Bahrain Grand Prix: Race Recap

Magnussen started from P15 on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires and made gains on the opening lap to run in P12. Magnussen ran a two-stop strategy, pitting on lap 12 for White hard tires, before pitting again on lap 33, taking on another set of the harder compound.

The Dane preserved P12 through to the checkered flag, holding off a spirited challenge in the final laps from the RB driver pairing of Ricciardo and Tsunoda.

Hulkenberg took the start from P10, also on soft tires, but his race unraveled at Turn 1 following contact with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Hulkenberg was forced into a first-lap pit stop, in which he took on a new front wing and hard tires, leaving him out of sync for the remainder of the race.

The German stopped on lap 21 for a second set of hards, and pitted once again on lap 43 for softs. Hulkenberg came home P16 in a race in which all 20 starters reached the finish line. 

Up front World Champion Max Verstappen led a one-two finish for Red Bull Racing, ahead of Sergio Perez, with Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz classifying third. 

Nico Hulkenberg: 

“It’s very frustrating and disappointing, and it was a very similar scenario to last year into Turn 4 at the start. On a positive note, our race pace and tire degradation looked pretty reasonable compared to the other midfield runners, and I think we’re fighting Williams, Sauber and RB, so I guess we take that as a positive. There will be more findings after today, things to improve and optimize on. Jeddah is obviously a very different circuit with completely different characteristics, so we’ll see what we get there but it feels like we have a much better foundation to work with compared to last year.”

 

Kevin Magnussen:

“I’m kind of pleased – not over the moon, as we didn’t score points – but it seems like we have a car which is a bit better on the tires this year, not necessarily quicker than last year but at least better on tires, and I think we’ve shown that today. Nonetheless, it’s only one track, one bit of tarmac, and one set of conditions so we still have to show that elsewhere. It’s been a good couple of weeks of work, the team has done a really good job, and we’re in a good place – we just need to find more.”

 

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“Okay it wasn’t the perfect race, Nico had a bad start and damaged his front wing which essentially meant his race was over at that point. Kevin’s race showed that we can fight this year. We don’t have the best degradation but at least in the midfield, we can fight for the points. We didn’t do a perfect strategy but even then, Kevin was fighting in the midfield until the last moments which was a huge positive. We know the margin of error is very, very small so we need to step-up on that side as well. There are huge positives to take from this weekend and then looking forward to another chance next weekend. We’re really looking forward to a strong show again in Jeddah.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Bahrain Grand Prix – Saturday March 2
Location: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
Layout: 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile), 15-turn track
Weather: Clear
Air Temps: 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing
Team Result: Kevin Magnussen – Started 15^th / Finished 12^th (Running – 56/57 laps)
Nico Hulkenberg – Started 10^th / Finished 16^th (Running – 56/57 laps)