Lewis Hamilton came out on top in a close fight between him and Mercedes teammate, and rival, Nico Rosberg to win the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix.
A better start off the line saw Hamilton leapfrog pole-sitter Rosberg and take the lead. But the German, as expected, was not going to give up, and the two continued to fight for the top spot on the rostrum until the Brackley outfit decided to split its strategies.Hamilton was fitted with faster soft tyres while Rosberg took on the medium tyres for his second stint. Hamilton then had to make up a massive gap over his teammate to prevent a charge from Rosberg when he got onto to try the faster option tyre. He managed to eke out a 10-second gap, but that was neutralised when the Safety Car was deployed following a massive crash between Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutierrez on the opening corner of the Sakhir circuit.
During the Safety Car period, the team’s executive technical director, Paddy Lowe, tried to control the situation by instructing the two drivers to ‘bring the cars home’. But Hamilton and Rosberg didn’t follow the instructions and continued to chase their second victory of the season, coming close at multiple locations, but just managing to avoid contact.
Eventually, Hamilton came out on top, securing his first back-to-back victory since 2010.
Behind the two Mercedes cars came the Force India of Sergio Perez. The Mexican came under increased pressure from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was on the faster soft tyres at the end of the race, but the Mexican managed to hold on to third place, thus securing Force India’s first podium finish since Spa 2009.
Ricciardo, before putting up a fight against Perez, was involved in a tussle with Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg. He passed both the Germans to finish in a strong fourth place, having started the race down in 13th.
Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were once again left fighting for the final spot on the podium, but eventually came home in seventh and eighth place respectively. The Grove based team is yet to show its true potential.
Fernando Alonso came out on top in the intra-team battle at Ferrari, but the duo felt powerless as compared to the Mercedes-powered cars. Ferrari’s president Luca di Montezemolo, who was present at the event, wouldn’t have been happy seeing the scarlet coloured cars finishing in ninth and tenth place.
After two strong outings, Daniil Kvyat finished outside of the points in Bahrain, coming home in 11th place. Romain Grosjean had a brief fight with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, but could only manage 12th in his problem-stricken Lotus.
13th place went to Max Chilton, and with the result, Marussia regained 10th spot in the constructors standings.
It was a disappointing afternoon for the two McLaren drivers, particularly for Jenson Button, who ran as high as fifth when the Safety Car was deployed before losing out to three stoppers and eventually retiring from the race on mechanical grounds.
In all, it was a slap on the face for those who’ve been complaining about the new regulations. Bahrain threw up some amazing wheel-to-wheel battles, much to the delight of the fans, as evident on Twitter and other social networking sites. Close racing is certainly a priority for the fans and that’s what this race delivered.
