Heartbreak in Bahrain! - Race Overview

The checked flag has been waved on round two of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship. Bahrain hosted a sensational race with ups and downs in every lap, the most notable in the fading minuets of the race when the pole sitter and then race leader, Charles Leclerc, suffered an MGU-H failure.

This failure ultimately led the young Monegasque to lose a crucial 160 horsepower and forfeit his victory for third place. Although this may have been Charles' first ever Formula 1 podium, when everything looked so promising and with a ten second lead over Lewis Hamilton who was in second place at the time, third place is bitter sweet.

Ferrari dominated in every session this weekend, but, unfortunately their luck ran out on race day. Charles Leclerc shone in qualifying, nabbing his first ever Formula 1 pole position, becoming the second youngest pole sitter to his teammate Sebastian Vettel. After being overtaken at the race start by his teammate, Charles managed to take back his position and lead most of the race, right up until the closing stages where he came on the radio stating there was an issue with the engine. Not something you want to hear when you're leading the race with 11 laps still to go...

After being overtaken by both Mercedes' and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen still hunting him down, fortunately for Leclerc, both Renault's retired from the race triggering a safety car and securing the final step on the podium for Charles Leclerc. But it wasn't smooth sailing for any team this weekend, Sebastian Vettel, Charles' teammate, managed to spin after being pressured by Hamilton. This led to multiple flatspots on Sebastian's tyres and his front wing being torn from underneath him in a spectacular shower of sparks. Sebastian ultimately came home in fifth place.

Mercedes got lucky this weekend, after a pretty dulled weekend where they failed to find their rhythm. Even though they secured a one-two, they were far from dominating and lacked in pace throughout. Bottas stated, 'They (Ferrari) are very strong, it's going to be a tough battle and this is only the beginning.' The Finn seemed to be rather in shock about the teams one-two finish saying, 'I'm not used to this luck.' Mercedes leave Bahrain with a 39 point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors Championship.

Red Bull had a race of two halves with Max Verstappen finishing just off the podium in fourth place, something he described as surprising, 'We don't deserve to be on the podium, we had no pace this weekend... So I'm not too disappointed.' Pierre Gasly on the other hand, suffered a throttle issue in qualifying leading him to start the race in 13th, the Frenchman managed to gain five places finishing in 8th.

McLaren also had a varied race with their rookie driver, Lando Norris, finishing in 6th place, an impressive feat for only his second ever Formula 1 race. Carlos Sainz had an amazing start launching himself in front of Max Verstappen at the first corner, the Spaniard was even running in 5th place for some time, before an attempted overtake on the Dutchman led to a puncture that ultimately led to Carlos' retirement.

Haas displayed fierce pace this weekend qualifying in 6th and 8th. Romain Grosjean, began the race in 8th place however, after an involvement in a first lap racing incident, Grosjean was forced to retire. His teammate, Kevin Magnussen lost seven positions throughout the race going from 6th to 13th.

Renault had a disappointing race when both cars coincidentally broke down on the same lap and at the same corner! Nico Hulkenberg's retirement seemed to be caused by an engine failure, whilst Daniel Ricciardo's seemed to be caused by an MGU-K failure. But Ricciardo's incident might be revealing a fundamental issue in Renault's engines after the same issue occurred on Carlos Sainz' Renault powered McLaren in Melbourne.

Force India only managed to score one point this weekend with Sergio Perez finishing in tenth position. Whilst his teammate, Lance Stroll, finished in fourteenth after qualifying in eighteenth.

Alfa Romeo managed to improve with both cars, Kimi Raikkonen qualified in ninth on Saturday and managed to gain two places securing seventh place. Antonio Giovinazzi also improved, however, he fell just outside the points in eleventh.

Toro Rosso yet again showed their pace this weekend. Alex Albon managed to hold up Pierre Gasly in the much faster Red Bull for multiple laps. Albon gained three places finishing ninth and securing his first ever Formula 1 points! Daniil Kvyat failed to secure any points today, however, he did match his teammate with the gaining of three places throughout the race.

Yet again, Williams finished last. The team are yet to show any improvement on their pace from last year. Although it may look as though the team had improved with Robert finishing in sixteenth whilst George finished in fifteenth, the rest of the grid had retired and so, these were the final positions available. We can only hope they improve...