2020 Bahrain Grand Prix

2020 Bahrain Grand Prix
Previous←	2020 Turkish Grand Prix
Round	15 of 2020
Next→	2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
Race Details
Date	November 29, 2020
Race Number	1033
Official Name	Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Distance	57 laps, 308.484 km (191.683 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time	1:27.264
Fastest Lap
Driver	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda
Time	1:32.014 on lap 48
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Second	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda
Third	Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda
Lap Leaders

The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020) was the fifteenth race of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on 29 November 2020.

Having won the drivers' championship title at Turkey, Lewis Hamilton took pole position with Valtteri Bottas second alongside him. The race was immediately red-flagged at the start after the Haas of Romain Grosjean crashed heavily into the barriers after Turn 3. The Frenchman was sent spearing into the barriers after tangling with AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat, the impact breaking the car into two and bursting into flames, but Grosjean climbed out and walked away largely unhurt despite minor burns.

As Grosjean was airlifted to hospital in Manama, the race restarted after nearly an hour and a half, and the safety car was deployed after Kvyat flipped Lance Stroll, resulting in a 10-second penalty. Bottas, who initially dropped back before the red flag, suffered a puncture on the restart and recovered up to 8th. Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez looked set to finish on the podium until with three laps remaining, Perez' engine went up in flames, hence failing to finish. The Safety Car was deployed as a result, with the race finishing behind it and Hamilton won ahead of Verstappen, with Alexander Albon inheriting the final podium place, making it the first time since the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix both Red Bull drivers finished on the podium.

Background

Originally scheduled on March 22 as the second round, the Bahrain Grand Prix, alongside the Vietnam Grand Prix were postponed on March 13 , the same day the Australian Grand Prix was called off after one of McLaren's team members tested positive for COVID-19.

On August 25, the FIA announced the remaining races of the revised 2020 calendar, with the Bahrain Grand Prix being rescheduled on November 29. As with Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, the Bahrain International Circuit will serve as the same venue for back-to-back race weekends, with the second race using a different layout of the circuit and being named as the Sakhir Grand Prix.

In an unusual move on October 16, almost two months after the FIA announced the remaining races of the 2020 season which excluded the Vietnam Grand Prix, Vietnam Grand Prix officials announced their 2020 running of the event was canceled.

Prior to the postponement, on March 8, Bahrain Grand Prix organizers announced in a statement that the race will initially be run as a closed-door event, meaning spectators will be barred from entering .

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault DP World F1 Team	Renault	R.S.20	Renault	E-Tech 20 1.6L V6t	P
4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35	Renault	E-Tech 20 1.6L V6t	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF1000	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43	Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C39	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-20	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT01	Honda	RA260H 1.6L V6t	P
11	Sergio Pérez	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	Racing Point	RP20	BWT Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF1000	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
18	Lance Stroll	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	Racing Point	RP20	BWT Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-20	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
23	Alexander Albon	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB16	Honda	RA260H 1.6L V6t	P
26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT01	Honda	RA260H 1.6L V6t	P
31	Esteban Ocon	Renault DP World F1 Team	Renault	R.S.20	Renault	E-Tech 20 1.6L V6t	P
33	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB16	Honda	RA260H 1.6L V6t	P
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	W11	Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35	Renault	E-Tech 20 1.6L V6t	P
63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43	Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	W11	Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C39	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
40	Roy Nissany	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43	Mercedes	M11 1.6L V6t	P
88	Robert Kubica	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C39	Ferrari	065 1.6L V6t	P
Source:

Practice Overview

The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix featured three practice sessions held across Friday and Saturday. FP1 took place on Friday morning, with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time, demonstrating Mercedes’ early pace advantage. The session was largely incident-free, although teams focused on evaluating tire performance on the newly resurfaced Bahrain International Circuit. FP2, held in the afternoon, saw a mix of long runs and qualifying simulations, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc showing competitive pace for Red Bull and Ferrari respectively.

FP3 on Saturday morning was cut slightly short due to a minor track debris incident, but it still allowed teams to finalize setups and tire strategies ahead of qualifying.

Practice Results

The full practice results for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

No	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2		FP3
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos	Time	Pos
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:30.508	10	1:29.462	5	1:29.684	11
4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	1:31.392	18	1:29.841	7	1:29.567	7
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:30.628	12	1:30.110	12	1:29.859	13
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.472	19	1:30.973	18	1:30.917	20
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	DNP		1:30.928	17	1:30.823	19
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:30.832	14	1:31.119	19	1:30.652	17
10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:30.049	5	1:29.551	6	1:29.472	6
11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-Mercedes	1:30.000	3	1:29.403	4	1:29.672	10
16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:30.589	11	1:30.407	14	1:30.183	15
18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-Mercedes	1:30.426	9	1:29.871	8	1:29.660	9
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:30.854	15	1:30.849	16	1:30.759	18
23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:30.302	7	1:30.014	10	1:29.018	4
26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:31.020	17	1:29.900	9	1:29.585	8
31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:30.384	8	1:30.085	11	1:29.691	12
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:30.294	6	1:29.318	2	1:28.355	1
40	Roy Nissany	Williams Racing	1:32.801	20	DNP		DNP
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.033	1	1:28.971	1	1:28.618	2
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	McLaren-Renault	1:30.018	4	1:30.271	13	1:29.455	5
63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	DNP		1:31.636	20	1:30.559	16
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:29.482	2	1:29.336	3	1:28.721	3
88	Robert Kubica	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:30.732	13	DNP		DNP
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:30.896	16	1:30.627	15	1:29.970	14
Source:

Qualifying

Q1

The session was largely straightforward, with Mercedes and Red Bull showing strong pace as expected. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas set the early benchmark times, while Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon closely contested Red Bull’s position.

