2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix)[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 21 April 2013 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain.[4] Mercedes' Nico Rosberg started the race from pole.[5] Sebastian Vettel won the race, with Lotus F1 drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean completing the podium.[6]

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 4 of 19 in the 2013 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 21 April 2013
Official name 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix[1]
Location Bahrain International Circuit
Sakhir, Bahrain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Distance 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi)
Attendance 73,000 (Weekend)[2] 31,000 (Race Day)[3]
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:32.330
Fastest lap
Driver Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
Time 1:36.961 on lap 55
Podium
First
Red Bull-Renault
Second
Lotus-Renault
Third
Lotus-Renault

Contested over 57 laps, it was the fourth round of the 2013 season, and the ninth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been held as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The controversial race went ahead despite ongoing protests which had been taking place since the cancellation of the 2011 event. This race also marked the 200th Grand Prix for Mark Webber.[7]

This was also the last Bahrain Grand Prix to take place during the daytime, as the event switched to a night race from the 2014 race onwards.

Report

Background

Tyre supplier Pirelli had originally planned to bring their hard and soft compounds of tyre to the race, to be designated as the prime and the option respectively.[8] However, the teams experienced problems with the soft compound at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the tyres degrading after just seven laps,[9] which prompted Pirelli to alter their allocation for the Bahrain Grand Prix, changing the options from the soft compound to the medium.[10] Before the race, a minute of silence was held as a mark of respect for those who had lost their lives in the Boston Marathon bombings six days earlier.

Anti-government protests
A Bahraini protester holding an anti-F1 sign

In the context of the ongoing Bahraini uprising, public protests also occurred over the 2013 staging of the race, after the 2011 event was cancelled and the 2012 event went ahead despite efforts by demonstrators to disrupt the race.[11] According to Reuters, the race went ahead "largely unhindered" by the protests. Reflecting on the changes in the government strategy compared to 2012, they concluded that the public relations battle over this year's race had produced a stalemate, reflecting the situation in the opposition movement generally.[12]

Race

At the start, Nico Rosberg kept his lead into the first corner, with Vettel and Alonso keeping close company. On the second lap, Vettel went into the lead, and Alonso went into second place. Around the same time, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Éric Vergne and Giedo van der Garde were involved in a collision. Vergne eventually retired on lap 16, with damage caused by a puncture. Sutil would remain in 13th place, stuck behind Nico Hülkenberg for most of the race. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was complaining about his DRS system not working properly. It was in fact stuck open. He pitted to get the wing fixed. However, when trying to overtake, it got stuck open again, and was forced to remain without DRS for the rest of the race. He eventually finished 8th as a result. There was drama between the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez. The two went onto the radio, and complained about each other battling aggressively for the past few laps. Button fell to 10th by the closing stages, while Pérez managed to get into 6th, only two seconds ahead of Webber and Alonso, and only 6 tenths behind Lewis Hamilton at the finish. Rosberg had fallen rapidly down the field, and would barely finish in the points, in 9th. Paul di Resta on the other hand, was more successful. He was running in third place at the finishing stages, before Romain Grosjean took the honours with just a few laps remaining. Grosjean's teammate Kimi Räikkönen managed to get into second place, and stay there until the end of the race. Vettel was challenged by him, but he held his own until the flag had fallen, taking his second victory of the season. Felipe Massa on the other hand, had a disappointing weekend. He qualified well in 4th place, but during the race, dropped to 15th place due to two tyre failures.

Classification

Qualifying
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.364 1:32.867 1:32.330 1
2 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:33.327 1:32.746 1:32.584 2
3 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:32.878 1:33.316 1:32.667 3
4 10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.498 1:33.346 1:32.762 91
5 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:33.966 1:33.098 1:33.078 72
6 4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.780 1:33.358 1:33.207 4
7 14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:33.762 1:33.335 1:33.235 5
8 15 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:34.048 1:33.378 1:33.246 6
9 7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:33.827 1:33.146 1:33.327 8
10 5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.071 1:33.702 no time 10
11 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:33.498 1:33.762 11
12 6 Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.310 1:33.914 12
13 19 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.120 1:33.974 13
14 11 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.409 1:33.976 14
15 17 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:34.425 1:34.105 15
16 18 Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.314 1:34.284 16
17 16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:34.4253 17
18 12 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.730 224
19 20 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:35.283 18
20 22 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:36.178 19
21 21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:36.304 20
22 23 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:36.476 21
107% time: 1:39.379
Source:[5][13]

Notes:

Race
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 57 1:36:00.498 2 25
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 57 +9.111 8 18
3 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 57 +19.507 11 15
4 14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 57 +21.727 5 12
5 10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 +35.230 9 10
6 6 Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes 57 +35.998 12 8
7 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 57 +37.244 7 6
8 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 57 +37.574 3 4
9 9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 57 +41.126 1 2
10 5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 57 +46.631 10 1
11 16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 57 +1:06.450 17
12 11 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 57 +1:12.933 14
13 15 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 57 +1:16.719 6
14 17 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 57 +1:21.511 15
15 4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 57 +1:26.364 4
16 19 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 +1 lap 13
17 20 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 56 +1 lap 18
18 12 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 56 +1 lap 22
19 22 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 56 +1 lap 19
20 23 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 56 +1 lap 21
21 21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 55 +2 laps 20
Ret 18 Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16 Puncture damage 16
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

Footnotes
  1. As penalties are applied in the order that they are incurred, Webber was first moved from fifth to eighth. Hamilton's penalty was then applied, moving him from fourth to ninth, and Webber was moved back up to seventh on the grid.[13]

References
  1. "2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  2. https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/trends-in-bahrain/
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "FIA Formula One calendar". FIA.com. Fedération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  5. Beer, Matt (20 April 2013). "Bahrain GP: Nico Rosberg takes surprise pole for Mercedes". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  6. "2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix — results". Formula1.com. Formula One Administrations. 21 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  7. Alan Baldwin (22 April 2013). "Bahrain looks long term with F1 race". Euronews. Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  8. Collantine, Keith (13 February 2013). "Pirelli changes tyre choices for Australia and Bahrain". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  9. Collantine, Keith (14 April 2013). "2013 Chinese Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  10. Collantine, Keith (16 April 2013). "Pirelli swaps soft tyre for medium in Bahrain". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  11. The Independent
  12. Alexander Dziadosz (21 April 2013). "Bahrain Grand Prix 2013: Crisis Endures Despite Rulers Avoiding Fiasco". Huffington Post. Reuters. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  13. "Bahrain GP: final starting grid". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  14. Straw, Edd; Beer, Matt (20 April 2013). "Bahrain GP: Lewis Hamilton gets five-place grid penalty over gearbox". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  15. Collantine, Keith (14 April 2013). "Webber handed grid penalty for Vergne collision". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  16. Elizalde, Pablo (14 April 2013). "Chinese GP: Esteban Gutierrez punished for Adrian Sutil clash". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications.
  17. "Bahrain 2013 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
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