2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain  2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 19 in the 2014 Formula One season

Date 6 April 2014
Official name 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix[1]
Location Bahrain International Circuit
Sakhir, Bahrain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Distance 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi)
Weather Dry
Attendance 38,140
Pole position
Driver Mercedes
Time 1:33.185
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes
Time 1:37.020 on lap 49
Podium
First Mercedes
Second Mercedes
Third Force India-Mercedes

The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix,[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 6 April 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The 57-lap race was the third round of the 2014 season, and marked the tenth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been held as a round for the Formula One World Championship and the 900th World Championship event.[2] The race was held as a night event, starting at 6:00pm local time under lights, similar to the Singapore Grand Prix.[3] The decision to hold the race under lights was taken as a means of marking the tenth anniversary of the event.[4]

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the race after starting 2nd and overtaking teammate Nico Rosberg at the start. Rosberg finished second, with Force India's Sergio Pérez finishing third, scoring Force India's second ever podium, and first podium since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.[5]

The race was notable for the race-long battle between Hamilton and Rosberg and a collision on lap 41 between the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado and the Sauber of Esteban Gutiérrez. Gutierrez was flipped over in a side impact caused by Maldonado; Maldonado served a 5 place grid penalty at the Chinese Grand Prix for causing the crash.[6]

Report

Background

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre, as opposed to the previous year where hard and medium selections were provided.[7]

Following the Malaysian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo was given a 10-place grid penalty, after his team released him from his pit box in an unsafe manner during the race.[8]

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race; two 90 minute sessions on Friday and one lasting an hour on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in all three practice sessions.

Qualifying began at 6:00pm local time. Nico Rosberg secured his first pole position of the season in Q3 with a time of 1:33.185. Hamilton qualified behind his teammate in second, after he locked his brakes into turn 1 on his final flying lap, flat-spotting his tyres and abandoning the lap as a result.[9]

Race

The race started at 6:00pm local time. Lewis Hamilton got a great start to beat polesitter Nico Rosberg into the first corner, but Felipe Massa had the best start of all to move from seventh up to third by the first corner. There was contact on the first lap between Pastor Maldonado and Jean-Éric Vergne, which punctured Vergne's tyre. There was also first-lap contact between Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Räikkönen resulting in bodywork damage to Räikkönen's car. Hamilton and Rosberg fought hard for the lead on the opening lap, with Rosberg attempting to overtake at turn 4 but being fended off by Hamilton.

Having been unsuccessful in his attempts to retake the lead, Rosberg started to conserve fuel to prepare for an attack later in the race, dropping back slightly from around a second behind his teammate to around 1.5 seconds by lap 7, and maintaining a similar gap over the following laps. The Williams cars were harder on their tyres than the cars around them, and on lap 10 Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by Jenson Button for fifth, and three laps later the other Williams of Felipe Massa was overtaken as well, with Sergio Pérez taking third place from the Brazilian. Both Williams cars - as well as both Ferraris - had to change strategy from a two-stop to a three-stop as a result of high tyre wear. Magnussen also converted to a three-stop as a result of high tyre wear, but teammate Button was able to conserve his tyres well enough to continue with the two-stop.

Rosberg had managed to maintain the gap to Hamilton despite conserving more fuel, and by lap 18 he was in DRS range. Due to having saved more fuel, he would have more horsepower available for an attack, and after utilising DRS down the pit straight he managed to briefly get past Hamilton by braking late on the inside into turn 1. However, Rosberg's late braking had forced him slightly wide, and Hamilton switched to the inside to immediately retake the position from Rosberg. On the following lap Rosberg attempted the same move into turn 1 again, and this time managed to stay ahead through turn 1. However, Hamilton managed to come back at his teammate to claim the inside for turn 2, with the two cars coming perilously close to contact as Hamilton cut across to retake the lead from Rosberg. This overtake was critical as, due to being the lead Mercedes at the time, it meant that Hamilton was called into the pits first - diving into the pits at the end of the lap to be fitted with the softer tyre - while Rosberg would pit on the following lap and take on the harder medium tyre.

Following his pit stop on lap 19, Hamilton pulled out a gap on the faster tyre over the next phase of the race and by lap 40 he was around 10 seconds ahead of Rosberg with 17 laps remaining. However, with the option tyre estimated to be as much as a second a lap faster than the prime, Rosberg would still had a very good chance of catching up to his teammate in the remaining laps, as they were scheduled to be put on the opposite tyres for the final stint - with Hamilton scheduled for primes and Rosberg for the faster option. However, the race was then turned on its head when Maldonado, who had just exited the pit lane, hit into the side of Esteban Gutiérrez's Sauber at turn 1. This flipped the Sauber over completely, and the ensuing debris resulted in the deployment of the safety car. Both Mercedes pitted under the safety car, but its deployment mean that Hamilton's lead of over 10 seconds was evaporated. Now with no buffer back to Rosberg, Hamilton would be at a large disadvantage on tyres that were estimated to be around a second a lap slower as the two Mercedes cars scrapped for the lead - Hamilton on the slower medium tyre, Rosberg on the faster soft. As the safety car circulated, Paddy Lowe spoke on the radio to both Mercedes drivers to remind them to make sure to bring both cars home.

