Pierre Gasly, driving a Scuderia AlphaTauri, was left stranded with just over 10 laps of the race left as his car caught fire during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The unfortunate incident took place in the 46th lap of the race as Gasly pulled to the side of the track with the flames getting bigger, thus bringing out the Safety Car as well. This came as a big blow to Gasly who had high hopes of finishing in the top 10. The interruption in the race was used to his advantage by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. who put Max Verstappen under pressure for the second place.