F1 Bahrain GP - April 19th 2015


Lewis Hamilton wins ahead of Kimi Raikkonen

By Lawrence Barretto      http://www.autosport.com


Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took his third victory in four races in the 2015 Formula 1 season with a dominant drive in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

While the reigning world champion always looked in control at the front, there was a thrilling battle for the trio of places behind him with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen coming out on top to score his first podium of 2015.

Raikkonen also closed on Hamilton, who had some late brake worries, but the Briton stayed clear.

Nico Rosberg finished third, ahead of Williams's Valtteri Bottas and the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel in the first night race of the season.

Hamilton made a clean start from pole, with Vettel going defensive and successfully holding on to second. That backed Rosberg up, allowing Raikkonen to snatch third.

However, Rosberg battled his way back past Raikkonen and then took advantage of Vettel running wide at Turn 1 to close and then pass at the same corner next time around.

Ferrari successfully used the undercut to jump Rosberg at the first round of pitstops, but Vettel was then distracted by Hamilton exiting the pitlane and Rosberg took advantage - diving down the inside of Turn 1 to retake second.

The Scuderia repeated the undercut trick at the second stops and again it worked, with Vettel jumping Rosberg, but another mistake by Vettel, this time running wide at the final corner, allowed Rosberg back through.

That slip also caused front wing damage for Vettel and forced him to pit for repairs.
Raikkonen then started catching Rosberg in the final stint of the race, as he was running the softer of the two compound tyres.

And the Finn capitalised when Rosberg - who also had brake problems - ran wide at Turn 1 in the closing laps, allowing the Ferrari to snatch second.

Vettel dropped to fifth with his extra pitstop and could not get back past Bottas despite a long chase.

Daniel Ricciardo's Renault engine let go coming out of the final corner of the last lap, but he managed to cross the line to take sixth for Red Bull.

Romain Grosjean scored points for the second successive race with seventh for Lotus, ahead of Sergio Perez, who scored for Force India for the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he made a two-stop strategy work well to progress through three-stopping rivals in the midfield.

Daniil Kvyat rescued some points with ninth in the Red Bull, having started in 17th, with Felipe Massa completing the top 10 and recovering well from a pitlane start after stalling on the grid.

The Brazilian ran eighth late on but his very long final stint on his two-stop strategy proved ambitious and his tyres faded.

Fernando Alonso equalled McLaren's best finish of the season in 11th, while his team-mate Jenson Button did not even make the start after a problem was detected with his energy recovery system.
Sauber's Felipe Nasr was 12th, one place ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg with Marcus Ericsson 13th, having run in the points before losing at least 20 seconds during a pitstop when his team struggled to fit the front-left tyre.
Pastor Maldonado was also in contention for points but he was delayed in the pits with smoke pouring from the front brakes of the Lotus and he ended up 15th.

Manor got both cars to the finish for the second successive race, with Will Stevens 16th and Roberto Merhi 17th.

Toro Rosso suffered its first double non-finish of the season. Carlos Sainz Jr pulled off track at the halfway point and Max Verstappen parked his car in the garage a few laps later.

RESULTS - 57 LAPS:
PosDriverCarGap
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1h35m05.809s
2Kimi RaikkonenFerrari3.380s
3Nico RosbergMercedes6.033s
4Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes42.957s
5Sebastian VettelFerrari43.989s
6Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault1m01.751s
7Romain GrosjeanLotus/Mercedes1m24.763s
8Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
9Daniil KvyatRed Bull/Renault1 Lap
10Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1 Lap
11Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
12Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
13Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
14Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
15Pastor MaldonadoLotus/Mercedes1 Lap
16Will StevensMarussia/Ferrari2 Laps
17Roberto MerhiMarussia/Ferrari3 Laps
-Max VerstappenToro Rosso/RenaultElectrical
-Carlos SainzToro Rosso/RenaultWheel
-Jenson ButtonMcLaren/HondaNot started

DRIVERS' STANDINGS:
PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton93
2Nico Rosberg66
3Sebastian Vettel65
4Kimi Raikkonen42
5Felipe Massa31
6Valtteri Bottas30
7Daniel Ricciardo19
8Felipe Nasr14
9Romain Grosjean12
10Nico Hulkenberg6
11Max Verstappen6
12Carlos Sainz6
13Sergio Perez5
14Marcus Ericsson5
15Daniil Kvyat4
16Fernando Alonso0
17Jenson Button0
18Roberto Merhi0
19Will Stevens0
20Pastor Maldonado0

CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS:
PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes159
2Ferrari107
3Williams/Mercedes61
4Red Bull/Renault23
5Sauber/Ferrari19
6Lotus/Mercedes12
7Toro Rosso/Renault12
8Force India/Mercedes11
9McLaren/Honda0
10Marussia/Ferrari0

F1 - Chinese GP - 12 Apr 2015


Hamilton leads Rosberg in comfortable Mercedes 1-2

http://www.autosport.com

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes reasserted their authority over Formula 1 with a commanding Chinese Grand Prix victory.

