Hamilton wins as Ferrari has double trouble

Hamilton takes the win

Hey all so Sunday was round 2 of the 2019 F1 season this time in Bahrain. The country has been hosting F1 races for 15 years however it became controversial in 2011 when it the race was in the middle of the Arab Spring, the large number of protests forced the race to be rescheduled then cancelled and became one of the most unpopular races by fans drivers and teams until 2014 when they turned it into a night race. After that decision, the race has slowly become one of the favourites.

Leclerc stunned everyone in his second race for Ferrari

Ferrari dominated Friday practice and qualifying on Saturday with Charles Leclerc dominating the headlines and time sheets. He even took pole becoming the second youngest driver ever to take pole (the youngest was his teammate). Another question was where was this pace that Ferrari had that didn't turn up in Australia. On race day there was another factor to make the race interesting, the weather, 40mph gusts to be precise. The concern was that with gusts at that speed it could affect the balance of the cars and force them to spin out of control.

The first lap of the race didn't go well for Leclerc as he lost two places after Vettel and Bottas got off the start line quicker than him. Behind them, Stroll and Grosjean got involved in a collision with Stroll needing a new front wing and Grosjean suffering from a puncture.  Then on lap 5 McLaren's Carlos Sainz gets a damaged front wing with sparks showering off the track after getting hit on the side by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Leclerc regained the lead on lap 6. On lap 14 Kvyat and Giovinazzi clipped wheels forcing the former to spin. Then on lap 19, Grosjean became the first retirement of the race and Kvyat was given a 5 stop penalty for the contact with Giovinazzi.

Vettel (5) taking the lead

Sainz (bottom) with a damaged wing

Hamilton was struggling in the race as he said to his team on the radio that his rear tyres were fading away, meaning that he couldn't get any grip on the tyres and when he needed them they weren't responding. This was illustrated when on lap 23 Vettel got up close to Hamilton and overtook him on the straight.

After the next pit window Hamilton with fresher tyres on went on the attack catching up with Vettel, however, the Ferrari had the track position to defend Hamilton from overtaking. Then the unbelievable happens, Vettel spins the Ferrari without being hit and he needs new tyres and if it couldn't get worse for him it did. on the back straight Vettel loses his front wing under the car.

Then if it that was enough down the field the Renaults collide with each other on lap 40. Meanwhile, it looks like Leclerc was going to walk to victory when it all went wrong. The first indication was "something strange with the engine". It showed as Hamilton gained 13 seconds on the leader. Leclerc was losing power and Hamilton overtook the leader on lap 49. Bottas then overtakes him with 3 laps to go. Then if it couldn't be more entertaining the Renaults engines cut out at the same time at the very same corner. This forced the race to be finished under Safety Car rules which means no overtaking.

Wow. It's al gone wrong for Vettel

The immediate headline was not Hamilton winning it but bad luck for Leclerc and even Hamilton acknowledged it saying "devastating race for Charles". Even Mercedes said they had lady luck on their side. The drivers standing after two races had Hamilton just 1 point behind his teammate Bottas. The next race is in China and it is a special race as it will be the 1000th Grand Prix. All eyes will be on Leclerc again to see if he can bounce back from the disappointment.

Hamilton consoling Leclerc

That's all from Bahrain the next race report will be from China and let's see if it's a classic Grand Prix for a special occasion.

KRO Mark