The third round of Formula 1's new era took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Bahrain.
It was the ninth Bahrain Grand Prix and the first to take place at night and under floodlights, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the island country's inaugural race.
The teams and drivers had plenty of experience with the new 2014 machines on the 3.36-mile track after eight days of pre-season testing. Mercedes dominated the last race in Malaysia, but could anyone beat them? Read on to find out.
For a look at the goings-on from the circuit on Thursday, go here. Also be sure to take a look at my in-depth race preview. Take a look back at the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix with my F1 Flashback - as well as re-capping on last year's race with my One Year Rewind.
Here is my Bahrain Grand Prix weekend report, which will be updated after each session.
FP1
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. It was a busy start to the session, with Jean-Eric Vergne, Marcus Ericsson and Giedo van der Garde being the first drivers to take to the track.
The latter replaced Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber for opening 90 minute session. Robin Frijns took over Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham and Felipe Nasr made his F1 weekend debut for Williams.
Frijns was the first driver to set a time but he was soon displaced by the Mercedes duo. The 2008 world champion improved his best time to a 1m37.502 and ended the session at the top of the timesheets, two tenths faster than his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Fernando Alonso finished third and was almost sent out on track with one soft tyre and three medium tyres fitted to his Ferrari F14 T.
Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button completed the top five, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel. There were a number of off-track excursions and a tailwind meant turns 11 and 13 were particularly tricky.
FP2
Darkness descended on the Bahrain International Circuit, with second practice taking place under the recently installed floodlights. Hamilton and Mercedes continued to shine, with the Brit retaining his advantage in practice two.
His best time of 1m34.325 was set on the soft compound Pirelli tyre, which the drivers switched to for qualifying simulations mid-way through the session. The 2008 world champion's team-mate Rosberg remained in second, three tenths down, with the Mercedes team's nearest challenge coming from Alonso's Ferrari.
The Spaniard's best effort, however, was over one second slower than the 2008 world champion's benchmark, with Ricciardo and Massa completing the top five. Button, Vettel, Kvyat, Magnussen and Perez rounded out the top 10.
Bottas was 11th in his first session of the weekend. Williams decided not to run early in the session and only emerged late in second practice. Sutil, Ericsson and Chilton all stopped on track due to problems.
There were plenty of spins, lock-ups and off-track excursions as drivers continued to find the limit. Turn 10 proved to be particularly difficult, as did turn four where Pastor Maldonado got some air after going off track and hitting the kerb when he attempted to return.
FP3
Mercedes continued to dominate at the top of the timesheets, with Hamilton and Rosberg finishing first and second in the third and final practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.
Hamilton's best time of 1m35.324 was set on the soft compound tyre, which all drivers apart from Vettel switched to in the closing stages of the 60-minute session. The four-time champion spun at turn two mid-way through practice three and failed to get a run in on the option Pirelli rubber.
Rosberg finished just one tenth behind his team-mate, with Perez being the Brackley-based outfit's nearest challenger in third. Bottas and Massa completed the top five.
Button, Alonso, and Hulkenberg were next up, with the latter completing a scruffy lap on the soft tyre. Kvyat and Raikkonen rounded out the top 10. Magnussen and Vergne were next up, just ahead of Ricciardo in the second Red Bull RB10. The top 14 were separated by two seconds.
Qualifying
Q1
Under the 495 shining floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Q1 for the third round of the 2014 season took place. Gutierrez was the first driver to take to the track as the skies darkened in the 18-minute session, followed by Perez and Vergne in the Toro Rosso STR9.
The Mexican driver was the first to set a timed lap, a 1m38.521 on the medium Pirelli tyre. The majority of drivers used the prime compound at the start of the session before moving on to the yellow-marked option rubber in the closing stages.
However, Hamilton and Rosberg reclaimed the top two spots on the timesheets after the first runs. They didn't stay there for long, as their rivals moved to the faster option tyre, but both made it through to the next session. By the chequered flag, it was Hulkenberg who was fastest from Bottas, Perez and Massa.
Raikkonen, Alonso and Magnussen finished ahead of Hamilton, who set his lap on the slower of the two slick compound tyres, with Kvyat and Rosberg completing the top 10. Further down the field, Maldonado was knocked out of the session by his team-mate. Sutil, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Ericsson and Chilton joined the Venezuelan driver in the drop-zone.
Q2
The 15-minute second qualifying session saw the six slowest drivers eliminated from the fight for pole position. Bottas, Hulkenberg and Massa were the first to take to the track, with all drivers using the soft compound tyre.
