Newly-crowned seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has taken his 11th victory of the 2020 season, winning out over the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Alex Albon at the Bahrain Grand Prix – in a race whose start was overshadowed by a horror crash for Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

 

Grosjean’s Haas car plunged into the barriers at Turn 3 on Lap 1, the Frenchman emerging from the fiery remains of his cockpit before being airlifted to hospital with suspected broken ribs and minor burns – but thankfully nothing more serious than that – with a lengthy red flag period ensuing as the barriers were repaired after what had been a horrible incident, said a Formula 1.com report.

 

Following a subsequent Safety Car period at the restart after Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was rolled over after contact with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat, it was a relatively simple evening’s work for Hamilton – crowned world champion last time out at the Turkish Grand Prix – whose victory never looked seriously under threat from Verstappen, despite the Dutchman shadowing him for much of the race.

 

Behind the leading pair, it looked for much of the Bahrain race as though Sergio Perez was set to claim his second podium in as many races, before the Mexican’s Racing Point expired with a suspected power unit issue three laps from the end. That promoted Albon up to third, giving the Thai driver his second career podium as the race finished behind a Safety Car brought out as Perez’s car was recovered.

 

Perez’s retirement was great news for McLaren, who claimed fourth and fifth, Lando Norris leading home Carlos Sainz, while their 22-point haul saw them move ahead of the point-less Racing Point to P3 in the constructors’ standings.

 

So, a topsy-turvy race – but once again, it was Lewis Hamilton who found himself on top, the Mercedes driver now a four-time winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix.