2015 Bahrain Grand Prix

2015 Bahrain Grand Prix
Previous←	2015 Chinese Grand Prix
Round	4 of 2015
Next→	2015 Spanish Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
Race Details
Date	April 19, 2015
Official Name	2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Distance	57 laps, 308.484 km (191.683 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time	1:32.571
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Time	1:36.311 on lap 42
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton
Second	Kimi Räikkönen
Third	Nico Rosberg
Lap Leaders

The 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was the fourth race of the 2015 Formula One season. The race was the 11th Bahrain Grand Prix, with all of them being held at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Background

Available Tyres
Option	Soft
Prime	Medium
Inters	Intermediate
Wets	Wet

Weather Conditions
Practice 1	Sunny
Practice 2	Sunny
Practice 3	Sunny
Qualifying	Sunny
Race	Sunny

Soft "option" and medium "prime" tyres were used for the Grand Prix..

As in 2014, the race started at sunset, meaning this would be a night race.

Jolyon Palmer competed in the first practice session for Lotus.

The weather was said to be "typically hot [and] dry", with Friday's temperatures being about 36 °C (97 °F) at the start of the first practice session. However, the temperatures on Sunday were expected to be lower due to the race taking place at night.

Lewis Hamilton was accused by Nico Rosberg for backing him up into the Ferrari drivers, to which the former said that he "did try to attack". They were warned by Mercedes saying that they will be "managed" more if their behaviour continues. After Hamilton mentioned that negotiations with extending his contract were going slow, people started to rumour that he was asking for a number one status, to which both Hamilton and Mercedes denied the claim.

Entry list

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W06 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W06 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB11	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
26	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB11	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
19	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW37	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW37	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF15-T	Ferrari	059/3	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF15-T	Ferrari	059/3	P
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	McLaren	MP4-30	Honda	RA615H Hybrid	P
22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	McLaren	MP4-30	Honda	RA615H Hybrid	P
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM08	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
11	Sergio Pérez	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM08	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
33	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR10	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR10	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR03	Ferrari	059/3	P
98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR03	Ferrari	059/3	P
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C34	Ferrari	059/3	P
12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C34	Ferrari	059/3	P
Free Practice 1 only
30	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
source

Practice Overview

FP1

Kimi Räikkönen was fastest in the first practice session, having set a time of 1:37.827. Sebastian Vettel followed 0.202 seconds behind despite losing power on his second run, while Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were fifteenth and sixteenth respectively after they used their second set of medium tyres a lot earlier than the other teams, who all waited until the circuit rubbered in. Valtteri Bottas had successfully set the third fastest time for Williams, being joined by Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz, Jr. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth ahead of Toro Rosso's other driver Max Verstappen. Fernando Alonso made a surprise result with the seventh fastest time. However, Jenson Button was unable to set a time when an electrical issue caused his car to spin and halt at Turn 2 at the start of his flying lap. Felipe Nasr was eighth fastest, but his teammate Marcus Ericsson was in seventeenth. The final two in the top ten were Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Massa.

Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg were eleventh and thirteenth respectively, sandwiching Pastor Maldonado. Jolyon Palmer again took over for Romain Grosjean, setting the fourteenth fastest time. Will Stevens was eighteenth fastest, and Roberto Merhi followed in nineteenth.

FP2

After failing to top the results of the first session, Rosberg and Hamilton were able to get back to the top in the second practice session. Rosberg was fastest with a time of 1:34.647, while Hamilton was second after locking up his right front tyre at Turn 8. Räikkönen followed, and teammate Vettel was fourth, despite an incident near the end. He was coming out of the pits, when he noted of having problems with his brakes, and his front wing was damaged after it made contact at Turn 1 with the tyre of Pérez, who was seventeenth in the session and making a dive inside Nasr. The red flags were briefly brought out when the debris was left on the track, having to be removed. Following an investigation, the stewards gave no further action for the incident. Räikkönen and Hamilton were also alerted to the stewards when they left the pit lane incorrectly, having passed a few drivers at the exit. Räikkönen was reprimanded for what appeared to be dangerous driving, while no further action was given for Hamilton.

