This year’s Bahrain Grand Prix did not provide the constant wheel-to-wheel action as last year’s event. We saw this year some excellent racing by drivers who did not necessarily do so in 2014 and also a nice variation in strategy. Ultimately, it was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton yet again who took the spoils, but he was just one of a number of drivers who clearly delivered in the desert.
2015 Bahrain Grand Prix Driver Ratings
Lewis Hamilton
Star of the Weekend. Lewis Hamilton delivered another masterclass of maintaining a gap to his team mate and the charging Ferraris at Bahrain. He took pole by a huge margin in Q3 and managed the gap to his team mate and Vettel really well in the early stages. A brake issue hindered him towards the end but he still held on for yet another win. He has a lead of more than a race win already.
Rating: 9/10
Nico Rosberg
The result did not go Rosberg’s way here, but he can at least prove his doubters wrong by proving that he can race. His passes on the Ferraris were absolutely world-class and he needed to deliver a gutsy drive like that after a pretty embarrassing Q3 time. A brake issue identical to his team mate cost him second place at the end, but ultimately he had a feistier weekend than we saw throughout the majority of 2014.
Rating: 6/10
Daniel Ricciardo
I think that P7 in qualifying and P6 in the race was the absolute peak that Red Bull could have asked for on a circuit where having a strong power unit is important. Daniel Ricciardo delivered that fantastically, by essentially maximising what the car is capable of. His car somewhat dramatically exploded on the line, but he still managed to bring it home for another strong result ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Rating: 8/10
Daniil Kvyat
Kvyat was knocked out in Q1 after an issue which appeared to be out of his control. Like Felipe Massa, the young Russian fought his way back through the field into the points, and was one of the more exciting drivers to watch on raceday. The record books will say that he was stomped by Ricciardo this weekend but I believe that his performance was just as superb.
Rating: 8/10
Felipe Massa
Massa was beaten in qualifying for the first time this year but still managed a strong sixth. He had to start from the pits due to an electrical problem but he fought through well. However, his tyres dropped off towards the end and he was picked off by Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat.
Rating: 5/10
Valtteri Bottas
For the first time this season, Bottas claimed to feel 100%. This was quite apparent on the circuit as he beat Massa into what should become a usual fifth place for Williams in qualifying, and he superbly held off Sebastian Vettel for fourth place in the race. This was certainly the first weekend as a whole where Bottas looked notably stronger than his team mate.
Rating: 8/10
Sebastian Vettel
Vettel put in an absolutely super lap to beat Rosberg into P2, and he was looking strong through the first part of the race. It seemed as if Vettel was able to challenge Rosberg for second throughout the closing stages of the race until he damaged his front wing after running over some gravel. That, partnered with numerous lock-ups, ruined a strong race for Vettel. His strong qualifying and salvaging fifth is his saving grace in terms of ratings.
Rating: 6/10
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen is well and truly back. His qualifying was not all that great but he still kept in touch with the front three. He picked off Rosberg at the start and ran a different strategy to his opponents. His pace on the medium tyre was absolutely incredible and he beat a Mercedes on merit for the first time in a very long time.
Rating: 8/10
Fernando Alonso
It seems a bit weird about talking about Alonso being a surprise when it comes to not being knocked out in Q1, but that was the case this weekend. A very strong lap saw him place his McLaren on the seventh row. He also seemed really racy on the Sunday, and even netted an 11th place finish, ahead of both Saubers who are arguably much quicker. There’s still quite clearly a lot of work to do however.
Rating: 6/10
Jenson Button
Button did about 12 laps all weekend. He did not do a qualifying lap nor did he start the race. He ended up commentating on the race via Twitter.
Rating: N/A
Sergio Perez
Perez was another casualty early on in qualifying. The under-developed Force India was towards the rear of the pack on the grid, but Perez seemed to keep out of trouble and looked after his tyres well en route to a really strong eighth place.
Rating: 6/10
Nico Hülkenberg
In a complete contrast to his team mate, Hülkenberg was absolutely stellar in qualifying but dropped back in the race. After using a different tyre strategy to his team mate, he dropped back behind every other car except for the Manors and the troubled Pastor Maldonado and Marcus Ericsson. It didn’t appear to be a good day for the German.
Rating: 4/10
Max Verstappen
Verstappen had certainly his weakest weekend in F1 so far. He looked out of sorts in qualifying, and was involved in a first lap incident with Maldonado. His car expired part way through the race.
Rating: 3/10
Carlos Sainz
Sainz’s car also expired during the race, but he had a much better qualifying and race than his team mate. He was looking good for points until Toro Rosso suffered yet another retirement.
Rating: 5/10
Romain Grosjean
Another Q3 performance paired up with another strong seventh for Romain Grosjean. It was a really good effort by the Frenchman here, who seems to be racing more with Saubers, Williams and Red Bulls by the week. The car is clearly strong when it works and Grosjean is delivering some solid results at the moment.
Rating: 6/10
Pastor Maldonado
It was yet another problem for Maldonado. After being outqualified by Grosjean again, he looked all over the place on the harder tyre early in the race, but his pace on the soft tyre was really good. He had the car stop on him in the pits which really did not help his progress through the field, and he was stationary for about a minute. At least he finished a race this time.
Rating: 4/10
Will Stevens
Stevens outqualified and outraced Merhi again.
Rating: 4/10
Roberto Merhi
Merhi looked far better in race trim, but ultimately he was beaten once again by his less-highly rated team mate.
Rating: 2/10
Marcus Ericsson
Ericsson was behind his team mate on the grid, but he was ahead of him when a wheel problem hindered him in the pits. However, the race pace of both Saubers was woeful here.
Rating: 3/10
Felipe Nasr
Nasr did a good lap in qualifying and raced against Massa pretty well (which was a nightmare for the commentators) but ultimately he finished well down the order on a day where points were possible.
Rating: 3/10
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