Nico Rosberg had to settle for second place, ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, in a race that was close at times without ever truly coming to life.

Hamilton had made his intentions clear by angling his car very aggressively towards Rosberg's on the grid.

He duly held his lead off the line, with Rosberg and Vettel stringing out behind the champion through the first stint.

The situation became more tense in the middle stint of the two-stop race, as both Rosberg and Vettel closed on Hamilton.

A frustrated Rosberg radioed Mercedes asking if Hamilton could speed up, as his tyres were wearing too much whenever he got closer than two seconds away from his team-mate's rear wing.

When Ferrari brought Vettel in for his second stop ahead of the two Mercedes, Rosberg was pitted a lap later in an effort to prevent his countryman getting an undercut on his new tyres.

But rather than his rivals' earlier stops putting Hamilton at a disadvantage, he was able to raise his pace considerably on his final laps on soft tyres.

Hamilton ran two laps longer than Rosberg and rejoined with a 6s cushion rather than the 2s advantage he had held prior to the stops.

Rosberg reduced Hamilton's lead slightly before settling for second.

A safety car appearance with two laps to go - caused by Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso parking on the pit straight in a cloud of smoke - made things even more comfortable for Hamilton, as the race finished under yellow.

Vettel was not a match for the Mercedes once all were onto medium tyres and fell away in third.

The Malaysian GP winner then came under late pressure from team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn quickly cleared both Williams on the opening lap to make up for his qualifying frustration, and though he could not keep pace with the top three at first, he ran long in his middle stint and made up ground.

Raikkonen was still 1.4s behind Vettel when the late safety car came out and had to be content with fourth.

Williams ran a lonely and distant fifth and sixth with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, a minute behind the leaders prior to the field being bunched up.

Lotus scored its first points of the year with Romain Grosjean in seventh, but it was a wild race for his team-mate Pastor Maldonado.

The Venezuelan got ahead of Grosjean in the first pitstop sequence, before going down the pitlane entry escape road at his second stop.

A spin while trying to recover left him even further behind, and he then became embroiled in a spectacular battle with the McLarens of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

After several fraught laps, this came to a head when Button hit the back of the Lotus at Turn 1, ending Maldonado's race and prompting a stewards' investigation.

Despite that, McLaren still got its first double finish of 2015 with Alonso and Button's battered cars 12th and 13th.

 Until his late engine failure, Verstappen was on course for eighth, having sliced through the field with some very accomplished overtaking.

But his problem completed a terrible day for Renault and the Red Bull-owned teams.

Daniel Ricciardo had tumbled to 17th with a terrible start and made heavy weather of coming back through the field to ninth between the Saubers of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, which scored again.

Daniil Kvyat was also out early with a suspected engine failure, while Carlos Sainz Jr spun at Turn 1 in the opening laps and later lost time with a gearbox problem before finishing between the McLarens and Manors in 14th.

Force India spent a while in the points as a unique three-stop strategy for Sergio Perez shook out, but in the end 11th was his limit.

A gearbox failure ended team-mate Nico Hulkenberg's race.

RESULTS - 56 LAPS:
PosDriverCarGap
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1h39m42.008s
2Nico RosbergMercedes0.714s
3Sebastian VettelFerrari2.988s
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari3.835s
5Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes8.544s
6Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes9.885s
7Romain GrosjeanLotus/Mercedes19.008s
8Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari22.625s
9Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault32.117s
10Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
11Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
12Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
13Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Renault1 Lap
14Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
15Will StevensMarussia/Ferrari2 Laps
16Roberto MerhiMarussia/Ferrari2 Laps
17Max VerstappenToro Rosso/RenaultEngine
-Pastor MaldonadoLotus/MercedesCollision
-Daniil KvyatRed Bull/RenaultEngine
-Nico HulkenbergForce India/MercedesRetirement

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:
PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton68
2Sebastian Vettel55
3Nico Rosberg51
4Felipe Massa30
5Kimi Raikkonen24
6Valtteri Bottas18
7Felipe Nasr14
8Daniel Ricciardo11
9Romain Grosjean6
10Nico Hulkenberg6
11Max Verstappen6
12Carlos Sainz6
13Marcus Ericsson5
14Daniil Kvyat2
15Sergio Perez1
16Jenson Button0
17Fernando Alonso0
18Roberto Merhi0
19Will Stevens0

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP:
PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes119
2Ferrari79
3Williams/Mercedes48
4Sauber/Ferrari19
5Red Bull/Renault13
6Toro Rosso/Renault12
7Force India/Mercedes7
8Lotus/Mercedes6
9McLaren/Honda0
10Marussia/Ferrari0

F1 - Malaysian GP - 29 Mar 2015

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari defeat Mercedes


By Lawrence Barretto
29 Mar 2015


Sebastian Vettel ended his and Ferrari's Formula 1 win droughts as he beat Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to victory in a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

The German chose to stay out during an early safety car period and assumed the lead.

