With Hamilton away, Perez has his day: F1 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix report

A Formula 1 race without Lewis Hamilton for the first time since 2006, and therefore without this season’s already-crowned drivers’ champion, but in his absence F1 still delivered something special.

While the circumstances were far from ideal and Hamilton is wished a speedy recovery from Covid-19, his absence created a whole new dynamic at Mercedes and a ripple effect across the whole grid. It wasn’t just about George Russell and Valtteri Bottas, or about Jack Aitken stepping in at Williams, but Hamilton has been imperious this year and suddenly Mercedes were vulnerable, with Max Verstappen waiting to pounce.

It resulted in a hugely dramatic night under the lights on Bahrain’s outer circuit.

When the Verstappen threat was eliminated at the fourth corner – an innocent victim as Charles Leclerc hit Sergio Perez, leaving Verstappen nowhere to go except wide into the barrier – suddenly Mercedes looked set for a cruise to victory, with their only headache being the fact Russell had taken the lead from Bottas at the start and the Finn was going to try and fight back hard.

“I have lots of respect for Charles but I don’t understand why guys were being really aggressive.” Verstappen said. “It was like it was the last lap of the race. I know he wants to overtake a car but braking so late on the dirty inside of the track…”

Russell didn’t need to be overly aggressive himself as he got down the inside of Bottas at Turn One, and from then on he looked like he had been in the Mercedes for years. He edged away from the Finn and appeared to have everything under control, even if Bottas started to close the gap on the hard compound tyre after both drivers ran long on the mediums and looked set to comfortably execute a one-stop strategy.

And then, ironically, Russell’s replacement triggered disaster for Mercedes.

Aitken’s Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi had already retired from a strong position but the debutant was doing an extremely impressive job himself as he closed in on Kevin Magnussen ahead. But Aitken pushed that bit too far, spun out of the final corner and wiped off his front wing.

The safety car was needed so the wing could be recovered safely as there were few gaps on such a short track, and Mercedes called both drivers into the pits for a double stop. The problem was, as the call went to the mechanics that Russell was going to lead Bottas in, Russell himself sent in a radio message that interrupted it, and the wrong tyres ended up on his car.

With some of Bottas’ mediums put on, Russell went back out and the Finn sat stationary for what felt like an age as Mercedes realised the error and replaced his tyres with the same set he’d come in on.

“I think after what happened in Imola, when we did the wrong choice under the safety car, we were clear what we wanted to do here,” Perez said. “We were staying out. We were fairly confident I was going to be able to restart on tyres and to be able to go to the end of with good pace.

“With George it was going to be close but I think I was going to be able to hold him back because we had good pace. He was about two, to three-tenths, sometimes four-tenths, sometimes I was matching him. I think the closest he got was 2.8sec.

“The information we had as a team was you needed a difference of eight-tenths a lap to overtake. It was going to be close but I think given the age of my tyres, given the pace I had in the end, the pace I had in hand, I was going to be able to hold him back until the end.”

Russell was on a mission. This had been his race to win and he knew Bottas was on the back foot, so when he brilliantly went round the outside of the other Mercedes at Turn Six, a huge wave of belief hit those watching that he was going to go and win it anyway.

After Bottas, Russell quickly cleared Carlos Sainz, then Stroll, then Ocon. He had Perez in his sights, even if the Racing Point driver was confident he could hold on. But then, another dreaded radio message: Puncture.

“I could feel something a little bit weird with the car but when the call came I really didn’t want to believe it,” Russell said. “I have had races where I have had victories taken away from me. But twice! I just could not believe that.

“I gave it everything I had. I was managing the race from the start. I felt confident, comfortable in the opening laps, just managing the gap to Valtteri.

“Then we had the muddle up in the pit stop. That put us on the back foot. I had to overtake, and then obviously I think we still could’ve still caught Sergio. We had such a tyre advantage; the car was so quick. Gutted but incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved. And happy to have had the opportunity.”

He still charged through to ninth and set the fastest lap to take his first points, but somehow a fairytale win had slipped away. Still, the man profiting deserved his slice of luck.