Hamilton wins in Sakhir, terrible accident for Grosjean

There was finally a Bahrain Grand Prix this Sunday evening. But what we will remember from this 15th round of the 2020 world championship is not the new victory without firing a shot. Lewis Hamilton but the terrible accident of which the victim was Romain Grosjean at the beginning. 

As he prepared to exit turn 3 in the heart of the peloton, the Frenchman shifted to the right and found himself in the path of Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri), who could not avoid it. The Russian hooked the Haas from Grosjean at right-back. The following ? The horror. 

Catapulted towards the safety barriers, which are curved towards the layout at this point of the Sakhir circuit, the car literally split in two after exploding into a ball of fire under the force of the shock, measured at 53G. The survival cell pierced the slides before stopping abruptly on its side. Grosjean then found himself trapped in the blaze for seconds that seemed like an eternity. 

Driven by incredible strength and energy, the Frenchman managed to escape from the infernal flames. He burned his hands climbing what remained of the barrier to jump, with one boot missing, into the arms of the FIA ​​medical team consisting of Alan van der Merwe, driver of the medical car , and Ian Roberts, who is coordinating relief operations. 

After a visit to the medical center, the Haas driver was airlifted to the nearby Bahrain Military Hospital with potentially one or more broken ribs. It would be a lesser evil in view of the staggering images of his accident. 

After a 90-minute interruption and the replacement of the destroyed guardrails with concrete blocks under the supervision of FIA race director Michael Masi, the race resumed with a new start. 

To establish the new grid, the classification on the second Safety Car row at the time of the red flag was taken into account. Hamilton, who had started well from the first pole, still occupied the leading position but he now had at his side Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and behind him Sergio Pérez (Racing Point). The two had taken the best of Valtteri Bottas during the first departure. Qualified in 2nd position, the Finn was now in 4th place. 

Other misfortunes awaited the pilot Mercedes, victim of a puncture on the first lap of the re-start. Up front, Hamilton had managed the second flying start well, and Verstappen repelled the attacks of an enterprising Pérez. A full lap of the race had not even been completed when the Safety Car was sent onto the track due to a collision between Kvyat and Lance stroll at turn 8. The Russian sent the Canadian's Racing Point spinning after a guilty hesitation. 

Before this incident, Charles Leclerc had signed a superb flight to climb from 12th to 7th place, to the great dismay of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, unhappy with the Monegasque's maneuver at the first corner. The pilots Ferrari will quickly be caught up by the weaknesses of their equipment on a circuit which once again exposed the shortcomings of their engine. 

Up front, Hamilton was never worried. He carried out his strategy calmly, with a first stop on the 1th lap, then a 20nd on the 2th lap to finish the race with a set of Hard tires. The only worry for the seven-time world champion: a neutralization at the end of the race, following a cruel engine failure for Pérez, who was going to take a deserved 36rd place. 

Hamilton then feared finding himself under threat from Verstappen who had made an additional stop to fit fresh tires and chase the lap record. The Grand Prix finally concluded under Safety Car. 

Alexander albon (Red Bull) took advantage of Pérez's misfortunes to score a second podium this season after that obtained at Mugello. This could help him keep his place in Milton Keynes (United Kingdom) in 2. 

The Thai precedes the McLaren de Lando Norris et Carlos Sainz, author of a superb comeback after the mechanical problem encountered in Q2. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) also takes advantage of the Safety Car to make its one-stop strategy work. The Frenchman took a nice 6th place, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (Renault). 

Bottas returns to 8th position, whileEsteban Ocon (Renault) and Leclerc complete the Top 10. 

Lewis Hamilton takes the 95th victory of his career, his 11th success of the season in 15 Grand Prix weekends. The Mercedes driver has just won the last 5 races. He has been undefeated since the meeting in Sochi (Russia) at the end of September. 

The main thing this evening was naturally elsewhere. Romain Grosjean was also elected Driver of the Day by motorsport lovers, who were not mistaken. 

LAP 57/57: Confirmation of the finishing order #BahrainGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/oYXYFcpZEW

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2020