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The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2022) was a Formula One race that was held on 20 March 2022 at the
Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain ...
, a motor racing circuit in the west of
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
. It served as the season opener of the
2022 Formula One World Championship The 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 73rd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), th ...
and it was the eighteenth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
won the race after starting from pole position, his first win since the
2019 Italian Grand Prix The 2019 Italian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2019) was a Formula One motor race held on 8 September 2019 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. The race was the 14th round of the 2019 ...
. Leading all but two laps after pitting a second time, short of a
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
, Leclerc had a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
with pole, race win, and
fastest lap In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some racing series, like Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula E award championship points for a driver or team that set the fastest lap. In Grand Prix motorcycle racing no point ...
. Teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. and
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
completed the podium, as reigning champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez both retired. It was Ferrari's first win and 1–2 finish since the
2019 Singapore Grand Prix The 2019 Singapore Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 September 2019 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. The race was the 15th ...
.


Background


Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with the only exception being Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, who tested positive for coronavirus and was therefore replaced by
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the ye ...
. This was Hülkenberg's first race since his one-off appearance at the
2020 Eifel Grand Prix The 2020 Eifel Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Aramco Großer Preis der Eifel 2020) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 October 2020 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany on the GP-Strecke layout. It was the first Formula O ...
. The race was also the Grand Prix debut of
Zhou Guanyu Zhou Guanyu (, pronounced ; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Alfa Romeo. He is the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for UNI-Virt ...
for
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
. He became the first ever Chinese driver to take part in a
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
Grand Prix.


Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event. This was a step harder than 2021 where the C2, C3 and C4 tyres were used. This race was also the first race where the 18-inch tyres were used as the 2022 regulations began.


Practice

Three practice sessions were held at the Grand Prix, each lasting an hour in length. The first practice session was on Friday 18 March, and started at 15:00
local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...
( UTC+03:00). The only red flag of the session was when Esteban Ocon's
Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
shed its sidepod bodywork on the main straight. The session ended being topped by
Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 ...
of AlphaTauri on soft tyres. The second session started at 18:00 local time on the same day. The session ended with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen of
Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
topping the timing sheets with a 1:31.936 on soft tyres.
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
was 0.087 seconds behind him in second place with his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr in third. The third practice session took place on 19 March, starting at 15:00 local time. Max Verstappen of
Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
was fastest again
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
in second by 0.096 seconds, after overcoming a spin into the Turn 11 gravel. Sergio Pérez was in third, 0.25 seconds off the pace.


Qualifying

Qualifying lasted for one hour and started at 18:00 local time on 19 March.
Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through Mc ...
of Haas achieved the team's first Q3 appearance since the
2019 Brazilian Grand Prix The 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2019) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 17 November 2019 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. The race was the twe ...
.
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
of Ferrari set the fastest time for pole position, ahead of Verstappen and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.


Qualifying classification


Race

The race started at 18:00 local time on 20 March, ran under overhead lights and lasted for 57 laps. At the start, Leclerc remained ahead of Verstappen at the first turn. Sainz remained in third place, with Pérez being passed by Hamilton and Magnussen. Bottas, who began at sixth, fell to 14th within the first lap. Schumacher and Ocon collided on the first lap, which resulted in a five-second penalty for Ocon. Pérez passed Magnussen and Hamilton to return to fourth position. Hamilton entered the pit lane on lap 9, becoming the first driver of the race to do so, and reentered the race 12th. Verstappen, still behind Leclerc, pitted on lap 14, along with Sainz, while Leclerc pitted a lap later. Verstappen passed Leclerc on lap 17 using DRS, but Leclerc regained first soon after. On lap 19, Verstappen attempted to pass again, but he locked up and overshot turn 1, allowing Leclerc to build a lead. Leclerc maintained his lead, with Verstappen entering the pit lane on lap 31, followed by Leclerc a lap later. Sainz and Pérez both pitted on lap 34, followed by Verstappen pitting for a third time on lap 44, and then by Sainz and Hamilton. On lap 46, Gasly's car caught fire, which prompted the safety car until lap 51. When the race restarted, Leclerc maintained the lead over Verstappen, who radioed the pit crew to notify them he suspected he had a power unit issue. He was passed by Sainz and Hamilton, and he entered the pit lane to retire his car on lap 54. On the final lap, Pérez suffered a fuel system issue, causing him to spin his car and retire. Leclerc and Sainz maintained first and second position, followed by Hamilton in third, through to the end of the race. Russell finished fourth with Magnussen of Haas in fifth.


Race classification

Notes * – Includes one point for fastest lap. * – Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


See also

* 2022 Sakhir Formula 2 round *
2022 Sakhir Formula 3 round The 2022 Sakhir FIA Formula 3 round was a motor racing event held on 19 and 20 March 2022 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the opening round of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, and was held in support of the 2022 B ...


Notes


References

{{F1GP 2020–29
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain Grand Prix