With 10 laps to go, the safety car pulled into the pits and racing resumed. Hamilton defended from Rosberg into turn 1, but as a result Rosberg got the better line through the corner and through turns 2 and 3, and he attempted to overtake again on the outside of turn 4. Hamilton defended again, holding his teammate out wide and managing to maintain his position. With their drivers fighting hard for the lead of the race, and with fuel no longer being a concern due to the safety car, the Mercedes were being driven flat-out and the extent of the car's superiority was revealed for the first time; within three laps the two Mercedes had pulled out a gap of over six seconds to third-placed Sergio Pérez. On lap 52 Rosberg again attempted an audacious late braking move into turn 1, but Hamilton managed to stay ahead by waiting for Rosberg to run wide from his late braking move and turning in to switch to the inside and maintain his lead. Rosberg continued his assault by attempting the move again on the following lap, and again Hamilton had to get very defensive on the run towards turn 4 but still managed to hold onto the lead.[9][10]

With the two Mercedes having repeatedly duelled for position over the closing laps, Rosberg had taken the best from his tyres by the start of the final lap. Hamilton held onto the lead to take his second win of the season ahead of Rosberg, with Sergio Pérez completing the podium in third. This was Force India's second ever podium, and their first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.

Post-race

With his victory, Lewis Hamilton closed the gap to championship leader Nico Rosberg from 18 to 11 points.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 6 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.439 1:33.708 1:33.185 1
2 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:35.323 1:33.872 1:33.464 2
3 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:36.220 1:34.592 1:34.051 131
4 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:34.934 1:34.842 1:34.247 3
5 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:34.998 1:34.747 1:34.346 4
6 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.234 1:34.925 1:34.368 5
7 22 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.699 1:34.714 1:34.387 6
8 19 Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:35.085 1:34.842 1:34.511 7
9 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.288 1:34.904 1:34.712 8
10 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.251 1:34.723 1:34.992 9
11 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.549 1:34.985 10
12 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:34.874 1:35.116 11
13 26 Russia Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1:35.395 1:35.145 12
14 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1:35.815 1:35.286 14
15 21 Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.567 1:35.891 15
16 8 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:36.654 1:35.908 16
17 13 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:36.663 17
18 99 Germany Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.840 222
19 10 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:37.085 18
20 17 France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:37.310 19
21 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:37.875 20
22 4 United Kingdom Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:37.913 21
107% time: 1:41.515
Source:
Notes


Sergio Pérez achieved his first podium finish since the 2012 season, with third place in the race.
Kimi Räikkönen, who finished in 10th place.
Daniil Kvyat finished outside the points in 11th place.

Race

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:39:42.743 2 25
2 6 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 57 +1.085 1 18
3 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 57 +24.067 4 15
4 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 57 +24.489 13 12
5 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 57 +28.654 11 10
6 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 57 +29.879 10 8
7 19 Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 57 +31.265 7 6
8 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 57 +31.876 3 4
9 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 57 +32.595 9 2
10 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 +33.462 5 1
11 26 Russia Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 57 +41.342 12
12 8 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 57 +43.143 16
13 4 United Kingdom Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 57 +59.909 21
14 13 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 57 +1:02.803 17
15 10 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 57 +1:27.900 18
16 17 France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 19
17 22 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 55 Clutch 6
Ret 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 40 Clutch 8
Ret 21 Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 39 Collision 15
Ret 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 33 Oil leak 20
Ret 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 18 Collision damage 14
Ret 99 Germany Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 17 Collision 22
Source:[12]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Points
1 Germany Nico Rosberg 61
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 50
3 3 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 28
1 4 Spain Fernando Alonso 26
1 5 United Kingdom Jenson Button 23

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Points
1 Germany Mercedes 111
3 2 India Force India-Mercedes 44
1 3 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 43
2 4 Austria Red Bull Racing-Renault 35
2 5 Italy Ferrari 33

Anti-government protests

In January 2014 an alliance of Bahraini human rights organisations including the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights wrote to FIA President Jean Todt, requesting that the Bahrain Grand Prix be suspended until the FIA's Ethics Committee could investigate the impact the race has had on human rights in Bahrain. According to the BCHR no response was received from the FIA.[13] Reports from the race meeting indicated that thousands of people attended a rally protesting against the Grand Prix and the government, held on the Friday before the race itself outside the Bahraini capital Manama. Clashes between protesters and police took place following the demonstration.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  2. Collantine, Keith (7 April 2014). "The first 900 world championship races in stats". F1 Fanatic. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  3. Esler, William (4 October 2013). "The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix will be staged under floodlights". Sky Sports F1. BSkyB. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  4. "Bahrain switches to night race for 2014". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.
  5. Benson, Andrew (6 April 2014). "Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling Bahrain GP after Rosberg battle". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  6. Elizalde, Pablo (6 April 2014). "Maldonado gets grid penalty for Gutierrez crash". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  7. "Pirelli reveal tyre choices for first four races". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Daniel Ricciardo gets Bahrain grid penalty". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 30 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  9. 1 2 "2014 Bahrain GP report". motorsportmagazine.com. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  10. "As it happened: Sunday - Bahrain GP". Autosport. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  11. Noble, Jonathan; Elizalde, Pablo (5 April 2014). "Adrian Sutil punished by FIA for Romain Grosjean clash". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  12. "2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Results". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 6 April 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  13. "Press Release: Joint Letter to FIA Calling for Suspension of 2014 Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix" (Press release). Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  14. "Thousands Rally in Bahrain Ahead of Auto Race". ap.org. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

External links

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2014 Chinese Grand Prix
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2013 Bahrain Grand Prix
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2015 Bahrain Grand Prix
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