Perez wins! Mercedes makes a fool of himself with Russell...

In the sensational victory of Racing Pont driver Sergio Pérez, Mercedes embarrassed itself to the bone at the Sakhir Grand Prix and threw away a sure double victory. (SERVICE: driver ranking)

The sensationally driving Hamilton replacement George Russell was put on a mixed set of tires while on course for victory. So both his tires and those that were intended for his team-mate Valtteri Bottas were put on.

Russell then had to pit again. Then, as he did after the start, he overtook Bottas with a sensational overtaking maneuver, which was partially demonstrated by Russell, who was standing in for Lewis Hamilton, who was ill with corona.

Mercedes messes up Bottas pit stop

While Bottas got stuck and shortly afterwards even fell back, Russell fought his way through the field and was even within striking distance of leading Pérez when a puncture slowed him down again. (SERVICE: constructors’ championship)

At Bottas, Mercedes had completely screwed up the pit stop before. In the end it was only enough for Bottas to finish eighth. After further strong overtaking maneuvers in the final laps, Russell was ninth.

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However, there is still a risk of disqualification for one lap due to the incorrectly fitted tires. But even without disqualification, the result was by far the weakest result of the Silver Arrows this year.

Perez wins sensationally ahead of Ocon

For Pérez it was the first Formula 1 victory in the 190th race of his career. No less surprisingly, Renault driver Estaban Ocon raced across the finish line in second place. Pérez team-mate Lance Stroll crowned the incredible result for Racing Point in third.

“I’m speechless. I hope I don’t dream. I’ve hoped for this moment so often,” said Perez, who doesn’t have a cockpit for 2021: “The Mercedes had a few problems, but we had enough pace to handle them to keep others behind us. ”

Only for Sebastian Vettel did the race go normally. In his penultimate race for Ferrari, he finished twelfth outside of the points. In addition, the Scuderia botched a pit stop with him. Vettel will replace Perez next year, Racing Point will then be called Aston Martin.

Leclerc ensures Verstappen-Aus

Vettel’s team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had captured a strong fourth place on the grid, braked with serious consequences, Monegasse and Max Verstappen landed in the gravel and had to end the race.

At the front, Russell had overtaken Bottas before the first corner, and at that moment the Finn’s foreboding threatened to come true: “If George hits me here, it won’t look good,” he said.

And it didn’t look good, but that was for completely different reasons. Both Mercedes drivers lost a lot of time in the pits due to the bad planning, and the short route meant that too many competitors could overtake.