There was little time to recover from the thrills and
spills of China as the
Formula 1 fraternity hopped straight onto a plane and jetted off to Bahrain for the fourth round of the
2013 season.
Elsewhere Sauber continued to struggle in 17th and 18th, ahead of Charles Pic and the returning Heikki Kovalainen who replaced Ma Qing Hua as one of Caterham’s two reserve drivers. He completed his running for the weekend six tenths slower in comparison to Pic.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Despite the ongoing protests and controversy in Bahrain, the teams and drivers arrived in Bahrain with
complete confidence in the FIA’s decision to return to the island country.
The track is rarely raced on and the desert surroundings of
the Bahrain International Circuit make the opening few sessions tricky to
negotiate. It soon begins to evolve under the scorching sun and in the high humidity which creates
temperatures well over 40 degrees.
Tyre
wear was one of the main concerns going into the race weekend and Pirelli’s
move to switch the “option” tyre from the soft to the medium was first welcomed
but the criticised. Brake wear and cooling are also other area’s to focus on
due to the big braking zones and humidity.
Check out my preview of the race for a look at the track and
who looks strong heading in to the race weekend. For a sneak peak at what the
drivers, teams and press get up to on the Thursday at the track check out my
Thursday Snap Shot too.
This Bahrain Grand Prix Weekend Review kicks off on Friday
with First Practice. My ongoing weekend review is updated as the sessions are
completed, eventually creating a full review of all the on track action from
the Sakhir circuit.
FP1
Ferrari kicked off their Bahrain Grand Prix weekend on a
high with a 1-2 finish in Free Practice One.
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| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
It was a close session that saw Felipe Massa finish at the
top of the time sheets, lapping the 3.394 mile circuit in 1m34.487. His best
time was 0.077 faster than second placed man and Ferrari team-mate Fernando
Alonso, making it Ferrari domination in first practice.
The session was quiet to start off with before drivers
exited the pit lane to clean the track and get some useful running in. Dust was
a factor and the track is rarely raced on which created a very green track but
constantly evolving track. This caught many out, including Sergio Perez and
Fernando Alonso.
Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes after completing 22 laps
during the session. Lewis Hamilton was outside the top 10 in 13th
and ended the session 1.3 seconds off the Ferrari pace. There was little in the
way of upgrades due to the back-to-back nature of China
and Bahrain,
but Red Bull brought minor upgrades. Drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
set the fourth and seventh fastest times respectively, separated by Paul Di
Resta and Jenson Button.
Elsewhere Sauber continued to struggle in 17th and 18th, ahead of Charles Pic and the returning Heikki Kovalainen who replaced Ma Qing Hua as one of Caterham’s two reserve drivers. He completed his running for the weekend six tenths slower in comparison to Pic.
However the Finn did finish ahead of the two Marussia cars.
Max Chilton’s best time was 4.9 seconds off the pace in 21st. The
Brit was trying hard and held an impressive slide at turn 13. Chilton finished
ahead of the Banbury based squad’s reserve driver Rodolfo Gonzalez. The
Venezuelan replaced Jules Bianchi and completed seven laps before a gearbox
problem halted his progress.
FP2
Kimi Raikkonen moved Lotus out of the shadows and into the stunning Bahrain sunshine after topping the second Practice Session of the race weekend.
The Finn set a best time of 1m34.154 on a low fuel medium tyre run late in the session to go fastest, completing 31 laps. Lotus sent him out for some high fuel runs early on in the session before focusing on short, qualifying runs in the final half.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Mark Webber's best effort on the medium tyre was just 0.030 shy of the Finn's benchmark, ahead of Vettel and Alonso in third and fourth. Force India gave onlookers a glimpse at their potential with Di Resta in fifth and Sutil in 10th. The former was just four tenths behind Raikkonen and completed 35 laps, one of the largest tallies of the session.
Massa kept both Ferrari's at the top of the time sheets in sixth, whilst McLaren saw their drivers set the 11th and 13th fastest times of the session with Button and Perez respectively. The Mercedes duo were in eighth and 10th with Rosberg continuing the usual practice of lapping faster than team-mate Hamilton in practice.
With the track rubbering in and evolving throughout Friday the session was far busier than the morning practice. Rosberg and Perez topped the mileage stakes but it was a difficult day for van der Garde who only managed 13 laps in the CT03.
Charles Pic continued to perform well in the sister Caterham. He managed to lap faster than both Marussia cars and ended the session 2.9 seconds down on the leading Lotus. Track conditions continued to be tricky with plenty of drivers running wide or locking up their tyres, particularly into turn 10. There was also a clash between Esteban Gutierrez, who already has a five place grid penalty, and Pic after the Frenchman went wide to let the Sauber through. Gutierrez ran wide and clattered into the Caterham giving him a puncture and damaging Pic's car.
FP3
Fernando Alonso set the pace in the final practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver recovered from a spin to set a fastest time of 1m33.247, a tenth clear of his nearest challenger. The Spaniard lost control of his car at the exit of turn two and spun into the gravel trap. Fortunately it was a shallow one and he managed to avoid beaching his car.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber proved that Red Bull are in with a shout but finishing second and third, both just over a tenth down on Alonso. Raikkonen and Hamilton rounded out the top five - the latter suffered a scary suspension failure on his final run which led to him needing a gearbox change for qualifying.
Grosjean set the sixth fastest time ahead of the Force India duo. Sutil and Di Resta gave yet more glimpses of the VJM06's strong pace and finished ahead of both Nico's, Rosberg in ninth and Hulkenberg in 10th.
Massa and the two McLaren drivers seemed to struggling during the session, Button and Perez finishing eight tenths and a second down on Alonso respectively. Ricciardo and Bottas set times faster than their team-mates, Vergne and Maldonado trailing behind in 16th and 17th.
Charles Pic was best of the backmarkers again with Bianchi splitting the two Caterham's despite some mechanical problems. Van der Garde was 20th ahead of Chilton who only managed seven laps in the car. Esteban Gutierrez was curiously six seconds off Alonso despite completing some decent mileage.
Qualifying
It was a close but surprising qualifying session at the Sakhir circuit, with Nico Rosberg taking pole ahead of Vettel and Alonso. Mercedes had been driving under the radar but the German pulled a stunning lap out of the bag to nab the first grid slot.
Q1
It was a rather uneventful start to the first 20 minute qualifying session, where the bottom six slots on the grid were decided. In fact we had to wait four minutes until the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez emerged on track to get a feel for the evolving track conditions.
The Mexican was the first driver to set a lap time before his team-mate Hulkenberg swiftly displaced him from the top. The times continued to tumble as the front runners emerged on the hard compound tyre, only the nervous few going for a first run on the mediums.
Schedules were split during the session with some choosing two runs. In contrast the more confident few went out for a sole run at the end of the session. Grosjean and Rosberg all spent time at the top of the time sheets before Alonso put in a stunning lap to go fastest, the first lap of the race weekend under the 1m33's.
Interestingly those moving on to the medium compound tyre were not finding the time first expected. By the sessions end though the order was quite different. Alonso remained at the front ahead of Vettel and Rosberg who were both nearly five tenths down on the Spaniard. Grosjean and Hamilton rounded out the top five.
Di Resta, Massa, Raikkonen and Webber made it safely through to the second session ahead of Sutil, Button, Ricciardo and Perez. The two McLaren's went straight out on the medium compound for their sole runs and the risk just paid off. Vergne and Hulkenberg narrowly made it out of the drop zone, as did Bottas who strangely set the same time as team-mate Maldonado. However due to the Finn setting his time before the Venezuelan he managed to make it through to the second session.
Gutierrez joined the Williams in the bottom six, ahead of Pic and Bianchi. Giedo van der Garde just missed out on beating the Marussia but he did nab 21st from Chilton.
Q2
It was a busier start to the second qualifying session with the clock shrinking to 15 minutes to decide the midfield positions on the grid.
Vettel and Di Resta both topped the time sheets early on before Alonso displaced the Scot on the medium compound tyre. The first runs were completed with five minutes left to go but the Mercedes duo left it late and went for one run to go first for Rosberg and fourth for Hamilton.
They had a clear track but the action soon heated up once again as drivers emerged for their second runs. Grosjean's first attempt was only good enough for seventh but it was ahead of his team-mate Raikkonen who failed to string together a good first lap.
