The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 1st round of the 2022 season taking place in Bahrain between the 18th and 20th of March.

The event timetable for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 15:00 local time - 12:00 GMT
2nd Practice 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 15:00 local time - 12:00 GMT
Qualifying 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:34.193	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
2	1:34.557	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:34.611	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
4	1:34.629	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:34.742	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:34.814	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
7	1:34.943	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
8	1:35.000	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
9	1:35.028	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
10	1:35.050	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
11	1:35.053	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
12	1:35.151	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
13	1:35.644	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
14	1:35.815	Nico Hulkenberg	  Aston Martin
15	1:35.923	Alexander Albon	  Williams
16	1:36.304	Lando Norris	  McLaren
17	1:36.402	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
18	1:36.536	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
19	1:36.804	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
20	No Time		Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo

Sebastian Vettel tested positive with COVID and has been replaced by Nico Hulkenberg.

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:31.936	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:32.023	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:32.520	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
4	1:32.529	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:32.877	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
6	1:32.951	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
7	1:32.958	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
8	1:33.085	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
9	1:33.144	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
10	1:33.183	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
11	1:33.280	Lando Norris	  McLaren
12	1:33.360	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
13	1:33.621	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
14	1:33.789	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
15	1:33.953	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
16	1:33.958	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
17	1:34.061	Nico Hulkenberg	  Aston Martin
18	1:34.166	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
19	1:34.486	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
20	1:34.735	Alexander Albon	  Williams

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:32.544	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:32.640	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:32.791	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
4	1:32.935	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:33.053	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
6	1:33.121	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
7	1:33.437	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
8	1:33.733	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
9	1:33.880	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
10	1:33.920	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
11	1:33.955	Lando Norris	  McLaren
12	1:33.971	Nico Hulkenberg	  Aston Martin
13	1:34.176	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
14	1:34.295	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
15	1:34.378	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
16	1:34.628	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
17	1:34.868	Alexander Albon	  Williams
18	1:34.957	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
19	1:35.667	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams

Yuki Tsunoda had hydraulic problems and failed to set a time.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:30.558	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
2	1:30.681	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	1:30.687	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
4	1:30.921	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
5	1:31.238	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
6	1:31.560	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
7	1:31.808	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
8	1:32.195	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
9	1:32.216	George Russell	  Mercedes
10	1:32.338	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
________________________________________________________
11	1:31.782	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
12	1:31.998	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
13	1:32.008	Lando Norris	  McLaren
14	1:32.664	Alexander Albon	  Williams
15	1:33.543	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
________________________________________________________
16	1:32.750	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
17	1:32.777	Nico Hulkenberg	  Aston Martin
18	1:32.945	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
19	1:33.032	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin 
20	1:33.634	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams

[cmlean]

Biggest surprises to date
1.The lack of pace of the Mercedes
2. The speed of all Ferrari powered cars
3. Alfa Romeo. Their pace is incredible! Both Bottas and Guanyu are real contenders for a top 10 finish.
4. Haas. The return of Kevin Magnussen transitioned them from low to a genuine mid field team.
5. McLaren. Their car just doesn't work on this circuit.

The rest are more or less where we expected them to be.
Maybe Aston Martin aren't quite as sharp as expected.
Red Bull & Ferrari are at the top
Alpine and Alpha Tauri solidly in the high end of the mid field
Williams still struggling.

[cmlean]

Results

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Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
2	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
3	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
6	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
7	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
8	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
9	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
10	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
11	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
12	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
13	Alexander Albon	  Williams
14	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
15	Lando Norris	  McLaren
16	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
17	Nico Hulkenberg	  Aston Martin
DNF	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
DNF	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
DNF	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri

[cmlean]

Well. What a way to finish the first race of the new era. Just when it was looking like the race was heading to the expected conclusion, all hell broke loose in the Red Bull camp. It probably commenced earlier when Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri expired then caught fire coming out of turn 3. The only retirements in the race were all using the Red Bull Power Train with, in quick succession, Max Verstappen limping into pit lane with an engine problem and then Sergio Perez noting that something was wrong as he began the final lap with his own ailing Red Bull. He needn't have tried as his power unit locked up in the first turn turning him around and out of the race.
Biggest winners had to be Mercedes who, after looking like also rans for the whole weekend, finished on the bottom step of the podium with Hamilton and in 4th with Russell.
Kevin Magnussen in his Haas scored a morale boosting for the team 5th place while his team mate Mick Schumacher finished just outside of the points.
Valtteri Battas brought his Alfa Romeo home in 6th and his new team mate Zhou Guanyu, in his first grand prix, picked up the final point.
Team Renault, oops, Alpine, brought their cars home in the points as did Yuki Tsunoda as he did last year.

Next: Round of Saudi Arabia
Date: March 25-27