Lewis Hamilton won the intra-team battle against Nico Rosberg to score his second victory of the season for Mercedes.
The 900th Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit proved to be a thrilling race from start-to-finish with fantastic wheel-to-wheel battle.
A late-race Safety Car, deployed after Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus tipping Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber into a roll at Turn 1, turned the 57-lap race into a ten lap sprint under floodlights in the desert.
Both drivers had gone wheel-to-wheel in the early stages, as Hamilton edging out polesitter Rosberg at the start and the German attempted to come back at his British team-mate, so they were warned to keep it clean by Mercedes boss Paddy Lowe.
They just about managed it as they scrapped aggressively for the overfall victory.
Rosberg had the advantage of softer tyres for the showdown and had several stabs at passing Hamilton using DRS into the Michael Schumacher corner.
But he could not make either stick, and Hamilton prevailed on his medium tyres after some epic side-by-side racing through the esses.
Behind, Force India recorded its first podium since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez just held off the quicker Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.
The Red Bulls also had the advantage on running the soft tyres for the final sprint and Ricciardo got the better of his world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India to finish in fourth place.
Vettel, who complained of a lack of power from his Renault engine, could not find his own way past Hulkenberg so had to spend the final two laps fending off Williams pair Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas for sixth.
Williams gambled on a three-stop strategy where most of the other frontrunners went for two, and the Safety Car undid its hopes of a better result.
The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top ten, while Jenson Button joined his McLaren team-mate Kevin Magnussen with a non-finish. This was a disappointing result for the Jenson’s 250th Grand Prix appearance.
So a brilliant race in the desert. Full of action and drama throughout the field, and yet the Silver Arrows comes out on top once again with three victories out of three races.
Bahrain Grand Prix race results after 57 laps:
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h38m42.743
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1.085s
3. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +24.067s
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +24.489s
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +28.654s
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault +29.879s
7. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +31.265s
8. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +31.876s
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +32.595s
10. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +33.462s
11. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault +41.342s
12. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +43.143s
13. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari +59.909s
14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault +1m02.803s
15. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault +1m27.900s
16. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +2 laps
Retirements
Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 40 laps
Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 39 laps
Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 33 laps
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 18 laps
Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 17 laps
Drivers’ standings:
1. Nico Rosberg 61
2. Lewis Hamilton 50
3. Nico Hulkenberg 28
4. Fernando Alonso 26
5. Jenson Button 23
6. Sebastian Vettel 23
7. Kevin Magnussen 20
8. Valtteri Bottas 18
9. Sergio Perez 16
10. Daniel Ricciardo 12
11. Felipe Massa 12
12. Kimi Raikkonen 7
13. Jean-Eric Vergne 4
14. Daniil Kvyat 3
Constructors’ standings:
1. Mercedes 111
2. Force India-Mercedes 44
3. McLaren-Mercedes 43
4. Red Bull-Renault 35
5. Ferrari 33
6. Williams-Mercedes 30
7. Toro Rosso-Renault 7
Next race: Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai. April 18-20.
Bahrain Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton admitted that his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg did a much better job. Autosport.com has the news story.
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg did a better job in the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite the Briton claiming his second consecutive Formula 1 victory.
Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two after a thrilling battle with Rosberg, who attempted to pass his team-mate several times during the race.
Rosberg had the faster, softer tyre in the final part of the event, and Hamilton admitted he had to work very hard to keep the German at bay.
The former world champion accepted Rosberg was the faster of the two Mercedes drivers.
“Winning the race is the greatest thing, you are happy, but deep down inside I didn’t have the pace today,” said Hamilton.
“So we have to learn and find out why that was. A lot of the advantages I had in the last race, Nico found them when we came here.
“He did better than me and I have to see if I can improve.
“For me it was one of the toughest situations I have been in for a long time. The option tyre I believe is worth 0.65 [seconds per lap], so to hold him behind was very, very hard.
“I was pushing flat out for 10 laps, it was an exceptional race today, me and Nico haven’t had a race like since since karting days.”
Hamilton said, however, that he felt fantastic after having managed to use all his racing skills to take victory.
“There were a lot of times he was in my blind spot and no idea he was there,” he added.
“I think it feels like a long time since I have been able to have a proper race and really use whatever skills I have acquired over the years, as a youngster in karting.
“Being able to go out there and use it again, it was a fantastic feeling. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world.”
Rosberg, who finished a second behind Hamilton, said Mercedes had not imposed any team orders, and claimed he never felt they were taking unnecessary risks despite the intense battle.
“I was well aware the whole world thinking of team orders, but it was not that at all,” Rosberg said.
“It was just ‘guys make sure you get these cars to the finish’. The message was clear.
“We raced hard but with necessary respect, we were free to race all the way.
“At no time was there was a risk of taking the cars out. It might not have looked like it on TV, but it was good close racing.
“I thought I got him about nine times, but he always got the run back on me.
“He just did a good job, and that is it. Lewis is a great driver and made it work, and next time I need to do better.”
