Bahrain Weekend Review: Sparks fly in Sakhir

Round 4 of the 2015 season took place around the 3.3 mile desert Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. With Hamilton taking a 13 point lead into the weekend, despite the challenge of the Ferraris who looked competitive against the Mercedes all weekend, it was not enough to stop another Silver Arrow triumph for the Brit.

The opposition batted out the park in Bahrain

Qualifying:

Q1

With the 2 second advantage of the soft compound all teams resorted to running the option tyre to secure a place in Q2. However, this was not the case for Button who needed to bounce back following a spin and a mere 17 laps completed in practice. But it was not to be as he didn't make a single lap in Q1 having pulled off track on his out lap, reporting electrical issues. Fortunately for the Woking team, fellow McLaren driver made for a bitter sweet result as Alonso set a lap quick enough for 9th and was safely through to Q2 for the first time for McLaren in 2015. Maldonado was pushed down by Verstappen into the drop zone and 16th place. He had been faster than his team mate in practice but team radio reported engine issues and he suffered heavily as a result. Most notably, the Red Bull of Kyvat was out qualified by both Toro Rossos having only managed 17th and 1.3 seconds behind team mate, Ricciardo, marking his 1st time ever out in Q1. 18th was the return for Stevens' effort who won the team mate battle with Merhi in 19th by a full second. Button lined up 20th having not set a lap time.

Q2

All cars were looking to conserve tyres for race day having used a set of softs in Q1. Grosjean made Q3 having set the 7th fastest lap. Hulkenburg and Force India made progress from China to make Q3 in 9th, following

, a strong performance. Sainz Jr. blew Verstappen away and qualified in 10th place a full 0.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen in 15th who had begun to out shine the Spainard until now. Fellow Spainard Alonso set a lap time for 14th. Despite only a week separating the Chinese and Bahrain race some further improvements were present in the pace of the McLaren. The two Saubers occupied 12th and 13th. Nasr out pacing Ericsson. Sainz knocked out the second Force India of Perez who ended up in 11th.

Q3

In a spectacular last few minutes to Q3 Ferrari aimed to match Mercedes on pace as Rosberg looked to make it 3 consecutive poles in Sakhir. Vettel went fastest but neither Raikkonen nor Rosberg could beat the new Ferrari-man. But then Hamilton's delta times were recording faster 1st and 2nd sectors so as he perfectly executed the final corner he stormed to pole position by an astonishing 0.4. seconds. In doing so he relegated Vettel to 2nd, splitting the Mercedes as Rosberg only ended up in 3rd marginally ahead of Raikkonen. 5th and 6th for Bottas and Massa, again showing the out development of the Ferrari compared to the Williams over winter. Ricciardo was 7th followed by Hulkenburg, Sainz and Grosjean in 10th. This marked 4/4 poles for Hamilton in a sterling start to the season and Ferrari's first front row start of 2015.

The Race:

The race build-up looked no brighter for Button as his car was disassembled in the pit garage upon discovering multiple problems when rebuilding his car. Subsequently, he never made the grid to start the race and missed his 100th McLaren GP. On the formation lap, Massa was stationary and the entirety of the grid passed him and so needed to start from the pit lane following an electrical issue. A 5 second time penalty was awarded to Sainz Jr. as he exceeded maximum time for a reconnaissance lap.

The battle for track position into Turn 1.

But as the race got under way, Hamilton launched perfectly and held P1 into turn 1. Rosberg's aggressive move on Vettel back fired and he lost 3rd to Raikkonen. Massa set about charging through the pack and passed Kyvat by lap 3 when the DRS was enabled by which time Hamilton was 1.662 seconds ahead of Vettel and clear of the 1 second DRS zone. Lap 4 and Rosberg dived down the inside of Raikkonen into Turn 1 and battle ensued until Turn 4 where Rosberg won the position outright. Turn 4 saw race leader Hamilton lock up and travel deep into the corner therefore opening the door for Vettel but he maintained position. Rosberg set about closing up to Vettel and charged down to take the Ferrari for 2nd with the help of DRS as Vettel went far too deep into Turn 1 with Mercedes looking strong in the desert. But by this time Hamilton was a full 5.5 seconds up the road.

Lap 14 and Vettel pitted for a second set of option tyres, attempting to under cut Rosberg who followed suit with a 3.2 second stop in response. The under cut worked perfectly and Vettel jumped Rosberg for 2nd. 2 laps later Hamilton pitted with a tardy stop as the mechanics struggled with his front right wheel and rejoined only just in front of Vettel who was past by Rosberg in a shower of sparks into Turn 1.With Ferrari waiting till lap 18 to stop Kimi, he pitted for the harder medium compound thus splitting the strategy from the top 3. Raikkonen then superbly maximised the slower tyres by matching the times of the leaders.

