A fantastic Bahrain Grand Prix, one of the best in the modern era as you just couldn’t take your eyes off it!
Driver Ratings for the Grand Prix, in finishing order.
Sebastian Vettel – 10
Exceptional from the four time champion, looking a bit behind in free practice to one to his team mate. This was one of his best wins, not only as a Ferrari driver but probably in his career. Storming pole lap and driving on ice skates for the majority of the Grand Prix. He managed to keep Bottas behind him and win, just! ‘Mamma Mia’
Valterri Bottas – 8
Bottas had a very good weekend, a few more laps and we would have heard the Finnish anthem you would expect. Steady pace by him and managed to out qualify his team mate Hamilton. Sadly, you would have expected Hamilton to have passed Vettel. He could of lined up a move to turn 3 with a better chance. Great performance but lacks a killers instinct.
Lewis Hamilton – 8
A recovery drive that most expected by the reigning World Champion, most highlighted for that stunning treble overtake into Turn 1 with sparks flying in the midnight sky. Kept his nose clean at the start as others collided at the start. Through retirements of others at the front he got on the podium. He could of made Sunday easier but had a very poor Saturday finishing Q3 in 4th. With Ferrari showing great pace all weekend nearly best he could of done.
Pierre Gasly – 10
**DRIVER OF THE DAY**
From a man who qualified last at Australia and an early retirement, a weekend he would want to forget to one he will never forget. Took advantage of retirements to finish so high up, but still best of the rest. His flying lap in qualifying was near perfect. He started on clean side of the grid, passed Ricciardo into Turn 1 and kept the rest at bay. Brilliant. He finished 10 seconds clear of Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Alonso, unexpected pace by Toro Rosso, with a HONDA engine. With Red Bull contracts up in air at the end of the season, Hello Helmut?
Kevin Magnussen – 8
Haas got their tyres on cars with solid times in the pits, a change from a fortnight ago. K-Mag gave the team the reward for their success. Good weekend for him, out qualified team mate Grosjean and on a different strategy to most, got a points finish.
Nico Hulkenburg – 8
Hulkenburg doing a Hulkenburg, a quiet a weekend but nothing out of the ordinary by the German. A points finish which give Renault something to build on after a solid weekend in Melbourne.
Fernando Alonso – 9
The despair of Saturday to the delight of Sunday, the Mclaren team was left red faced in being out qualified by Toro Rosso Honda. Alonso being the racer he is stormed through the field, finishing 7th from an original starting place of 13th. Once more is the car holding him back?
Stoffel Vandoorne – 7
The Belgian scores again, but once more in the shadow of his team mate. Scored in both rounds but only a matter of time before critics come out more about if he is the right man in the seat.
Marcus Ericcson – 9
Points?! The Swede scores points 50 Grand Prix after his last haul in 2015, at the Italian Grand Prix. He tried something different, a one stop, whilst others squabbled holding each other up he kept just chipping away. Pace was horrible due to tyres well past their best at the end but much like Vettel kept it together as a true racer can. Showed his rookie team mate the much improved potential of the Sauber Team with Alfa Romeo backing.
Estaban Ocon – 7
Battling with others throughout the entire race gave the Frenchman the final points of the Bahrain Grand Prix. He got the best of some talented drivers but didn’t manage to assert himself by pulling away.
Carlos Sainz – 6
Carlos was stuck between the majority of the battle for the small points of the race. Force India managed to just managed to get the Spaniard for the last points.
Charles Leclerc – 7
More mileage in the car for Leclerc, and a track that he knows compared to Melbourne. He did in Formula 2 one of the most amazing returns to win last year, and kept on the speed transferring it onto the F1 grid.
Romain Grosjean – 6
A race which will be forgotten for the Frenchman, the highlight of the race was his stupidity at holding his team mate up and nearly causing a collision at turn 2. Restricted pace due to sidepod damage early in the race. Not his day.
Lance Stroll – 6
The Williams driver was nowhere in qualifying, he started 20th, but managed to finish above others. Lance kept his nose clean early on and got the advantage through collisions.
Sergey Sirotkin – 6
The Russian had a quiet race, finished the grand prix. More mileage for the rookie to hopefully build experience for tracks he has been too before later in the season.
Sergio Perez – 6
Being hit from behind at turn 3 on the opening lap ruined any chance of a decent finish for the Mexican. He kept the car going if anyone faltered but after early retirements no one else retired.
Brendon Hartley – 6
The Kiwi is still getting to grips with open wheel racing after racing so long in Endurance racing. A silly error on the opening lap resulted in a penalty which put him on the back foot for the race.
Kimi Raikkonen – 7
The Ferrari driver did well in practice being quicker than his team mate. When it came to qualifying when it mattered he was caught out to P2. Bottas jumped him at the start and never got close to him again, the pit stop error caused a retirement. Best Wishes and speedy recovery for mechanic, Kimi did nothing wrong.
Max Verstappen – 5
Erratic from the Dutchman all weekend, struggled to keep his car on track regardless of the sudden power increase in qualifying resulting in the crash. He was the one most ran wide in practice trying to find the limits. He got past Hamilton well, but there was no need to open up the steering, which resulted in the contact causing a puncture and differential damage. Bad day at the office, I wouldn’t go as far as what Hamilton called him.
Daniel Ricciardo – 8
He looked up for it all weekend but the car when it mattered let him down. Was very close up to the front in qualifying which Red Bull since the beginning of the hybrid era have struggled the most. He managed to retake Gasly after a poor start but an electrical failure ended his day early in a few horrible minutes of the Austrian team.
With the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend ahead questions are beginning to be discussed, more coming to light than others, I’d say the major one is Honda, have Mclaren made another mistake? Heavily power focused in sector 3 at China, we’ll see.