The stories up and down the grid after another dramatic F1 2020 race with plenty of surprises, as the superb Sergio Perez capitalises on Mercedes debutant George Russell's desperately unlucky evening in Bahrain
Tuesday 8 December 2020 06:06, UK
If ever a driver deserved that first Formula 1 victory, it is Sergio Perez. The hugely-popular Mexican - who has waited his whole life, and 190 races, for this moment - has produced one of the best seasons of his incredibly consistent decade-long career in 2020, during which he has missed two races due to coronavirus, and cruelly lost his Racing Point seat for next season. On Sunday, he issued yet another reminder of just how good, and well-rounded, he is.
This was an incredible victory, made all the more so by a chaotic first lap that saw Perez shunted into by Charles Leclerc, forcing him to the back of the grid and a race of fighting through the field - which the 30-year-old is not necessarily known for. But he did so with impeccable class, surging back up to the midfield despite his big deficit, overtaking Alex Albon in the Red Bull (more on that below), before then crucially passing team-mate Lance Stroll and Renault's Esteban Ocon to put him in the perfect position to capitalise on Mercedes' woes. Such was Perez's speed, he felt this win was "on merit" and had enough left in his locker to hold off a charging George Russell before his late puncture.
Yet Perez is still without a seat for 2021. If Red Bull, his only real option left, had any doubts, surely Perez dispelled them in Bahrain's second race - when he proved his qualifying speed, overtaking prowess, and that he can truly battle for F1's top positions even after an early set-back. A truly remarkable drive.
Rating out of 10: 10
On the weekend one Mercedes-managed driver staked their claim for a future full-time position at F1's top team, another showed something more like the form that had seen him touted for a seat at the world champions himself not too long ago.
Esteban Ocon has had a difficult first year back in F1 at Renault, pummelled by Daniel Ricciardo in the headline head-to-heads scores if not necessary always on the stopwatch, but this was the Frenchman's night out of the two as he climbed the rostrum for the very first time next to former team-mate Perez and good friend Stroll.
As it turned out, not progressing to Q3 may have made his weekend as a free tyre choice from 11th opened up a one-stopper and, aided by some shrewd overtaking, put Ocon in position to capitalise on Mercedes' woes and cash in on that podium jackpot.
Second place and that first podium at the top level at the 66th attempt clearly meant a lot. "I definitely cried and I'm proud to say it. That moment, crossing the line, I'll remember it forever," said Ocon, who will take some important momentum into Abu Dhabi and the subsequent winter ahead of what he'll hope to be a more consistent 2021.
Rating out of 10: 9
After a disappointing qualifying - slowest in Q3 and 0.4s behind his team-mate - Lance Stroll would have snapped your hand off for a podium before Sunday's race. In the circumstances, however, he is probably thinking this as more of an opportunity missed.
It was Stroll, not Perez, who really should have been the leading Racing Point in Bahrain given he was 12 positions higher up than the eventual race-winner after the first lap. But Stroll lost time in an early midfield DRS 'train', and he then made a mistake after his stop which allowed Esteban Ocon through. Shortly after, he pivotally lost a position to Perez with another lock-up into Turn One. While Perez took a matter of seconds to overtake Ocon, Stroll just could not get past despite the tyre advantage.
Stroll deserves credit for beating most of his midfield rivals and drove well on Sunday - albeit with two crucial, and possibly race-costing, errors. This was also certainly a much-needed boost.
But it could have been so much better.
Rating out of 10: 8
Carlos Sainz has been in brilliant form of late and here was another race day executed very impressively, taking his second-best result of the season in fourth - although he came agonisingly close to making that a podium.
Pleased to get eighth on the grid after a tough start to the weekend for McLaren, Sainz picked his way around the chaos ahead of him on lap one and ran third behind the Mercedes cars under the Safety Car.