Race defining: Hamilton barely exiting the pits ahead of Rosberg and Vettel

Further down the field, Massa was reporting floor damage due to an earlier collision with Pastor Maldonado and was suffering from a lack of pace as a consequence. Junior country man Felipe Nasr in the Sauber was chasing down the Williams and then on lap 25 Nasr used the cut back into Turn 11 to take P10 from Massa. Immediately after, Nasr, Massa and Maldonado all flew into the pits putting track position in the hands of the mechanics. The Lotus Team took the minor victory and worked fantastically well to allow Maldonado to take both positions from both Brazilians.

Lap 26 saw another poor stop from the Sauber garage as Ericsson sat stationary for a race ruining 27 seconds with the front right wheel to blame. 5 laps later and Carlos Sainz Jr. stopped out on track denying him from cashing in on a strong Saturday performance. 

A second stop for 3rd place Vettel came on lap 33 as the 4 time world champion switched to the medium tyres which were working so well for his team mate. Hamilton just a lap later made the same move as the Mercedes' strategists responded to the actions of Ferrari, thus bringing the race leader back out in 3rd, ahead of Vettel. Rosberg soon followed suit and emerged behind Vettel once again following the pit stop. In dramatic scenes on the final corner, Vettel went vastly wide just dipping his front left into the gravel trap to allow Rosberg to pass. Following his incident Vettel pitted just a lap later to change his front wing following damage and a new set of Mediums thus dropping Vettel into 5th place behind number 77, Bottas.

Vettel using every inch and beyond.

Lap 36 marked a double DNF for Toro Rosso as Verstappen retired ensuring Bahrain still has not given a point to the team since their 2006 introduction to the sport. Lap 40 and Hamilton retook P1 on track into Turn 1 as Kimi struggled on the harder compound prime tyres. Then finally on lap 41 he pitted for the option tyres for the final 17 laps of the race. In unusual scenes, Maldonado was seen coasting into the pit lane as his engine cut out having locked his rear axle when slowing for the pits, but was able to resume. Meanwhile, whilst Vettel was hunting down Bottas for P4, Kimi was flying round the Sakhir circuit on the yellow walled soft tyres. He swiftly ate into the gap to Rosberg as the German silenced his race mechanic who repeatedly reminded him of the fast approaching flying Fin.

Vettel took avoiding action to save his front wing on the rear of Bottas on lap 54 into Turn 1. 2 laps later and the 2nd and 3rd place men of Nico and Kimi battled through traffic, but having cleared the field Rosberg went too deep into the first corner and ran hugely wide as a result of a brake-by-wire failure. This opened the door for Kimi , on faster, newer tyres, to take the place as they battled through the corner complex and onto the second straight. Nico looked racier this weekend but Kimi was intent on upsetting the Mercedes 1:2 as Ferrari's resurgence continued.

Drama filled the entire race as on the final lap Hamilton was filmed weaving as well as reporting a brake-by-wire issue also, thus causing him to lose 7 tenths of a second in the first sector alone to the charging Raikkonen. But it was only a momentary scare as Lewis Hamilton rounded the final corner and celebrated taking his 3rd win of the season just 4 seconds ahead of Kimi who had a fantastic drive from 4th place marking his first Ferrari podium since Italy 2009.

Rosberg lost out finishing 3rd, ahead of Bottas who fended off Vettel in 5th. 6th was the return for Ricciardo's race, but in doing so he only just made the chequered flag and coated the track in smoke as the Red Bull consumed yet another Renault power unit. Grosjean crossed the line in 7th who matched his performance last time out in China. 8th for Perez ensured valuable points for Force India. Kyvat drove from 17th to 9th to take a well deserved 2 points for the second Red Bull and Massa rounded off the top 10 after a troubled race. Alonso made progress in 11th ahead of Nasr, Hulkenburg, Ericcson and Maldonado who finally finished a race in 2015 albeit in 15th. Stevens triumphed over teammate Merhi again for Manor. Verstappen, Sainz and Button were not classified.

The dramatic finish for Ricciardo and his engine.

Hamilton's form continues, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was quick to acknowledge the closing Ferrari's who had potential to cause an upset this weekend, but it was not to be. All race the sparks looked fantastically dramatic in the low light conditions of the desert as a result of new titanium skid plates. But a 3 week wait is upon us until Formula 1 sparks with fly again in Europe at Catalunya, Spain.

Titanium is far more 'F1' than wood...