Jack Leslie F1: 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix In Pictures

The twilight 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix produced some stunning photographs, as the on-track action took place under dark skies and floodlights.

Nico Rosberg scored a second consecutive victory, with Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton second and third. Here's the race weekend in pictures.

Friday

It was a big day for Stoffel Vandoorne as he made his race weekend debut, replacing the injured Fernando Alonso in Bahrain.

Rosberg set the pace in both of Friday's practice sessions for Mercedes, looking to have the advantage over team-mate Hamilton.

Alfonso Celis Jr made his first ever FP1 appearance replacing Sergio Perez at Force India, as part of his development driver deal.

Sebastian Vettel lost some track time in FP2 after pulling off in the closing stages with a loose rear wheel.

Romain Grosjean caused a brief yellow flag in second practice after a front wing failure, caused by vibrations from the kerbs.

Saturday

Vettel led Raikkonen in third practice, the German beating his Ferrari team-mate by just 0.040 seconds.

Rosberg and Hamilton were third and fourth in FP3, was Mercedes showing off its true pace?

Vandoorne spent a considerable amount of time in the McLaren garage with an oil leak, far from ideal preparations for qualifying.

Magnussen picked up a penalty for missing the FP2 weight check and was forced to start from the pits, meaning he didn't actually need to qualify. He did anyway and was fourth to be eliminated in Q1.

Pascal Wehrlein impressed in qualifying and was 16th fastest in Q1, the last to be eliminated, finishing ahead of Marcus Ericsson, Perez, Magnussen, Jolyon Palmer, Rio Haryanto and Felipe Nasr.

Jenson Button was eliminated in Q2, qualifying in 14th - two places behind his team-mate for the weekend, Vandoorne. Esteban Gutierrez was 13th quickest, with Daniil Kvyat 15th.

Grosjean secured the prime grid spot of ninth, the first to get free tyre choice, for Haas. He finished just ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Williams performed well in qualifying, securing sixth and seventh on the grid for Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.

Daniel Ricciardo was best of the rest behind the Mercedes and Ferraris, finishing fifth in Q3.

Hamilton turned things around in qualifying to snatch pole position, ahead of Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen.

Sunday

The start time created some brilliant shots prior to the race, as the floodlights turned on and day turned to night.

Rosberg had a storming start to snatch the lead, while Bottas dived up the inside of Hamilton, only for the two to touch.

Vettel was out of the running before the race had even started due to an engine failure. The Bottas/Hamilton clash sparked chaos behind as the field bunched up.

Lap two started with a similar amount of drama. Perez out-braked himself and collided with Sainz, giving the Toro Rosso driver a puncture.

The brilliant starts from the Williams duo saw Massa and Bottas run second and third early on, but it didn't last.

Raikkonen soon changed that, recovering from a sluggish start by moving up into second place with some brave overtakes.

The two Sauber drivers battled closely at the back of the field, almost coming together numerous times.

Kvyat recovered well from his lowly grid spot, it took a little while for him to start making progress but he soon rose up the field.

Force India suffered a disastrous race, both Hulkenberg and Perez had to pit early for repairs and that put them out of sync with the rest.

Wehrlein did a brilliant job throughout the race and was part of the exciting midfield battle.

One thing we saw a lot of during the race was sparks, adding an extra element of drama to the race.

Grosjean drove another feisty race and made up ground with a different strategy, showing off the strong pace of the Haas car.

Rosberg crossed the line 10 seconds clear of Raikkonen to win for the second time in 2016, with Hamilton recovering to third.

Ricciardo was a distant fourth but put in another good drive to secure a good haul of points for Red Bull.

Grosjean finished a brilliant fifth for Haas, as the new team's dream start to the season continued.

A busy final stint promoted Verstappen to sixth, ahead of Kvyat, Massa, Bottas and rookie Vandoorne.

5 April 2016

2016 Bahrain Grand Prix In Pictures

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