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The 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, officially the 2007 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix was the third race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on 15 April 2007.[1][2] The race was won by Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, as Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to finish on the podium in each of his first three races.[2]

Qualifying had seen Massa secure an impressive pole position, topping all three sessions en-route to beating Hamilton by three tenths of a second.[2] Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso would share the second row, while the two BMW Saubers secured a third row lockout, Nick Heidfeld ahead of Robert Kubica.[2]

The start of the race would see Massa ease ahead of Hamilton to claim an early lead, while Räikkönen and Alonso squabbled for third.[2] Alonso would emerge ahead as the field filtered through the second and third corners, before an accident at turn four brought out the Safety Car for the first time in 2007.[2]

The cause of the SC's appearance would be a what appeared to be a three-way collision, as Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil and Scott Speed came together at the back of the field.[2] However, replays showed that Sutil had smacked into Speed as the field braked for the right-hander, while Button had tipped himself into a spin touching David Coulthard.[2]

The restart came at the start of lap four, with Massa attempting to escape from Hamilton and Alonso, as Räikkönen misread the happenings ahead and dropped back.[2] He hence lost a handful of time and had to push to catch back up, with the two BMW Saubers initially able to harass him.[2]

Räikkönen would quickly get on terms with Alonso as the leaders broke away from the pack, while Massa remained under constant pressure from Hamilton for the lead.[2] Indeed, the British rookie was pushing the Brazilian so hard that they established a gap of their own over Alonso and Räikkönen within ten laps.[2]

Hamilton was the first of the leaders to make a scheduled stop on lap twenty, diving in to replace his soft Bridgestone tyres with the harder prime compound.[2] Massa ventured in a lap later and rejoined ahead, handing the lead to Alonso who seemed to be struggling the most with his tyres.[2] He would, however, suffer the consequences for being the last of the leaders to stop, as Räikkönen swept past him to secure third when the Spaniard pitted.[2]

Alonso's pace would not improve on fresh rubber, with the Spaniard soon slipping out of contention and behind the #9 BMW Sauber of Heidfeld without too much resistance.[2] The rest of the second stint, however, would be focused on the fight between Renault and customers Red Bull-Renault, which saw David Coulthard and Mark Webber pass Giancarlo Fisichella for seventh and eighth, only to retire within five laps of each other.[2]

The second round of stops would have no impact on the leaders, with Massa retaining the lead ahead of Hamilton, while Räikkönen made no ground on the lead duo.[2] Heidfeld would likewise retain fourth ahead of Alonso, having built a ten second lead over the Spaniard, while Kubica had dropped into a world of his own in sixth.[2]

The final stint of the race would see little action of note, with Massa able to maintain a two second lead over Hamilton to secure the race victory, also setting fastest lap to secure a maiden Hattrick.[2] Hamilton set a record of his own by finishing second, beating Peter Arundell's 1964 record for most consecutive podiums at the start of a rookie season, while Räikkönen was a lonely third.[2]

Behind the Finn, Heidfeld resisted a late recovery charge from Alonso to secure fourth, while Kubica, Jarno Trulli and Fisichella collected the remaining points.[2] Furthermore, the results of the race meant that there were three drivers tied for the lead of the Championship, with Alonso, Räikkönen and Hamilton all level on 22 points, the first time that this had happened in the World Championship since the 1950 Indianapolis 500.[2]

Background[]

Victory, combined with second place on the opening day, meant it was reigning Champion Fernando Alonso who led the title hunt after the Malaysian Grand Prix, holding eighteen points to his name. Kimi Räikkönen had been forced to make way for him, a first and a third in the opening races leaving him two behind on sixteen, while Lewis Hamilton had retained third on fourteen. Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa had likewise held station behind, as Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen had added their names to the scoresheet.

In the Constructors Championship it was status quo at the head of the pack, as McLaren-Mercedes had opened out a nine point lead in Malaysia. Ferrari retained their spot in second as the Anglo-German alliance's closest challengers, before a thirteen point gap back to BMW Sauber in third. Renault and Toyota completed the early top five, the latter having overhauled customers Williams-Toyota in Sepang.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 1080T 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 1080T 2.4 V8 B
3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
19 United States Scott Speed Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 1 1:32.443 1 1:31.359 1 1:32.652 1
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 2 1:32.580 2 1:31.752 2 1:32.935 2
3 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 4 1:33.161 3 1:31.812 3 1:33.131 3
4 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:33.049 5 1:32.214 4 1:33.192 4
5 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 5 1:33.164 4 1:32.154 5 1:33.404 5
6 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 8 1:33.348 6 1:32.292 6 1:33.710 6
7 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 12 1:33.556 10 1:32.889 7 1:34.056 7
8 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 11 1:33.496 8 1:32.808 8 1:34.106 8
9 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 6 1:33.218 7 1:32.429 9 1:34.154 9
10 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 9 1:33.349 9 1:32.815 10 1:34.399 10
11 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 13 1:33.759 11 1:32.915 11
12 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 10 1:33.467 12 1:32.935 12
13 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 7 1:33.299 13 1:33.082 13
14 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 15 1:33.923 14 1:33.294 14
15 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 14 1:33.776 15 1:33.624 15
16 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 16 1:33.967 16 1:33.731 16
17 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 17 1:33.984 17
18 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 1:34.024 18
19 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19 1:34.333 19
20 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 20 1:35.280 20
21 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 21 1:35.341 21
22 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:35.533 22
Source:[4]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Felipe Massa 2
______________ Lewis Hamilton
Row 2 3 ______________
Kimi Räikkönen 4
______________ Fernando Alonso
Row 3 5 ______________
Nick Heidfeld 6
______________ Robert Kubica
Row 4 7 ______________
Giancarlo Fisichella 8
______________ Mark Webber
Row 5 9 ______________
Jarno Trulli 10
______________ Nico Rosberg
Row 6 11 ______________
Alexander Wurz 12
______________ Heikki Kovalainen
Row 7 13 ______________
Anthony Davidson 14
______________ Ralf Schumacher
Row 8 15 ______________
Rubens Barrichello 16
______________ Jenson Button
Row 9 17 ______________
Takuma Sato 18
______________ Vitantonio Liuzzi
Row 10 19 ______________
Scott Speed 20
______________ Adrian Sutil
Row 11 21 ______________
David Coulthard 22
______________ Christijan Albers

