Bahrain GP
Race 1 Summary
March 20, 2022
WOW. To sum it up in a sentence, your pace is only as good as your ability to finish the race. Red Bull scored 0 points in the first race of the season, despite looking competitive with Ferrari all race. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were in a tight battle for P1 for most of the race, with Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez also in a good battle for P3. Both Red Bulls retired following a late safety car (which was called out after Pierre Gasly’s car caught fire). Initial reports revealed that the batteries were not receiving fuel (despite having sufficient fuel levels in the cars). Dr. Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull Motorsport, was quick to blame an outside supplier part, but team principal Christian Horner was a bit more cautious with the media. He explained that they needed to take the cars apart to determine what exactly in the fuel system was the cause of both Red Bull’s power failure and ultimate retirements. I found this article helpful in giving some context behind some regulation changes regarding the fuel systems and a few educated guesses as to what might have been the underlying issue. Red Bull HAS NOT made an official announcement, so everything else is just speculation and rumors. We’ll likely have a better idea of what went wrong by the first free practice session for the Saudi Arabia GP.
“…your pace is only as good as your ability to finish the race.”
Charles Leclerc earned his first victory since 2019 in that strong looking Ferrari. It’s clear they’ve put a lot of time and energy into this year’s car. Despite some pressure from Verstappen, Leclerc dominated all race, collecting fastest lap along with his victory. Leclerc had some clever defensive driving, as he used the DRS detection zones to his advantage, allowing him to regain P1 after Verstappen momentarily earned it in Turn 1. Max Verstappen shared some heavy criticism towards his own team’s strategy and performance both during and after the race. Hate to break it to you Max, but you were out-driven this weekend. From securing pole to exceptional defensive driving, Leclerc absolutely earned and deserved the win from beginning to end. (Also, I have to point out that one of my predictions is already wrong: I said that Sainz would earn the first P1 of the season for Ferrari, and the first race proved me wrong! Congrats Charles!) Ferrari earned an impressive P1 and P2 result, and are the team to beat this season!
But… the season ends in November, so we still have a long way to go.
Speaking of long way to go… McLaren… Oi…. My poor husband loves McLaren, so this past weekend crushed him a little bit. Okay, I think everyone can agree that McLaren was the most disappointing team this weekend. They seem to have been backsliding since Barcelona. P14 and P15 for Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris respectively is NOT how either driver wanted to start the season. I think expectations were low for this first race, but not that low. I’m not sure if they are still having issues with their brake temps, or if solving that problem revealed a new one? It didn’t appear to be brake issues, but obviously if they are having issues with any temperature problems, they can’t push as hard. Lando Norris did speak to Sky Sports to give some insight to their problems, but don’t expect any changes for McLaren this weekend at Jeddah. I wouldn’t write them off yet. I told my sister before the race started that the most important thing for McLaren is finishing the race. Obviously, McLaren should be in the points, but with the fact that Daniel Ricciardo missed all of testing AND Lando Norris was experiencing issues with keeping his brakes cool at testing, just finishing the race is a step in the right direction. I think they have a lot of data to go on after the Bahrain GP to help inform any upgrades this season. But I think everyone is questioning if it’s McLaren, or if it’s the Mercedes power unit…
Let’s talk about the Mercedes power unit. Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams, and of course, Mercedes, all run on the Merc PU. Aston Martin, Williams, and McLaren drivers finished P12-P17. Obviously, that seems concerning if 3/4 Mercedes powered teams are that far down. I think it will be easy to blame the Merc PU because that’s the commonality between the 3 teams, but I don’t think it’s that simple.
For starters, despite not looking to have the pace, Mercedes still managed P3 and P4, and all Mercedes PU teams finished the race. RBPT teams had 3 DNFs, so one could argue that Mercedes is at least more reliable than Red Bull. (I will add a caveat that Pierre Gasly’s issue might not be connect to the PU, so it could be unfair to lump them together, but I’m going to do it anyways.) I would also argue that the teams that produce their own power units (Alpine with Renault, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari) all probably know how to maximize their own engine, especially compared to teams that simply use the engine (does that make sense?). The car design around that engine, and the drivers in said car are also important factors that affect where a team ends up in the points. Despite what people have been saying for years in regards to Lewis Hamilton, it’s not just the car that makes a World Champion. That argument has it’s issues rooted in systemic racism, and downplaying a person of color’s success; it’s a disgusting argument and it’s NOT welcome here. In one final note about power units, the Ferrari power units are obviously something special. Haas and Alpha Romeo also use the engines, and both teams had very respectable races (all but 1 driver in a Ferrari powered car finished in the points- Mick Schumacher was the outlier, but still finished in P11).
