Fabio Leimer took the feature race at Sakhir and Sam Bird edged Felipe Nasr by the closest margin in GP2 history, in a weekend that reshaped the title fight.
The 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round was two races held on 20 and 21 April 2013 at the Bahrain International Circuit, the second round of that season. Fabio Leimer won the feature race, and Sam Bird took the sprint by 0.080 seconds over Felipe Nasr.
The 2013 GP2 Series reached its second round at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, as a support event for that year's Bahrain Grand Prix. Racing Engineering's Fabio Leimer took the feature race, while Russian Time's Sam Bird won the sprint by the tightest margin the series had ever seen.
Where did the title race stand before Bahrain?
Coletti arrived in Bahrain as the points leader, eleven points clear of Leimer, who was in turn one point ahead of Nasr. Calado sat fourth on 18 points, and Stephane Richelmi was six points further back in fifth. Rapax held the top spot in the Teams' table on 42 points, with Racing Engineering seven points behind.
The season's opening round at Sepang had gone to Leimer and Coletti, who won one race apiece. Calado and Nasr had each taken a second place there, and Mitch Evans had finished third once, which kept the field tightly packed heading into the Middle East.
Rossi later admitted he did not yet know how his tyres would behave over a race distance, a concern that would shape how he drove the feature.
A 0.080-second margin in the sprint race was the closest finish GP2 had ever produced, and it came on a weekend that moved the title fight.
Which teams and drivers made up the entry?
Twenty-six drivers were entered, spread across 13 teams, and every car was an identical Dallara GP2/11. Pirelli supplied the soft compound with yellow bands and the hard dry compound with orange bands. The weekend was the second of eleven scheduled rounds that season.
Each weekend followed the same pattern. The feature race ran for 170 km (110 mi) or 60 minutes, whichever was reached first, with one compulsory pit stop. The shorter sprint covered 120 km (75 mi) or 45 minutes and had no mandatory stops.
Two changes affected the line-up. Alexander Rossi took over the Caterham seat from Ma Qinghua for the rest of the year, having previously raced in Formula Renault 3.5. Robin Frijns, last year's Formula Renault 3.5 title winner and a Sauber test and reserve driver, was signed by Hilmer Motorsport to replace Conor Daly, who had only been contracted for one round.
How did the single practice session go?
The only practice session was held on Thursday, and it was led by Leimer, who posted 1:41.361 on the hard tyres, a second quicker than anyone else. Sam Bird was second for Russian Time, with Coletti third, and Frijns spun early before recovering without help.
Conditions were variable and the track was warm. Rossi, Ericsson, Nasr and Calado followed in the next four places, and Tom Dillmann, Johnny Cecotto and Daniel Abt filled out the top ten. Cecotto had an alarming moment when smoke came from his car at high speed, after which he locked his brakes at turn one and ran into the sand.
Julian Leal stalled at the pit lane exit, prompting a stewards' inquiry into whether his crew had got the car going again from outside the lane. He then came close to hitting Rossi's rear.
How did qualifying set the grid?
Friday's half-hour qualifying session produced a new lap record for the circuit. Leimer took pole with a lap of 1:39.427, and Ericsson lined up alongside him, almost a second slower. Nasr matched his 2012 qualifying result by taking third, and Coletti completed the top four.
Qualifying began under cloud. A light shower after the first five minutes did nothing to the surface. Trummer, Coletti and Ericsson each briefly led before Leimer's effort, and Ericsson lost time in the final third of his lap, which cost him the front-row advantage.
Dillmann, who improved late on, lined up fifth, with Richelmi sixth. Rossi had been among the early pace-setters and finished the session seventh, while Quaife-Hobbs locked his tyres and took eighth. Bird improved late to ninth, and Frijns qualified tenth.
Calado was the fastest driver outside the top ten, but he was moved back ten places as a penalty for a crash in Sepang. Sergio Canamasas was dropped to the rear for deliberately forcing Kevin Ceccon off the track, and Kevin Giovesi was penalised three places for blocking Cecotto. Mitch Evans suffered an electrical fault and was restricted to 16th.
Because of those penalties, the grid did not follow the qualifying times for several cars. Calado, Canamasas and Giovesi all started behind drivers whose times were slower than their own, so the feature race began with some drivers already well placed to attack.
How did the feature race unfold?
Leimer took the lead at the start and kept it, although Coletti pressed him hard in the early laps. By the start of lap five Leimer was two seconds clear, and he went on to win the 32-lap race from the front.