The session also saw a battle at the back of the grid, as drivers from Haas, Williams, and Alfa Romeo fought to avoid elimination. The drivers who failed to progress to Q2 were largely from the lower-midfield teams, setting the stage for a competitive Q2 session. No major incidents occurred during Q1, allowing teams to complete their planned tire runs and fine-tune strategies for the remainder of qualifying.

Q2

The second segment of qualifying took place with temperatures dropping slightly as evening approached, impacting tire performance. Mercedes continued to demonstrate strong pace, with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time of the session, followed closely by teammate Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon also advanced comfortably, though both struggled to match the Mercedes’ superior balance through the high-speed sections of the Bahrain circuit.

Q3

Mercedes continued to dominate, with Lewis Hamilton claiming pole with a flawless lap, setting a time that would ultimately place him at the front of the grid. Valtteri Bottas secured second, completing a Mercedes front-row lockout.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon rounded out the top four, unable to match the pace of the Silver Arrows but comfortably ahead of the midfield pack.

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1	1:28.343		1	1:27.586		1	1:27.264	1
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes		4	1:28.767		3	1:28.063		2	1:27.553	2
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda		5	1:28.885		2	1:28.025		3	1:27.678	3
4	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing-Honda		3	1:28.732		5	1:28.749		4	1:28.274	4
5	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes		12	1:29.178		7	1:28.894		5	1:28.322	5
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault		8	1:29.005		4	1:28.648		6	1:28.417	6
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault		13	1:29.203		8	1:28.937		7	1:28.419	7
8	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda		6	1:28.971		10	1:29.008		8	1:28.448	8
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes		15	1:29.464		6	1:28.877		9	1:28.542	9
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri-Honda		11	1:29.158		9	1:28.944		10	1:28.618	10
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		10	1:29.142		11	1:29.149				11
12	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari		9	1:29.137		12	1:29.165				12
13	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes		2	1:28.679		13	1:29.557				13
14	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes		14	1:29.294		14	1:31.218				14
15	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren-Mercedes		7	1:28.975		15					15
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		16	1:29.491							16
17	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		17	1:29.810							17
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari		18	1:30.111							18
19	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari		19	1:30.138							19
20	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes		20	1:30.182							20
107% Time: 1:34.527
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid

The starting grid of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix is as below:

Show Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	44. Hamilton	2
	______________	77. Bottas
Row 2	3	______________
	33. Verstappen	4
	______________	23. Albon
Row 3	5	______________
	11. Pérez	6
	______________	3. Ricciardo
Row 4	7	______________
	31. Ocon	8
	______________	10. Gasly
Row 5	9	______________
	4. Norris	10
	______________	26. Kvyat
Row 6	11	______________
	5. Vettel	12
	______________	16. Leclerc
Row 7	13	______________
	18. Stroll	14
	______________	63. Russell
Row 8	15	______________
	55. Sainz	16
	______________	99. Giovinazzi
Row 9	17	______________
	7. Räikkönen	18
	______________	20. Magnussen
Row 10	19	______________
	8. Grosjean	20
	______________	6. Latifi

Race

Report

The lights went out under clear evening skies, and Hamilton got a clean getaway, maintaining the lead into Turn 1. Bottas remained second, while Verstappen closely shadowed the Mercedes duo. Alexander Albon held fourth, with Charles Leclerc making slight progress from his starting position. The midfield saw tight battles among McLaren, Renault, Racing Point, and AlphaTauri.

On Lap 1, as the field negotiated Turn 3, Grosjean’s Haas VF-20 lost control, veering sharply into the outside barriers at high speed. The car split the crash barrier, and the impact caused a massive fireball, engulfing the vehicle in flames. This caused an abrupt red flag, and drivers had to return to the pit lane. The collision occurred at approximately 220 km/h, with the car penetrating the Aramco barrier and splitting in two, the back half of the vehicle coming to rest beside the barrier. Grosjean was briefly trapped in the cockpit as flames surrounded the vehicle, but the survival cell held firm, and the Halo device—mandatory since 2018—remained intact, protecting him from serious head injury. Track marshals and medical personnel responded immediately, using fire extinguishers to subdue the flames while maintaining communication with Grosjean. Grosjean was able to extricate himself from the car, sustaining burns to his hands and minor injuries but escaping with his life.