Vettel then made a two-stop strategy work while Mercedes did three stops with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

It proved to be the wrong call for the world champion team as neither Hamilton nor Rosberg had the pace, tyre longevity or enough laps to catch and pass Vettel in the final stint.

It was Ferrari's first victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, and Vettel's first since that year's season finale in Brazil.

Hamilton retained the championship lead on 43 points, with Vettel three points adrift and Rosberg, who finished third, seven further back.

After a dominant performance from Mercedes in Australia, F1 received a massive boost as Ferrari provided a sterner challenge to the reigning world champion team.

Vettel held onto second at the start, behind Hamilton, and chose to stay out when the safety car was called into action following Marcus Ericsson's spin into the Turn 1 gravel on lap four, while Hamilton and Rosberg, in third, pitted for hards.

Vettel pitted at the end of lap 17 and fitted the medium tyres before chasing down and passing both Rosberg and Hamilton on their older rubber.

The Mercedes had needed to fight back through traffic as several midfield cars followed Vettel's strategy and Rosberg was delayed in the pits queuing behind Hamilton.

Mercedes then split strategies when it pitted Hamilton and Rosberg for the second time, with

Hamilton taking the mediums and Rosberg the hards.

Vettel only made his final pitstops with 14 laps to go after a long middle stint, taking on the hards and crucially rejoining ahead of Rosberg in second.

The Ferrari driver then regained the lead when Hamilton pitted and had hard tyres fitted a lap later.

The world champion was unhappy with the choice, with the Briton saying on team radio: "This is the wrong tyre, man," but being told Mercedes only had used mediums as an alternative.

While Mercedes assured him that he would be in a position to catch and pass Vettel for the win, it soon became clear that that wasn't the case, with Hamilton unable to close on Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen recovered to a strong fourth in the second Ferrari having dropped to the back of the field following a puncture sustained in contact with Felipe Nasr's Sauber on the first lap.

Valtteri Bottas passed Williams team-mate Felipe Massa with a brilliant late move around the outside at Turn 5 to finish fifth, with the duo followed by Max Verstappen, who passed Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz late on.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, who recovered from a spin having made contact with

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, completed the top 10.

Romain Grosjean had an eventful race, the Frenchman trying an ambitious move around the outside of Sergio Perez at the fast Turn 12, only to clip the Force India and spin.

Though he rejoined, he finished outside the points in 11th, with Perez receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing the incident and ultimately finishing 13th. They sandwiched Nasr.

Hulkenberg was 14th in the Force India, having been given a 10-second time penalty for hitting

Kvyat at Turn 2, with Manor's Roberto Merhi the last driver to see the chequered flag in 15th.

Pastor Maldonado retired the Lotus, having run well down the field after picking up a puncture on the first lap, while the McLarens showed improved pace but had nothing to show for it as Fernando

Alonso and Jenson Button retired with mechanical problems.

Will Stevens did not start the race - his Manor team was unable to cure the fuel system issue that stopped his car running in qualifying.

RESULTS - 56 LAPS:
PosDriverCar
1Sebastian VettelFerrari
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes
3Nico RosbergMercedes
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari
5Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes
6Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes
7Max VerstappenToro Rosso/Renault
8Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Renault
9Daniil KvyatRed Bull/Renault
10Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault
11Romain GrosjeanLotus/Mercedes
12Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari
13Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes
14Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes
15Roberto MerhiMarussia/Ferrari
-Pastor MaldonadoLotus/Mercedes
-Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda
-Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda
-Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari
-Will StevensMarussia/Ferrari

DRIVERS' STANDINGS:
PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton43
2Sebastian Vettel40
3Nico Rosberg33
4Felipe Massa20
5Kimi Raikkonen12
6Felipe Nasr10
7Valtteri Bottas10
8Daniel Ricciardo9
9Nico Hulkenberg6
10Max Verstappen6
11Carlos Sainz6
12Marcus Ericsson4
13Daniil Kvyat2
14Sergio Perez1
15Romain Grosjean0
15Jenson Button0
17Roberto Merhi0

CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS:
PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes76
2Ferrari52
3Williams/Mercedes30
4Sauber/Ferrari14
5Toro Rosso/Renault12
6Red Bull/Renault11
7Force India/Mercedes7
8Lotus/Mercedes0
8McLaren/Honda0
10Marussia/Ferrari0

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