Ericsson stalled on the formation lap and was forced to start from the pit lane. Sunshine and dry conditions greeted the field, with the air at 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) and the asphalt at 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit). Early retirements included De Jong, who limped back to the pits, and Varhaug, who suffered mechanical trouble on lap five.
Mandatory stops for the hard tyres began around the tenth lap. Quaife-Hobbs and Dillmann chose an alternative strategy, and Dillmann fell from fifth as a result. Leal stalled as he left his pit box and was penalised for speeding in the pit lane. Quaife-Hobbs led the final ten laps before his own stop, and Leimer regained the lead on the 20th lap once he had pitted.
On lap 21 Frijns tried to move inside Richelmi at turn one, made contact and damaged his front wing. Frijns limped back to the pits, while Richelmi was left to park his damaged car on the circuit. The last retirement came on the 25th lap, when debris penetrated Evans's radiator and his engine overheated.
Leimer held the lead to the flag, taking a second victory of 2013 and his fourth overall. Coletti finished 1.9 seconds behind, Rossi took third, and Nasr and Palmer were fourth and fifth. Rossi had re-passed Palmer during the pit-stop phase, while Frijns battled Leal for tenth before both made their stops. Bird finished sixth, Quaife-Hobbs seventh and Dillmann eighth, which earned him pole for the sprint race. A total of 21 drivers were classified.
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature race (32 laps) | 20 April 2013 | Fabio Leimer, Racing Engineering | Stefano Coletti, Rapax | Alexander Rossi, Caterham | Leimer's second victory of the season and fourth overall |
| Sprint race (30 laps) | 21 April 2013 | Sam Bird, Russian Time | Felipe Nasr, Carlin | Stefano Coletti, Rapax | Margin of 0.080 seconds, the closest in GP2 history |
How did the sprint race end so closely?
Dillmann started from pole, but Bird passed him for the lead on the first lap. Coletti climbed from seventh to third on the outside at turn one, while Nasr clipped Rossi into the first corner and broke his front wing. The sprint began on a hot afternoon: 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the air and 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on the track.
Bird and Dillmann touched while battling through turns one and two, which let Coletti take second. Nasr followed Dillmann through for third on the next lap. Bird then ran over debris at the first corner on lap six and locked his tyres, but a marshal removed the debris and he kept going.
Ericsson retired at the midway point, his car damaged by an earlier collision with Haryanto. Berthon pitted for new tyres, and Palmer passed Leimer for sixth on the 19th lap after Leimer ran wide while defending.
As the final two laps began, Coletti and Nasr were closing on Bird, whose tyres had worn badly. Coletti locked up approaching the tenth corner, overshot the final turn and let Nasr through to second. Nasr drew alongside Bird under braking for the final corner, but Bird controlled the wheelspin and held on by 0.080 seconds.
Coletti was third, with Dillmann fourth and Calado fifth. Pole-sitter Dillmann was passed on the first lap, which showed how quickly the lead could change hands in a sprint. Palmer, Abt and Quaife-Hobbs completed the top eight in that order. Bird's victory gave Russian Time its first win, and the team had only taken over from ISport International part way through the season.
The result came in only the team's fourth race of existence, and with no pre-season testing behind it. Tyre wear had decided much of the closing stage: the leading cars had been under pressure since the early laps, and Coletti's flat-spotted tyres ended his chance of victory.
What changed in the standings after the weekend?
Coletti still led the Drivers' Championship after the round, but Leimer had cut his deficit to a single point with nine rounds still to run. Nasr stayed third on 48 points, while Bird climbed from ninth to fourth on 33 and Calado dropped to fifth on 24.
In the Teams' Championship Rapax kept the lead, but Carlin were now only two points behind. Racing Engineering moved into third, Russian Time took fourth, and Arden International were fifth with nine rounds still to run.
Bird's sprint result moved him from ninth in the standings to fourth, while Calado's slip to fifth showed how tightly the field was bunched. For the leaders, the message from Bahrain was that a single good weekend could change the picture.
What did the drivers say after the weekend?
Leimer was very happy to have waited a while for another GP2 win, though he admitted the tyre management in the feature race had been hard work. Bird said Nasr's car had been very quick in the closing stages. Coletti said his team had done well, though he thought he might have pushed harder early on, and he hoped to be at the front again in Barcelona.
Bird called the sprint win fantastic and said it felt great to be back in the series that feeds Formula One. He admitted he may have pushed too hard at the wrong moment in the race. Nasr said the result was still a good one, and he felt more confident about the car and the team as the season went on.
