Bahrain Grand Prix: Race Recap

Ocon took the start from 14th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires and gained two spots through the opening phase of the race, before pitting on lap 8 for Yellow mediums. Ocon profited from the aggressive undercut to cycle back through into sixth position, though eventually ceded a place to the off-kilter Lewis Hamilton. The Frenchman pitted again on lap 27 for White hard tires and held seventh place through a safety car period, triggered due to on-track debris. Ocon took the restart in seventh before relinquishing one place to world champion Max Verstappen, though resisted a train of cars through the remainder of the race to finish eighth at the checkered flag.

Bearman started from 20th place, also on soft tires, and carved his way through the lower end of the order on a spectacular opening lap, quickly moving up to 14th overall. Bearman ran a relatively lengthy first stint, before eventually pitting for hard tires on lap 14. The British rookie moved up to 13th prior to pitting under the safety car on lap 32, moving onto soft tires, and took the restart from 12th. Bearman worked his way forward at the restart and slotted into the top 10 at the expense of Jack Doohan in the Alpine, before keeping Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli at bay across the closing stages. Bearman crossed the line in 10th to secure his third successive points finish.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team moves up to fifth position in the Constructors’ Championship on 20 points.

Up front Oscar Piastri recorded the fourth victory of his career for McLaren – and second of the season, ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes, and the other McLaren of Lando Norris.

Ollie Bearman:

“I feel good, it was a great race. It flew by and those last 20 laps after the safety car I was under pressure trying to hold position with the Mercedes behind, and trying to fight ahead as well – so it was a tough one. I’m so happy to bring a point home for the team after a really tough qualifying yesterday. Of course, it was a bit lucky to get the safety car, but I felt really strong in the first stint, the second stint on the hard was a bit tricky, but we caught the safety car which was lucky. Then to hold my position is easier said than done with faster cars around you. I’m proud of how I performed today, and the team did a fantastic job as well.”

Esteban Ocon:

“I’m super happy for the team because I let them down yesterday making that mistake when there was more potential in the car. Today, everything worked out as planned; we got a mega start and managed to get an aggressive strategy to straight away be fighting in the points. From there, it was the maximum we could’ve done as the safety car put us in a bad position, as we were about to get overtaken by Tsunoda, and Ollie benefited as well. It was a great drive from him coming from P20 – a double-points finish for the team. We’re delighted as it’s the maximum we could’ve done and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“What a day. I’m very happy, especially after the disappointment of yesterday – nobody gave up. We knew what we had to do today, we knew we had pace in the car and two drivers who can deliver results. We weren’t dreaming of a double-points finish but honestly, the way we ran the race, how the drivers drove, we had conviction, and we were proactive – we weren’t afraid of anything. I’m really happy to see how everyone is reacting to disappointment - it’s racing, so there’s going to be highs and lows. It’s easy to ride the highs, but not easy to overcome the lows and put a performance like this in. It was another amazing team effort.”