Force India driver Sergio Perez mentions that this podium was ‘special’ after a tough 2013 season. Autosport.com has the details.
Sergio Perez says his first podium for Force India in the Bahrain Grand Prix was “special” after his struggles at McLaren in 2013.
The Mexican, who scored three podiums for Sauber in 2012 before earning his move to McLaren, endured a tough season with the Woking team as it suffered its first campaign without a podium finish since 1980.
Perez came out on top in a battle with team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and sustained late-race pressure from Daniel Ricciardo to take third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes cars.
Speaking about the significance of the result, Perez said: “It means a lot. It is a very special podium for me.
“I had a really tough time, my time at McLaren where I basically was far away and didn’t have a chance to fight for the podium.
“When I joined McLaren it was a very fast team, the fastest team there, so when the McLaren option came to me I didn’t think twice.
“I was hoping to fight for the title and win races. But it was really tough, more than people realise.
“It was not easy for me to fight for a podium, so to do it here in this race is a great feeling.”
Perez said that the late-race safety car that closed the pack up made his race tougher, as it put him under pressure from cars that were faster in the closing stages.
“We were at a big disadvantage compared to the people behind,” he said. “The safety car made things really hard.
“I was looking quite comfortable before that, but once it came it was difficult to switch the prime tyre on.
“I tried my best to keep my position and I managed it, then we had a Red Bull car that was quick at the end, and we managed to stay ahead.”
Pastor Maldonado will lose five places on the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix following his accident with Esteban Gutierrez in the Bahrain Formula 1 race.
The Lotus driver has also been awarded three penalty points after being found guilty of causing the crash, which caused the Mexican’s car to roll (pictured).
Maldonado made contact with the Sauber of Gutierrez at the first corner as the Venezuelan rejoined the track following a pitstop.
Maldonado clipped Gutierrez’s right rear tyre, sending him into a double roll through the air. He was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty during the race.
The Venezuelan is the first driver to be awarded three penalty points for a single incident.
Source: Autosport.com
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen admits their rivals are in a different class. Autosport.com has the news story.
Kimi Raikkonen says it feels like Ferrari is racing in a different class to the Mercedes-engined Formula 1 teams, after the Scuderia’s difficult start to the season continued in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Raikkonen lined up fifth, but made a bad start and survived two contact incidents to end up 10th in the final classification, just behind team-mate Fernando Alonso and over 30 seconds adrift of the winning Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
The 2007 world champion said he could not blame his poor result on contact with Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren, nor a later incident with Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso, because the customer Mercedes cars were just too fast for Ferrari on the straights.
“The Mercedes cars seemed to be able to pass us very easily on the straightlines. One Force India got me on the exit of corner eight and it was like a different class,” said Raikkonen.
“I was surprised. He came out of the pitlane but I had only done a few laps on the tyres. I went OK out of the corner and he just came inside of me and went past; I had no answer.
“And the next corner he had massive traction also, so it’s not just the horsepower.”
Both Ferrari drivers reckoned the back end of the top 10 was probably the best Ferrari could have managed in Bahrain, given the F14 T’s current performance deficit.
“We are ninth and 10th and we didn’t have a crash or any problems. We are ninth and 10th because that’s what we could do today,” added Alonso.
“I won this grand prix three times. It’s not that I forgot how to drive here.
“We are ninth and 10th because there were eight people who were better than us.
“We want to change this as soon as possible and that needs to start in China.
“We have a test here, I will drive the two days and I won’t rest until the situation changes.”
McLaren’s Jenson Button sees his team as second to best to Mercedes. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button believes Mercedes was the only Formula 1 team quicker than McLaren in the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite his team’s double retirement.
Both Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen endured race-ending clutch problems in what was the Woking team’s first point-less race since last year’s British Grand Prix.
Despite the disappointment, Button believes there are reasons to be positive and feels only the dominant Mercedes was quicker than McLaren at Sakhir.
“We didn’t finish but in terms of pace during the race, yes,” said Button when asked if McLaren had taken a step forward.
“Our degradation was positive, I think we’ve done a very good job understanding the tyres, and our pace was there.
“The only team that was quicker than us today was the Mercedes, Force India was obviously competitive, but I think we would have fought them very well at the end but we didn’t get the opportunity.”
He added: “It was going really well, the car was working well and there was only one team that was obviously quicker than us, and it was about a second-and-a-half quicker.
“But apart from that we were looking good – Force Indias we were chasing them at the end of the stints, they struggled more – so I was looking forward to the end of the race on the primes, but we didn’t get that opportunity.”
The Briton believes a podium place would have been possible today given McLaren’s strong race pace.
“It’s tough because I think, at worst, we were on for at least a fifth place and I think we could have challenged for the podium, which is a good thing I suppose,” he said.
“I think there was only one team which was actually quicker than us today and that was Mercedes, obviously that’s a different category. But apart from that, I think we raced very well, we could have challenged the Force Indias for a podium.”