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 57 1:33:27.515 1 10
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 57 +2.360s 2 8
3 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 57 +10.839s 3 6
4 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 57 +13.831s 5 5
5 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 57 +14.426s 4 4
6 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 57 +45.529s 6 3
7 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 57 +1:21.371 9 2
8 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 57 +1:21.701 7 1
9 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 57 +1:29.411 12
10 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 57 +1:29.916 10
11 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 56 +1 Lap 11
12 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 56 +1 Lap 14
13 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 56 +1 Lap 15
14 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 55 +2 Laps 22
15 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 53 +4 Laps 20
16* 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 51 Engine 13
Ret 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 41 Gearbox 8
Ret 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 36 Driveshaft 21
Ret 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 34 Engine 17
Ret 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26 Hydraulics 18
Ret 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 0 Collision 16
Ret 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Collision 19
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Davidson was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[5]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

For the first time since the inaugural season of Formula One World Championship there would be a three-way tie at the head of the field after the opening three rounds, with three drivers on 22 points. Fernando Alonso was technically ahead by virtue of a race win and a second place, while Kimi Räikkönen was second with a win and two thirds. Lewis Hamilton was third man in the trifecta without a win, while Felipe Massa had moved into fourth on seventeen points.

In the Constructors Championship it was McLaren-Mercedes who led the charge, although their lead had been reduced at the head of the hunt. Ferrari were the team to do the damage, moving onto 39 points, while BMW Sauber had lost more ground in third, slipping 21 behind the Scuderia. Renault, Toyota and Williams-Toyota were the only other scorers.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Spain Fernando Alonso 22
2 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 22
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 22
4 Brazil Felipe Massa 17 ▲2
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 15 ▼1
6 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 8 ▼1
7 Italy Jarno Trulli 4
8 Poland Robert Kubica 3 ▲11
9 Germany Nico Rosberg 2 ▼1
10 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 1 ▼1
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher 1 ▼1
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 44
2 Italy Ferrari 39
3 Germany BMW Sauber 18
4 France Renault 9
5 Japan Toyota 5
6 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 2

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

See also[]

F2 Wiki Logo See the related event on the F2 Wiki
2007 Bahrain Feature Race
F2 Wiki Logo See the related event on the F2 Wiki
2007 Bahrain Sprint Race

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 '3. Bahrain 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 'Bahrain 2007: Massa makes it three from three.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 15/04/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/58345/1/bahrain-2007-massa-makes-it-three-from-three, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
  3. 'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
  4. '2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
V T E Bahrain Bahrain Grand Prix
Circuits Bahrain International Circuit (2004–present)
Sakhir1
Races 200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
V T E 2007 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Renault • Ferrari • Honda • BMW Sauber • Toyota • Red Bull • Williams • Toro Rosso • Spyker • Super Aguri
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Alphabetically Albers • Alonso • Barrichello • Button • Coulthard • Davidson • Fisichella • Hamilton • Heidfeld • Kovalainen • Kubica • Liuzzi • Massa • Nakajima • Räikkönen • Rosberg • Sato • R. Schumacher • Speed • Sutil • Trulli • Vettel • Webber • Winkelhock • Wurz • Yamamoto
Drivers by Number Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica • 10 Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz • 17 Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed • 19 Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers • 21 Winkelhock • 21 Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Fauzy • Gené • Glock • Karthikeyan • Klien • Kobayashi • Loeb • Montagny • Paffett • Piquet • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • Van der Garde • Zonta
Cars Ferrari F2007 • BMW Sauber F1.07 • Renault R27 • Williams FW29 • Red Bull RB3 • Toyota TF107 • Toro Rosso STR2 • Honda RA107 • Super Aguri SA07 • Spyker F8-VII • McLaren MP4-22
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Monaco • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Europe • Hungary • Turkey • Italy • Belgium • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2006 Formula One Season • 2008 Formula One Season • Category
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