2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 16 April 2017 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race was the third round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the thirteenth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The winner of the previous Bahrain Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg, did not compete as he had retired after the season. Sebastian Vettel entered the race as the championship leader, equal on points with Lewis Hamilton but recognised as leader on a count-back. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship by one point over Ferrari.

Background Driver changes

After missing the opening two rounds of the season due to injury, Pascal Wehrlein returned to competition with Sauber. Antonio Giovinazzi, who replaced Wehrlein in the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, resumed testing and reserve driver duties for Ferrari.

Qualifying

During the first qualifying session, Carlos Sainz, driving for Toro Rosso, experienced power loss to his car, leaving him in 16th position. Several other drivers were affected by flags waved for Sainz's stoppage, resulting in early exits from the session.

During Q2, McLaren driver, Fernando Alonso, was left in 15th position after a broken power unit prevented him from setting a time. Front-end problems stopped Williams driver, Lance Stroll, from leaving the garage until late in the session, where he was eventually pushed down into 12th position.

During the final qualifying session, Hamilton broke his previous pole time while attempting to receive his 55th pole position. However, Valtteri Bottas managed to improve on his teammate's time, winning his maiden pole position by two-hundredths of a second.

Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3177Mercedes1:31.0411:29.5551:28.7691244Mercedes1:30.8141:29.5351:28.792235Ferrari1:31.0371:29.5961:29.247343Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:31.6671:30.4971:29.545457Ferrari1:30.9881:29.8431:29.56756331:30.9041:30.3071:29.6876727Renault1:31.0571:30.1691:29.8427819Williams-Mercedes1:31.3731:30.6771:30.074898Haas-Ferrari1:31.6911:30.8571:30.76391030Renault1:31.4581:30.8991:31.074101126Toro Rosso1:31.5311:30.923111218Williams-Mercedes1:31.7481:31.168121394Sauber-Ferrari1:31.9951:31.4141314311:31.7741:31.684141514McLaren-Honda1:32.054No time151655Toro Rosso1:32.11816172McLaren-Honda1:32.313171811Force India-Mercedes1:32.31818199Sauber-Ferrari1:32.543192020Haas-Ferrari1:32.90020107% time: 1:37.170Source:

Race At the start, Bottas led away with Vettel in hot pursuit after he beat Hamilton into 2nd off the line, Vettel pitted early as did Verstappen, however Verstappen had a brake failure soon after and had to retire from the race. A collision between Stroll and Sainz occurred and with Stroll's car stuck on the track the safety car was deployed to clear it away. Hamilton then pitted but was penalised 5 seconds for holding up Ricciardo into the pits, he served his penalty at his second stop costing him a chance of winning the race. Alonso's frustration boiled over in a radio message saying he has never had so little power in his life before later retiring with engine problems. Vettel won from Hamilton who was let through into 2nd by Bottas with 10 laps to go.

Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints15 Sebastian VettelFerrari571:33:53.374325244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes57 +6.660218377 Valtteri BottasMercedes57 +20.39711547 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari57 +22.47551253 Daniel Ricciardo57 +39.346410619 Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes57 +54.32688711 Sergio PérezForce India-Mercedes57 +1:02.60618688 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari57 +1:14.86594927 Nico HülkenbergRenault57 +1:20.188721031 Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes57 +1:35.7111411194 Pascal WehrleinSauber-Ferrari56 +1 Lap131226 Daniil KvyatToro Rosso56 +1 Lap111330 Jolyon PalmerRenault56 +1 Lap101414 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda54Power unit15 9 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari50Gearbox19 55 Carlos Sainz Jr.Toro Rosso12Collision16 18 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes12Collision12 33 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer11Brakes6 20 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari8Electrical202McLaren-Honda0—Source: Notes – Fernando Alonso retired from the race, but was classified as he had completed 90% of the race distance. – Stoffel Vandoorne did not line up on the grid as a result of a power unit issue.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings DriverPoints 1 Sebastian Vettel68 2 Lewis Hamilton61 13 Valtteri Bottas38 14 Kimi Räikkönen 34 5 Max Verstappen25Source:

Constructors' Championship standings ConstructorPoints 11 Ferrari 102 12 Mercedes 99 3 47 4 Force India-Mercedes 17 15 Williams-Mercedes 16Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

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