Bottas was still impressive with the fifth fastest time, being followed by Ricciardo. Maldonado was successfully seventh, and after Vettel and Pérez's incident, Nasr was eighth. Kvyat and Massa finished in the same positions as in the first session, and Ericsson moved to eleventh in front of Alonso. Absent from the first session due to Palmer taking over, Grosjean was thirteenth ahead of Sainz, Hülkenberg and Verstappen. Button was nineteenth following an engine problem that forced him to stop at Turn 11 after completing only two laps. McLaren were able to get the car going again later in the session, but Button could not improve the lap time he set earlier, being sandwiched between Stevens and Merhi.

FP3

Hamilton was able to beat Rosberg in the third practice session, being 0.069 seconds ahead of Vettel, with Rosberg being third. Räikkönen, who was fourth fastest, was followed by Bottas and Massa, and Maldonado did an impressive seventh. Ricciardo set the eighth fastest time, but his teammate Kvyat was twelfth after a spin into the gravel trap at Turn 4 following four laps completed. However, he managed to go back onto the circuit in the last three minutes. Hülkenberg and Nasr filled out the top ten, with Button in eleventh. Ericsson was thirteenth fastest ahead of Verstappen and Pérez, and Alonso had set the sixteenth fastest time. Sainz followed him, and Grosjean was eighteenth after struggling with lock-up from his brakes. Stevens and Merhi were nineteenth and twentieth respectively.

Practice Results

No	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2		FP3
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos	Time	Pos
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1:38.455	5	1:35.449	6	1:36.335	8
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:38.029	2	1:35.277	4	1:34.668	2
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:39.293	15	1:34.647	1	1:34.968	3
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:37.827	1	1:35.174	3	1:35.141	4
8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	DNP	21 !	1:36.334	13	1:37.151	18
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:39.534	17	1:36.148	11	1:36.612	13
11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.793	11	1:37.062	17	1:36.727	15
12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.628	8	1:35.793	8	1:36.429	10
13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	1:38.842	12	1:35.474	7	1:36.307	7
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:38.598	7	1:36.191	12	1:36.899	16
19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.790	10	1:35.884	10	1:35.471	6
22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	No Time	20	1:39.209	19	1:36.488	11
26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1:38.661	9	1:35.883	9	1:36.548	12
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.187	13	1:36.805	15	1:36.421	9
28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari	1:42.973	18	1:39.131	18	1:39.745	19
30	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus-Mercedes	1:39.283	14	DNP	22 !	DNP	22 !
33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:38.504	6	1:36.917	16	1:36.684	14
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:39.532	16	1:34.762	2	1:34.599	1
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:38.447	4	1:36.471	14	1:36.979	17
77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.390	3	1:35.280	5	1:35.393	5
98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:44.265	19	1:40.592	20	1:40.541	20
Source:

Qualifying

Q1

Hamilton had the fastest time in Q1, with Bottas separating him from Rosberg. Button was one of the Q1 eliminators, when he was unable to set a time due to another technical problem. He stated, after his car broke down following its exit out of the pits, that "I'm guessing it was electrical; the car just shut down." He was later given permission by the stewards to take part in the race. Meanwhile, his teammate Alonso finally got his car into Q2. Maldonado was also eliminated when his car had an engine problem, having to start 16th. The other drivers eliminated were Kvyat, Stevens and Merhi.

Q2

Again, the fastest time was set by Hamilton, ahead of Räikkönen, Massa, Vettel and Rosberg. Pérez was only just put into the knockout zone by Sainz at the end of Q2. Both Sauber drivers Nasr and Ericsson qualified twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Alonso was knocked out as well with the fourteenth fastest time, having made the first time McLaren had got into Q2 in 2015. Verstappen was the last of the drivers in the knockout zone after a mistake at the end of his fastest lap.

Q3

Hamilton went on to receive his first pole position in Bahrain, with a time of 1:32.571, ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. Räikkönen was next to Rosberg, and Bottas and Massa qualified fifth and sixth respectively. Ricciardo was seventh ahead of Hülkenberg, Sainz and Grosjean.

Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos	Time		Pos	Time		Pos	Time
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1	1:33.928		1	1:32.669		1	1:32.571	1
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		7	1:34.919		4	1:33.623		2	1:32.982	2
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes		3	1:34.398		5	1:33.878		3	1:33.129	3
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		5	1:34.568		2	1:33.540		4	1:33.227	4
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes		2	1:34.161		6	1:33.897		5	1:33.381	5
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes		4	1:34.488		3	1:33.551		6	1:33.744	6
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault		6	1:34.691		8	1:34.403		7	1:33.832	7
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes		15	1:35.653		9	1:34.613		8	1:34.450	8
9	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault		11	1:35.371		10	1:34.641		9	1:34.462	9
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes		8	1:35.007		7	1:34.123		10	1:34.484	10
11	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes		12	1:35.451		11	1:34.704				11
12	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari		10	1:35.310		12	1:34.737				12
13	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		11	1:35.438		13	1:35.034				13
14	20	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		9	1:35.205		14	1:35.039				14
15	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault		15	1:35.611		15	1:35.103				15
16	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes		16	1:35.677							16
17	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault		17	1:35.800							17
18	28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari		18	1:38.713							18
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari		19	1:39.722							19
107% time: 1:40.502
–	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		20	no time							20*
Source:

Note:

• * Button did not manage to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement, and was given permission from the stewards to race.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Lewis Hamilton	2
	______________	Sebastian Vettel
Row 2	3	______________
	Nico Rosberg	4
	______________	Kimi Räikkönen
Row 3	5	______________
	Valtteri Bottas	6
	______________	Felipe Massa
Row 4	7	______________
	Daniel Ricciardo	8
	______________	Nico Hülkenberg
Row 5	9	______________
	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	10
	______________	Romain Grosjean
Row 6	11	______________
	Sergio Pérez	12
	______________	Felipe Nasr
Row 7	13	______________
	Marcus Ericsson	14
	______________	Fernando Alonso
Row 8	15	______________
	Max Verstappen	16
	______________	Pastor Maldonado
Row 9	17	______________
	Daniil Kvyat	18
	______________	Will Stevens
Row 10	19	______________
	Roberto Merhi	20
	______________	Jenson Button*

Source

Note:

• * Button did not manage to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement, and was given permission from the stewards to race.

Race

Pre-race

Button was unable to start the race, due to further technical problems.

Report

At the start of the formation lap, Massa's car stalled, which it was thought to be an electrical problem. It was able to move again, but Massa had to start from the pit lane due to the new rules of 2015. Hamilton kept his lead at the first corner on the first lap, and Räikkönen overtook Rosberg while the latter was trying to make a move around Vettel. However, Rosberg was able to get past Räikkönen on lap 4.

Maldonado was given a five-second penalty for not lining up on the grid correctly. Meanwhile, Rosberg took second place from Vettel on lap 9. Hülkenberg, Massa and Nasr made the first pit stops of the race on lap 11. Maldonado took his penalty during his first pit stop. Vettel came in on lap 14, and moved into third on lap 15 when Rosberg took his first pit stop, despite the latter already being in front of Vettel. Hamilton pitted on the next lap, giving the lead to Räikkönen, and rejoining in second right ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. Rosberg was able to get past Vettel on lap 17, before Räikkönen pitted on lap 18.

Stefan Stranz Mercedes team joined on the podium to receive the winning manufacturer’s award.

to be completed

Post-race

Hamilton explained to Jackie Stewart while in the podium interviews: "The Ferraris gave us a real good run for our money and out there it was really difficult to look after the tyres in these conditions, behind backmarkers and all sorts, but fortunately I was able to keep the car together, keep the tyres as healthy as possible and pull it through." Räikkönen stated that he was disappointed with not winning, but was pleased of "how the team is working." Rosberg said that while he was displeased with losing second place, he was still happy with the speed of the car.

Vettel, who had finished outside the podium, said that he thought he had let Ferrari down with his mistake of going wide and damaging his front wing, but still had "a good recovery and still some decent points."

The Süddeutsche Zeitung stated that Räikkönen's drive, earning him his first podium in his return to Ferrari, was a "cool application" for a new contract after 2015.