The Finn opened up the timesheets with a 1m36.070 but was swiftly displaced by Raikkonen, his team-mate and the Force India duo.
Hamilton then proved the performance advantage of the Mercedes W05 by going one second faster than the 2007 world champion, before the Brit was edged out by his team-mate Rosberg.
Both Silver Arrows remained in the pits for the final runs and stayed fastest by the chequered flag. However, there was plenty of movement down the field. Ricciardo, Button and Alonso completed the top five, ahead of Perez, Bottas and Massa.
Magnussen and Raikkonen just made it through to the top 10 shoot-out, but four-time champion Vettel and Hulkenberg missed out. Kvyat, Vergne, Gutierrez and Grosjean were also knocked out in the second session.
Q3
It was a quiet start to the top 10 shoot-out, with no cars taking to the track in the opening few minutes. Like the second session, Bottas was the first driver to emerge from the pit garage.
Regulation changes for 2014 have extended Q3 to 12 minutes and added an extra set of option tyres, which are then returned to Pirelli. After the first runs, it was Rosberg who topped the timesheets from Hamilton and Bottas.
Raikkonen was the only driver to not set a time in the first part of the session. For the second runs, all 10 cars took to the Bahrain International Circuit to fight for a spot on the grid. By the chequered flag, it was Rosberg who remained in front to take his second consecutive pole position in Bahrain.
The German driver's first benchmark of 1m33.185 proved to be unbeatable, leading a Mercedes front-row lock-out. He didn't need to finish his final run after Hamilton made a mistake at turn one, ruining his chances of taking the top spot on the grid.
Ricciardo set the third fastest time, but a 10-place grid penalty will drop him back, with Bottas and Perez completing the top five. Raikkonen and Button finished sixth and seventh, just ahead of Massa, Magnussen and Alonso.
Results:
The Race
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was the 900th race in Formula 1, as well as the first at the Bahrain International Circuit to take place under floodlights and dark skies.
Mercedes dominated qualifying, with Rosberg starting from pole position, ahead of Hamilton, Bottas and Perez. Could anyone take the fight to the two Silver Arrows? Read on to find out.
Under the setting sun, the revs rose, the lights went out and the third round of the 2014 season got underway. Off the line, Rosberg had a good launch from the grid but it was Hamilton who took the lead into turn one. Elsewhere, Massa had a lightning start and jumped up to third from seventh on the grid.
Rosberg attempted to take the lead back around the outside at turn four but he failed to find a way through. Further back, Vergne suffered a puncture after contact with Maldonado and Raikkonen was tagged by Magnussen at turn six. There were plenty of scraps up and down the field, as well as numerous lock-ups.
At the end of the second lap, Hamilton's lead over his team-mate was just over one second. Hulkenberg moved up to seventh at the beginning of lap five and soon began to pull away from Alonso, who started to drop into the clutches of his team-mate.
Ricciardo made a move on Magnussen into turn one on lap nine but the Aussie braked too late and ran onto the run-off area. He re-joined just ahead of Kvyat and stayed ahead, as the Russian couldn't find a way through. Button showed the Red Bull driver how to overtake into the opening corner by displacing Bottas for fifth. The Williams driver lost momentum and Hulkenberg soon moved ahead.
The first front runner to make a scheduled stop was Bottas at the end of lap 10 after struggling with tyre degradation. On the following lap, his team-mate was displaced for third by Perez at turn five. Alonso pitted for a fresh set of Pirelli tyres on the next tour of the Bahrain International Circuit, with Raikkonen also stopping a few laps later.
At the back of the pack, Sutil and Bianchi made contact twice with both cars suffering damage. It was a clumsy bit of racing from both drivers, earning the latter two points on his superlicense. Massa took to his pit box and emerged behind his team-mate shortly after. Vettel let Ricciardo through at turn 11 on lap 16 after being instructed to do so by his race engineer.
Hamilton and Rosberg were circulating in close proximity and the German driver attempted to take the lead into turn one on lap 18. It was an unsuccessful move and he failed to make his way past on the following lap as well, despite a close battle that lasted through the first sector.
Formula 1's 2008 world champion pitted for the first time at the end of lap 19, moving on to the soft tyre. Rosberg completed two further tours before he took to the pit lane for fresh rubber and re-emerged in second place on the medium compound. Further back, Button displaced Raikkonen for eighth and started to edge towards Alonso in the second Ferrari.
