Nico rules the desert night: 2016 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain GP

Coming off an epic season opening race in Australia, Formula 1 flew to the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. Previous installments of the Bahrain GP left fans wanting, but ever since they opted to hold the race under the lights, wheel to wheel action has only gotten better each year.

The much debated and ridiculed new qualifying format saw Lewis Hamilton stand on P1, with Nico Rosberg just a few tenths back. Sebastian Vettel took P3 with Kimi Raikkonen taking P4. Daniel Ricciardo was the best of rest in P5, Valtteri Bottas was in P6 and Felipe Massa down in P7. Hulkenberg, Grosjean, and Verstappen rounded up the top 10.

During the warm up lap Rosberg was slow in getting going but eventually joined up with the lead pack, everything was going well for al, the runners, until smoke billowed out from the Ferrari of Vettel; his race was all over before it began. This was the first DNS (did not start) for the 4 time champion.

At the start, Hamilton, just like in Melbourne, got bogged down and was immediately gobbled up by his fast starting team mate, Kimi also had a good jump but it was Bottas who stormed down turn 1. Nico took the lead at turn 1 and as Lewis was turning, Valtteri made contact with the Mercedes, spinning it around and damaging its wings. Lewis’ race was going from bad to worse; in just a matter of seconds the defending champ was down to P9. Ever the racer, Lewis opted to stay out and race despite some bodywork scrapping the tarmac. 

The following lap saw another collision on turn 1, this time it was Carlos Sainz Jr. tapping the rear of the force India of Sergio Perez. While at turn 4, team-mates Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr of Sauber were dicing it up against each other, with Carlos loosing out. A flat tire made sure thatThere was no love loss between the two.

Meanwhile out in front Nico was having a lonesome race, he just kept his foot down to establish fast lap times one after another. 

Down the order, Hamilton, eager to fight back for the win, was passing drivers left and right, and by lap 8, Lewis was already up to P3 just behind Raikkonen. There was plenty of time for the defending champ, but catching up to both Kimi and Nico and passing them are two different things. Kimi had decent speed and definitely knew how to protect a position. The only chance for Lewis was to try the undercut, but Ferrari were on to that particular strategy; they brought in Kimi earlier to hopefully negate whatever advantage Hamilton may get and avoid the undercut.

Lap 11 saw the FIA stewards slap a drive thru penalty on Valtteri Bottas. They deemed that Williams driver caused the collision with Lewis. This didn’t sit well with the Finn who felt that he had the line going in turn 1.

After all the drivers made their pit stops, it was still Rosberg out in front, leaving his rivals to battle it out with one another for the remaining slots on the podium. Nico had the race in the bag, and he wasn’t to be denied. 

In the mid field, it was rookie Stoffel Vandoorne on board the Mclaren, making waves. The Belgian was participating in his 1st ever race, he showcased his racecraft on Saturday by out qualifying Jenson Button on the same machinery, and now, drove the MP4-31 to his and the teams first ever championship points. Meanwhile rookie team Haas racing with veteran driver Romain Grosjean, just like in Melbourne, had a strong race. Haas F1 during their launch were envisioning scoring a point or two this season, but with 8 points in Australia and with Grosjean’s 5th place in Bahrain, Haas F1 is now a certified F1 contender and a team to be reckoned with.

In the closing stages Rosberg had such a commanding lead that the TV directors didn’t train their cameras much on the Mercedes. Nico just had a smooth race all throughout. 

Rosberg crossed the line to take back to back victories this year. It was also his 5th consecutive race win since Mexico 2015. Fan favorite Kimi Raikkonen was 10 seconds back in P2 and after fighting for position all night, Lewis Hamilton claimed the last step on the podium.

Nico now leads Lewis in the championship tables by 17 points, on 3rd place is Daniel Ricciardo 26 points further back. Kimi is 4th in the standings, tied with Romain Grosjean, both with 18 points.

2 races down, and 19 to go; and if the rest are anything like the first two, then we should be in for a brilliant Formula 1 season!