The top four remained in their respective garages but for the remaining 12 drivers, they had one shot to make it through to the top 10 shootout. The chequered flag flew and it was a mad dash for the line. Sutil went sixth with his final effort, Hulkenberg going 11th and Button moving up to ninth. Raikkonen went fourth and Perez failed to make it through in 12th.
Raikkonen's movement into the top 10 knocked Grosjean into the drop-zone. The Finn went fourth behind Vettel, Rosberg and Webber. Alonso dropped to fifth after staying in the garage ahead of Di Resta, Hamilton and Massa. Sutil and a very happy Jenson Button just made it through to the top 10 shoot out.
A downbeat Grosjean set the 11th fastest time, ahead of fellow drop-out's Perez and Ricciardo. The Aussie out qualified his team-mate by three tenths who could only manage 16th. Between the two Toro Rosso drivers were Hulkenberg and Bottas.
Q3
As the green light went out there was action from the offset, a stark contrast in comparison to seven days earlier, with Di Resta, Hamilton and Alonso immediately exiting the garage.
Di Resta opened up the time sheets with a 1m33.388. However it was soon bettered by Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Interestingly the Spaniard went slower in comparison to Rosberg on his first run although he was running a scrubbed set of medium Pirelli tyres.
The four drivers who kicked off the third qualifying session swiftly pitted for a fresh set of boots before rejoining the track for their second runs. Meanwhile Webber, Sutil and Vettel emerged for their sole qualifying stint. Ferrari switched the strategy up and moved Massa on to the hard compound tyre for his flying lap.
In contrast the remaining drivers mixed it up with either fresh or scrubbed medium rubber. All 10 cars were on track with two minutes of the session still to go. The drivers only had one single lap to get a position on the grid. Webber was the first to get a lap in for the final runs, going fourth. Sutil followed him across the line to go provisionally fifth, with Raikkonen going sixth and Di Resta going fifth.
Rosberg moved to provisional pole but Sebastian Vettel could only manage second best. Massa went sixth and Alonso aborted his run after making a mistake. Jenson Button was the final car on track but he peeled off into the pit lane before crossing the line.
So Rosberg took pole ahead of Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber. The latter two of course have five and three place grid penalties respectively, moving the trailing Massa, Di Resta, Sutil, Raikkonen and Button up the grid from their sixth-10th finishing order.
The Race
Temperatures rose to record degrees ahead of the start to the Bahrain Grand Prix, with tyres continuing to be the talk of the paddock.
Searing sunshine bathed the Sakhir circuit but would the race be as red hot? Bahrain had never previously hosted a "classic" or moderately exciting race but 2013 certainly changed that.
Nico Rosberg had surprised everyone by taking pole position on Saturday, but all eyes were on Alonso and Vettel behind. Lotus had seemingly lost their early weekend speed in qualifying but no one was being discounted after the opening three rounds of the season.
The engine revs rose, the lights came on and seamlessly disappeared. We were racing in Bahrain. Off the line pole sitter Rosberg had a good start but Vettel had a better one, the German just covering the Red Bull. Alonso managed to steal past the triple world champion ahead of a flying Paul Di Resta. Massa and Adrian Sutil touched at turn four before Vettel regained his second place.
Sutil slowed after that first lap contact with Massa. Meanwhile Button and Perez moved ahead of Hamilton after the Mercedes got crowded out at turn one. As the cars moved on to the second lap Vettel challenged for the lead, passing around the outside at turn four. However he ran deep and Rosberg flew back past. The two McLaren's managed to advance ahead of Raikkonen on the second lap, the Finn falling down the order in the opening stages.
As lap three kicked off Rosberg began to back up the trailing pack. Vettel got the slipstream on the run to turn four and managed to get the cutback after the Mercedes covered the inside line. Alonso managed to snatch second on the pit straight without the use of DRS, however Rosberg managed to grab second back from the Spaniard after clicking the button for the drag reduction system.
The battle resumed on the next lap with Alonso sweeping past the Mercedes W04 to take second place. Paul Di Resta was holding his own in fourth place as the two leaders began to edge away. Rosberg was obviously holding up the pack and the Scot managed to squeeze around the outside at turn one.
