Hamilton cruises to victory in eventful Bahrain GP

The 2020 Formula 1 champion padded his lead as Lewis Hamilton claimed his 11th victory of the season in an eventful Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton already wrapped up his record-tying seventh drivers' championship two weeks ago by winning the Turkish GP. Mercedes also clinched the constructors' championship in early November at Imola.

It's Hamilton's fifth straight win and 95th of his career, which extends his F1 record. It's also the seventh consecutive win for Mercedes, with Bottas winning the Russian GP and Hamilton winning in Tuscany prior to that.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Alex Albon placed second and third, respectively. Verstappen closed the gap on Valtteri Bottas for second overall in the drivers' championship. Verstappen now sits at 189 points while Bottas, who finished eighth in Bahrain, has 201 points.

The Bahrain GP marks Albon's second career podium after placing third in this year's Tuscany GP.

The race finished under a safety car after Sergio Perez's Racing Point began smoking and then caught fire on the 55th lap. At the time, Perez sat in third place, three laps away from his second podium of the year.

On the first lap of the race, Romain Grosjean collided with Daniil Kvyat before being sent into the wall and winding up in a fiery crash that split his car in half. The Haas driver wound up suffering minor burns to his hands and ankles and is still being evaluated at hospital. The barrier was repaired with concrete and the race eventually resumed.

Kvyat was involved in another incident on the restart, as well, receiving a 10-second penalty for bumping into and flipping the Racing Point of Lance Stroll.

With both Racing Points winding up retired and outside of the points, McLaren overtook third in the constructors' championship standings thanks to Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Heading into the final two races, the midfield race for third place is still wide-open:

The Sakhir GP gets underway next weekend while the Abu Dhabi GP will serve as the finale two weeks from now on Dec. 13.