2010 Bahrain Grand Prix

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2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 1 of 19 in the 2010 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	14 March 2010
Official name	2010 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.299[1] km (3.914 miles)
Distance	49 laps, 308.405 km (191.634 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Attendance	100,000 (Weekend)[2]
Pole position
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Time	1:54.101
Fastest lap
Driver	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Time	1:58.287 on lap 45 (lap record)
Podium
First	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Second	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the 2010 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix)^[3] was a Formula One motor race held on 14 March 2010 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the seventh Bahrain Grand Prix and the opening round of the 2010 Formula One season. It was the first time since 2006 that Bahrain had hosted the opening round and the race took place on a lengthened layout of the track.^[1]

The race was won by Fernando Alonso, his first as a Ferrari driver.^[4] His new teammate, Felipe Massa ensured a good start to the year for the team by finishing second. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton completed the podium by finishing in third position.

All of the race had been led by polesitter and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, until lap 34 when a gearbox problem forced him to concede the lead to Alonso. This meant that he was eventually overtaken by Massa and Hamilton too, meaning that he finished in fourth place. Vettel's teammate, Mark Webber qualified sixth before finishing the race in eighth place. Michael Schumacher's first race of his return to Formula One for the Mercedes resulted in him finishing sixth, one place behind teammate Nico Rosberg. Reigning world champion Jenson Button completed his first race for the McLaren team by finishing seventh. It was also the Grand Prix debut of Nico Hülkenberg, who finished fourteenth for his team Williams.

The three new teams—Lotus, Hispania and Virgin—did not have a very successful debut race. Their six cars occupied the last six places in qualifying, and only one, the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen, finished the race, although Jarno Trulli's Lotus was also classified in last place. As a consequence of the race, Fernando Alonso and Ferrari led their respective championships with maximum points. The race was also the first since the 1993 Australian Grand Prix not to feature refuelling during in-race pit stops.