Strangely second placed man Fernando Alonso's DRS was stuck open, he pitted on lap seven for repairs and sent him back out on the hard tyre. Perez was looking fiesty and challenged team-mate Button for sixth. However the Brit elbowed his way back ahead and sent Perez a firm warning.
Alonso had just came out of the pits but his DRS flap was still stuck open. Mark Webber and Romain Grosjean both pitted on lap nine as Felipe Massa flew past Nico Rosberg at turn one. The German pitted on the following lap along with Button and Ricciardo.
Out front Sebastian Vettel had a five second gap over Di Resta by the 10th circuit of the Bahrain track, the first stops were in full flow as the Pirelli tyres wore out quicker than originally planned. Vettel, Massa and Perez all stopped on lap 11 for fresh boots. The latter two emerged behind the McLaren of Jenson Button after he managed the undercut.
The Brit looked fast and used DRS to nip past the slow Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, his qualifying pace was seemingly far more superior in comparison to his race pace. However DRS proved to be pretty powerful as Rosberg regained his position.
Di Resta and Raikkonen pitted on lap 14 and 17 respectively, two drivers gunning for a two stop strategy. Massa slowed with a puncture to his right rear and pitted on lap 18 for a fresh set of rubber, moving to the medium compound tyre. Jean-Eric Vergne suffered damage on lap one and eventually retired for Toro Rosso. Meanwhile Alonso had recovered to 12th by the 20 lap mark as Vettel and Webber led out front.
Jenson Button managed to show that you can overtake around the outside at turn one by displacing Rosberg for third place. Grosjean capitalised on the slow Mercedes to move past at turn four. The second stops kicked off for Perez and Rosberg on lap 21, both starting their third stint on the hard tyre. Webber and Button boxed on the following lap but the latter lost out to his team-mate and Nico Rosberg.
The two McLaren's continued to scrap but Button finally managed to get past on lap 26. By lap 30 the cars were even closer and Perez ended up tapping his more experienced team-mate at turn four. He radioed the team asking to "calm him down." Vettel was controlling the field by lap 32 as the out of sync Di Resta and Raikkonen looked after their tyres.
Turn four continued to be a favourite for overtaking with Grosjean sweeping around the outside of Sergio Perez. The Frenchman then managed to move ahead of Button as the Brit struggled with his tyres. Both Lotus drivers were progressing up the order with Raikkonen displacing Di Resta for an on track second. The Finn then pitted for the second and final time in the race with 22 laps remaining. Button followed him in to get rid of his worn set of tyres.
Massa dived into the pit lane for the fourth time after another puncture. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen proved that pitting earlier was the best choice despite radioing to dispute the strategy after setting the fastest lap and moving clear of Paul Di Resta, who pitted a few laps later.
Vettel pitted for the final time with 15 laps remaining, as did Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman emerged alongside Jenson Button and forcefully pushed him wide. He was on a role and passed Webber for fourth place on fresher tyres. Nico Rosberg swept by Jenson Button but he pitted on the next lap, dropping to 10th.
The race leader may have had a dominant and controlling lead on the trailing pack but behind it was certainly more bunched up. Hamilton first displaced Button for sixth before the Brit lost a place to his team-mate. Alonso dived down the inside to move up to eighth place after some late race action before Button pitted for the fourth time to drop behind Rosberg in 10th.
The fight for third place started to heat up with the chequered flag looming large. With six laps remaining Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of Mark Webber for fifth. Switching focus back to the battle for third it started to heat up with five laps remaining as Grosjean got within the DRS zone. On the run to turn one the Frenchman moved ahead to displace Di Resta from what would have been his first Formula 1 podium.
Hamilton made an error into the final corner and that gave Webber the perfect opportunity to move ahead of the Mercedes driver. The battles continued to the very end with Sergio Perez overtaking double world champion Fernando Alonso into turn four. It was close and the two touched but the Mexican toughed it out to take seventh.
Kimi Raikkonen managed to make a two stop strategy work to finish second, as he did in 2012. The Finn raced well to get past Paul Di Resta in the pit stops and held off his charging team-mate Romain Grosjean to take the runner-up spot. The top three was unbelievably exactly the same as it was 12 months earlier with Grosjean taking a finely contested third place finish. He had plenty of interesting and close battles but managed to come out unscathed to show a fine level of maturity.
