I think this race leaves a big question mark among F1 fans: Is Formula One still boring?
I don't really think so, I think that, apart from Mercedes leading the field, the cars losing speed and sound, the battles on the midfield are enough to make racing interesting and exciting. And this time, we didn't only have battles on the midfield but also a fight towards the end for the win and for 3rd position.
As I have read before, this race was a slap in the face to those who said this is not F1.
The night before the 900th Grand Prix in F1 history, on Saturday night in Bahrain, Nico Rosberg snatched pole position from his British teammate Lewis Hamilton who qualified second. Behind the two silver arrows came the Australian Daniel Ricciardo but he would be penalized ten positions to serve his penalty from last race in Malaysia, this promoted the Finn Valtteri Bottas to 3rd place and the Mexican Sergio Perez to 4th place, a great opportunity for Checo to try to catch his teammate Nico Hulkenberg and to get the podium for both Bottas and Perez.
Bottas' promising starting position was swept away by his teammate Felipe Massa who made a heck of a start to collocate himself on P3 with Bottas and Perez behind him and behind the two Mercedes.
Rosberg's first place in the grid was wiped out by Hamilton in the first lap as the Briton got again in the lead.
Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg, who started 9th and 11th respectively, also made a great start as Alonso overtook many drivers, including his teammate Räikkönen who began the race on P5 but had a bad start, to get himself on P7.
For the Finn, it could have been a great race starting on the third row but his chances got screwed by his bad start and he would fall back to P9.
Meanwhile, Hulk recovered from his bad Qualy and managed to get into P8, he kept going up in the positions and he then overtook Alonso, leaving the Ferraris 8th and 9th.
A few laps later Checo challenged Massa for P3, the Mexican would get past him with a brilliant move. Valtteri Bottas would also overtake the Brazilian later in that lap.
Daniel Ricciardo, who was pummeled by the FIA with a ten-place grid penalty (for his unsafe release from the pits in Malaysia) now tried to climb back the position he lost, starting with McLaren's rookie Kevin Magnussen, Ricciardo overtook him on the first corner but he would run out of track and the Dane would get his position back. Daniel would later overtake Kevin for P10.
On lap 14, contact with Jules Bianchi forced Adrian Sutil, who received a 5-place grid penalty for blocking Romain Grosjean in Qualy, to retire.
Some laps later, Sebastian Vettel reports a problem with DRS. He is told to let pass his teammate Ricciardo behind as the Aussie was quicker than him.
Later, there would battle between the two Mercedes drivers for P1, swapping the lead four times in two laps.
In one of those times, Rosberg grabs the lead on turn one getting the inside kerb but Lewis Hamilton gets the position back from the outside.
After the Force Indias stops in the pits, the manage to overtake a struggling Alonso to get the Spaniard back to P7. Hulk on P5 and Checo on P6.
Great performance from the Indian team's cars.
Following his pit stop, Kimi Räikkönen managed to get into P8 but McLaren's Jenson Button would overtake him on lap 21. During the next three laps, the German Sebastian Vettel gets into a battle with 'The Iceman' and he finally overtakes the Finn for P9. Disappointing pace from the Ferrari cars.
Lap 24, Mercedes powered teams leading the field from P1 to P6. The Mercedes pair in 1st and 2nd, Williams' Bottas on P3 and his teammate Massa on P4 and Force India's Hulk and Checo in P5 and P6 respectively.
After Valtteri Bottas' second pit stop, the fight for P3 was between Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg and Checo Perez with the Mexican getting past them in only two laps with a pair of brilliant moves.
Hulk later claimed that Perez pushed him off but no further action would be taken in that, it was an authentic racing move.
Later, Hulk also overtakes Massa for P4.
On lap 31, after his pit stop, Valtteri Bottas was trying to race back to point scoring position from P11. He was just about to overtake Daniel Ricciardo for P8, when the Finn found himself behind Kimi and on the left of Daniel and has no option but to run outside the track to avoid contact with Kimi. It could appear that Kimi braked a little too early but it appeared most that Ricciardo forced him to drove off track.
Ricciardo would overtake Räikkönen for P7 later in that lap. Then it was a Finn vs. Finn battle for P8 that would eventually go the Williams driver's way.
The moment when the Finn ran out of the track.
After lap 36, both Force Indias had boxed once again, they went out again on P6 and P7, Checo and Hulk, respectively.
Meanwhile, Caterham's Swede rookie Marcus Ericsson retires from the race, reason unknown, most probably engine issues.
