Hamilton wins Bahrain thrillerposted in F106 | 04 | 2014

LEWIS HAMILTON WON a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix, edging out his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in a dazzling display of wheel-to-wheel racing which has helped re-establish Formula One's racing reputation.

Both drivers brilliantly diced for position early in the 57-lap race, which ultimately became a 10-lap sprint to the end after a safety car was deployed following Pastor Maldonado's Lotus tipping Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber into a roll at Turn 1.

Under the floodlights in the desert, Hamilton outdragged polesitter Rosberg at the start and as the German launched a series of aggressive moves in an effort to reclaim the lead, Mercedes team boss Paddy Lowe was forced to issue a radio call to order both drivers to "keep it clean".

As the duo were released from behind the final safety car with just 10 laps remaining, leader Hamilton looked odds-on to be overtaken as his car was on the harder compound tyres, while Rosberg's car had the faster, soft compound fitted.

But after some epic side-by-side racing through the esses, and a series rather muscular attempts by Rosberg, it was Hamilton who held on to win by just 1.085secs to claim back-to-back winds.

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The victory was also the 24th of Hamilton's F1 career, equalling the total of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio.

Force India new boy, Mexican Sergio Perez, took the team's first podium since Spa in 2009, with Aussie Daniel Ricciardo again outpacing his more illustrious Red Bull team-mate Sebestian Vettel. The defending world champ could only manage sixth, just over a second behind the Force India of fifth-placed Nico Hulkenberg.

Afterwards, Hamilton admitted he felt Rosberg had done a better job than him during the race, despite claiming his second win of the season.

"Winning the race is the greatest thing, you are happy, but deep down inside I didn't have the pace today," Hamilton, now just 11 points behind Rosberg in the drivers' championship, said.

"We have to learn and find out why that was. A lot of the advantages I had in the last race, Nico found them when we came here. He did better than me, and I have to see if I can improve.

"For me it was one of the toughest situations I have been in for a long time. The option tyre I believe is worth 0.65 seconds per lap, so to hold him behind was very, very hard.

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"I was pushing flat out for 10 laps, it was an exceptional race today, me and Nico haven't had a race like since since karting days.

"There were a lot of times he was in my blind spot and no idea he was there. I think it feels like a long time since I have been able to have a proper race and really use whatever skills I have acquired over the years, as a youngster in karting.

"Being able to go out there and use it again, it was a fantastic feeling. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world."

Rosberg, meanwhile, emphasised Mercedes had not imposed any team orders, and claimed he never felt he and Hamilton were taking unnecessary risks despite the intense battle.

"I was well aware the whole world was thinking of team orders," Rosberg, who won the season-opener in Australia, said, "but it was not that at all,"

"It was just, 'guys make sure you get these cars to the finish'. The message was clear. We raced hard, but with necessary respect, we were free to race all the way.

"At no time was there was a risk of taking the cars out. It might not have looked like it on TV, but it was good close racing.

"I thought I got him about nine times, but he always got the run back on me. He just did a good job, and that is it. Lewis is a great driver and made it work, and next time I need to do better."

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix (Rnd 3 of 19) — Result:

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h38m42.743s;

2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1.085s;

3. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +24.067s;

4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +24.489s;

5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +28.654s;

6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault +29.879s;

7. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +31.200s;

8. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +31.800s;

9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +32.500s;

10. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +33.400s;

11. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault +41.300s;

12. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +43.100s;

13. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari +59.900s;

14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault +1m02.800s;

15. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault +1m27.900s;

16. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari +1 lap;

17. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +2 laps.

Retirements

Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 40 laps

Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 39 laps

Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 33 laps

Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 18 laps

Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 17 laps

Championship Standings

Drivers':

1. Nico Rosberg 61

2. Lewis Hamilton 50

3. Nico Hulkenberg 28

4. Fernando Alonso 26

5. Jenson Button 23

6. Sebastian Vettel 23

7. Kevin Magnussen 20

8. Valtteri Bottas 18

9. Sergio Perez 16

10. Daniel Ricciardo 12

11. Felipe Massa 12

12. Kimi Raikkonen 7

13. Jean-Eric Vergne 4

14. Daniil Kvyat 3

Constructors':

1. Mercedes 111

2. Force India-Mercedes 44

3. McLaren-Mercedes 43

4. Red Bull-Renault 35

5. Ferrari 33

6. Williams-Mercedes 30

7. Toro Rosso-Renault 7

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Jim McGill