Paul Di Resta drove a fantastically managed race to take fourth, just missing out on his debut podium finish. He too made a two stop strategy work to take a welcome helping of points for Force India. However it came as no surprise after their fine pace shown on Friday and Saturday. Hamilton finished 13 seconds down in fifth place, making significant strides forward in the final part of the race.
Sergio Perez had his best race for McLaren after finishing in sixth place, making a last lap move on Mark Webber to move up the order. Martin Whitmarsh had told him to "toughen up" and he certainly did with some aggressive but largely fair overtakes on route to his biggest points haul of the season so far. Webber slipped to seventh after looking to challenge for the podium early on, with fellow 200th Grand Prix starter Fernando Alonso dropping to eighth after his earlier DRS issues.
Pole sitter Nico Rosberg struggled with tyre wear all race and dropped to ninth after both he and 10th place man Jenson Button had to pit for a fourth time. Pastor Maldonado battled through the field to finish 11th on a more competitive showing for Williams. Nico Hulkenberg had a largely uneventful race on route to 12th ahead of Adrian Sutil who picked up a puncture on lap one.
Bottas finished 14th ahead of Felipe Massa in 15th. The Brazilian had two different punctures and eventually stopped four times. Ricciardo was the sole Toro Rosso to take the chequered flag in 15th ahead of a hugely impressive Charles Pic. The Caterham driver had upgrades on his car, unlike 21st place finisher Giedo van der Garde, and proved to be faster than the Marussia all weekend.
Speaking of the Marussia team, Bianchi and Chilton had decent races to 19th and 20th behind the struggling Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez. The two team-mates finished just one lap down, ahead of final finisher Giedo van der Garde.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the only retirement, proving just how reliable the current cars are, after collecting damage from a lap one crash.
FP3
Fernando Alonso set the pace in the final practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver recovered from a spin to set a fastest time of 1m33.247, a tenth clear of his nearest challenger. The Spaniard lost control of his car at the exit of turn two and spun into the gravel trap. Fortunately it was a shallow one and he managed to avoid beaching his car.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber proved that Red Bull are in with a shout but finishing second and third, both just over a tenth down on Alonso. Raikkonen and Hamilton rounded out the top five - the latter suffered a scary suspension failure on his final run which led to him needing a gearbox change for qualifying.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Grosjean set the sixth fastest time ahead of the Force India duo. Sutil and Di Resta gave yet more glimpses of the VJM06's strong pace and finished ahead of both Nico's, Rosberg in ninth and Hulkenberg in 10th.
Massa and the two McLaren drivers seemed to struggling during the session, Button and Perez finishing eight tenths and a second down on Alonso respectively. Ricciardo and Bottas set times faster than their team-mates, Vergne and Maldonado trailing behind in 16th and 17th.
Charles Pic was best of the backmarkers again with Bianchi splitting the two Caterham's despite some mechanical problems. Van der Garde was 20th ahead of Chilton who only managed seven laps in the car. Esteban Gutierrez was curiously six seconds off Alonso despite completing some decent mileage.
Qualifying
It was a close but surprising qualifying session at the Sakhir circuit, with Nico Rosberg taking pole ahead of Vettel and Alonso. Mercedes had been driving under the radar but the German pulled a stunning lap out of the bag to nab the first grid slot.
Q1
It was a rather uneventful start to the first 20 minute qualifying session, where the bottom six slots on the grid were decided. In fact we had to wait four minutes until the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez emerged on track to get a feel for the evolving track conditions.
The Mexican was the first driver to set a lap time before his team-mate Hulkenberg swiftly displaced him from the top. The times continued to tumble as the front runners emerged on the hard compound tyre, only the nervous few going for a first run on the mediums.
Schedules were split during the session with some choosing two runs. In contrast the more confident few went out for a sole run at the end of the session. Grosjean and Rosberg all spent time at the top of the time sheets before Alonso put in a stunning lap to go fastest, the first lap of the race weekend under the 1m33's.
