track record FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2019
FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
The Singapore Grand Prix™ is a truly special race, in a place that’s like nowhere else on earth. It stands out as the only regular night race on the Formula One™ calendar. It also takes place on a floodlit street circuit, where sharp twists and turns are plentiful.
The fact that said street circuit is in the city-state of Singapore - where giant vertical gardens stand alongside huge futuristic skyscrapers - only adds to the allure. In other words, it’s a must-visit for F1™ fans and travel-lovers alike.
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THE TRACK RECORD FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 31 MARCH 2019
Editor Rob Burley Photography James Moy www.jamesmoy.com Editorial Giles Richards (Guardian News & Media Ltd) Contact www.trackrecordmagazine.com/contact Instagram traveller.rob
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THE TRACK RECORD
THE GRID Charles Leclerc pips Sebastian Vettel to Bahrain F1 pole on Ferrari’s day 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI
44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES
77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES
33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA
20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI
55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT
7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI
16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI
4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT
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3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT
8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI
23 Alexander Albon SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA
10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA
11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES
26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA
99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI
27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT
18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES
63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES
88 Robert Kubica WILLIAMS MERCEDES
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Lewis Hamilton took victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, his first of the season, but it was a win the British driver largely inherited after a heartbreaking mechanical problem for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver had a marvellous run under the floodlights of the Sakhir Circuit from pole and looked on course to win until an energy recovery system failure severely curtailed his pace. He finished third. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was second while Sebastian Vettel could manage only fifth after a spin late in the race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth.
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THE TRACK RECORD
Leclerc took the extra point for the fastest lap, and
It had been a tense and at times dramatic
Hamilton’s win puts him just one point behind
encounter and Hamilton expressed his sympathy for
Bottas who leads the world championship.
Leclerc. “It was extremely unfortunate for Charles,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Ferrari looked strong across the meeting and Leclerc had done everything required for the 21-year-old to take his debut win until Ferrari’s power unit proved fallible. Hamilton, up against it all weekend, skilfully ensured he remained in the mix throughout and drove a very strong race, including pressuring Vettel into an error.
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THE TRACK RECORD
This is Hamilton’s 74th career victory and the third
The opening laps feature some furious vying for
time he has won the Bahrain Grand Prix, having won
position. Vettel made a lightning start to jump
for Mercedes in 2014 and 2015.He was disappointed
Leclerc who was slow off the line into the first corner,
with his second place to Bottas at the opening
and the Monegasque, struggling for grip, also fell to
round in Australia, when he lost the lead to the Finn
Bottas who had already passed Hamilton and made
off the start and then suffered damage to the floor of
it to second. The Finn locked up on lap two, however,
his car.
lost the place to Leclerc and Hamilton promptly came back at his team-mate to retake third.
Mercedes had been outpaced by Ferrari across practice and qualifying, with Hamilton noting his
With the front runners settled the Ferraris opened
team were lacking straightline speed to the Scuderia
up a two-second gap to Hamilton but Leclerc was in
in particular. He was pleased to come within three-
no mood to play second fiddle to Vettel. Having
hundredths of Vettel’s time in qualifying and had
chased the German down, he had found the grip he
been optimistic that he could challenge in race
needed and swept past to retake the lead on lap six.
pace, but he and Mercedes know that this was an
Vettel fought back but Leclerc held his nerve and
unlikely win.
the place. It was a marvellous display of confidence and commitment from the young driver.
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THE TRACK RECORD
Hamilton was able to stay with them, holding his gap to the front to three seconds and closing hard on Vettel. Leclerc and Hamilton pitted on lap 14, with Hamilton opting for the soft rubber and committing to a two-stop, while Leclerc took the medium, retaining the faint possibility of making it a one-stop race.
Vettel pitted one lap later for the medium tyre but Hamilton on fresher rubber had made the most of the undercut and when Vettel emerged the British driver had taken second place. The differing strategies left the race intriguingly poised but Hamilton was soon struggling with a lack of grip due to rear tyre wear and was chased down by Vettel who passed him with ease on lap 23.
In front Leclerc was in command, stretching his lead to eight seconds by the halfway mark. Ferrari appeared in control. With the decision to take the soft rubber having not paid off Hamilton made his second stop on lap 35 to take the medium tyre. Vettel followed him a lap later and then Leclerc.
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With the Mercedes working the medium rubber far better, Hamilton went at Vettel round the outside of turn four and Vettel, attempting to defend, lost the rear and spun. It damaged his tyres and front wing which subsequently came off and he was forced to pit, dropping down the field. It appeared to be an unforced error, similar to the ones that were so costly last season.
The drama was far from over, however, when Leclerc, with the win seemingly in his hands, lost his turbo energy recovery on lap 46 and was easily caught and passed by Hamilton on lap 48, from where he went on to take the flag under a late safety car.
Lando Norris was an excellent sixth for McLaren in front of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo. Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull was in eighth, with Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon also impressive in ninth. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez was 10th.
