Bahrain GP: Positive race from Williams despite no points

The Williams Racing Team would see their drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi qualify in 14th and 20th grid positions for the fifty seven lap 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. On pole would be Hamilton followed by Bottas, Verstappen, Albon, Perez, Ricciardo, Ocon, Gasly, Norris and Kvyat in tenth. Of the top ten all were on the medium tyre for the race start. Outside the top ten the Williams team would have George on the medium and Nicholas the hard. Sainz was on the soft while Leclerc and Grosjean were on the hard. The rest were on the medium tyre.

The grid would complete their formation lap and with the start it would be Hamilton leading from Verstappen. But at the back of the field there would be contact between several cars that would see Grosjean crashed into the barriers with the car bursting into flames. The race would be red flagged immediately. Thankfully Grosjean is able to get out of his car and was checked by medical staff. For Williams George had made a poor start and was down in 18th at the time of the race stopping. Nicholas had been able to get up to 16th. But with the red flag was was not of much consequence as the race would restarted. Replays would show Grosjean jumping out of his car with the flames all around him.

After a lengthy delay as the wrecked Haas was removed and the barrier repaired the race would be restarted with the cars back on the grid. This would see Nicholas in 19th and George 18th on the grid. The lights would go out and it would be Hamilton on pole from Verstappen and Perez. As they got away it would be Hamilton leading with Perez third. But with an accident involving Stroll which would see the Racing Point upside down after his car had made contact with Kvyat seeing the Racing Point flip over. The Safety Car would come out with Hamilton leading from Verstappen, Perez, Bottas, Albon, Norris, Ocon, Leclerc, Ricciardo and Gasly. Bottas would pit with a puncture dropping to 16th behind Vettel. This would see the Williams drivers 13th and 14th with Nicholas leading George. Nicholas had switched to the medium at the second start as Magnussen had to pit with damage to his front wing.

Sainz and Kvyat on the soft tyre were in tenth and 11th. Gasly in ninth was on the hard as the race was restarted on lap nine. George would move ahead of Nicholas and he would try to pass 12th placed Raikkonen. Behind the Williams drivers were Vettel and Bottas both on the hard tyre. George would pass Raikkonen for 12th while in front of George was Kvyat on the soft tyre. Lap twelve the order was Hamilton from Verstappen, Perez, Albon, Norris, Ocon, Sainz on the soft tyre, Ricciardo, Leclerc, and Gasly in tenth. Gasly would pass Leclerc for ninth as Kvyat would receive a ten second penalty for his part in his accident with Stroll. Nicholas would get passed by Bottas for 14th. Ricciardo would pit on lap eighteen dropping to 18th. This would see George and Nicholas 11th and 14th. More drivers would pit including Ocon, Kvyat, and Raikkonen. This would see George and Nicholas 9th and 11th. Norris would pit returning in tenth as George moved up to eighth.

Hamilton would pit on lap twenty one taking on another set of medium tyres now in third. Verstappen was now leading from Perez while Ocon would pass Nicholas for 11th. Lap twenty two and Verstappen and Perez would both pit seeing Hamilton again leading from the Red Bull. Sainz was in third followed by Gasly, Perez, Leclerc and Albon in seventh. George had pitted switching to the hard and was now in 14th. Sainz was in the pits on lap twenty three returning in 11th now on the medium tyre. George was now up to 13th behind Magnussen with Magnussen on very old hard tyres. Lap twenty four and Nicholas would pit staying with the medium tyre now running in 18th. Leclerc had pitted dropping to 12th in front of George. At the front Hamilton was leading Verstappen by 4.3s with Perez third. Albon was fourth followed by Gasly, Norris, Bottas, Ocon, Ricciardo, and Sainz in tenth. Gasly and Bottas would both pit having been on quite well used hard tyres. Gasly would return in ninth and Bottas 14th.

George was now running in 11th behind Magnussen but the Haas would have to pit. The McLaren's were now in fifth and sixth with Norris leading Sainz. Magnussen would pit dropping to 18th but for George he was still 12th as Bottas had moved past into 11th. Nicholas was running in 17th with thirty laps completed. Ricciardo was allowed to move past Ocon as he was faster seeing the Renault's 7th and 8th. Bottas would pass Leclerc for 10th. George was now 14s behind Leclerc in 11th so getting into the top ten was looking like a tough exercise. Kvyat would pit on lap thirty six taking on another set of hard tyres. Verstappen would also come in but he would have a long stop. Albon would also come in joined by Ocon. The Red Bull cars were both now on the hard in third and sixth. Ocon would dropt o 12th behind George. Hamilton would also pit retaining the lead and on the hard tyre for a drive to the finish. Perez was now second but yet to pit.

Perez would pit on lap thirty eight taking on new hard tyres and returning in fifth behind the two McLaren's. Ricciardo had also pitted dropping to 11th behind Ocon. George was still in 12th behind the Renault's but may have to pit. Hamilton was leading from Verstappen, Norris, Perez, Sainz, and Albon sixth. Nicholas would pit dropping to 18th while Norris and Bottas also pitted with the McLaren now on the hard and Bottas the medium. Sainz would also pit returning on the hard tyre and in eighth behind Leclerc. George would also pit on lap forty one returning in 15th and on the medium tyres. George would move up to 14th but had Vettel right behind. Verstappen would pit on lap forty eight taking on new mediums remaining in second. George was closing in onto 13th placed Giovinazzi but there were just six laps remaining.

Lap fifty two and Hamilton was leading from Verstappen, Perez, Albon, Norris, Sainz, Gasly, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Ocon tenth. The Williams drivers wee running in 14th and 16th. But for Perez his race would end with an engine issue with smoke pouring from his car with flames coming out as he pulled off to the side of the track. Giovinazzi would pit under a Safety Car that had come out as a result of Perez's issues. This would see George and Nicholas in 12th and 14th. The race would end under the safety car with Hamilton winning from Verstappen, Albon, Norris, Sainz, Gasly, Ricciardo, Bottas, Ocon, and Leclerc in tenth. For Williams they would finish in 12th and 14th. In what looked like a race where both Williams Racing drivers extracted the best performance during the race it was again a race that saw the team come so close to scoring their first points in terms of their race results but in reality were off the pace such that it was going to be a difficult task to achieve a points scoring result.