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.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Doing the 2+1 will be a test for Nico too, as he's on a long term deal with the Silver Arrows. How many years of being pressured by Lewis can he take? Unless of course the tide changes or he waves the white flag during this season.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
Kimi had been threatening to unleash himself all season but for some issue or another, you have to wonder where'd he lie standings wise if not for misfortunes. He would likely have overtaken Seb at China if not for late SC deployment, no reason why he wouldn't have done the same on Sunday had Vettel been in the equation. I keep on saying it - until it's public knowledge that Lewis has signed on the dotted line, any number of conclusions will continue to be made. Lewis would be smart to effect a 2+1 deal with Merc, which sees him retain the best seat on the grid whilst keeping his options open if the '17 changes brings Brackley back to earth. Then the time might be right for Hamilton at Maranello...
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thanks, as always Bayden. Making those alternate strategies work has been a forte of Kimi and could be decisive throughout the year in beating his teammate on track. Even if Seb did not have that blue on his own at Turn 15, one feels that with those soft tyres in the end Kimi may have finished in the same position. With Arrivabene also saying that performance will be the key factor in keeping Kimi in 2016, the race is truly on to see who will be there next year. And with Lewis having not signed his contract, cue the silly season come Barcelona.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
Excellent write up, pity you weren't able to cover the race live... It's clear that it's going to take a special effort to deny Hamilton - he essentially drove his own race on Sunday even if it did get tight at times, though Ferrari is rapidly gaining momentum, the Canada PU upgrade could bring them on par with Mercedes. Kimi finally had an compromise-free Sunday and showed the world that with luck on his side, he remains very much a force, victories cannot be far away. Seb endured a scrappy evening, not sure whether this had anything to do with his team-mate being on his game, but the notion that he has a number one clause could be interesting if the Finn enjoys a trouble-free run at coming events. One area which could prove decisive from here is the pitstops - if Ferrari has pace sorted, and continue with sub 2.5 sec turnarounds as witnessed on the weekend, Mercedes will have its' work cut out. Nice to see Rosberg get his elbows out as was called for, yet the reality is that P3 isn't going to be enough to convince Mercedes that he's an alternative contender unless he beats Hamilton in the next race or two. Bottas fending off Vettel was a timely reminder that he's a talent for the future, his back injury surely had an impact on his fortunes at Malaysia & China - those who had written him off based on Massa beating him once jumped the gun. Grosjean is making the most of his timely fortune, if he can keep up solid points hauls, he will be an option for the bigger outfits next season. McLaren edging closer to the light, certainly by the Austrian/British GP, they'd be on track for points contention on this trajectory. As for Renault, the upgrades cannot come soon enough. The proof is there that RB & TR have packages to work with, but it's a moot point if the PU goes bust every time.