Bahrain: Tough start for Daniel in season opener

A difficult qualifying preceded a "tricky" first 2022 race for Daniel, with 14th the best he could manage in Bahrain.

Race data
Bahrain (round 1 of 23), 20 March 2022 
Bahrain International Circuit, 57 laps, 5.412km
Qualified: 18th
Finished: 14th
Laps per position: 12 (20th), 11 (18th), 10 (19th), 10 (17th), 9 (16th), 4 (15th), 1 (14th).
Pit stops/tyres: Lap 17 (medium/soft), Lap 33 (soft/hard), Lap 44 (hard/soft). 
Fastest lap: 1:37.261 (16th, lap 50)
Points this race: 0
Points this season: 0 (14th in world championship)

Daniel's download
"It was a bit of a tricky race. The start, it's a bit of a blur when it happens straight away but I remember in Turn 6-7, the chicane, I saw some smoke and then I saw (McLaren teammate) Lando (Norris) go left and cut off the track, so my initial instinct was to follow him because I thought maybe a car had spun in the middle of the track. I did that, then I remember two or three cars passing me when I took avoiding action. It lost me positions, but I don’t know if I could have done anything better at the time, or at least I didn't feel like it was safe to do so. 

"The race … I think there was a lot to understand. Some good things – some corners where I felt good on entry, under braking, but we're obviously comparing to the tail-end of the field, so maybe those strengths don't apply to the front-runners. 

"We're not where we want to be, but we have to work, figure it out and try to improve as quick as possible."

How Daniel's race unfolded
Started 18th after being eliminated in Q1.
Started on medium tyres, took avoiding action on lap 1 to fall to 20th.
Advanced to 15th before pitting for soft tyres on lap 17, fell to 20th.
Passed Hulkenberg/Aston Martin on lap 20 to advance to 19th.
Moved up to 17th before pitting on lap 33 for hard tyres, back to 19th.
Advanced to 17th before pitting under safety car on lap 44 for soft tyres.
Restarted race on lap 51 in 16th.
Improved to 15th, then 14th after Verstappen/Red Bull and Perez/Red Bull retired.

Next race
Round 2: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah Corniche Circuit), 27 March
Last year: qualified 11th, finished 5th
Career: 1 race, 10 points, 1 points finish
Highlights: fifth in only visit by F1 to the circuit in December 2021