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| (c) Marussia F1 Team |
Di Resta, Massa, Raikkonen and Webber made it safely through to the second session ahead of Sutil, Button, Ricciardo and Perez. The two McLaren's went straight out on the medium compound for their sole runs and the risk just paid off. Vergne and Hulkenberg narrowly made it out of the drop zone, as did Bottas who strangely set the same time as team-mate Maldonado. However due to the Finn setting his time before the Venezuelan he managed to make it through to the second session.
Gutierrez joined the Williams in the bottom six, ahead of Pic and Bianchi. Giedo van der Garde just missed out on beating the Marussia but he did nab 21st from Chilton.
Q2
It was a busier start to the second qualifying session with the clock shrinking to 15 minutes to decide the midfield positions on the grid.
Vettel and Di Resta both topped the time sheets early on before Alonso displaced the Scot on the medium compound tyre. The first runs were completed with five minutes left to go but the Mercedes duo left it late and went for one run to go first for Rosberg and fourth for Hamilton.
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| (c) Lotus F1 Team |
They had a clear track but the action soon heated up once again as drivers emerged for their second runs. Grosjean's first attempt was only good enough for seventh but it was ahead of his team-mate Raikkonen who failed to string together a good first lap.
The top four remained in their respective garages but for the remaining 12 drivers, they had one shot to make it through to the top 10 shootout. The chequered flag flew and it was a mad dash for the line. Sutil went sixth with his final effort, Hulkenberg going 11th and Button moving up to ninth. Raikkonen went fourth and Perez failed to make it through in 12th.
Raikkonen's movement into the top 10 knocked Grosjean into the drop-zone. The Finn went fourth behind Vettel, Rosberg and Webber. Alonso dropped to fifth after staying in the garage ahead of Di Resta, Hamilton and Massa. Sutil and a very happy Jenson Button just made it through to the top 10 shoot out.
A downbeat Grosjean set the 11th fastest time, ahead of fellow drop-out's Perez and Ricciardo. The Aussie out qualified his team-mate by three tenths who could only manage 16th. Between the two Toro Rosso drivers were Hulkenberg and Bottas.
Q3
As the green light went out there was action from the offset, a stark contrast in comparison to seven days earlier, with Di Resta, Hamilton and Alonso immediately exiting the garage.
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| (c) Mercedes AMG F1 Team |
The four drivers who kicked off the third qualifying session swiftly pitted for a fresh set of boots before rejoining the track for their second runs. Meanwhile Webber, Sutil and Vettel emerged for their sole qualifying stint. Ferrari switched the strategy up and moved Massa on to the hard compound tyre for his flying lap.
In contrast the remaining drivers mixed it up with either fresh or scrubbed medium rubber. All 10 cars were on track with two minutes of the session still to go. The drivers only had one single lap to get a position on the grid. Webber was the first to get a lap in for the final runs, going fourth. Sutil followed him across the line to go provisionally fifth, with Raikkonen going sixth and Di Resta going fifth.
Rosberg moved to provisional pole but Sebastian Vettel could only manage second best. Massa went sixth and Alonso aborted his run after making a mistake. Jenson Button was the final car on track but he peeled off into the pit lane before crossing the line.
So Rosberg took pole ahead of Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber. The latter two of course have five and three place grid penalties respectively, moving the trailing Massa, Di Resta, Sutil, Raikkonen and Button up the grid from their sixth-10th finishing order.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.330s
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.584s + 0.254s
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m32.667s + 0.337s
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m32.762s + 0.432s(Pen 9th)
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m33.078s + 0.748s (Pen 7th)
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m33.207s + 0.877s
7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.235s + 0.905s
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.246s + 0.916s
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m33.327s + 0.997s
10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes No Time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m33.702s Gap **
(c) Sky Sports F1
11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m33.762s + 1.016s
12. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.914s + 1.168s
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.974s + 1.228s
14. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.976s + 1.230s
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m34.105s + 1.359s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.284s + 1.538s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m34.425s Gap *
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m34.425s + 1.547s
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.730s + 1.852s(Pen 22nd)
19. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m35.283s + 2.405s
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.178s + 3.300s
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m36.304s + 3.426s
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.476s + 3.598s
107% time: 1m39.379s
The Race
Temperatures rose to record degrees ahead of the start to the Bahrain Grand Prix, with tyres continuing to be the talk of the paddock.