A queue had started to form behind Bottas by lap 24 after his earlier stop, with Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez joining the battle for third. The Finn took to the pit lane for the second time at the end of the 25th tour. The two Force India drivers changed position before both managed to move ahead of Massa. Behind, Ricciardo narrowly avoided collecting Raikkonen after locking up into the first turn.
Bottas had to take to the run-off area on lap 31 after almost colliding with the Ferrari driver, having previously moved ahead of Ricciardo. At the front of the field, Hamilton and Rosberg were on split strategies, with the former on the soft tyre and the latter on the medium compound. The gap between the two Mercedes drivers was 8.8 seconds by lap 35.
On the same lap, Ericsson became the third driver to retire from the race after parking his Caterham CT05 at the penultimate corner. Massa was the first driver to stop for a third time on lap 38. The safety car was deployed at the end of lap 41 after a nasty crash between Gutierrez and Maldonado. The Mexican driver's Sauber was sent into a roll after the contact.
Both Mercedes drivers pitted, with Hamilton having to move on to the prime compound tyre and Rosberg changing to the options. In all the chaos, Magnussen retired from the race after a problem with the gearbox. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG returned to the pits at the end of lap 46 and the race restarted.
Hulkenberg attempted to pass his team-mate into turn one but he couldn't make the move stick. Rosberg challenged for the lead at turn four but failed to move ahead. Button ran wide at turn 10 and lost a place to Vettel on the following straight. The Brit also lost out to Ricciardo not long after.
Kvyat and Raikkonen narrowly avoided contact on the next lap, as Hamilton reported a loss of power. However, it didn't look to be hindering him too much as he maintained the gap to his team-mate. Further back, Ricciardo displaced Vettel for fifth place and set about closing in on the Force India duo.
Rosberg inevitably attempted to move ahead of Hamilton on lap 52 but failed to find a way through, despite being on the faster tyre compound. He tried again on the next lap but once again emerged from turn one in second place. Ricciardo moved ahead of Hulkenberg, and Button retired from his 250th race start with two laps remaining.
However, at the front of the field it was Hamilton who crossed the line to win the 900th Formula 1 race, from Rosberg and Perez.
Hamilton wins a thrilling 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
It was a brilliant and close battle between the two Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton eventually emerging on top despite running the slower compound tyres in the final stint. He fended off the challenges from his team-mate to take his first race win in Bahrain after a stunning drive.
It was the Brit's second consecutive victory and another 1-2 finish for Mercedes. Rosberg drove exceptionally well to finish in second place. The two drivers were in a league of their own, but it was a hugely exciting battle for the lead with some great overtaking.
Perez managed to, just, hold off Ricciardo to take his first podium finish since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, as well as clinching only the second top three result for Force India. It was a strong drive from the Mexican and he was involved in some close but fair battles, particularly with Hulkenberg.
The German driver dropped to fifth by the chequered flag after another impressive drive, particularly from 11th on the grid. Ricciardo finished between the two VJM07s; recovering well from his grid penalty and completing some good overtakes. Vettel, in the second Red Bull car, crossed the line in sixth, just ahead of Massa.
The two Williams drivers pitted three times but the strategy failed to pay off. Bottas finished just six tenths behind his Brazilian team-mate in eighth, with Alonso and Raikkonen completing the top 10 after a disappointing race for Ferrari.
Kvyat and Grosjean were next up, with Chilton some way back in 13th. Maldonado dropped back after a 10 second stop/go penalty and finished in 14th. Kobayashi was the sole Caterham to finish, with Bianchi rounding out the classified finishers.
Both McLaren cars failed to reach the end of the race. Gutierrez retired after heavy contact with Maldonado and a roll, with Ericsson, Vergne and Sutil also exiting the race.
Results:
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The teams and drivers had plenty of experience with the new 2014 machines on the 3.36-mile track after eight days of pre-season testing. Mercedes dominated the last race in Malaysia, but could anyone beat them? Read on to find out.
For a look at the goings-on from the circuit on Thursday, go here. Also be sure to take a look at my in-depth race preview. Take a look back at the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix with my F1 Flashback - as well as re-capping on last year's race with my One Year Rewind.
Here is my Bahrain Grand Prix weekend report, which will be updated after each session.
