Charles Leclerc Brought the Ferrari F1 Team Back in the Game - 2022 Bahrain GP | DRO4CARS
Season-Opening Of The 2022 Formula One World Championship With The Bahrain Grand Prix
The season-opening of the 2022 Formula One World Championship just
started with the 2022 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Bahrain. We have new Formula 1
cars, new starting grids, new hopes, and a lot of expectations. Although the bitterness
from the last season, the last race is still fresh - we all looking forward to
new emotions and new hopes in the new season in F1. And thankfully that
bitterness disappears when we see new drivers that are playing around with the
Pole position just like Charles Leclerc with his Ferrari F1-75.
 |
| Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Ferrari F1 Team After the 2022 Bahrain GP 1-2 win. | Image: Ferrari |
Practice 1 of the Bahrain GP
During Practice 1 for the 2022 GP Bahrain, Charles Leclerc made 22
laps with the best time of 1:34.557. That lap time is just +0.364s behind Piere
Gasly who set 1:34.193 best lap time of 23 laps. So that Gasly set P1 and
Leclerc P2.
What we can learn from the Practice Sessions in Formula One?
This information is important
because it shows the overall diver performance not only from the race day. Another
point has to be added that during the Practice sessions of Formula One, the
drives test different settings of their Formula One car. So, these lap times
could give us a brief overview of both Formula One driver and F1 team overall
performance.
Practice 2 of the Formula One Bahrain GP
In Practice 2, Charles Leclerc set 1:32.023 best lap time from 20
laps. That time was good enough for P2
with 0.087s behind P1 Max Verstappen with best lap 1:31.936 who also made 20
laps.
Practice 3 of the Formula One Bahrain GP
In practice 3, Leclerc had increased its time gap to Verstappen
with +0.096s. Leclerc’s best time during Practice 3 of the 2022 Formula One Grand
Prix of Bahrain is 1:32.640 from 16 laps.
Qualifying session of Formula 1 for the 2022 Formula One race for the Grand Prix of Bahrain
In the Qualifying session of Formula 1 for the 2022 Formula One race for the Grand Prix of
Bahrain, Charles Leclerc set three different times. During Q1 Leclerc set
1:31.471 and he was faster than Verstappen (1:31.785). In Q2, Max Verstappen
managed to set the best lap time for P1 with 1:30.575 and Charles Leclerc made
1:30.923. In Q3, Leclerc made to set 1:30.558 best lap time and thus he get the
Pole position.
Starting Grid Of Formula One Grand Prix Of Bahrain
March 18-20 2022 Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
|
POS |
NO |
DRIVER |
CAR |
TIME |
|
1 |
16 |
Leclerc |
FERRARI |
1:30.558 |
|
2 |
1 |
Verstappen |
RED BULL RACING RBPT |
1:30.681 |
|
3 |
55 |
Sainz |
FERRARI |
1:30.687 |
|
4 |
11 |
Perez |
RED BULL RACING RBPT |
1:30.921 |
|
5 |
44 |
Hamilton |
MERCEDES |
1:31.238 |
|
6 |
77 |
Bottas |
ALFA ROMEO FERRARI |
1:31.560 |
|
7 |
20 |
Magnussen |
HAAS FERRARI |
1:31.808 |
|
8 |
14 |
Alonso |
ALPINE RENAULT |
1:32.195 |
|
9 |
63 |
Russell |
MERCEDES |
1:32.216 |
|
10 |
10 |
Gasly |
ALPHATAURI RBPT |
1:32.338 |
|
11 |
31 |
Ocon |
ALPINE RENAULT |
1:31.782 |
|
12 |
47 |
Schumacher |
HAAS FERRARI |
1:31.998 |
|
13 |
4 |
Norris |
MCLAREN MERCEDES |
1:32.008 |
|
14 |
23 |
Albon |
WILLIAMS MERCEDES |
1:32.664 |
|
15 |
24 |
Zhou |
ALFA ROMEO FERRARI |
1:33.543 |
|
16 |
22 |
Tsunoda |
ALPHATAURI RBPT |
1:32.750 |
|
17 |
27 |
Hulkenberg |
ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES |
1:32.777 |
|
18 |
3 |
Ricciardo |
MCLAREN MERCEDES |
1:32.945 |
|
19 |
18 |
Stroll |
ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES |
1:33.032 |
|
20 |
6 |
Latifi |
WILLIAMS MERCEDES |
1:33.634 |
Race Highlights Of Bahrain Grand Prix Of Formula 1
Lap 1, Charles Leclerc made a brilliant start during the first race
of the 2022 Formula One season for the Bahrain GP. On the T1 (first turn)
Leclerc is still on P1, Verstappen P2, Sainz P3, Hammilton P4.
On Lap 17 the race becomes more interesting when Max Verstappen overtook
Charles Leclerc. On that lap, Max also set a new best lap time during the race
of 1:36.905. So we have a new leader but for a short period. On Turn 4, Charles
Leclerc gets his Pole position back with a DRS.
Lap 18, Max Verstappen once again managed to take the P1 from
Charles Leclerc that happened on Turn 2. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez set the fastest
lap of 1:36.634. Leclerc also managed to get the P1 once again for a second consecutive
lap on Turn 4. It’s a spectacular fight that brings to us the pure motorsport
spirit.