Searing sunshine bathed the Sakhir circuit but would the race be as red hot? Bahrain had never previously hosted a "classic" or moderately exciting race but 2013 certainly changed that.
Nico Rosberg had surprised everyone by taking pole position on Saturday, but all eyes were on Alonso and Vettel behind. Lotus had seemingly lost their early weekend speed in qualifying but no one was being discounted after the opening three rounds of the season.
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| (c) Getty Images |
Sutil slowed after that first lap contact with Massa. Meanwhile Button and Perez moved ahead of Hamilton after the Mercedes got crowded out at turn one. As the cars moved on to the second lap Vettel challenged for the lead, passing around the outside at turn four. However he ran deep and Rosberg flew back past. The two McLaren's managed to advance ahead of Raikkonen on the second lap, the Finn falling down the order in the opening stages.
As lap three kicked off Rosberg began to back up the trailing pack. Vettel got the slipstream on the run to turn four and managed to get the cutback after the Mercedes covered the inside line. Alonso managed to snatch second on the pit straight without the use of DRS, however Rosberg managed to grab second back from the Spaniard after clicking the button for the drag reduction system.
The battle resumed on the next lap with Alonso sweeping past the Mercedes W04 to take second place. Paul Di Resta was holding his own in fourth place as the two leaders began to edge away. Rosberg was obviously holding up the pack and the Scot managed to squeeze around the outside at turn one.
Strangely second placed man Fernando Alonso's DRS was stuck open, he pitted on lap seven for repairs and sent him back out on the hard tyre. Perez was looking fiesty and challenged team-mate Button for sixth. However the Brit elbowed his way back ahead and sent Perez a firm warning.
Alonso had just came out of the pits but his DRS flap was still stuck open. Mark Webber and Romain Grosjean both pitted on lap nine as Felipe Massa flew past Nico Rosberg at turn one. The German pitted on the following lap along with Button and Ricciardo.
Out front Sebastian Vettel had a five second gap over Di Resta by the 10th circuit of the Bahrain track, the first stops were in full flow as the Pirelli tyres wore out quicker than originally planned. Vettel, Massa and Perez all stopped on lap 11 for fresh boots. The latter two emerged behind the McLaren of Jenson Button after he managed the undercut.
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| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
The Brit looked fast and used DRS to nip past the slow Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, his qualifying pace was seemingly far more superior in comparison to his race pace. However DRS proved to be pretty powerful as Rosberg regained his position.
Di Resta and Raikkonen pitted on lap 14 and 17 respectively, two drivers gunning for a two stop strategy. Massa slowed with a puncture to his right rear and pitted on lap 18 for a fresh set of rubber, moving to the medium compound tyre. Jean-Eric Vergne suffered damage on lap one and eventually retired for Toro Rosso. Meanwhile Alonso had recovered to 12th by the 20 lap mark as Vettel and Webber led out front.
Jenson Button managed to show that you can overtake around the outside at turn one by displacing Rosberg for third place. Grosjean capitalised on the slow Mercedes to move past at turn four. The second stops kicked off for Perez and Rosberg on lap 21, both starting their third stint on the hard tyre. Webber and Button boxed on the following lap but the latter lost out to his team-mate and Nico Rosberg.
The two McLaren's continued to scrap but Button finally managed to get past on lap 26. By lap 30 the cars were even closer and Perez ended up tapping his more experienced team-mate at turn four. He radioed the team asking to "calm him down." Vettel was controlling the field by lap 32 as the out of sync Di Resta and Raikkonen looked after their tyres.
Turn four continued to be a favourite for overtaking with Grosjean sweeping around the outside of Sergio Perez. The Frenchman then managed to move ahead of Button as the Brit struggled with his tyres. Both Lotus drivers were progressing up the order with Raikkonen displacing Di Resta for an on track second. The Finn then pitted for the second and final time in the race with 22 laps remaining. Button followed him in to get rid of his worn set of tyres.
Massa dived into the pit lane for the fourth time after another puncture. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen proved that pitting earlier was the best choice despite radioing to dispute the strategy after setting the fastest lap and moving clear of Paul Di Resta, who pitted a few laps later.
