2020 F1 Sakhir Grand Prix race results

Sergio Perez won a dramatic Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain for Racing Point, which was turned on its head following a huge pitstop blunder by Mercedes and a late puncture for George Russell.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000 with broken front suspention after a first lap crash with Sergio Perez, Racing Point RP20

Mercedes’ Russell grabbed the lead with a brilliant launch off the startline, as pole-sitting teammate Valtteri Bottas toiled to fend off a quick-starting Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Perez after a big slide at Turn 2. But a safety car was required almost immediately, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc collided with Perez at Turn 4 and Verstappen understeered into the barrier in avoidance of their clash.

Perez was the only one of the trio to continue, dropping to the tail of the field and pitting for fresh rubber.

Russell restarted in the lead from Bottas, ahead of Carlos Sainz (McLaren), Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) and Lance Stroll (Racing Point). Sainz drove around the outside of Bottas for second at Turn 1, but ran wide and gave the place back. That allowed Russell to get outside of Bottas’s DRS range.

Perez battled his way rapidly back into the top 10, pulling off an awesome move on Red Bull’s Alex Albon at Turn 4.

Kvyat undercut past Ricciardo for fourth place, after Renault called the Australian in too late during the first round of pitstops, while Ocon did the same to Stroll.

Despite a post-pitstop panic when he had to change an engine setting due to “no power”, Russell gained by stopping several laps before Bottas, extending his lead to over 8s.

On Lap 55, Nicholas Latifi’s stranded Williams brought out a brief virtual safety car, Sainz just missing the window to pit during this phase, so dropped from third to seventh when he stopped for a second time.

Perez was the man to watch, carving past teammate Stroll when he outbraked himself at Turn 4, then passing Ocon for a spot on the podium.

Debutant Jack Aitken caused a second safety car, when he ran wide and lost his front wing at the final corner.

Mercedes double stacked Russell and Bottas, and mixed up its tyre sets, causing a very slow stop for Bottas, who rejoined on the tyres he pitted on, but requiring Russell to pit again – as he’d been fitted with the wrong rubber.

That promoted Perez to the lead, ahead of Ocon and Stroll. Bottas restarted fourth, ahead of Russell, who passed him with a committed move at Turn 7.

Russell outbraked Stroll for third at Turn 1 on Lap 72, and picked off Ocon for second a lap later on the run to Turn 4. But Perez had pulled out a 3s lead, before Russell suffered a rear puncture with eight laps to go, dropping him to 14th. On his old tyres, Bottas too plummeted down the order.

All the Mercedes drama allowed Perez to take his maiden F1 win, well clear of Ocon and Stroll. Sainz recovered to finish fourth, ahead of Ricciardo, Albon, Kvyat and Bottas. Russell recovered to finish ninth with fastest lap.

F1 Sakhir Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Laps Time Interval
1 Mexico Sergio Perez 87 -  
2 France Esteban Ocon 87 10.518 10.518
3 Canada Lance Stroll 87 11.869 1.351
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. 87 12.580 0.711
5 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 87 13.330 0.750
6 Thailand Alex Albon 87 13.842 0.512
7 Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat 87 14.534 0.692
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas 87 15.389 0.855
9 United Kingdom George Russell 87 18.556 3.167
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris 87 19.541 0.985
11 France Pierre Gasly 87 20.527 0.986
12 Germany Sebastian Vettel 87 22.611 2.084
13 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi 87 24.111 1.500
14 Finland Kimi Raikkonen 87 26.153 2.042
15 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 87 32.370 6.217
16 United Kingdom Jack Aitken 87 33.674 1.304
17 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi 87 36.858 3.184
  Canada Nicholas Latifi 52    
  Netherlands Max Verstappen 0    
  Monaco Charles Leclerc 0    

