Motorsport Update (30th November 2020)

F1 headed to Bahrain for R15 of the 2020 FIA F1 World Championship. The Bahrain GP took place on the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton claimed his 95th Career victory in a race which was overshadowed by a frightening crash for one of the drivers. 

On lap 1, Haas’s Romain Grosjean got clipped by Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat which sent the Haas VF20 spearing into the barriers on the exit of T3 at 140 MPH. Grosjean suffered a fireball impact as his car split in half upon impact of hitting the barriers as the Frenchmen rapidly dashed out of his car. The race was red flagged indefinitely following the terrifying shunt. Thankfully, Romain survived the life threatening shunt and the halo has very much saved his life. Romain Grosjean was admitted to hospital with minor burns on Sunday and he suffered from no broken bones.

F1 2020 Bahrain GP top 5 drivers 

1st: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2nd: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3rd: Alex Albon (Red Bull)

4th: Lando Norris (McLaren)

5th: Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 

Fastest Lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) (1. 32. 014) (Lap 48)

Highlights

• The race was red flagged indefinitely on lap 1 following a horror crash for Haas’s Romain Grosjean on the exit of T3,
• Racing Point’s Lance Stroll retired after the restart as his Racing Point RP20 was suspended following contact with Daniil Kvyat (Stroll’s teammate, Sergio Perez retired just a few laps from the Chequered Flag after an ICU failure), 
• Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas had a day to forget as he finished in 8th place following an early pitstop after a suspected slow puncture. 

Unfortunately, two drivers will not be taking part in this weekend’s Sakhir GP. Romain Grosjean will sit out the race after suffering minor burns after fiery crash during last weekend’s Bahrain GP so Haas’s reserve driver, Pietro Fittipaldi wllll take his place in the Sakhir GP. The biggest news story of the week though in motorsport is that seven time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend’s Sakhir GP after testing positive for Covid-19. William’s George Russell will deputise for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes during this weekend’s Sakhir GP as Hamilton will have to follow all public health guidelines as he self isolates for the next ten days. Russell is also part of Mercedes Junior Programme as well. George Russell’s replacement at Williams this weekend for the Sakhir GP is Britain’s Jack Aitken who drives for Campos Racing in the FIA Formula 2 championship and is also William’s reserve driver.

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