Ricciardo's car had a fourth engine put in after the third failed upon finishing the race, meaning that he would get a grid penalty if he uses a fifth engine. Verstappen, who was one of the drivers that did not finish the race, stated that the engine was "a bit of a nightmare." Christian Horner later announced that the teams would agree to have a plan on allowing a maximum of five engines to be used.

Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	1h 35m 5.809s	1	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+3.380	4	18
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	+6.033	3	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	57	+42.957	5	12
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	57	+43.989	2	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	57	+61.751	7	8
7	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	57	+84.763	10	6
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	11	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	56	+1 Lap	18*	2
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	PL†	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	56	+1 Lap	14
12	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	12
13	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	8
14	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	13
15	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	17*
16	28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari	55	+2 Laps	19*
17	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	54	+3 Laps	20*
Ret	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	34	Electrical	15
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	29	Engine	9
DNS	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	0	ERS	—‡
Source:

Notes:

• * Maldonado made a mistake on the grid by lining up in seventeenth instead of sixteenth, with all the drivers behind him pushed down one place.
• ^† Massa started from the pit lane after a problem caused him to stall on the grid.
• ^‡ Button's car stayed in the pits, after McLaren spotted a problem with its ERS.

Fastest laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Time	Gap	Avg. Speed	Race
1	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	42	1:36.311		202.294 km/h	2
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	38	1:36.624	+ 0.313 s	201.639 km/h	5
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	36	1:37.326	+ 1.015 s	200.184 km/h	3
4	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	43	1:37.665	+ 1.354 s	199.490 km/h	15
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	38	1:37.857	+ 1.546 s	199.098 km/h	1
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	16	1:38.095	+ 1.784 s	198.615 km/h	4
7	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	43	1:38.216	+ 1.905 s	198.370 km/h	12
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	39	1:38.338	+ 2.027 s	198.124 km/h	8
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	27	1:38.422	+ 2.111 s	197.955 km/h	14
10	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	40	1:38.653	+ 2.342 s	197.492 km/h	13
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	36	1:38.725	+ 2.414 s	197.348 km/h	9
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	53	1:38.948	+ 2.637 s	196.903 km/h	6
13	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	38	1:38.992	+ 2.681 s	196.815 km/h	11
14	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	12	1:39.094	+ 2.783 s	196.613 km/h	10
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	34	1:39.161	+ 2.850 s	196.480 km/h	7
16	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	32	1:39.607	+ 3.296 s	195.600 km/h	Ret
17	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	13	1:40.651	+ 4.340 s	193.571 km/h	Ret
18	28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari	36	1:41.759	+ 5.448 s	191.464 km/h	16
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	36	1:42.033	+ 5.722 s	190.949 km/h	17
Source

Milestones

• Lewis Hamilton's fourth consecutive pole position.

Standings after race

Drivers' World Championship Pos. Driver Pts +/- 1 Lewis Hamilton 93 — 2 Nico Rosberg 66 ▲1 3 Sebastian Vettel 65 ▼1 4 Kimi Räikkönen 42 ▲1 5 Felipe Massa 31 ▼1 6 Valtteri Bottas 30 — 7 Daniel Ricciardo 19 ▲1 8 Felipe Nasr 14 ▼1 9 Romain Grosjean 12 ▲1 10 Carlos Sainz, Jr. 6 ▲2 11 Nico Hülkenberg 6 ▼2 12 Max Verstappen 6 ▼1 13 Sergio Pérez 5 ▲2 14 Marcus Ericsson 5 ▼1 15 Daniil Kvyat 4 ▼1 16 Fernando Alonso 0 ▲1 17 Jenson Button 0 ▼1 18 Will Stevens 0 ▲1 19 Roberto Merhi 0 ▼1 20 Pastor Maldonado 0 — Source:

Constructors' World Championship Pos. Team Pts +/- 1 Mercedes 159 — 2 Ferrari 107 — 3 Williams-Mercedes 61 — 4 Red Bull-Renault 23 ▲1 5 Sauber-Ferrari 19 ▼1 6 Lotus-Mercedes 12 ▲2 7 Toro Rosso-Renault 12 ▼1 8 Force India-Mercedes 11 ▼2 9 McLaren-Honda 0 — 10 Marussia-Ferrari 0 — Source:

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