2015 Bahrain Grand Prix

 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix

Racing data
4th of 19 races in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Date:	April 19, 2015
Place:	as-Sachir
Course:	Bahrain International Circuit
Length:	308.238 km in 57 laps of 5.412 km
Pole position
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 32.571 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari
Time:	1: 36.311 min (lap 42)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second:	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari
Third:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes

The Bahrain Grand Prix 2015 (officially in 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix ) took place on 19 April at the Bahrain International Circuit in as-Sachir place and was the fourth race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2015 .

report

backgrounds

After the Chinese Grand Prix , Lewis Hamilton led the drivers' standings by 13 points over Sebastian Vettel and 17 points over Nico Rosberg . In the constructors' championship, Mercedes led with 40 points ahead of Ferrari and with 71 points ahead of Williams .

At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Medium (white) and P Zero Soft (yellow), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

The DRS zones remained unchanged compared to the previous year, the measuring point for the first zone was ten meters before curve 9, the zone itself began at the end of the back straight, exactly 50 meters after curve 10. The measuring point for the second DRS zone was 108 meters before turn 14, the DRS could then be activated on the start-finish straight, 270 meters after turn 15.

Marcus Ericsson , Pastor Maldonado (five), Sergio Pérez (four), Jenson Button , Romain Grosjean , Nico Hülkenberg and Roberto Merhi (two each) went into the race weekend with penalty points.

With Fernando Alonso (three times), Felipe Massa , Vettel (twice each), Button and Hamilton (once each), five former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

The race stewards were José Abed (MEX), Mazen Al Hilli (BRN), Paul Gutjahr (CHE) and Mika Salo (FIN).

free training

In the first free practice session, Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in 1: 37.827 minutes, ahead of Vettel and Valtteri Bottas . Button couldn't do a timed lap, his engine died on his second lap when braking into the first corner and he spun.

With a lap time of 1: 34.647 minutes, Rosberg was fastest in the second free practice ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen. In turn one there was a collision with Pérez due to an incorrectly attached front wheel at Vettel, the training then had to be interrupted so that the debris from Vettel's front wing could be recovered. Raikkonen received a warning from the stewards because he had illegally overtaken Ericsson, who was doing a starting exercise at the end of the pit lane, on the left.

In the third free practice session, Hamilton was fastest with a time of 1: 34.599 minutes, ahead of Vettel and Rosberg.

Qualifying

The qualifying consisted of three parts with a net running time of 45 minutes. In the first qualifying segment (Q1), the drivers had 18 minutes to qualify for the race. All drivers who achieved a time in the first section that was a maximum of 107 percent of the fastest lap time qualified for the Grand Prix. The best 15 drivers reached the next part. Hamilton was the fastest. Button rolled out with a technical defect without setting a time and thus did not qualify for the Grand Prix. The race stewards allowed him to start from last place as he was fast enough in free practice. The Manor pilots as well as Maldonado and Daniil Kwjat were eliminated.

The second section (Q2) lasted 15 minutes. The ten fastest pilots qualified for the third part of qualifying. Hamilton was again fastest. Max Verstappen , Alonso, both Sauber drivers and Pérez did not make it into the last part of the timed practice.

The final section lasted twelve minutes, during which the first ten starting positions were assigned. Hamilton drove the fastest time ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. He achieved the fourth pole position in the fourth race of the season.

run

Button, who previously complained about technical problems in every training session, did not start the race due to a defect in the ERS. At the start of the warm-up lap, Massa stopped and had to start the race from the pit lane. Carlos Sainz Jr. drove the warm-up lap almost 15 seconds too slowly and received a five-second penalty. Maldonado started a row too far back and was also given a five-second penalty.

Hamilton started the best, Vettel had to defend against the better started Rosberg. Raikkonen took advantage of this situation and passed Rosberg. Max Verstappen collided with Maldonado and damaged his front wing in the process.

