Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

Bahrain Grand Prix LIVE: Latest F1 updates as Charles Leclerc loses victory to Lewis Hamilton after late drama

Follow the latest from the Bahrain Grand Prix

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 31 March 2019 17:32 BST
Comments
Formula One: 2019 season preview

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Follow the latest updates live from the Bahrain Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc starts from pole position for the first time in his career.

The Ferrari new boy stunned teammate Sebastian Vettel on Saturday with a new lap record around the Bahrain International Circuit, leading a Ferrari one-two as they locked out the front row. That left Lewis Hamilton to contend with third place at a track that he has not won at for the last three years, and with both he and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas off the pace, it could be a painful day for Mercedes.

Max Verstappen leads the best of the rest in his Red Bull, while McLaren got both their cars into Q3 for the first time since Malaysia 2017 in what could be a successful weekend for Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. Follow the live action below.

When is it?

The Bahrain Grand Prix takes place across the weekend of 29-31 March, with the race itself on Sunday 31 March.

What time does it start?

Lights out is scheduled for 4:10pm BST (6:10pm local).

Where can I watch it?

The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 2:30pm. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 from 9pm.

Sky Sports F1 will also be showing every practice session as well as qualifying live throughout the weekend.

Times

First practice: Friday 11am-12:30pm

Second practice: Friday 3pm-4.30pm

Third practice: Saturday 12pm-1pm

Qualifying: Saturday 3pm-4pm

Race: 4:10pm-6:10pm

Grid

1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 27.866secs

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:28.160

3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:28.190

4 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:28.256

5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:28.752

6 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:28.757

7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:28.813

8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:29.022

9 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:29.043

10 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:29.488

11 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:29.015 + three-place grid penalty for blocking

12 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:29.513

13 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:29.526

14 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:29.756

15 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:29.854

16 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:30.026

17 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:30.034

18 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:30.217

19 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:31.759

20 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:31.799

Lap 38: Hamilton has DRS but so does Vettel as gets by Bottas, and again they fight going into turn four...Vettel spins!

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:15

Lap 38: Woah! Vettel simply lost the rear trying to accelerate out of turn four as Hamilton was passing him, and although he recovers, he then has a horrible moment when the front wing fails on him and shoots under his car, sending him momentarily airborne. He recovers to the pits and gets a new set of tyres and front wing, but that's dropped him down to ninth. How unlucky for the four-time world champion.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:17

Lap 41: Vettel's recovery drive is underway as he gets by Norris with ease to take seventh going into turn one.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:20

Lap 42: Vettel is not hanging around here. He's passed Ricciardo on the very same lap, and has his Renault teammate Hulkenberg well in his sights.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:21

Lap 44: Vettel indeed makes light work of Hulkenberg to move up to fifth, but he's another 26 seconds behind the next car in Verstappen and that's likely to be as far as he's going to make it. Behind him though the action continues as Norris beats Ricciardo through turns one and two, and Raikkonen is right behind to have a go himself.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:25

Lap 46: Ricciardo is a sitting duck on the old tyres as Raikkonen makes it past the following lap.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:27

Lap 46: Oh no! Leclerc is on the radio and is panicking...

"There's something wrong with the engine.

"We're checking it..."

"There's something wrong with the engine! ****!"

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:28

Lap 47: Hamilton has taken four seconds out of the lead in one lap, and a further 1.7s in the first sector alone! This is going to be horrible and undeserved for Leclerc, but as the Ferrari team say he has "no engine recovery", the inevitable is coming.

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:30

Lap 48: Hamilton passes Leclerc to take the lead!

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:32

Lap 50: How far will Leclerc drop? Well, he has a 21 second advantage over Bottas and the Ferrari pit wall believe he's got enough of a gap to still finish second. However, he's lost 160bhp in losing the turbo, and his rear brakes will take a battering as well.

"Keep calm, we need the car home."

"I know, I'm keeping calm. Christ"

Jack de Menezes31 March 2019 17:35

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in