Max Verstappen completes F1 Practice hat-trick in Gulf Air Bahrain GP 2021 at BIC

Max Verstappen completes F1 Practice hat-trick in Gulf Air Bahrain GP 2021 at BIC

• • Lawson wins season-opening F2 Sprint Race
  • Guven grabs pole for first race in Porsche Sprint Challenge ME
  • Fans to have chance to win 15 prizes every 10 minutes

Max Verstappen completed his Formula 1 Practice hat-trick today in the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2021 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

After topping the times in the first two sessions of the weekend on Friday, Verstappen continued to impress in his Red Bull RB16B and clocked a fastest lap time of one minute 30.577 seconds in the third hour-long session.

Verstappen endured the afternoon heat and outduelled seven-time F1 drivers’ world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes for the top spot by 0.739 seconds.

Pierre Gasly also showed some strong pace going third for AlphaTauri, 1.006s off the leading mark.
The F1 field now heads to the first Qualifying of the F1 season, starting later this evening at 6pm. That will determine the start grid for Sunday’s 57-lap night race.

Tickets to the F1 mega event are still available for all COVID-19 vaccinated or recovered individuals. They are being sold at a single discounted price of BD100 across stands. Comprehensive measures are in place at the circuit at all times to ensure spectators can enjoy the excitement of F1 in a safe environment.

Tickets can be purchased online at BIC’s official website, bahraingp.com, or at the sales marquee located next to Sakhir Petrol Station right before reaching BIC. Tickets are also available at BIC’s stand at City Centre Bahrain, located on the ground floor near gate number three in the West Court. The stand is operational every day between 10am and 10pm.

Gates open to the public at 11am on Sunday (March 28).

Verstappen racked up 11 laps in today’s third Practice, while Hamilton had 14 and Gasly ran for 13 laps.

Classified behind the top three were Valtteri Bottas (+1.278s) in the other Mercedes in fourth and Sergio Perez (+1.331s) in the second Red Bull in fifth, while Carlos Sainz (+1.531s) of Ferrari completed the top six.

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen (+1.647s) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (+1.846s) were seventh and eighth, respectively, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (+1.854s) and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (+1.900s) completed the top 10.

Eleventh through 20th, respectively, were Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Williams’ George Russell, the Haas tandem of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.

Lawson wins season-opening F2 Sprint Race

Liam Lawson opened the 2021 Formula 2 season with a fantastic victory in the first of two Sprint Races today at BIC, in support of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Hitech Grand Prix driver started from third on the grid behind pole-sitter Theo Pourchaire of ART Grand Prix, but Lawson was able to make a lightning start and leap into the lead ahead of the first turn.

Lawson held on to the lead until the end, while fending off a strong challenge from Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala. He took the chequered flag after 23 laps in 44:11.624. He finished with a 0.9s gap ahead of his closest rival.

David Beckmann of Charouz Racing System completed the podium placers in third a distant 14.3secs behind. Robert Shwartzman was fourth, Oscar Piastri fifth, Christian Lundgaard sixth, Guanyu Zhou seventh and Dan Ticktum eighth.

Four cars from the 22-car grid did not finish the race, including Pourchaire, who stopped after 11 laps.

Pourchaire started on pole after teammate Juri Vips was disqualified from Friday’s Qualifying. Following the new rules for the 2021 season, Pourchaire inherited pole from Beckmann.

The second F2 Sprint Race is scheduled for this evening starting from 7.40pm. Vips will start from pole after finishing the first race 10th, as per the new rules.

Guven grabs pole for first race in Porsche Sprint Challenge ME

Ayhancan Guven clinched pole position today for the first race in the final round of the 2020/2021 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, being held in support of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at BIC.

Guven clocked a best time of 2:03.947 in Qualifying to gain his leading grid position for the weekend’s opening 11-lap sprint.

He beat championship leader JB Simmenauer to first place by 0.111secs, while Jesse Van Kuijk will start from third after going 0.891secs behind.

Team Bahrain drivers Shaikh Ali bin Mohamemd Al Khalifa and Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa qualified eighth and 12th overall, respectively.

Set to lead the Pro-Am challengers is Lucas Groeneveld, while at the front of the Am class is Maximilan Werndl.

To start in first place amongst the Central Europe category participants is Markus Sattler, while leading the Middle East competitors will be BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Race one is later this afternoon at 4.45pm.