FP1
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. It was a busy start to the session, with Jean-Eric Vergne, Marcus Ericsson and Giedo van der Garde being the first drivers to take to the track.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Frijns was the first driver to set a time but he was soon displaced by the Mercedes duo. The 2008 world champion improved his best time to a 1m37.502 and ended the session at the top of the timesheets, two tenths faster than his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Fernando Alonso finished third and was almost sent out on track with one soft tyre and three medium tyres fitted to his Ferrari F14 T.
Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button completed the top five, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel. There were a number of off-track excursions and a tailwind meant turns 11 and 13 were particularly tricky.
FP2
Darkness descended on the Bahrain International Circuit, with second practice taking place under the recently installed floodlights. Hamilton and Mercedes continued to shine, with the Brit retaining his advantage in practice two.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The Spaniard's best effort, however, was over one second slower than the 2008 world champion's benchmark, with Ricciardo and Massa completing the top five. Button, Vettel, Kvyat, Magnussen and Perez rounded out the top 10.
Bottas was 11th in his first session of the weekend. Williams decided not to run early in the session and only emerged late in second practice. Sutil, Ericsson and Chilton all stopped on track due to problems.
There were plenty of spins, lock-ups and off-track excursions as drivers continued to find the limit. Turn 10 proved to be particularly difficult, as did turn four where Pastor Maldonado got some air after going off track and hitting the kerb when he attempted to return.
FP3
Mercedes continued to dominate at the top of the timesheets, with Hamilton and Rosberg finishing first and second in the third and final practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.
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| © Red Bull/Getty Images |
Hamilton's best time of 1m35.324 was set on the soft compound tyre, which all drivers apart from Vettel switched to in the closing stages of the 60-minute session. The four-time champion spun at turn two mid-way through practice three and failed to get a run in on the option Pirelli rubber.
Rosberg finished just one tenth behind his team-mate, with Perez being the Brackley-based outfit's nearest challenger in third. Bottas and Massa completed the top five.
Button, Alonso, and Hulkenberg were next up, with the latter completing a scruffy lap on the soft tyre. Kvyat and Raikkonen rounded out the top 10. Magnussen and Vergne were next up, just ahead of Ricciardo in the second Red Bull RB10. The top 14 were separated by two seconds.
Qualifying
Q1
Under the 495 shining floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Q1 for the third round of the 2014 season took place. Gutierrez was the first driver to take to the track as the skies darkened in the 18-minute session, followed by Perez and Vergne in the Toro Rosso STR9.
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| © Caterham F1 Team |
The Mexican driver was the first to set a timed lap, a 1m38.521 on the medium Pirelli tyre. The majority of drivers used the prime compound at the start of the session before moving on to the yellow-marked option rubber in the closing stages.
However, Hamilton and Rosberg reclaimed the top two spots on the timesheets after the first runs. They didn't stay there for long, as their rivals moved to the faster option tyre, but both made it through to the next session. By the chequered flag, it was Hulkenberg who was fastest from Bottas, Perez and Massa.
Raikkonen, Alonso and Magnussen finished ahead of Hamilton, who set his lap on the slower of the two slick compound tyres, with Kvyat and Rosberg completing the top 10. Further down the field, Maldonado was knocked out of the session by his team-mate. Sutil, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Ericsson and Chilton joined the Venezuelan driver in the drop-zone.
Q2
The 15-minute second qualifying session saw the six slowest drivers eliminated from the fight for pole position. Bottas, Hulkenberg and Massa were the first to take to the track, with all drivers using the soft compound tyre.
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| © Sahara Force India F1 Team |
The Finn opened up the timesheets with a 1m36.070 but was swiftly displaced by Raikkonen, his team-mate and the Force India duo.
Hamilton then proved the performance advantage of the Mercedes W05 by going one second faster than the 2007 world champion, before the Brit was edged out by his team-mate Rosberg.
Both Silver Arrows remained in the pits for the final runs and stayed fastest by the chequered flag. However, there was plenty of movement down the field. Ricciardo, Button and Alonso completed the top five, ahead of Perez, Bottas and Massa.
Magnussen and Raikkonen just made it through to the top 10 shoot-out, but four-time champion Vettel and Hulkenberg missed out. Kvyat, Vergne, Gutierrez and Grosjean were also knocked out in the second session.
Q3
It was a quiet start to the top 10 shoot-out, with no cars taking to the track in the opening few minutes. Like the second session, Bottas was the first driver to emerge from the pit garage.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Regulation changes for 2014 have extended Q3 to 12 minutes and added an extra set of option tyres, which are then returned to Pirelli. After the first runs, it was Rosberg who topped the timesheets from Hamilton and Bottas.
