F1 Grand Prix race results: Leclerc wins wild Bahrain GP

Leclerc held off a stern challenge from Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen, who swapped the lead in the middle phase of the race. But Verstappen was forced out with a loss of power in the closing stages, handing Ferrari its 1-2 finish.

Red Bull’s day turned to disaster when Sergio Perez lost third place on the final lap when his engine cut out, handing Lewis Hamilton the final spot on the podium.

2022 Bahrain Grand Prix race results

Cla	Driver		Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Points
1	Charles Leclerc		57	-			26
2	Carlos Sainz Jr		57	5.598	5.598	5.598	18
3	Lewis Hamilton		57	9.675	9.675	4.077	15
4	George Russell		57	11.211	11.211	1.536	12
5	Kevin Magnussen		57	14.754	14.754	3.543	10
6	Valtteri Bottas		57	16.119	16.119	1.365	8
7	Esteban Ocon		57	19.423	19.423	3.304	6
8	Yuki Tsunoda		57	20.386	20.386	0.963	4
9	Fernando Alonso		57	22.390	22.390	2.004	2
10	Guanyu Zhou		57	23.064	23.064	0.674	1
11	Mick Schumacher		57	32.574	32.574	9.510
12	Lance Stroll		57	45.873	45.873	13.299
13	Alex Albon		57	53.932	53.932	8.059
14	Daniel Ricciardo		57	54.975	54.975	1.043
15	Lando Norris		57	56.335	56.335	1.360
16	Nicholas Latifi		57	1'01.795	1'01.795	5.460
17	Nico Hulkenberg		57	1'03.829	1'03.829	2.034
18	Sergio Perez		56
19	Max Verstappen		54
	Pierre Gasly		44
View full results

How the Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded

From pole position Leclerc (on brand-new soft tyres) led Verstappen (on scrubbed softs). Sainz held third as Hamilton jumped up to fourth, passing Perez – who made a poor exit from Turn 1 – with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas also passing the second Red Bull soon after.

Mercedes’ George Russell rose to seventh from ninth on the opening lap, running ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, the latter tagging Mick Schumacher’s Haas into a spin at Turn 5. Ocon was penalised 5s for the clash.

Perez re-passed Magnussen on Lap 3 at Turn 4, after Magnussen overshot Turn 1. Magnussen made a second error at Turn 1 and allowed Russell up to sixth.

Leclerc led Verstappen by 2.8s on Lap 10, the Red Bull man being told to drop back to cool his brakes. Behind them, Perez DRS-ed past Hamilton into Turn 4 on Lap 10 to take fourth.

Hamilton triggered the pit sequence, stopping for hard tyres on Lap 12. “No grip on this tyre,” he rued as he struggled for initial tyre temperature.

Verstappen, Sainz and Magnussen stopped on Lap 15 for another set of softs, while Gasly, Alonso and Ocon opted for mediums. Leclerc pitted a lap later for softs, along with Perez who took mediums, while Russell mirrored Hamilton and took mediums.

Verstappen was now right on Leclerc’s tail and went on the attack – taking the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 17 but Leclerc grabbed it back at Turn 4. They repeated those overtakes on the following tour, but on Lap 19 Verstappen had a huge lockup as he passed Leclerc at Turn 1 and Max then slipped out of DRS range while being warned about his brake temperatures again.

Hamilton ditched his hard tyres for mediums on Lap 28, with Verstappen also going for mediums on Lap 32 and Leclerc covering him a lap later. Leclerc rejoined with just enough breathing space over Verstappen this time, who blamed the team for telling to take it easy on the out-lap.

Sainz ran longer and led for a few laps, pitting on Lap 34 as did Perez – who went for softs on his alternate strategy to those ahead.

The Red Bulls then triggered a sequence of third pitstops, with Sainz stopping to cover Perez as Leclerc stayed out – now leading by 25s. Verstappen complained of steering issues after he rejoined but his team reassured him it wouldn’t lead to a retirement.

Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire causing a safety car on Lap 46. Leclerc pitted, taking softs like all of those behind him.

The restart heralded a charge to the finish, with Leclerc leading Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Hamilton and Russell. Sainz challenged Verstappen as Leclerc jumped clear, while Perez held off an attack from Hamilton.

Verstappen then hit power issues, allowing Sainz to outdrag him into Turn 11 on Lap 54 before coasting into the pits. Perez also hit power issues, allowing Hamilton right on to his tail.

Perez spun at Turn 1 at the start of the final lap as his engine cut out, promoting Hamilton to third from Russell.

Magnussen finished fifth, ahead of Valtteri Bottas (who recovered after a poor start in his Alfa Romeo), Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Alonso and a point on his debut for Alfa’s Guanyu Zhou.

2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	51	1'34.570			206.018
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	51	1'35.440	0.870	0.870	204.140
3	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	52	1'35.740	1.170	0.300	203.501
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	52	1'36.089	1.519	0.349	202.762
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1'36.228	1.658	0.139	202.469
6	George Russell	Mercedes	56	1'36.302	1.732	0.074	202.313
7	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	53	1'36.599	2.029	0.297	201.691
8	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	53	1'36.623	2.053	0.024	201.641
9	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	39	1'36.685	2.115	0.062	201.512
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	44	1'36.733	2.163	0.048	201.412
11	Mick Schumacher	Haas	37	1'36.956	2.386	0.223	200.948
12	Lando Norris	McLaren	51	1'36.988	2.418	0.032	200.882
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	53	1'37.104	2.534	0.116	200.642
14	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	53	1'37.110	2.540	0.006	200.630
15	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	49	1'37.146	2.576	0.036	200.555
16	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	50	1'37.261	2.691	0.115	200.318
17	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	34	1'37.324	2.754	0.063	200.189
18	Alex Albon	Williams	50	1'37.355	2.785	0.031	200.125
19	Nico Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	49	1'38.201	3.631	0.846	198.401
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	51	1'38.251	3.681	0.050	198.300
View full results

2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix pitstops

Cla	Driver	Chassis	1		2		3		4
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	S	15	S	19	M	15	S	14
2	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	S	17	S	19	M	11	S	16
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	S	13	H	17	M	17	S	16
4	George Russell	Mercedes	S	18	H	19	M	12	S	14
5	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	S	14	S	23	M	12	S	14
6	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	S	17	M	22	M	9	S	14
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	S	14	M	16	H	13	S	17
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	S	15	M	14	S	15	S	16
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	S	14	M	14	H	17	S	15
10	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	S	15	M	22	M	8	S	15
11	Mick Schumacher	Haas	S	12	M	23	S	24
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	S	18	S	20	M	7	S	12
13	Alex Albon	Williams	S	13	M	22	M	13	S	14
14	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	M	17	S	16	H	11	S	13
15	Lando Norris	McLaren	M	24	H	17	S	4	S	15
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	S	14	S	18	M	13	S	15
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	S	19	S	18	M	7	S	13
18	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	S	18	M	18	S	13	S	16
19	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	S	17	S	16	M	13	S	14
	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	S	17	M	18	H	12
View full results