured a shocking, fiery crash for Haas driver Romain Grosjean

20:31 In comparison, Albon gets what's essentially a two-handed golden mug. He won't be too upset to get that.

20:30 A big ol' gold cup for Hamilton. He asks Verstappen to check the weight of it - it's got a fair bit of heft to it.

20:29

20:24 Hamilton: "It was such a shocking image to see [Grosjean's crash]. It shows the amazing job F1 and the FIA have done for him to walk away from something like that."

20:22 Verstappen: "We were just lacking a bit. We tried to keep [Lewis] close but they always had an answer. It is what it is - second place is good."

20:21 Albon: "Yeah, obviously a bit of luck involved with Sergio. But considering Friday, the guys did an amazing job to get the car ready. I felt like the last few races have been getting better and better, but the results didn't really show it."

20:20 Albon gets a "well done" from Hamilton, as the two Red Bulls make it onto the podium following Perez's blow-out.

20:17 Fourth and fifth for the McLarens, as Gasly hangs onto sixth. Ricciardo, Bottas, Ocon and Leclerc complete the top 10.

20:16

20:16 The fireworks feel a little gauche on a day like this, but still, a commanding win for Hamilton.

20:14 The safety car released Hamilton, and that's another win for the 2020 world champion! Verstappen and Albon will flank him on the podium.

20:13 Lewis Hamilton wins the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix!

20:13 A man ran across the track in front of Norris as he passed the stranded Racing Point.

20:12 Giovinazzi did pit under this safety car and has dropped to P16 and behind his team-mate Raikkonen. But that could be that for this race, which technically started three hours ago.

20:12 The Racing Point crew is distraught, head-in-hands. Naturally so - 15 points for the third place have disappeared into the ether. No score for the team in pink.

20:10 Hamilton is told not to come in, as we're set for a safety car finish.

20:09 That shuffles Albon up to third - as the potential for back-to-back podiums for Perez are up in smoke.

20:09

20:08 Safety Car Deployed! Perez's engine is on fire!

20:07 Perez's car is on fire, and we have a safety car.

20:07 That's Perez! Smoke pouring out of his Racing Point - that's game over. Heartbreak.

20:06 "You have five more laps, can you make it?" asks Gasly's race engineer Pierre Hamelin. "Yeah I can make it, but I don't know how fast!"

20:04 Verstappen's eroding Hamilton's lead at a hefty rate on those fresh tyres, but it's still a 20s advantage with five laps to go.

20:02 Heeeeere's Carlos! Gets DRS, tucks in behind Gasly, and gets the run out of turn 3 to storm past the Frenchman.

20:02 That late-race charge from Bottas is yet to materialise with the Finn in ninth place still over four seconds behind Ricciardo.

20:00 "Are you following asleep? Wake up!," Perez enquires. "Yes Checo, we're here," his engineer says, roused from his slumber.

19:58 "Gasly 2.8, let's go get him," Sainz is told. "Yeah, Gasly will be easy," comes the reply. He's within 2s now.

19:57 That's a 1m32.014s for Verstappen - so he's got the fastest lap in his pocket.

19:55 Magnussen has been somewhat of a mobile chicane for the past few laps as he is overtaken by Vettel, Latifi and Raikkonen in consecutive laps. The Danish driver is now running in 18th place and last.

19:55 Verstappen comes in for stop three, presumably going for fastest lap points. He'll come out ahead of Perez, but crucially, in traffic.

19:52 Norris makes light work of Gasly, swooping around the outside of Turn 4 to reclaim fifth place. Gasly's on much older tyres, and he might be going to the end on this set.

19:52 Bottas makes his F1 Insight's target slightly easier by overtaking Ocon for ninth place. Next up is Ricciardo, almost five seconds up the road.

19:50 F1 Insights says there is a 97% chance of Bottas, in P10, catching Gasly, currently P5, by the end of the race through race strategy with 15 laps to go. Done deal then.

19:47 Sainz was slowly winding Norris in pre-stop, so he's lost a fair whack of time - he's now 10s behind.

19:45 A bit of a delay with Sainz's eventual stop, with a slightly sticky wheelnut in the mix - and he rejoins behind Leclerc. "Arrrrrrrgh," he says over the radio, with marginal frustration. Or he's doing a pirate impression.

19:45 Bottas pits again for Mercedes on lap 39, meaning he drops back out of the points and behind the squabbling Renault pair in 11th. It looks like Verstappen will take a big chunk out of his points deficit to the Finn this afternoon in the battle for second place in the championship.