Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix after mechanic hit by F
- by
- in World Media
- — Apr 10, 2018
A pit stop gone awry resulted in a broken leg for a Ferrari team mechanic when driver Kimi Raikkonen's vehicle struck the mechanic after a failed tire change Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole after a tense tactical battle with Mercedes, who had tried an alternate strategy to take the fight to their rivals but which ultimately proved unsuccessful. Verstappen would crawl past his stricken teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who retired from the race with an electrical failure around the same type that Verstappen burst his own tire.
"We didn't finish the race, so it's not great, but this is what happens unfortunately".
The mechanic, named by Ferrari as Francesco Cigarini, was taken to a nearby Bahraini hospital on Sunday night after the dramatic incident on lap 36 when Raikkonen pitted for a second time.
BC-CAR-F1-Bahrain GP-Car Hits Mechanic, 3rd Ld-Writethru, 407 Raikkonen's vehicle breaks Ferrari mechanic's leg in tire stopAP Photo XLB115, XLB115, HAS110, HAS106Eds: Updates with fine for Ferrari.
"I don't know what shape he is in", Raikkonen, dubbed the "Ice Man" for his taciturn nature, told reporters immediately afterwards. "For sure, not great for him".
A site visitors gentle system is used to inform the motive force when it is protected to go away the pit stall. He was given the green light to go despite work still continuing on the rear left tire.
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished third in a pulsating race, which saw Vettel squeeze the maximum out of tires he was forced to use from lap 18 of the 57-lap race to beat Bottas by just 0.699 seconds.
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I go when the light is green...
"We had nothing to lose making an attempt to remain out and making an attempt to win", Vettel added of his future on deteriorating tires. It worked, but just.
Hamilton, who started from ninth place due to a gearbox penalty, had escaped unscathed from his clash with Verstappen.
"There were some frustrating points in the race when they could not hear me on the radio".
But Hamilton insists it was a satisfactory result.
"I mean if I hit you in your face, you're not going to say "oh, Sebastian, that wasn't nice".
Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne gave McLaren, now with Renault engines, a second successive double points finish in seventh and eighth respectively to lift the team to third overall.
The British driver and his team might have been hopeful of going for the win but Ferrari's decision to take a chance and switch to a one-stop strategy mid-race proved inspired and remarkably successful in Vettel's hands as he skilfully nursed his worn tyres to the take the flag.