F1 Sakhir Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 80 55.404     230.214
2 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 60 56.563 1.159 1.159 225.497
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Racing Point Mercedes 69 56.789 1.385 0.226 224.599
4 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari 56 56.887 1.483 0.098 224.212
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 56 56.905 1.501 0.018 224.141
6 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Renault Renault 57 56.979 1.575 0.074 223.850
7 Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri Honda 80 57.001 1.597 0.022 223.764
8 Thailand Alex Albon Red Bull Honda 52 57.056 1.652 0.055 223.548
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren Renault 80 57.165 1.761 0.109 223.122
10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Honda 53 57.220 1.816 0.055 222.908
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Renault 85 57.270 1.866 0.050 222.713
12 France Esteban Ocon Renault Renault 75 57.350 1.946 0.080 222.402
13 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Ferrari 56 57.375 1.971 0.025 222.305
14 Canada Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes 85 57.388 1.984 0.013 222.255
15 United Kingdom Jack Aitken Williams Mercedes 56 57.392 1.988 0.004 222.240
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 57 57.516 2.112 0.124 221.760
17 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi Haas Ferrari 56 57.742 2.338 0.226 220.892
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 29 58.206 2.802 0.464 219.132

F1 Sakhir Grand Prix tyre history

Cla Driver Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Racing Point Mercedes S 4 M 46 H 40        
2 France Esteban Ocon Renault Renault M 41 H 46            
3 Canada Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes S 45 M 45            
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren Renault S 31 M 27 M 32        
5 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Renault Renault S 32 M 26 H 32        
6 Thailand Alex Albon Red Bull Honda M 47 H 15 S 25        
7 Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri Honda S 30 M 28 H 34        
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes M 53 H 13 H 38        
9 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes M 49 H 17 M 4 M 21 S 12
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Renault S 20 M 34 M 33        
11 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Honda S 31 M 29 H 36        
12 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari M 33 H 23 S 9 S 27    
13 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari M 26 H 28 M 33        
14 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Ferrari M 23 H 31 M 8 S 25    
15 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari S 26 M 28 S 36        
16 United Kingdom Jack Aitken Williams Mercedes M 31 H 23 M 5 S 28    
17 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi Haas Ferrari S 31 M 22 S 14 S 27    
  Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes S 27 M 25            
  Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda S 3                
  Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari S 3                

F1 Sakhir Grand Prix as it happened

shares
comments

Related video

Verstappen calls Leclerc's Lap 1 move "reckless"

Sakhir GP: Perez takes shock win after Mercedes debacle

Why the end of F1’s design divergence is nothing to be sad about 

Why the end of F1’s design divergence is nothing to be sad about 

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Jonathan Noble

Why the end of F1’s design divergence is nothing to be sad about  Why the end of F1’s design divergence is nothing to be sad about 

Why Mercedes may be wrong to be so cagey on new F1 expectations

Why Mercedes may be wrong to be so cagey on new F1 expectations

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Alex Kalinauckas

Why Mercedes may be wrong to be so cagey on new F1 expectations Why Mercedes may be wrong to be so cagey on new F1 expectations

Is this F1's most underrated driver of 2023?

Is this F1's most underrated driver of 2023?

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

Is this F1's most underrated driver of 2023? Is this F1's most underrated driver of 2023?

Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023 Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Why Verstappen's 2023 Spanish GP win wasn't as simple as it looked

Why Verstappen's 2023 Spanish GP win wasn't as simple as it looked

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Alex Kalinauckas

Why Verstappen's 2023 Spanish GP win wasn't as simple as it looked Why Verstappen's 2023 Spanish GP win wasn't as simple as it looked

How F1 teams manage the punishing reality of F1’s relentless schedule

How F1 teams manage the punishing reality of F1’s relentless schedule

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
GP Racing

How F1 teams manage the punishing reality of F1’s relentless schedule How F1 teams manage the punishing reality of F1’s relentless schedule

Why handling misfortune well could make Red Bull invincible in 2023

Why handling misfortune well could make Red Bull invincible in 2023

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Monaco GP
Jonathan Noble

Why handling misfortune well could make Red Bull invincible in 2023 Why handling misfortune well could make Red Bull invincible in 2023

How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14

How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14

Prime
Prime
Formula 1
Monaco GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14 How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14

Subscribe