2015 Bahrain GP: Lewis shines brightly in the desert night

Lewis Hamilton speeds past the stands at the Bahrain Grand Prix night race.

Since its inaugural race, the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix was staged during the day, under the blazing heat of the desert sun which made life difficult for everyone. But in 2014, we saw a well-lit Bahrain International Circuit as the GP switched to nighttime racing. It was a fantastic backdrop to the otherwise drab, dark, sandy environment. We also witnessed fantastic racing between 2014 championship protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. They fought wheel to wheel but gave each other enough room, never touching—it was pure racing.

For the 2015 edition, fans and pundits alike were of the opinion that the rivalry between the Mercedes pilots could again re-surface in Bahrain. The fuse was lit in Shanghai, with Nico accusing Lewis of deliberately slowing down and causing him to be a target for the fast running Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Nico was not a happy camper, and he let everyone who wanted to listen, know it.

Hamilton came into Saturday qualifying with three straight poles and was looking at making it four in a row. Nico, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to snatch P1 from his teammate and break the streak. While Ferrari, with their car development in overdrive, were targeting to split the two Mercedes. Williams, Red Bull, Lotus, and Sauber were going to fight it out for the mid-field spots.

After the dust settled in qualifying, pole position once again belonged to Lewis Hamilton, followed by Sebastian Vettel. Nico was 0.2 seconds adrift of his countryman, while Kimi in the other Ferrari slotted up in 4th spot ahead of Bottas who rounded up the top 5.

Jenson Button was the first casualty on Sunday. The 2009 champion failed to even start the race due to a problem with his McLaren’s energy recovery system. Felipe Massa had to start from pit lane after he failed to get his car going for the formation lap.

Lewis Hamilton had a good start, cutting across Sebastian Vettel to stay ahead of the German, while Rosberg was jumped by Kimi before they even reached turn 1, promoting the Finn to P3. Everyone else made it through cleanly.

Out in front, Hamilton kept his foot down to extend his lead, registering nearly a second ahead of his closest rival by lap two. This early, Mercedes were stamping their dominance and there was nothing anyone could do about it—except perhaps Ferrari.

Nico had his work cut out before him. Raikkonen was not an easy guy to pass. Rosberg took a chance on lap 4, dove deep into turn 4, overtook, and was able to hold off the Ferrari. Lap 6 saw Daniel Ricciardo come over the radio complaining that his tires were losing grip, slowing him down and making him vulnerable to attacks from the rest of the field.

Up ahead, Nico set his sights on the other Ferrari, taking a gamble again at turn 4, hoping that lightning would strike twice. But Vettel was able to fend off the Mercedes till the following lap, when Sebastian made an uncharacteristic mistake. The Ferrari ran wide at turn 1, giving Nico an opening to take P2. Now Vettel was in the crosshairs of Kimi. The Finn wasn’t putting a foot wrong and was clearly the faster of the two. Kimi wanted to pass but Sebastian just made it a bit more difficult for his team mate.

Lap 11 saw a number of cars dive into the pits for a change of tires, and on lap 14 Ferrari brought in Sebastian to try the undercut on Rosberg. Mercedes followed suit by pitting Nico on the following lap. But Vettel, as soon as he rejoined the race, drove flawlessly and came out ahead of Nico as he emerged from pit exit. The undercut worked. Meanwhile, Lewis went in for his tires a lap later, promoting Kimi to P1. Hamilton came out just ahead of the battling Vettel and Rosberg; with Nico overtaking Sebastian at turn 1 with a brilliant dive on the inside.

Kimi held on to his lead until he had to come in for his set of tires, Kimi was fitted with primes instead of the options, as Ferrari planned to do a long stint on the harder compound and change to the faster soft tires near the end of the GP for a late attack on the leaders.

Lap 25 saw a train of cars come in for tires: Ericsson, Massa, and Maldonado. The Lotus pit crew, doing a quick turn around, allowed the Venezuelan to jump the Sauber and Williams while in the pits. Felipe Nasr lost out in this series as the Sauber crew had a problem with the left rear, and came out behind the Massa and Maldonado.

Yellow flags were shown on lap 31. Carlos Sainz Jr, coming out the pits, ground to a halt as he exited the pit lane. A loose wheel nut was the culprit. Two laps later, Sebastian Vettel again pitted ahead of the Mercedes, and again the undercut was in play. Mercedes brought in Lewis a lap later, he re-joined ahead of the Ferrari, while Nico pitted on lap 35, and like a few laps earlier, came out behind the Ferrari. The undercut worked again. Rosberg had to once again reel in the Ferrari.

Mistakes came often for Sebastian in Bahrain. As Rosberg was on his rear, he ran wide at turn 1, giving Rosberg the opening he needed to overtake the Ferrari, and he took full advantage. The following lap saw Vettel come in to change his front nose. There was some damage to the front wing when he went wide a lap earlier. This meant that a podium position is now out of his reach.

It was now up to Kimi to bring honor to the Scuderia. After the last round of pit stops, Raikkonen hounded Rosberg, going 1-2 seconds faster than the Mercedes in the closing laps. P2 was inevitable. The flying Kimi was not going to be denied.

Nico handed Kimi P2 by running wide at turn 1 on lap 56 of the 57 lap race. Raikkonen muscled his way past the Mercedes and didn’t look back. Kimi was now in a solid second place.

Out in front, Hamilton kept his nose clean and took the checkered flag ahead of Kimi and Nico. It was the 3rd win of the year for the two-time champion. Lewis now lords it over the standings with 93 points. 27 points adrift and in 2nd place is Rosberg, followed by Sebastian with 65 points. With his 2nd place finish, Kimi holds on to 4th spot with 42 points.

The circus now travels to Europe: the Spanish GP is up next on May 10. While it could be another Mercedes and Ferrari show, locals are praying for an improvement of the McLaren to give hometown hero, Fernando Alonso, a capable car to challenge the rest of the field. Alonso relegated to the back of the grid is something the Spanish fans would not care to see.