#F1 #Ferrari #SF21 #Bahrain #Leclerc #Sainz
Only 5X in 17 races last year did both Ferraris finish in the points. But the Scuderia’s new alliance between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz delivered at the Bahrain Grand Prix 2021 season opener, as they finished 6th and 8th respectively.
Mr. Leclerc had led the way in qualifying for the team, taking P4 on the grid, as Mr. Sainz was P8. Mr. Leclerc said that the performance of the SF21 had taken a useful step over last year’s car.
Lewis Hamilton won the season opener by 0.7s after thrilling battle with Max Verstappen in Bahrain
“It’s been a good race overall,” said Mr. Leclerc. “We were lacking a little bit of pace in general compared to Lando but otherwise it’s been quite a good race, and especially a good progress compared to last year, which is what I want to keep in mind for this race.
“It’s only a 6th place, but compared to last year, it’s a good result, so I’m really looking forward to the next races now.”
Mr. Sainz said, “It’s a completely new experience, completely new car, so I wanted to take it easy and wanted to make sure I did the whole race. Then once I got myself into clean air, honestly I was very quick, so I’m not going to complain, I’m going to take it and take it as a learning curve and keep improving.
“Definitely it will come,” Mr. Sainz added when asked if he’d up the aggression in the coming races.
“Especially because it was a conscious approach. If I was lost in Lap 1 because I don’t feel the car, then it’s something to worry about, but I’ve always been super good in the starts with the McLaren and here, I’m still wanting to get to know the car in dirty air before I started attacking like I was in the McLaren. So it was kind of a conscious approach, and I will get on top of it soon.”
2021 Bahrain Grand Prix race results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | – | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 56 | 0.745 | 0.745 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 56 | 37.383 | 37.383 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 56 | 46.466 | 46.466 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 56 | 52.047 | 52.047 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | 59.090 | 59.090 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 56 | 1’06.004 | 1’06.004 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 56 | 1’07.100 | 1’07.100 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 56 | 1’25.692 | 1’25.692 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 56 | 1’26.713 | 1’26.713 |
| 11 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 56 | 1’28.864 | 1’28.864 |
| 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 55 | 1 lap | |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 55 | 1 lap | |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | 55 | 1 lap | |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 55 | 1 lap | |
| 16 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 55 | 1 lap | |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 52 | ||
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 51 | ||
| Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 32 | |||
| Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 0 |
Have a healthy week, Keep the Faith!