While he initially overtook Bottas on the restart, he was never going to be in a race with the Mercs - instead his afternoon became all about trying to beat those one-stopping on his two-stopper. Neither the Virtual nor full Safety Car particularly worked in his favour and, although he dispatched a then-struggling Bottas definitively with 10 laps to go after the second Safety Car, he could not quite get Stroll too. But his points for fourth keep McLaren in the hunt with Racing Point in the fight for 2020's coveted third place in the championship going into this week's finale.
Rating out of 10: 9
Being miffed after finishing fifth in the Renault says a lot about Daniel Ricciardo's super 2020, but it's easy to see why the Australian was frustrated on Sunday night.
Ricciardo qualified ahead of Ocon but finished behind his podium-sitting team-mate in a race for just the fourth time this season, penalised for pitting early from the soft tyres and then being caught in between the AlphaTauris.
"There wasn't much I could do," said Ricciardo, who is also 13 points behind Perez in the race for fourth in the championship. It could be game over in that particular race.
Rating out of 10: 7.5
Building momentum through consistent top-five race results has been a problem for Alex Albon this year and, on the weekend the driver who is a byword for F1 consistency - and who also just so happens to be targeting his Red Bull seat - won the race, Albon came home sixth.
Still, that is a little better than it had looked after qualifying when the 24-year-old dropped out in Q2 to qualify 12th. It was a steady start to the race and Albon had to work hard to make progress through the midfield pack with the RB16 lacking speed down the straights, with a great move on good friend Lando Norris his Sunday highlight. Even if Red Bull still aren't seriously considering Perez, Albon will want to finish 2020 with something rather more convincing heading towards 2021.
Rating out of 10: 6.5
He looks destined to be off the grid next year, but at least Daniil Kvyat is finishing the season in style.
This was about as complete a weekend as we have seen from Kvyat this year - outqualifying Pierre Gasly and then beating him in the race - and although he was running ahead of both Racing Points and a Renault for much of Sunday, seventh is a decent return considering AlphaTauri did not have quite the pace they expected.
Rating out of 10: 8
As he acknowledged himself in post-race interviews, Valtteri Bottas is more than aware of how his weekend up against George Russell is going to be painted by many in the days that follow. In truth, in terms of perception, this weekend was always likely to be more of a win-win for Russell than it ever was Bottas.
His first time as Mercedes' most-experienced driver began with a scruffy Friday around Bahrain's fast Outer loop, but Saturday was better and he beat Russell to pole - although earned less external credit for it than he would have done had it been Lewis Hamilton he was pipping by 0.026s.
But he lost that crucial advantage after getting wheelspin at the start on Sunday and, overtaken into Turn One, he did not appear to have an answer to his debuting team-mate. Running longer on his soft tyres in the first stint, Bottas was catching Russell on slightly fresher tyres before Mercedes made the most uncharacteristic of mistakes and messed up both their drivers' races at that Safety Car double pit stop.
In the melee, Bottas' tyres were not changed at all and he was a sitting duck to Russell, who dropped behind him in the pack but was eventually on the right tyres, when the race resumed. Overtaken by Sainz, Ricciardo, Albon and Kvyat too, it turned into a miserable and uncomfortable evening. If Russell returns to the W11 for Abu Dhabi, Bottas will need to make his experience count.
Rating out of 10: 7
On Wednesday he found out he would be replacing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes. On Thursday he revealed he was too big for the car and was squeezing into smaller shoes as a result. On Friday he topped both practice sessions in a car he had never driven before. On Saturday he qualified on the front row and just 0.026s off pole position. On Sunday, he did everything right, dominated an experienced team-mate, and should have had a brilliant win - only for his race to dramatically turn on its head in one of F1's cruellest twists of the season.
George Russell could really have done little more at the Sakhir GP after a hectic week. He was destined for victory - "twice" as he suggested - but a Mercedes botched pit-stop and then a late puncture cost him. But while he did not have that deserved victory, Russell has sent a powerful message to Mercedes and F1.
As Sky F1's Martin Brundle said: "The way he handled the start, the restart, the pace, the tyres, the overtakes when it mattered... it was a world-class performance." The question is not if, but when, Russell drives for Mercedes again.