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THE TRACK RECORD
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SECOND 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES
"This was not an easy race, the car was very
which was a welcome change for me
difficult to drive and the conditions were very
personally after all the bad luck I experienced
tricky with the gusty winds today which made
last year. On the other hand our car was very
the car very unpredictable. I had a good start
reliable which ultimately won us the race
and managed to get to P2, but in the next lap
today. It was a tough race for Charles, but he
the wind caught me up going into Turn 1, so I
did a great job all weekend and I’m sure his
lost the position again and ultimately fell back
time will come. We’re leaving Bahrain with lots
to fourth after a battle with Lewis. After that it
of points but also a lot of work to do for China."
was actually a relatively lonely race for me at points, I didn’t see anybody; but I think it was probably very exciting from the outside with many unexpected moments. Ferrari were very strong again in the race as they were all weekend. But luck was on our side today,
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THIRD 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI
“It’s part of motorsport, we know that. Sometimes it’s not your day to win and today wasn’t ours. In the final part of the race we had an issue with the power unit and I had to slow down. It’s a shame because the race seemed to me to be under control. The team is disappointed and I am disappointed but there are a lot of positives to take home from this weekend. They gave me an amazing car and that is very much to their credit. The car was very easy to drive and was very good. These things happen in motorsport: we took the best out of it anyway. It’s my first podium even if I’m not enjoying it as much as I wanted. It’s life, it happens, we’ll come back stronger”.
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THE TRACK RECORD
FOURTH 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA
“I think we maximised the result today and it
We still have a lot of things to learn about the
was another good point’s score. To finish fourth
car so we will go back to the factory,
was not too bad as we struggled with pace and
understand what happened here and continue
rear grip, especially with the high winds. I was
to try and close the gap in China. This just
sliding around a lot so it was not easy and I just
wasn’t our weekend.”
had to manage it, but I don’t think we could have done a lot differently. I drove to the limit of the car, in Australia it was better but here it was pretty difficult. We were almost on the podium today but it would have been down to luck as we didn’t have the true pace and really deserve it. Anyway, it was more unfortunate for Charles, but at least he’s still on the podium and I’m not too disappointed with fourth.
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THE TRACK RECORD
FIFTH 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI
“Not the race we wanted. We started first and
I spun. In doing so, I damaged the tyres so
second and we didn’t finish there. A
much that I had quite a lot of vibrations, which
disappointing evening. I had a good start but
eventually led to the failure of the front wing. It
already halfway through the first lap I realised
was Charles’ race today, he got very unlucky. I
that the car was extremely difficult to drive. I
am sorry for him and for the team”.
think Charles struggled less as he had no difficulties in passing me. It was quite tough out there. Then we lost P2 at the pitstop but came back. In the second stint on the medium tyres maybe it was a bit better but overall we didn’t have the pace we should have had today. While battling with Lewis I made a mistake at turn 4, which is one of the trickiest corners on the track. I suddenly lost the car and
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THE TRACK RECORD
SIXTH 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT
“I’m really happy and pleased to have scored
“The pace after that was really strong. I caught
my first points but also for McLaren after all of
up pretty quickly. I struggled a bit in the DRS
the team’s hard work over the winter. I had a
train that formed but as soon as someone lost
good start: a good launch, good pull-away but
DRS, I could get them. I maybe struggled a
then some wheel-spin. I was blocked going
little in the final stint but managed to stay
into Turn One, then was on the outside of
ahead of Kimi. From my side, P6 is a really
another car and we touched. I went off and
good job!”
through the gravel, losing quite a few places.
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SEVENTH 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI
THE TRACK RECORD
EIGHTH 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA
“It was quite a difficult race and I’m still not
points, and now we just need to find the areas
completely comfortable with the car. As soon
we can improve on. We will do the work and I’ll
as I try to push, I struggle a lot with the rear
do anything I can to arrive stronger in China.”
and the traction. For sure, I need to see what I can improve to get the maximum out of the car and work with the engineers to see what we can do to make me feel more confident, because at the moment I feel I cannot really push. I need to make an effort and adapt, because each car is different, and I will work with the team to find a set-up which fits my driving style better. Overall, I think there are also some positives today. After the start the car felt better, I managed to finish inside the
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THE TRACK RECORD
NINTH 23 Alexander Albon SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA
“That was a busy race - I felt like I was always
It was so tricky with the wind out there and it
fighting with someone at some point, there
made the car unpredictable, but we were quite
was always something to do! I didn’t have the
strong in the race, it’s just a shame about the
best start as I was a bit shy into the first corner,
start. It was a challenge to overtake because
but after that, I put my head down and got on
when you get close to another car the tyres
with it. We had a good strategy and decent
overheat and you get a bit stuck. However, I
pace on the prime tyre. In the end, we got a bit
enjoyed myself out there and it was good to
lucky with the retirements, but I’ll take it!
get that experience. I’m very happy to pick up my first points in Formula 1 and I hope we can carry this pace into China.”
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THE TRACK RECORD
TENTH 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES
“It’s good to pick up my first point of the season. It was an unpredictable race and in that sense it’s a nice surprise. We got a bit lucky with both Renaults retiring, but at the same time the Safety Car didn’t help me because I was closing on Albon and I lost the opportunity to overtake him for ninth place. I made a really good start and gained a few positions, but I couldn’t defend my position for long. Then, we had an issue with the brakes getting too hot and I had to pit much earlier than planned to remove some debris blocking the brake ducts. Considering everything that happened in the race we can be pleased to pick up a point.”
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FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
If the final race of the F1™ season is also one of the most exciting, then it’s no surprise everyone wants a ticket for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix™.
The Abu Dhabi weekend is special for lots more reasons. It’s the only Grand Prix™ staged in twilight, when the cars gleam in the low sun over beautiful Yas Island. Then there’s Yas Island itself – a place devoted to leisure and entertainment, full of fun and thrilling destinations. Not to mention Ferrari World Abu Dhabi!
In other words, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix™ is well worth the trip
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