Rosberg passed Raikkonen in the fourth lap and caught up with Vettel. In the ninth lap he passed Vettel after a driving error.

On the eleventh lap, the first drivers came to the pits to change tires. As the first driver in the leading group, Vettel changed tires on lap 13. One lap later, Rosberg pitted, but Vettel had driven so fast on the new tires that he was now ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton pitted another lap later and came back on track just before Vettel and Rosberg. When approaching turn one, Rosberg passed Vettel. Räikkönen took the lead, who went into the pits on lap 17 and was the only driver in the leading group to switch to the harder tire compound.

After the first pit stops there was a collision between Maldonado and Massa, which damaged the diffuser of Massa. On lap 31, Sainz had to park his car with a technical defect.

On lap 33, Vettel pitted and switched to the harder tire compound, just like Hamilton one lap and Rosberg two laps later. After his pit stop, Rosberg fell behind Vettel again. Vettel made a mistake in turn 15 on the lap after Rosberg's pit stop, Rosberg took advantage of this and passed. Since Vettel had damaged his front wing, he had to pit a lap later to change. On lap 40, Hamilton took the lead from Raikkonen, who had not yet pitted for his second stop. At this point, Verstappen gave up the race in the pits.

At the end of the lap, Raikkonen came to the pits and fell back to third place, 19 seconds behind Rosberg. With significantly faster lap times, sometimes up to three seconds, he quickly shortened the gap to Rosberg. Vettel ran into Bottas, but did not manage to overtake him. On the penultimate lap, Rosberg had braking problems and had to let Raikkonen, who was driving directly behind him, pass without a fight.

A few meters from the finish line, Ricciardo suffered an engine failure, but he still rolled over the finish line and stayed in sixth place.

Hamilton won the race ahead of Raikkonen and Rosberg. Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Pérez, Kwjat and Massa completed the top 10. Thus, for the first time in 2015, Raikkonen was a different driver on the podium than in the first race. For Räikkönen it was the first podium since the 2013 Korean Grand Prix and the first as a Ferrari driver since the 2009 Italian Grand Prix .

Hamilton was able to expand his lead in the overall standings, Rosberg took second place from Vettel, who fell back to third. The first three positions in the constructors' championship remained unchanged.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	06th	Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	26th	Daniil Kvyat
Williams Martini Racing	19th	Felipe Massa	Williams FW37	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	77	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF15-T	Ferrari 059/4	P
	07th	Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren Honda	14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren MP4-30	Honda RA615H	P
	22nd	Jenson Button
Sahara Force India F1 Team	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM08	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	11	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR10	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lotus F1 Team	08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E23 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	13	Pastor Maldonado
	30th	Jolyon Palmer
Manor Marussia F1 Team	28	Will Stevens	Marussia MR03	Ferrari 059/3	P
	98	Roberto Merhi
Sauber F1 Team	09	Marcus Ericsson	Clean C34	Ferrari 059/4	P
	12	Felipe Nasr

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Lotus with the starting number 30 was used in the first free practice for Palmer. Grosjean then took over the vehicle with his number 8 for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 33.928	1: 32.669	1: 32.571	01
02	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1: 34.919	1: 33.623	1: 32.982	02
03	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 34.398	1: 33.878	1: 33.129	03
04th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1: 34.568	1: 33.540	1: 33.227	04th
05	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1: 34.161	1: 33.897	1: 33.381	05
06th	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1: 34.488	1: 33.551	1: 33.744	06th
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1: 34.691	1: 34.403	1: 33.832	07th
08th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 35.653	1: 34.613	1: 34.450	08th
09	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 35.371	1: 34.641	1: 34.462	09
10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	1: 35.007	1: 34.123	1: 34.484	10
11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1: 35.451	1: 34.704	-	11
12	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	1: 35.310	1: 34.737	-	12
13	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	1: 35.438	1: 35.034	-	13
14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	1: 35.205	1: 35.039	-	14th
15th	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 35.611	1: 35.103	-	15th
16	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	1: 35.677	-	-	16
17th	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1: 35.800	-	-	17th
18th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	1: 38.713	-	-	18th
19th	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	1: 39.722	-	-	19th
107 percent time : 1: 40.503 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 33.928 min)
DNQ	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	no time	-	-	20th