Raikkonen was the only driver to not set a time in the first part of the session. For the second runs, all 10 cars took to the Bahrain International Circuit to fight for a spot on the grid. By the chequered flag, it was Rosberg who remained in front to take his second consecutive pole position in Bahrain.
The German driver's first benchmark of 1m33.185 proved to be unbeatable, leading a Mercedes front-row lock-out. He didn't need to finish his final run after Hamilton made a mistake at turn one, ruining his chances of taking the top spot on the grid.
Ricciardo set the third fastest time, but a 10-place grid penalty will drop him back, with Bottas and Perez completing the top five. Raikkonen and Button finished sixth and seventh, just ahead of Massa, Magnussen and Alonso.
Results:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m33.185s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m33.464s +0.279s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m34.051s +0.866s*
4. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m34.247s +1.062s
5. Sergio Perez Force India 1m34.346s +1.161s
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m34.368s +1.183s
7. Jenson Button McLaren 1m34.387s +1.202s
8. Felipe Massa Williams 1m34.511s +1.326s
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1m34.712s +1.527s
10. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.992s +1.807s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m34.925s
11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m34.985s +1.277s
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m35.116s +1.408s
13. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m35.145s +1.437s
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m35.286s +1.578s
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m35.891s +2.183s
16. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m35.908s +2.200s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m36.654s
17. Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m36.663s +1.789s
18. Adrian Sutil Sauber 1m36.840s +1.966s**
19. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1m37.085s +2.211s
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1m37.310s +2.436s
21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1m37.875s +3.001s
22. Max Chilton Marussia 1m37.913s +3.039s
*10-place grid penalty for Ricciardo, for unsafe pit release in Malaysia
**5-place grid penalty for Sutil, for impeding Grosjean in Q1
The Race
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was the 900th race in Formula 1, as well as the first at the Bahrain International Circuit to take place under floodlights and dark skies.
Mercedes dominated qualifying, with Rosberg starting from pole position, ahead of Hamilton, Bottas and Perez. Could anyone take the fight to the two Silver Arrows? Read on to find out.
Under the setting sun, the revs rose, the lights went out and the third round of the 2014 season got underway. Off the line, Rosberg had a good launch from the grid but it was Hamilton who took the lead into turn one. Elsewhere, Massa had a lightning start and jumped up to third from seventh on the grid.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Rosberg attempted to take the lead back around the outside at turn four but he failed to find a way through. Further back, Vergne suffered a puncture after contact with Maldonado and Raikkonen was tagged by Magnussen at turn six. There were plenty of scraps up and down the field, as well as numerous lock-ups.
At the end of the second lap, Hamilton's lead over his team-mate was just over one second. Hulkenberg moved up to seventh at the beginning of lap five and soon began to pull away from Alonso, who started to drop into the clutches of his team-mate.
Ricciardo made a move on Magnussen into turn one on lap nine but the Aussie braked too late and ran onto the run-off area. He re-joined just ahead of Kvyat and stayed ahead, as the Russian couldn't find a way through. Button showed the Red Bull driver how to overtake into the opening corner by displacing Bottas for fifth. The Williams driver lost momentum and Hulkenberg soon moved ahead.
The first front runner to make a scheduled stop was Bottas at the end of lap 10 after struggling with tyre degradation. On the following lap, his team-mate was displaced for third by Perez at turn five. Alonso pitted for a fresh set of Pirelli tyres on the next tour of the Bahrain International Circuit, with Raikkonen also stopping a few laps later.
At the back of the pack, Sutil and Bianchi made contact twice with both cars suffering damage. It was a clumsy bit of racing from both drivers, earning the latter two points on his superlicense. Massa took to his pit box and emerged behind his team-mate shortly after. Vettel let Ricciardo through at turn 11 on lap 16 after being instructed to do so by his race engineer.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Hamilton and Rosberg were circulating in close proximity and the German driver attempted to take the lead into turn one on lap 18. It was an unsuccessful move and he failed to make his way past on the following lap as well, despite a close battle that lasted through the first sector.
Formula 1's 2008 world champion pitted for the first time at the end of lap 19, moving on to the soft tyre. Rosberg completed two further tours before he took to the pit lane for fresh rubber and re-emerged in second place on the medium compound. Further back, Button displaced Raikkonen for eighth and started to edge towards Alonso in the second Ferrari.
