BWT Racing Point F1Team quoted –
“We did it! Checo (Sergio Pérez) won both his and the BWT Racing Point F1Team’s first Formula 1 race in a dramatic Sakhir Grand Prix.
Not only did our man take to the first step for the first time, but Lance joined him on the podium – his second of the 2020 season!
We knew the potential was there to score a victory this season if things played into our hands and we had come close on several occasions only to cruelly miss out – but not today!
And on the first lap, it looked as though events would conspire against the team once again.
While Lance made a superb start to climb from P10 into P6 – Checo was taken out.
The Mexican had superbly battled Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for P3 only for the Ferrari to clatter into him on the inside of Turn 4and drop him into P18.
But that only motivated Checo further. He came into the pitstop to discard his Used Softs for a set of New Mediums at the end of Lap 1 and began a titanic charge through the field.
From the back of the grid on Lap 2, Checo rose all the way to P3 by Lap 44 of 87 – and what a thrill it was to watch. After flat-spotting his tyres under the Safety Car, he battled vibrations with the help of the team that decisively told him to stay out.
And what a call it was – whether it was a thrilling move on Sebastian Vettel through the tricky second sector, or a succession of rapid laps – Checo put himself right into contention to win.
His team-mate Lance was also undergoing his own impressive first stint, extending the Used Soft tyre far beyond his rivals while keeping the Medium-shod Esteban Ocon behind him.
While on Lap 44, Lance would come out of the pits on a new set of Mediums and behind Ocon, he remained in the podium hunt.
He would soon be joined by Checo. On Lap 48, Checo would pit for a set of new Hard tyres, coming out in P9 ahead of Alex Albon and on the tail of Lance in P8.
After a Virtual Safety Car affected some of the field on Lap56, Lance was in P4 and Checo in P5, before a slight lock-up at Turn 4 would allow Checo past his fellow RP20.
Checo would swiftly dispatch Ocon at the same spot a lap later for P3 – before drama for the two leading Mercedes under the Safety Car removed them from contention with just under 20 laps to go.
Checo was now leading and he nailed the Safety Car restart to pull far ahead of Ocon, while Lance was able to expertly defend from a McLaren and Mercedes to hold onto P3.
After a tense final 10 laps, Checo crossed the line to win the Sakhir Grand Prix and Lance followed closely behind to make it two cars on the podium – beginning incredible scenes on the pit wall and in the garage!
After the cruelty of the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend, which robbed the team of good points – this was the highs and lows of Formula 1in the space of seven days. It’s been a rollercoaster, but it’s ended with the highest of highs and a first win for Team Silverstone since the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix!
But we won’t rest here. There’s one more race to go and we’re determined to leave Abu Dhabi P3 in the Constructors’ Championship while celebrating the final race of the BWT Racing Point F1 Team.”
| POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:31:15.114 | 25 | |
| 2 | +10.518s | 18 | |
| 3 | +11.869s | 15 | |
| 4 | +12.580s | 12 | |
| 5 | +13.330s | 10 | |
| 6 | +13.842s | 8 | |
| 7 | +14.534s | 6 | |
| 8 | +15.389s | 4 | |
| 9 | +18.556s | 3 | |
| 10 | +19.541s | 1 | |
| 11 | +20.527s | 0 | |
| 12 | +22.611s | 0 | |
| 13 | +24.111s | 0 | |
| 14 | +26.153s | 0 | |
| 15 | +32.370s | 0 | |
| 16 | +33.674s | 0 | |
| 17 | +36.858s | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
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