“The car design around that engine, and the drivers in said car are also important factors that affect where a team ends up in the points.”
QUICK HITS:
-Haas is BACK in the points! Kevin Magnussen secured P5 with Mick Schumacher just missing out on the points in P11 behind Guanyu Zhou of Alpha Romeo.
you love to see it :)
-Bottas secured a respectable P6 after absolutely BUNGLING the start- losing 8 positions, and still struggling to pass Yuki Tsunoda mid-race.
-Alpine had a quiet race, with most of their racing action being between their two drivers. Considering how their race weekend started, I think they’ll be pleased with a quiet race, and 8 points.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE NEW CARS:
Cars look slow on TV and are slower (For example, Charles Leclerc earned Fastest Lap with a 1:34.570 in 2022, while Valtteri Bottas clocked a 1:32.090 in 2021).
Cars can clearly follow and overtake. There were several great battles from top to bottom of the grid and drivers got the feel of these redesigned cars.
Don’t love the new race graphics
QUALIFYING RANT:
I do not like that they got rid of the Qualifying tire rule. Previously, in the 2nd session (Q2) which determined who made the top 10, the drivers that successfully made the top 10 were required to start the race on whatever tires they used. Meaning, if the mediums were going to be more advantageous at the start of the race, you potentially had to risk losing some pace in Q2, to hopefully secure starting on those tires. Likewise, if just starting in the top 10 is most important, you can use softs, because your goal is simple. That rule allowed the mid-field and bellow to secure some top 10 starts, and affected the race strategy the next day. It seems like they want to make qualifying less important in connection to the race (outside of determining the starting grid) to make way for more sprint races. Every driver, with the exception of the 2 McLaren drivers, started on soft tires on Sunday. I personally prefer seeing the different tires on the starting grid, because that is an extra variable that affects the race strategy.
>THE SILVER ARROW POINTS:
>Incredible starts for both Sir Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell. Russell gained 3 vital positions, which ultimately put him behind Sir Lewis, protecting his teammate and putting the team in the best position possible. I didn’t watch Quali, but clearly Russell struggled (comparatively), so gaining 2 positions off the line and passing Magnussen were huge moves that made up ground.
>I liked that they went to the Hard Compound tires. It didn’t work, but I like the call. While they lost time to the top 4, no one behind them could really catch them either.
>Need faster pit stops. When you’re crushing your competition by 10+ seconds, the pit stop isn’t quite as important. BUT, when you’re struggling for pace, you need every advantage you can get. I don’t remember all the pit stop times for Mercedes, but I know Hamilton had one that was 3.9 seconds. I think to give them their best possible advantage, they need to consistently hit the 3 second or less mark.
>On a positive note about pit stops, I do commend Mercedes on the stop that switched Hamilton from Hard tires to Medium Tires. (That was the longer stop, by the way) Mercedes timed it just right, knowing that it was vital that Hamilton ease the tires in (not pushing too hard), and he came out in clean air, without needing to defend his position. Superb strategy and call by the team.
>I feel like everyone looks really loose at Mercedes. They are having problems with their car, but they all seem extremely positive and relaxed. There’s a certain level of confidence and maturity that everyone is operating with, and it’s nice to see. They seem to feel no pressure, and I love that for them. I believe in everyone at Mercedes, so let’s keep pushing!
As a final note, the FIA released their report on Abu Dhabi 2021 (yes, that race). I haven’t read it, but I’ve seen a few highlights from it. It appears that they admit the safety car regulations were not followed as the rules/regulations were written at the time. Michael Masi made a “human error”, which gave Max Verstappen the title. I may write some additional thoughts on the report after I read it, but for now all I’ll say is: the world new the safety car rules weren’t followed properly. Michael Masi chose an entertaining and memorable finish over finishing the right way. Despite the incredible season that Verstappen had, he did not have the championship car down the stretch and certainly not at Abu Dhabi. Mercedes should have won their initial review that the Stewards rejected. The Stewards were just as responsible for upholding the decision as Michael Masi. Yes, there would have been a lot of angry Red Bull fans, but that would have been the right call. Rules are rules, and must be followed. Let the asterisk show that Verstappen’s title was not earned at that race, and Hamilton would be the 8-time world champion if the rules were followed as written. The FIA admitted it, so history should remember it that way.
Here are a few of my favorite F1 podcasts for more coverage of the Bahrain GP:
Quick Stop F1 (Bahrain GP Review)
On the Chicane (Bahrain GP Race Rundown)
Go check them out!
Okay, so that’ll do it for the first race of the season! Let me know what your thoughts on the race, and if there’s something you’d like me to talk about next time! Until next race!