Rating out of 10: 10
A point from the back row of the grid was a decent result in the end for Lando Norris but, viewed in the context of what might have been had the weekend started differently in a race of such chaos, something of a missed chance for the McLaren man.
Qualifying 15th ultimately did for Lando, with his final run in Q2 not going to plan. A penalty-triggering change of engine parts ahead of the race dropped him to 19th, although he had regained those lost grid positions and more by the end of the first lap to run a promising 10th. Running a two-stopping soft-medium-medium tyre strategy, Norris found the going a little tough in the MCL35 and so finished where he ended that attacking opening tour.
Rating out of 10: 6.5
Pierre Gasly knows what it is like to be a surprise winner in F1 2020, but the Monza star was never in contention here - and did not even finish with a point. This was a rare quiet weekend for one of the drivers of the season, outpaced over one lap and in the race by Kvyat and dropping positions to a McLaren and a Mercedes in the final few laps.
Rating out of 10: 6.5
"A bit irrelevant" was how Sebastian Vettel described his penultimate race for Ferrari against the backdrop of the big news stories at the front of the field, where he himself has spent so much of his career but rarely been seen this. After that podium return and great drive in Turkey, he failed to add to his meagre 2020 tally in either Bahrain race.
On the Outer loop, Vettel had seemed happier with the SF1000 in practice but dropped out in Q2 yet again after a post-P3 engine change. Made a good start around the lap-one chaos involving his team-mate up ahead but didn't have the pace to hold position that early position of ninth. It was tough going from there, with a slow Ferrari stop adding to the challenge. At least his team for next year won.
Rating out of 10: 5
Given Alfa Romeo's deficit to the midfield, Antonio Giovinazzi can only really be compared to his team-mate, plus the Haas and Williams drivers. On that basis, this was a great weekend for the Italian, the only driver of those six to make it through to Q2, and the highest finisher in the race. "P13 was probably the maximum we could achieve on the night so to finish in front of our rivals and just behind a Ferrari is what we have to take home," he said.
Rating out of 10: 8
Kimi Raikkonen had a decent race, but he really is not having too much fun in qualifying at the moment. He was 19th on Saturday, 0.4s off Giovinazzi for the second weekend in a row (it's now 8-8 for the season in that head-to-head), while he was also beaten by Williams' stand-in Jack Aitken. That left him with plenty of work to do.
Rating out of 10: 6
"We were just slow today, there was no chance for us to do anything." While Kevin Magnussen is sad not to be in F1 next year, he probably cannot wait for this season to end.
Rating out of 10: 6.5
His spin into the barriers - which caused a race-altering Safety Car - aside, Jack Aitken can be very proud of his weekend's work. He was only just behind Nicholas Latifi on his qualifying debut, and was running ahead of the Alfa Romeo before the error at the final corner. He also overtook Pietro Fittipaldi for 17th late on.
Rating out of 10: 7
Pietro Fittipaldi had a tough weekend, as expected considering he has not raced in single-seaters for a few years. Still, at least he gets another chance in Abu Dhabi in Romain Grosjean's absence.
Rating out of 10: 6
Nicholas Latifi was Williams' team leader after Russell's switch to Mercedes and he handled that responsibility well - he was running 13th and ahead of all his rivals before retiring with a suspected oil leak.
Rating out of 10: 7
Not for the first time this season, Max Verstappen's very real hopes of challenging the Mercedes for the win was ended with a first lap DNF. And Max certainly was not the culprit, only crashing into the barriers after trying to avoid Charles Leclerc and Perez.
Rating out of 10: 8
After such a strong Saturday - just 0.2s off pole with one of the laps of a brilliant season - Charles Leclerc will be angry with himself after throwing it all away with an unnecessary lunge on the first lap. He took the blame for the incident - when he locked up while trying to go up the inside of Perez - and rightly so. He carries a three-place grid penalty to Abu Dhabi.
Rating out of 10: 6