Remarks

1. ↑ Button was allowed to start because he was fast enough in free practice.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	1: 35: 05.809	01	1: 37.857 (38.)
02	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	57	+ 3.380	04th	1: 36,311 (42nd)
03	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	+ 6.033	03	1: 37.326 (36th)
04th	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	57	+ 42,957	05	1: 38.095 (16.)
05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	57	+ 43.989	02	1: 36.624 (38th)
06th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	57	+1: 01.751	07th	1: 38.948 (53rd)
07th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	57	+1: 24.763	10	1: 39,161 (34.)
08th	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	11	1: 38.338 (39.)
09	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	56	+ 1 lap	17th	1: 38.725 (36th)
10	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	06th	1: 39.094 (12.)
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	56	+ 1 lap	14th	1: 38,992 (38.)
12	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	12	1: 38.216 (43.)
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	08th	1: 38.653 (40th)
14th	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	56	+ 1 lap	13	1: 38.422 (27.)
15th	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	56	+ 1 lap	16	1: 37.665 (43.)
16	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	55	+ 2 rounds	18th	1: 41.759 (36th)
17th	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	54	+ 3 rounds	19th	1: 42.033 (36.)
-	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	34	DNF	15th	1: 39.607 (32nd)
-	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	29	DNF	09	1: 40.651 (13th)
-	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	00	DNS	20th	-

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 93 02  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 66 03  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 65 04th  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 42 05  Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 31 06th  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 30th 07th  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 19th 08th  Felipe Nasr Clean Ferrari 14th 09  Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes 12 10  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 6th 11  Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 6th

Item driver constructor Points 12  Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 6th 13  Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 5 14th  Marcus Ericsson Clean Ferrari 5 15th  Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 4th 16  Jenson Button McLaren Honda 0 17th  Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 0 18th  Roberto Merhi Marussia Ferrari 0 19th  Will Stevens Marussia Ferrari 0 20th  Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes 0 -  Kevin Magnussen McLaren Honda 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 1  Mercedes 159 2  Ferrari 107 3  Williams-Mercedes 61 4th  Red Bull-Renault 23 5  Clean Ferrari 19th

Item constructor Points 06th  Lotus Mercedes 12 07th  Toro Rosso-Renault 12 08th  Force India-Mercedes 11 09  McLaren Honda 0 10  Marussia Ferrari 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Pirelli's tire choice will remain conservative until Bahrain. Motorsport-Total.com, March 4, 2015, accessed March 4, 2015 . 
2. ^ Mario Fritzsche: Routine in Bahrain: DRS zones as in the previous year. Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2015, accessed April 14, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: Mika Salo supports the race stewards in Bahrain. Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2015, accessed April 14, 2015 . 
4. ^ GP Bahrain in Sachir / 1st free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, April 17, 2015, accessed April 17, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Fabian Hust: Formula 1 Bahrain 2015: Ferrari dominates first training session. Motorsport-Total.com, April 17, 2015, accessed April 17, 2015 . 
6. ^ GP Bahrain in Sachir / 2nd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, April 17, 2015, accessed April 17, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Stefan Ziegler: After the Vettel accident: Formula 1 tightened rules when the bike was loose. Motorsport-Total.com, April 7, 2015, accessed on May 7, 2015 . 
8. ^ Fabian Hust, Dominik Sharaf: Formula 1 Training Bahrain 2015: Mercedes before Ferrari duo. Motorsport-Total.com, April 17, 2015, accessed April 18, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: Exit from the pit lane: Kimi Raikkonen warned. Motorsport-Total.com, April 17, 2015, accessed April 18, 2015 . 
10. ^ GP Bahrain in Sachir / 3rd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, April 18, 2015, accessed April 18, 2015 .