The race resumed on lap 3, but drama unfolded immediately. At Turn 8, Lance Stroll's Racing Point collided with Kvyat's AlphaTauri, flipping Stroll's car onto its roof. Miraculously, Stroll emerged unscathed, and the incident brought out the safety car. During this period, Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture, forcing an unscheduled pit stop. The safety car period concluded on lap 9, with the field now fully bunched up.

After the safety car ended, Mercedes immediately began managing pace, balancing tire conservation with track position. Hamilton extended a small lead over Bottas, who in turn kept Verstappen at a distance. The softer tire compounds used by several midfield teams began to degrade, prompting teams to consider early pit strategies. Charles Leclerc maintained fifth position, defending from Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo. Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly were engaged in a close duel for points positions, while Kevin Magnussen struggled at the rear after starting from the back.

Hamilton built a modest gap of approximately 1.5–2 seconds over Bottas by Lap 10, while Verstappen was unable to challenge Bottas due to tire wear and the superior straight-line speed of the Mercedes cars. The first wave of pit stops began around Lap 16–18 for drivers on the softer tire compounds. Valtteri Bottas pitted early to undercut Verstappen but rejoined without gaining significant advantage. Hamilton extended his lead through consistent lap times, showing strong tire management and maintaining a buffer over Bottas. Midfield battles intensified. Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Pérez executed wheel-to-wheel maneuvers for sixth, while Charles Leclerc managed to pull a small gap from Vettel. McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz were closely matched, occasionally swapping positions as they optimized tire usage. AlphaTauri’s Gasly defended well, finishing just outside the top ten points positions for much of the middle stint.

By Lap 30, Hamilton led by roughly 5 seconds, demonstrating the dominant pace of the Mercedes W11. Bottas continued in second, with Verstappen in third, while the gap to fourth-placed Albon had widened. Ferrari’s strategy involved extending Leclerc’s stint on harder compounds to capitalize on long-run pace, but Vettel struggled to maintain competitive lap times.

Most front-runners executed a two-stop strategy, with Hamilton and Bottas pitting for medium compounds around Laps 20–25 and again near Lap 40. Verstappen followed a similar two-stop plan, but Red Bull attempted a slightly shorter first stint to pressure Bottas for second place. Midfield teams varied their approaches: McLaren and Racing Point used mixed strategies, balancing one-stop and two-stop options depending on tire degradation and track position. Tire management played a critical role, as Bahrain’s abrasive surface caused significant wear, particularly on soft compounds. Mercedes’ tire conservation allowed both Hamilton and Bottas to maintain consistent pace without excessive degradation.

Sergio Pérez's Racing Point suffered an engine failure with just three laps remaining while he was running in third position. This brought out the Safety Car, which remained deployed until the end of the race, leading to Lewis Hamilton taking the checkered flag under Safety Car conditions.

Max Verstappen ended the race in P2, with Alex Albon securing a 2-3 finish for Red Bull. Norris ended in P4, with teammate Carlos Sainz in P5. Pierre Gasly took 6th, with Ricciardo, Bottas, Ocon and Leclerc rounding out the top 10.

Results

The full results for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	2:59:47.515	1	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	57	+ 1.254	3	19FL
3	5	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing-Honda	57	+ 8.005	4	15
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	57	+ 11.337	9	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	McLaren-Renault	57	+ 11.787	15	10
6	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	57	+ 11.942	8	8
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	57	+ 19.368	6	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	57	+ 19.680	2	4
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	57	+ 22.803	7	2
10	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	12	1
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri-Honda	56	+ 1 lap	10
12	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	14
13	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	11
14	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	20
15	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	17
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	16
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	18
18	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	53	Power unit	5
Ret	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	2	Collision	13
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	0	Collision	19
Source:

Milestones

• Lewis Hamilton's 98th pole and 95th race win.
• The first Bahrain Grand Prix to be red-flagged.
• The ninth time a race has finished behind the Safety Car.

Standings

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Lewis Hamilton 332 — 2 Valtteri Bottas 201 — 3 Max Verstappen 189 — 4 Daniel Ricciardo 102 ▲2 5 Sergio Pérez 100 ▼1 6 Charles Leclerc 98 ▼1 7 Lando Norris 86 ▲1 8 Alex Albon 85 ▲1 9 Carlos Sainz, Jr. 85 ▼2 10 Pierre Gasly 71 — 11 Lance Stroll 59 — 12 Esteban Ocon 42 — 13 Sebastian Vettel 33 — 14 Daniil Kyvat 26 — 15 Nico Hulkenberg 10 — 16 Kimi Räikkönen 4 — 17 Antonio Giovinazzi 4 — 18 Romain Grosjean 2 — 19 Kevin Magnussen 1 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Mercedes 533 — 2 Red Bull Racing-Honda 274 — 3 McLaren-Renault 171 ▲1 4 Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 154 ▼1 5 Renault 144 — 6 Ferrari 131 — 7 AlphaTauri-Honda 97 — 8 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 8 — 9 Haas-Ferrari 3 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References

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References:

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