2020 Bahrain Grand Prix

## Lap Leader

The **2020 Bahrain Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race that took place over 57 laps on 29 November 2020 on the 'Grand Prix Circuit' configuration at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race was the fifteenth round of the 2020 World Championship. It was the sixteenth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula 1.5 World Championship.

This race was the first of two back to back Formula 1.5 races scheduled to be held in Bahrain. The second race, named the Sakhir Grand Prix, took place at the same venue on 6 December, but was held on a different circuit layout.

The race was suspended for eighty minutes following a serious accident involving Romain Grosjean, which resulted in his Haas VF-20 splitting in two and catching fire. Grosjean escaped with second degree burns.

## Background

### **Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic**

The race was originally due to take place on 22 March 2020 as the second round of the championship, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to event organisers initially announcing that no spectators would be permitted to attend the race. On 13 March 2020 the race was indefinitely postponed. It was the second time in Formula 1.5 history that the Bahrain Grand Prix was postponed after the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, which was ultimately cancelled. In its place, an online virtual Grand Prix was held on the original race date featuring racing drivers, celebrities, and e-sport racers. The virtual race was won by Formula Two driver Guanyu Zhou. In August, the Bahrain Grand Prix was rescheduled to 29 November. Due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, organisers announced that the Grand Prix would take place behind closed doors. Local authorities have given special dispensation to allow local health workers to attend with their families

### **Entrants**

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. Roy Nissany drove for Williams in the first practice session, replacing George Russell, while Robert Kubica drove for Alfa Romeo Racing, in place of Kimi Räikkönen.

### **Tyres**

Pirelli brought their C2, C3 and C4 compound tyres (the middle range of hardness) for teams to use in dry weather conditions. Pirelli also tested the 2021 tyre compounds during the first 30 minutes of both of Friday's two practice sessions.

## Practice

The first of two practice sessions took place on Friday in unrepresentative daylight conditions and saw Perez top the timesheet from Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

Perez also topped the second session, with Ricciardo in second and Gasly in third. The second session was red flagged twice, the first time being for a crash of F1 Driver Alex Albon. The second red flag was for a stray dog that had wandered onto the track. The dog exited the racetrack unharmed, managing to escape through a gap in the marshal posts.

Carlos Sainz topped the final practice session ahead of Gasly and Norris.

## Qualifying

The second stage of qualifying was red flagged after Carlos Sainz Jr. experienced a brake failure and stopped on track.

## Race

### **Race Report**

The 57-lap race started at the scheduled time of 17:10 local time (UTC+03:00). On the first lap, Haas driver Romain Grosjean clipped the AlphaTauri AT01 of Daniil Kvyat on the straight after turn 3, causing Grosjean's car to ricochet into the trackside crash barrier. Grosjean impacted the barrier travelling at 220 km/h (137 mph) with an estimated force of 53G.

The impact and angle of the collision caused Grosjean's car to split in half, wedging the front half of the vehicle (including the driver's survival cell) into the crash barrier and tearing off the rear half of the vehicle from the rest of the car, igniting the car immediately upon impact. The collision also caused the front of the car to penetrate through the crash barrier, subsequently causing the driver's compartment to slip through and directly impact the upper section of the barrier. The halo of the driver's compartment was thus credited for saving Grosjean from more serious injuries, and possible death, by sheltering his head and body from the impact.

Grosjean endured the flames of the wreckage for approximately 28 seconds, while extracting himself from the vehicle unaided. Medical car driver Alan van der Merwe and medical delegate Ian Roberts provided treatment immediately and initially reported that Grosjean seemed to have suffered minor burns on his hands and ankles (where gaps exist between the race suit and the driver's gloves and boots) and a possible broken rib. This was later confirmed not to be the case as Grosjean only suffered second degree burns on his hands and no broken bones. Roberts reported that Grosjean's helmet appeared to have been effective in preventing him from inhaling any smoke from the fire.

The crash led to the race being suspended for 80 minutes as debris was cleared and the destroyed metal barrier was replaced with a line of concrete blocks. Grosjean was taken to the track's medical centre, then to Bahrain Defence Force Hospital by helicopter for further treatment. Grosjean was discharged from hospital on the Wednesday morning after his crash.

Following the barrier repairs, the race restarted at 18:35 local time (UTC+03:00) on the third lap. Drivers restarted in the order they had crossed the second safety car line on lap one. Immediately following the restart, Kvyat and Racing Point driver Lance Stroll collided at turn eight. Stroll's car was flipped upside down but he was not injured in the crash. Kvyat was able to continue but was issued a 10-second time penalty, sending him down the order. Stroll's flipped car brought out a safety car. The safety car period concluded on the ninth lap.

On lap 54, while running in the lead position, Pérez's Racing Point's engine failed and caught fire after turn 10, triggering a double-yellow caution in that zone of the track. As Lando Norris passed the scene, a track marshal, without permission from race control, crossed the track in front of him, carrying a large fire extinguisher. Norris was able to avoid hitting the marshal. Norris later commented on the radio "He's the bravest guy I've ever seen". Race director Michael Masi, while confirming the marshal acted contrary to instructions, defended the marshal's "acting on instinct" in light of the Grosjean fire earlier in the race. Following this a safety car period began which would last for the remainder of the race.

### **Post Race**

Romain Grosjean released a video message after the race while in hospital. He attributed his survival of the crash to the halo device, a safety device which he had criticized in the past. Haas confirmed that Grosjean would remain overnight at the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital for treatment, and later confirmed Pietro Fittipaldi would stand in for Grosjean at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo was highly critical of Formula One Management (FOM) choosing to broadcast repeated replays of the incident; FOM later responded to this criticism defending their decision to show the replays as did Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. Sebastian Vettel, also a senior director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, expressed concerns over the collapse of the guardrail involved in the crash; although the barrier is designed to deform and absorb energy from the impact in a crash. The Marshals, Dr Ian Roberts and Alan van der Merwe were awarded the FIA President's medal for their bravery and exceptional reaction to Grosjean's crash.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

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Constructors' Championship standings

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## References

1. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
2. ↑  Sergio Pérez did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
3. ↑  Racing Point was deducted 15 points after a protest from Renault was upheld regarding the legality of their car.