Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton stripped of Bahrain victory; Charles Leclerc wins

By Asher Fair | Apr 1, 2019

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 31: Third placed Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 31, 2019 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /

Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his victory in the second race of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc has been awarded the win.

After starting the second race of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, from the pole position and falling back to third place early, Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc battled back to take the lead from teammate Sebastian Vettel.

The 21-year-old Monegasque led the 57-lap race around the 16-turn Bahrain International Circuit road course in Sakhir, Bahrain by more than 10 seconds over Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton with only a handful of laps remaining in it when his car’s engine experienced an issue that caused the car’s speed to reduce drastically.

With just 10 laps remaining, Hamilton caught and passed Leclerc for the race lead, and shortly thereafter, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas caught and passed Leclerc for second place.

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Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen likely would have caught and passed the first-year Ferrari driver for third place had it not been for a late safety car period that effectively ended the race before all 57 of its laps had been completed. Leclerc ultimately ended up finishing in third while Hamilton won ahead of Bottas in second.

However, the FIA have overturned this result, as they deemed that the issue with Leclerc’s engine was unlike anything they had ever seen and therefore could not be considered a factor in terms of the end result of the race. They have reset the race finishing order to what the running order was on the lap before Hamilton made his race-winning pass on Leclerc.

Here is what the FIA had to say about the matter.

"“We found that the issue with the engine of the number 16 [Leclerc’s] car was an issue that no Formula 1 car had ever experienced, meaning it was probably Marcus Ericsson’s fault. Therefore, we will reset the race’s final order the lap prior to the number 16 car dropping out of the lead from this issue.”"

As a result, Leclerc has earned the first victory of his Formula 1 career even after it was thought that he would have to wait to do so. Hamilton, meanwhile, finished the race in second place ahead of Bottas in third.

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Unfortunately for Charles Leclerc, this ruling was made on Monday, April 1, meaning that it doesn’t actually mean anything and that on Tuesday, April 2, the Bahrain Grand Prix victory will go back to belonging to Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in second place and Leclerc in third. As a result, Leclerc is set to go back to being winless in Formula 1 once April Fools’ Day ends, but before it ends, be sure to make it a great one!

On a fully serious note, don’t expect Leclerc to remain winless for much longer.

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