Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead with a dominant victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position.
The Briton, who celebrated his second consecutive triumph under the lights of the Sakhir circuit, finished comfortably ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, who on the penultimate lap overtook the second Mercedes AMG of Nico Rosberg, after a brake-by-wire issue.
Rosberg nevertheless silenced the critics with an emphatic drive which saw him battle closely with Sebastian Vettel, who started second to Rosberg’s third.
The German duo fought perilously throughout the race, as Vettel opted to try the undercut against his compatriot during the pit-stops.
The Ferrari driver prevailed in his attempt, however the gap was not too great and Rosberg was able to exercise his car’s superior pace.
Meanwhile, Räikkönen, who had not finished on the podium since the Korean Grand Prix in 2013, sought to go longer on his first stint and then switch to the medium tyre during his first stop, while his opponents were running the contra.
Under pressure from Rosberg, Vettel made a rare error after his final stop, which forced him to pit for a third time in order to change front wings. This elevated Rosberg into second, but also gave the 2007 world champion a chance to strip the Silver Arrows of another 1-2 finish.
Vettel exited the pits behind Valtteri Bottas in the Williams, who was running a solitary race, but then had been promoted to fourth. The four-time world champion gave the Finn a hard time to retake fourth, however Bottas did not yield or show any sign of lapse.
The same could not be said about Bottas’ teammate Felipe Massa who, after stalling on the formation lap, had to start from the pit lane. The Brazilian driver endured an arduous journey to finish for a solitary world championship point in the end.
For only the second time this season both Red Bulls finished in the points, with Daniel Ricciardo driving a lone race to cross the line in sixth. His teammate Daniil Kvyat’s race was the opposite, having started from 17th on the grid and fighting to a ninth-place finish.
But the news was not all good for Red Bull and their embattled engine supplier Renault, as Ricciardo crossed the line in the plume of smoke, signalling the premature expiration of another engine.
Renault engine woes also plagued Max Verstappen’s race for the second consecutive weekend, as he was forced to pull up in the Toro Rosso garage and retire. Carlos Sainz, in the sister car, found himself parking at the exit of Turn 1, albeit with an issue not related to the power-unit.
Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez swept away the remaining points positions, with the Lotus driver finish seventh ahead of his Force India rival.
Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado started the race with a five-second penalty, the Venezuelan starting outside of his allocated grid position. Having already retired from the first three races, Maldonado drove well into the points however when he stopped for service on Lap 41, the anti-stall kicked in and eventually his engine cut out. Though with a bit of fortune, Maldonado was still classified a finisher. He claimed 15th ahead of the two Manor-Marussia cars, who once again demonstrated reliability to finish the race. Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi slotted into positions 16 and 17, despite being more than two laps down on the leading car of Hamilton.
Sauber also struggled for points due to a lack of pace, and Marcus Ericsson suffered during a pit-stop on Lap 25, with a sticking left front wheel.
And McLaren had another tough day at the office with Jenson Button failing to even start the race due to electrical problems with the energy recovery system. The 2009 world champion continuously expressed his dismay over the feeling of the car and struggled to complete many laps.
Button’s teammate Fernando Alonso drove to the team’s best finish of the season in 11th, missing out on their first ever point since reforging their alliance with Honda.
Hamilton’s third win of the season in four races has increased his lead in the championship to 27, well over a race win’s worth. Failing to finish on the podium for the first time in 2015 meant that Rosberg (who has been hailed driver of the day) took second in the standings back from Vettel. Räikkönen moved up to fourth, with his first podium in over a year.
With Hamilton still the man to beat, will the renewed Rosberg and resurgent red team continue to push forwards in the championship?
The teams and drivers will now regroup for three weeks to develop and upgrade, before embarking on the beginning of the European season, commencing in Barcelona on May 8.
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