Team-mate Magnussen, on the other hand, reckons points were out of reach for him today after a difficult race.
“I think looking at Jenson it wasn’t possible to get any points today so it doesn’t really cost us that much. It’s disappointing that we are in this position, but we will just have to fight through it.”
Despite a ten-place grid penalty for unsafe release in the previous race, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo raced well to finish in fourth place. Autosport.com has the story.
Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull can be proud of its performance in the Bahrain Grand Prix after claiming the best result of his Formula 1 career on Sunday.
The Aussie, who was disqualified from the season opener in Melbourne after finishing second on the road and endured a nightmare Malaysian Grand Prix, clinched fourth under the Sakhir circuit’s floodlights and only narrowly missed out on a podium despite starting 13th.
Ricciardo finished less than half a second behind Force India’s Sergio Perez at the finish but beat world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel after passing him during a hectic final stint, and said the result was as satisfying as finishing on the rostrum.
“We have to be proud of fourth,” he told NBC Sports television after the race. “They [the Force Indias] were quick in a straight line so it took me a couple of laps to get past [Nico] Hulkenberg.
“It was a really good race, [I was] always involved in battles and having a crack. They are the races we love.
“I personally love it and I’m sure all the other drivers [agree] if they can have a race like that and are in battles the whole time it’s the best feeling.
“Obviously it would be nice to be on the podium but with the race I had, fourth was just as good.”
Vettel eventually finished the race in sixth after being unable to replicate his team-mate’s combative end to the race, and had complained of a lack of straightline speed throughout the grand prix.
“I’m not the kind of guy that wants to find a reason for everything, even though I’m a racing driver,” he said when asked why he struggled.
“We were simply not good enough today.
“If they [Mercedes] were slower down the straights, then obviously [Red Bull could turn the deficit around] very soon.
“But at the moment they have a strong package, we know that, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
This was a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix for Mercedes and it was absolutely vital that the team allowed the drivers to race without a fear of team orders. Autosport.com has the news story.
Mercedes says not allowing Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to race each other wheel-to-wheel in the Bahrain Grand Prix would have been the wrong thing for Formula 1.
Hamilton and Rosberg were locked in a thrilling fight for victory at Sakhir, with their bosses electing not to impose team orders despite the advantage their men had over the rest of the field.
Mercedes executive director Paddy Lowe said after the 1-2 finish that there had been no thought given to calling the battle off – or doing anything other than allowing both men to keep racing.
“Imagine if we had imposed team orders from lap two or something – what a terrible thing that would be for F1 and for the philosophy of Mercedes in motorsport,” Lowe said.
“It is something that we owe to ourselves; we owe to the sport and owe to the drivers.
“They are professionals and you want to give them the opportunity to race, which is what they do.”
Hamilton and Rosberg’s fight was often intense, with the pair swapping positions at Turn 1 numerous times throughout the race.
And although there were moments when it seemed there was a risk of their fight getting out of control and the pair crashing, Lowe said he always had faith that the situation would not end in tears.
“To be honest, I didn’t get overly stressed about it because I know they are great professionals,” he said.
“They are experienced drivers, they know what it takes. I gave them a little bit of a reminder during the safety car that it is all about bringing the car home.
“But that didn’t mean don’t race – it just meant there is a line not to cross which is if you endanger the car. They did a perfect job of that.”
Force India reached the giddy heights of second place in the Formula One constructors’ championship on Sunday after Mexican Sergio Perez secured only the second podium finish in the team’s history.
The McLaren discard’s third place in the floodlit Bahrain Grand Prix brought the added satisfaction of knocking his former employers into third place overall.
The only other time the Silverstone-based team have finished in the top three was Italian Giancarlo Fisichella’s second place in Belgium in 2009 after starting from an unexpected pole position.
“Today is one of the greatest days in the history of our team,” said co-owner Vijay Mallya.
“It’s been a long time coming, but it’s very satisfying to see Sahara Force India back on the podium after so many near misses in recent years.”
With Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg finishing fifth, and scoring points for the third race in a row, Force India now have 44 points to McLaren’s 43.
Perez is no stranger to the podium, although he did not manage it all last season with McLaren, having enjoyed top-three placings with Sauber in 2012 but this was the hardest-won of any of them.
“It means a lot,” said the elated Mexican.
“It’s a very special podium for myself. I had a really tough time, my time in McLaren where I was basically quite far…I never had a chance to fight for a podium in all my year (there).
“Really, coming into Force India and being able to, only in my third race, to be able to qualify fourth and then straight away being able to fight for the podium was a great feeling. An amazing podium.”
Perez had his team mate to thank for it as well, with Hulkenberg holding Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull at bay for long enough to allow the Mexican to get too far out of reach after the safety car period.
“We fought so hard and it’s been so close so many times that finally coming through is just wonderful,” said deputy principal Bob Fernley.
“It looked a little bit in jeopardy after that safety car came out.”
Source: Reuters