Lap 19, with the begging of that lap, Leclerc is the leader of the
2022 Bahrain GP for the season-opening of the 2022 Formula One World Championship. And guess what?
Max Verstappen again tried to overtake Charles Leclerc on Turn 1 but Max locked
his front right wheel due to the hard braking and Charles managed to keep the
P1 even on Turn 1.
What Conclusion We Can Make After This Battle Between Leclerc And Verstappen During The 2022 Bahrain GP in Formula?
It’s very rare to watch such a battle in Formula
One even in three consecutive laps. The conclusion that we can make is that the
Max Verstappen Formula One car is much faster on the straights and manages to
catch the Charles Leclerc. Leclerc’s Ferrari F1-75 is better during the turns
and slower than on the straight. Thus Max takes P1 for a while and when both
Formula one cars get into the turns his Honda is not prepared for such a battle
and Charles defends his P1.
What Happens When The Safety Car Get Into The Track on Lap 46.
On Lap 46 Piere Gasly AlfaTauri engine gets
in flames which brings the Formula 1 Safety Car to the Bahrain International
Circuit. Sometimes such an
event could affect the overall race because the gap between the drivers is
shortened and here different strategies could be played.
The Formula One Safety Car and the F1 Strategies
The Formula One Safety Car made four laps and
just before Lap 51, it gets back in the home. Charles Leclerc is still the
leader of the 2022 Bahrain GP and Max Verstappen is on P2. Here is a point and
a tricky moment that occurs once again in the Formula 1 racings. Max should stay behind Charles
because there are still yellow flags but Verstappen doesn’t stay behind Leclerc. Max is about half of the length of Leclerc’s
Ferrari. The same thing was played during the last race of the previous Formula
One World Championship as back then the bet was who is going to win the F1 Championship
- Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen. Back then Max also was half of Lewis’s
Mercedes and not behind the leader. When the green flag was given Max managed
to overtake Lewis and eventually won the 2021 Formula One Championship. Thus
had a negative effect that still has very fresh bitterness because Max wins the
Championship with tricks and the help of the organizer, unfortunately not in
real racing. Fortunately, this time that tricky game of Max doesn’t
work. What happened?
Lap 51, the green flag was waved and Charles Leclerc managed to
accelerate faster than the Max Verstappen. On Turn 1, Leclerc P1, Verstappen
P2, Sainz P3.
Lap 54, Leclerc is still the leader of the Bahrain GP of Formula 1
but at the same time Verstappen asked his team on the radio:
-
“What’s going
on with the battery?” – Max asked.
-
“Battery’s
fine” – is the answer that Max received from his team.
-
“No, it’s
not.” – Max replied and continued “What
the…” /can’t hear it?/ “… what the f**k
is this?!”.
During this little conversation, Carlos Sainz with his Ferrari F1-75 managed to overtake Max Verstappen. Thus
just 3 laps before the end of the 2022 Formula One Race for the GP of Bahrain,
the Ferrari team set 1-2. Having the Ferrari Team with 1-2 of the season-opening
2022 Bahrain GP is extremely exciting because for the last several years the Ferrari
Team finishes around 6-5-4 positions and very rare it gets into the top 3.
During that lap, Max Verstappen received another response from his team: “The issue is not battery related” and later he dropped out of the race.
On the final Lap 57, at the beginning of the lap, Perez reported to
the team that “ I’m losing power”. Later on Turn 1, he reported once again “I lost the f***ing engine” as his F1
car made a 180-degree turn.
So, Charles Leclerc is the winner
with a very-deserved P1, Carlos Sainz managed to get his P2 and Lewis Hamilton
complete the racing of 2022 Bahrain GP of F1 on P3. Here is the full standing
after the season-opening Bahrain GP of the 2022 Formula One World Championship:
|
POS |
NO |
DRIVER |
LAPS |
TIME/RETIRED |
PTS |
|
1 |
16 |
Leclerc |
57 |
1:37:33.584 |
26 |
|
2 |
55 |
Sainz |
57 |
+5.598s |
18 |
|
3 |
44 |
Hamilton |
57 |
+9.675s |
15 |
|
4 |
63 |
Russell |
57 |
+11.211s |
12 |
|
5 |
20 |
Magnussen |
57 |
+14.754s |
10 |
|
6 |
77 |
Bottas |
57 |
+16.119s |
8 |
|
7 |
31 |
Ocon |
57 |
+19.423s |
6 |
|
8 |
22 |
Tsunoda |
57 |
+20.386s |
4 |
|
9 |
14 |
Alonso |
57 |
+22.390s |
2 |
|
10 |
24 |
Zhou |
57 |
+23.064s |
1 |
|
11 |
47 |
Schumacher |
57 |
+32.574s |
0 |
|
12 |
18 |
Stroll |
57 |
+45.873s |
0 |
|
13 |
23 |
Albon |
57 |
+53.932s |
0 |
|
14 |
3 |
Ricciardo |
57 |
+54.975s |
0 |
|
15 |
4 |
Norris |
57 |
+56.335s |
0 |
|
16 |
6 |
Latifi |
57 |
+61.795s |
0 |
|
17 |
27 |
Hulkenberg |
57 |
+63.829s |
0 |
|
18 |
11 |
Perez |
56 |
DNF |
0 |
|
19 |
1 |
Verstappen |
54 |
DNF |
0 |
|
NC |
10 |
Gasly |
44 |
DNF |
0 |
Note - Leclerc scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap
of the race.