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| (c) Getty Images |
Vettel pitted for the final time with 15 laps remaining, as did Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman emerged alongside Jenson Button and forcefully pushed him wide. He was on a role and passed Webber for fourth place on fresher tyres. Nico Rosberg swept by Jenson Button but he pitted on the next lap, dropping to 10th.
The race leader may have had a dominant and controlling lead on the trailing pack but behind it was certainly more bunched up. Hamilton first displaced Button for sixth before the Brit lost a place to his team-mate. Alonso dived down the inside to move up to eighth place after some late race action before Button pitted for the fourth time to drop behind Rosberg in 10th.
The fight for third place started to heat up with the chequered flag looming large. With six laps remaining Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of Mark Webber for fifth. Switching focus back to the battle for third it started to heat up with five laps remaining as Grosjean got within the DRS zone. On the run to turn one the Frenchman moved ahead to displace Di Resta from what would have been his first Formula 1 podium.
Hamilton made an error into the final corner and that gave Webber the perfect opportunity to move ahead of the Mercedes driver. The battles continued to the very end with Sergio Perez overtaking double world champion Fernando Alonso into turn four. It was close and the two touched but the Mexican toughed it out to take seventh.
Sebastian Vettel wins the Bahrain Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel took his second consecutive victory at the Bahrain International Circuit and his second of the 2013 season, becoming the first driver of the season to take two race wins. It was a controlled and calm race from the German, who was rarely seen on TV screens thanks to the highly contested battles behind. There was not a mistake to be seen and it was a typical "Vettel" victory. |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Kimi Raikkonen managed to make a two stop strategy work to finish second, as he did in 2012. The Finn raced well to get past Paul Di Resta in the pit stops and held off his charging team-mate Romain Grosjean to take the runner-up spot. The top three was unbelievably exactly the same as it was 12 months earlier with Grosjean taking a finely contested third place finish. He had plenty of interesting and close battles but managed to come out unscathed to show a fine level of maturity.
Paul Di Resta drove a fantastically managed race to take fourth, just missing out on his debut podium finish. He too made a two stop strategy work to take a welcome helping of points for Force India. However it came as no surprise after their fine pace shown on Friday and Saturday. Hamilton finished 13 seconds down in fifth place, making significant strides forward in the final part of the race.
Sergio Perez had his best race for McLaren after finishing in sixth place, making a last lap move on Mark Webber to move up the order. Martin Whitmarsh had told him to "toughen up" and he certainly did with some aggressive but largely fair overtakes on route to his biggest points haul of the season so far. Webber slipped to seventh after looking to challenge for the podium early on, with fellow 200th Grand Prix starter Fernando Alonso dropping to eighth after his earlier DRS issues.
Pole sitter Nico Rosberg struggled with tyre wear all race and dropped to ninth after both he and 10th place man Jenson Button had to pit for a fourth time. Pastor Maldonado battled through the field to finish 11th on a more competitive showing for Williams. Nico Hulkenberg had a largely uneventful race on route to 12th ahead of Adrian Sutil who picked up a puncture on lap one.
Bottas finished 14th ahead of Felipe Massa in 15th. The Brazilian had two different punctures and eventually stopped four times. Ricciardo was the sole Toro Rosso to take the chequered flag in 15th ahead of a hugely impressive Charles Pic. The Caterham driver had upgrades on his car, unlike 21st place finisher Giedo van der Garde, and proved to be faster than the Marussia all weekend.
Speaking of the Marussia team, Bianchi and Chilton had decent races to 19th and 20th behind the struggling Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez. The two team-mates finished just one lap down, ahead of final finisher Giedo van der Garde.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the only retirement, proving just how reliable the current cars are, after collecting damage from a lap one crash.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h36:26.945s
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 9.1s
3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 19.5s
4. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 21.7s
5. Hamilton Mercedes + 35.2s
6. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 35.9s
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 37.2s
8. Alonso Ferrari + 37.5s
9. Rosberg Mercedes + 41.1s
10. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 46.6s
11. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1m06.4s
12. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 1m12.9s
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1m16.7s
14. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1m21.5s
15. Massa Ferrari + 1m26.3s
16. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Pic Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
19. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
21. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 2 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16
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