Sergio Perez is now a grand prix winner after an incredible strategical drive after being hit on the first lap, whilst a strategical mistake from Mercedes sees them finish in eighth and ninth.
At the start of the race, George Russell instantly seized the initiative and managed to get past Valtteri Bottas to take the lead of the race. However the safety car was instantly deployed after Charles Leclerc hit Sergio Perez at Turn 4. Max Verstappen went into the barrier in avoidance, and both him and Leclerc were out of the race.
George got the safety car restart perfectly, whilst most of the attention was on Sergio Perez fighting his way through the field having switched to the medium tyre, and before long he was in the points. And then when the virtual safety car came out he took full advantage and was up to third place.
At the front George Russell was managing the race well and looked to have it under control despite a slight scare with a sensor issue. However everything changed when the safety car came out as a result of debris from Jack Aitken hitting the barriers and losing his front wing. What followed was a catastrophic mistake from the team, mixing up the tyres on both cars. Bottas rejoined in fifth on old tyres, whilst Russell had one of Bottas’s tyres fitted, and he had to pit at the end of the lap to rectify the error.
This put Sergio Perez in the lead, but George Russell was on fresh tyres and he instantly got his elbows out and fought his way past Valtteri Bottas. He then passed Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, and set about catching Perez, but he suffered a slow puncture which forced him to pit.
This allowed Sergio Perez a large buffer and he crossed the line to take his maiden Formula One victory in his 190th start, ahead of Esteban Ocon who takes his maiden podium, and Lance Stroll finished in third place.
Carlos Sainz finished in fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, and Alexander Albon in sixth after a difficult race for the Red Bull driver. Daniil Kvyat drove a solid race to finish in seventh for AlphaTauri ahead of Valtteri Bottas who dropped to eighth in the end. George Russell was able to fight his way to ninth place after his late pitstop, whilst Lando Norris picked up the final point in tenth.
Lewis Hamilton’s gap is still at 127 points, which means he is guaranteed to win the championship with his biggest ever margin. Valtteri Bottas’s second place is still achievable for Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver will be rueing a lost opportunity. Whilst Sergio Perez now looks set to finish in fourth, whilst Racing Point have established a solid gap in third place in the constructors.
Here is the result of the Sakhir GP.
RaceWeek 