A queue had started to form behind Bottas by lap 24 after his earlier stop, with Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez joining the battle for third. The Finn took to the pit lane for the second time at the end of the 25th tour. The two Force India drivers changed position before both managed to move ahead of Massa. Behind, Ricciardo narrowly avoided collecting Raikkonen after locking up into the first turn.
Bottas had to take to the run-off area on lap 31 after almost colliding with the Ferrari driver, having previously moved ahead of Ricciardo. At the front of the field, Hamilton and Rosberg were on split strategies, with the former on the soft tyre and the latter on the medium compound. The gap between the two Mercedes drivers was 8.8 seconds by lap 35.
On the same lap, Ericsson became the third driver to retire from the race after parking his Caterham CT05 at the penultimate corner. Massa was the first driver to stop for a third time on lap 38. The safety car was deployed at the end of lap 41 after a nasty crash between Gutierrez and Maldonado. The Mexican driver's Sauber was sent into a roll after the contact.
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| © Red Bull/Getty Images |
Both Mercedes drivers pitted, with Hamilton having to move on to the prime compound tyre and Rosberg changing to the options. In all the chaos, Magnussen retired from the race after a problem with the gearbox. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG returned to the pits at the end of lap 46 and the race restarted.
Hulkenberg attempted to pass his team-mate into turn one but he couldn't make the move stick. Rosberg challenged for the lead at turn four but failed to move ahead. Button ran wide at turn 10 and lost a place to Vettel on the following straight. The Brit also lost out to Ricciardo not long after.
Kvyat and Raikkonen narrowly avoided contact on the next lap, as Hamilton reported a loss of power. However, it didn't look to be hindering him too much as he maintained the gap to his team-mate. Further back, Ricciardo displaced Vettel for fifth place and set about closing in on the Force India duo.
Rosberg inevitably attempted to move ahead of Hamilton on lap 52 but failed to find a way through, despite being on the faster tyre compound. He tried again on the next lap but once again emerged from turn one in second place. Ricciardo moved ahead of Hulkenberg, and Button retired from his 250th race start with two laps remaining.
However, at the front of the field it was Hamilton who crossed the line to win the 900th Formula 1 race, from Rosberg and Perez.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
It was a brilliant and close battle between the two Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton eventually emerging on top despite running the slower compound tyres in the final stint. He fended off the challenges from his team-mate to take his first race win in Bahrain after a stunning drive.
It was the Brit's second consecutive victory and another 1-2 finish for Mercedes. Rosberg drove exceptionally well to finish in second place. The two drivers were in a league of their own, but it was a hugely exciting battle for the lead with some great overtaking.
Perez managed to, just, hold off Ricciardo to take his first podium finish since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, as well as clinching only the second top three result for Force India. It was a strong drive from the Mexican and he was involved in some close but fair battles, particularly with Hulkenberg.
The German driver dropped to fifth by the chequered flag after another impressive drive, particularly from 11th on the grid. Ricciardo finished between the two VJM07s; recovering well from his grid penalty and completing some good overtakes. Vettel, in the second Red Bull car, crossed the line in sixth, just ahead of Massa.
The two Williams drivers pitted three times but the strategy failed to pay off. Bottas finished just six tenths behind his Brazilian team-mate in eighth, with Alonso and Raikkonen completing the top 10 after a disappointing race for Ferrari.
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| © Sahara Force India F1 Team |
Kvyat and Grosjean were next up, with Chilton some way back in 13th. Maldonado dropped back after a 10 second stop/go penalty and finished in 14th. Kobayashi was the sole Caterham to finish, with Bianchi rounding out the classified finishers.
Both McLaren cars failed to reach the end of the race. Gutierrez retired after heavy contact with Maldonado and a roll, with Ericsson, Vergne and Sutil also exiting the race.
Results:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h38m42.743
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1.085s
3. Sergio Perez Force India +24.067s
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +24.489s
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India +28.654s
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +29.879s
7. Felipe Massa Williams +31.200s
8. Valtteri Bottas Williams +31.800s
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +32.500s
10. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +33.400s
11. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +41.300s
12. Romain Grosjean Lotus +43.100s
13. Max Chilton Marussia +59.900s
14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus +1m02.800s
15. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham +1m27.900s
16. Jules Bianchi Marussia +1 lap
17. Jenson Button McLaren +2 laps
Retirements
Kevin Magnussen McLaren 40 laps
Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 39 laps
Marcus Ericsson Caterham 33 laps
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 18 laps
Adrian Sutil Sauber 17 laps
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