Following the Force Indias' pit stops, it's Valtteri Bottas who goes up again to P3, 46 seconds behind the Mercedes.
Lap 40, Maldonado was trying to overtake Gutierrez in the first turn but he made an irresponsible move while trying to get past the Mexican when there was actually no more room to do it. The result? A terrifying incident. The front of Maldonado's car hits the middle of Gutierrez's car. The Sauber is flipped over by the Lotus, the top of the car hits the floor and then the car's bottom hits the floor again. The Sauber got damage in two of the wheels as well as a big part of the car damaged. Maldonado walked out without any damage.
5 minutes passed until the safety car was called in the track. An irresponsible action not to bring the safety car immediately considering the magnitude of the accident.
The moment where this jaw-dropping incident happened.
Maldonado was given five-place grid penalty for China and 3 penalty points.
Onboard camera on Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber.
2 laps later, race under safety car, Kevin Magnussen stops in the track, unknown reason.
Something was clear, we would have an awesome end to the race. Räikkönen on P11 threatening his teammate Alonso on P10, Valtteri Bottas on P9 also preparing his attack on teammate Massa for P8, Ricciardo on P7 behind teammate Vettel, Jenson Button on P5, Checo on P3 and Hulk on P4 for Force India and Hamilton and Rosberg on the first two positions.
Safety car in! Lap 47, the show begins with the fall of McLaren's Jenson Button's pace, falling into P11 from P5, then, he would retire, unknown reasons. Terrible race for McLaren.
Following Button's fall, it's the Red Bulls battling for P5 with Ricciardo getting the position.
Ricciardo would later overtake Hulkenberg. Then, it was the Aussie against the Mexican for P3 both wanted the podium, both needed the podium. Daniel threatened him for the last two laps, getting as close as 0.8 seconds to Checo in the 56th lap, in the last lap, Daniel's attack wasn't enough to get the position and it was Checo Perez who wrapped the podium behind the silver arrows for only 0.4 seconds. Totally deserved for the Guadalajara-born driver after a disappointing 2013 season in McLaren. The first podium for Force India in the season, the second podium in the team's history. And once again, the Mexican flag is in the podium, the first time since Italy 2012.
The Williams drivers keep battling for P7 but it's Massa who raises the bar higher, it's Felipe in P7 and Bottas on P8.
The Finn Bottas on track.
Ferrari's poor performance meant that they wrapped up the top ten in the last two places. Alonso in P9 and Räikkönen in P10.
It was Mercedes against Mercedes in the last laps, Rosberg got as close as 0.2 seconds to Hamilton and managed to take the lead twice but Hamilton got it back and eventually took the win.
Amazing performance from the German team. With this result, Nico keeps the lead on the championship.
The nail-bitting battle between the silver arrows.
The Mercedes drivers, fighting playfully after the race.
Final results:
1-Hamilton -
2-Rosberg 1.0
3-Perez 22.9
4-Ricciardo 0.4
5-Hulkenberg 4.1
6-Vettel 1.2
7-Massa 1.3
8-Bottas 0.6
9-Alonso 0.7
10-Räikkönen 0.8
11-Kvyät 7.8
12-Grosjean 1.8
13-Chilton 16.7
14-Maldonado 2.8
15-Kobayashi 25.0
16-Bianchi 96.8
17-Button DNF
18-Magnussen DNF
19-Gutierrez DNF
20-Ericsson DNF
21-Vergne DNF
22-Sutil DNF
Drivers' Championship Standings
1-Rosberg 61pts
2-Hamilton 50pts
3-Hulkenberg 28pts
4-Alonso 26pts
5-Button 23pts
6-Vettel 23pts
7-Magnussen 20pts
8-Bottas 18pts
9-Perez 16pts
10-Ricciardo 12pts
11-Massa 12pts
12-Räikkönen 7pts
13-Vergne 4pts
14-Kvyät 3pts
15-Sutil 0pts
16-Bianchi 0pts
17-Chilton 0pts
18-Ericsson 0pts
19-Maldonado 0pts
20-Kobayashi 0pts
21-Gutierrez 0pts
22-Grosjean 0pts
Constructors' Championship Standings
1-Mercedes 111
2-Force India 44
3-McLaren 43
4-Red Bull 35
5-Ferrari 33
6-Williams 30
7-Toro Rosso 7
8-Lotus 0
9-Sauber 0
10-Marussia 0
11-Caterham 0
