Lewis Hamilton claimed his 11th victory of the 2020 Formula 1 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the race was overshadowed by Romain Grosjean’s scary lap one crash.
The Frenchman’s Haas speared into the barriers exiting Turn 3 after contact with Daniil Kvyat and split in half on impact, with the car engulfed in flames.
Fortunately, Grosjean remained conscious throughout and managed to scramble clear of the wreckage with only minor burns, but has elected to miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix with Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi set to take his place.
Following repairs to the barrier, Hamilton fended off the challenge of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win, as Valtteri Bottas was delayed by a poor initial start and a puncture that relegated him to eighth at the finish.
PLUS: Why Verstappen was frustrated to lose the race that followed Grosjean’s escape
Sergio Perez looked set to capitalise and ran third for almost the entire race until an engine failure with three laps to go forced him into a galling retirement which promoted Alex Albon to the podium.
It completed a nightmare day for Racing Point, which also lost Lance Stroll when he rolled out of the race following contact with Kvyat.
Motorsport.com F1 editor Jonathan Noble, Autosport’s F1 reporter Luke Smith and GP Racing’s executive editor Stuart Codling join Autosport Grand Prix editor Alex Kalinauckas to discuss the events of a race that will be remembered for many years to come.
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