Haas driver Romain Grosjean survived a fiery, scary first lap crash before seven-time defending Formula One world champion eventually went on to win the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Hamilton was the pole-sitter as the race began and was off on a quick start but there was significant amount of jockeying for positions amongst the mid-pack cars and as Grosjean approached he appeared to try and avoid some of that maneuvering by veering off to the right but his veer took him into the path of AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat, who clipped his right rear tire and sent him straight into the wall where his car was sheared in half and exploded into flames. Grosjean was engulfed by the ensuing fireball but fortunately, was able to extricate himself from the car and leap over the wall where he was met by blasts of fire extinguishers from the Formula One medical team, who then moved him away from the crash and into their vehicle. Grosjean was eventually transported to the hospital in Manama where it was reported that he suffered minor burns to his hands and ankles and possible broken ribs but was otherwise fine.
The race was delayed for nearly 90 minutes while race officials re-constructed the barrier torn apart by Grosjean’s car and upon the standing re-start, Hamilton was in the lead followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, only to get one more lap into the race before Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was upended by Kvyat – bringing out a yellow flag that stopped the race for another five laps before it then resumed under a rolling re-start with Hamilton in front followed by Verstappen and Stroll’s Racing Point teammate, Sergio Perez.
From there, the race resumed the typical Mercedes snoozefest as Hamilton led all the remaining laps except for one pit crossover lap and coasted into the the victory after a late-lap engine failure on Perez’s car caused the race to finish under yellow and gifted Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Alexander Albon, with the third and final podium position.
2020 Bahrain Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2] Max Verstappen Red Bull
3] Alexander Albon Red Bull
4] Lando Norris McLaren
5] Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren
6] Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri
7] Daniel Ricciardo Renault
8] Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
9] Esteban Ocon Renault
10] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
