Early Stages
The initial start was business as usual for Hamilton, he got away cleanly as his teammate Valtteri Bottas dropped back to sixth after a terrible getaway. Sparks flew as the pack tangled with each other through the first set of tight corners.
However, the action soon turned into terror as Romain Grosjean suffered a horrific accident after colliding head on with the barriers at turn three.
The Haas driver made contact with Daniil Kvyat and was sent flying into the Armco barrier where his car erupted in an almighty explosion.
The race was red flagged and everyone waited in agonizing anticipation to hear of the Frenchman’s condition. The paddock watched on in bewilderment as live footage showed Grosjean scamper out of the smoke and away from the shell of his former car, which was now engulfed in a raging fire.
Medical staff pulled him aside and proceeded to check him over before evacuating him from the scene. He was later taken to hospital via helicopter with suspected broken ribs but it was later discovered that miraculously, Grosjean had only sustained burns to his hands and feet.
Once the flames were settled by marshals, to everyone’s horror it could be seen that the Haas was split clean in half from the impact, with the cockpit pierced through the barrier.
It was established quite quickly that if it weren’t for the Halo and other FIA safety measures, Formula 1 could have taken the life of another driver.
The race was delayed for over an hour whilst the barriers were repaired but eventually racing continued, with the risks the drivers take firmly reaffirmed in everyone’s mind.
The restart didn’t last long as this time Lance Stroll was tagged by Kvyat on the inside of turn eight and was flipped upside down by the impact.
The Canadian radioed instantly to confirm he was okay before crawling out of his Racing Point. The safety car came out whilst the accident was cleared up.
The race restarted on lap nine with Hamilton retaining his lead whilst Bottas had dropped down to 16th after pitting due to picking up debris on his tyres.
Middle Stages
Hamilton continued to lead from Max Verstappen who was pushing hard to close the four second deficit but the race leader reacted by going even quicker and extended his lead.
Sergio Perez was cruising around in the final podium place maintaining his tyres with Alex Albon not far behind, hunting down his second career podium.
Bottas was making his way through the pack one car at a time but the race win seemed well and truly out of reach.
Elsewhere Sebastian Vettel was struggling to drive his Ferrari, being heard on the radio telling his engineer, “Your car is un-driveable.”
Once the pitstops had come and gone, Hamilton remained in control and held his lead over Verstappen.
Closing Stages
There was more disappointment for Racing Point as Perez was forced to retire with engine issues with only three laps to go.
This gifted third place to Albon who secured his second career podium as the Racing Point team watched on in disbelief having finished the race point-less, ensuring a tough final two races to keep their third place in the constructors.
Hamilton lead the pack home under the safety car to win the race after a controlled drive through tricky conditions under the lights of Bahrain. Verstappen was just behind in second to give Red Bull a double podium with Bottas managing to recover to eighth.
The race will however be overshadowed by the grisly accident that took place at the start. Everyone’s thoughts will be with Grosjean and we can all be thankful of the safety measures that ensured that he lives on today.