Lewis Hamilton just seems to be in his best form ever. He has dominated three of the first four away races. He has an excellent car and seems to have mastered his racing. When in the lead, he paces the car methodically to bring the driver behind him in the clutches of who is following. This was the case in China when he made teammate Rosberg relinquish his attack as he had to defend from the charging Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton is already thinking of a third championship win. In Bahrain it was again the Mercedes duo on the podium, but veteran Kimi Raikkonen took his first podium for Ferrari. Raikkonen, going for a different strategy with a softer tyre compound, was catching up the front-runners.
We have also seen a massive improvement from Ferrari but not enough to challenge Mercedes. Lotus, with their Mercedes engine, seems to be a completely-changed team. They are extremely competitive and always race contenders. Hopefully Lotus will keep their momentum and not fall short on development, which unfortunately has been one of their shortcomings.
Sauber have continued with their progress. A very good package from race one, their two competitive drivers have shown their talents. Sauber, powered by Ferrari engines, seem to be making all the difference. It is a breath of fresh air for the Swiss team that had left pointless in 2014 and on the verge of bankruptcy.
Williams seem to be struggling, which is somewhat of a disappointment considering their progress last year. Felipe Massa seems to be endearing another unlucky period with teething problems and a lack of traction coming out of the corners.
The first four races have been exciting, but the crowds were nowhere to be seen especially in Bahrain and China. Bernie Ecclestone seems to be on the warpath with one of the sport’s sacred places, Monza.
This is not the first time that Ecclestone asked for the withdrawal of the Italian GP. Both China and Bahrain reel in the money to the veteran F1 boss, and that’s what matters, it seems, not the crowds.
Attitude towards the race is something Fernando Alonso will be looking at when the season’s first European grand prix will be staged in Spain. He will be hoping for the crowds to come and support him, but most importantly McLaren’s Honda engine have promised him a power upgrade. McLaren are too down the line with a chassis that is just not right. Definitely their biggest disappointment in Bahrain was when Jenson Button’s car could not be fired up for the race in which the Brit meant to celebrate 100 races for McLaren. Button did not even manage to wear his race suit on Sunday.
We have witnessed some good racing and improvements in tele-vision production and direction. It had been quite a while since we managed to see all contenders racing. One factor might be that the directors seem to be focusing on Alonso, who is racing against the back trackers.
Definitely we have seen some serious racing even from drivers like Verstappen and Sainz in the Toro Rosso, which this year seems to be much better than its older brother Red Bull.
Having dominated for the past four years, this year Red Bull seem to be of an inferior category. Their Renault engines seem to be so fragile and underpowered. Team owners have threatened to withdraw if things remain the same.
Both Red Bull teams are powered by Renault. However Red Bull seems to want to buy into Formula 1 administration with a possible Christian Horner replacing Bernie Ecclestone. Formula 1 has always provided speculation about a lot of things; this is not the first one and not the last.
Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix
Team-by-team analysis
Mercedes
(Lewis Hamilton 1, Nico Rosberg 3)
• Hamilton won from pole, his third win in four races this season and 36th of his career. Also his second in a row in Bahrain. Rosberg started in third place and ended up there after being passed by Ferrari’s Raikkonen two laps from the end, following a brake failure. Hamilton leads Rosberg by 27 points.
Ferrari
(Kimi Raikkonen 2, Sebastian Vettel 5)
• Vettel started on the front row but made mistakes, one of which damaged the front wing when he went across the gravel and forced an unscheduled pit stop for a replacement. Raikkonen had a different strategy and took his first podium finish since 2013.
Williams
(Valtteri Bottas 4, Felipe Massa 10)
• Massa started from the pit lane, after qualifying sixth, due to a sensor issue that prevented the power unit from firing up on the grid. The Brazilian was also hit from behind by Pastor Maldonado as he fought back up the field. Bottas did well to hold off Vettel’s Ferrari in the last 17 laps.
Red Bull
(Daniel Ricciardo 6, Daniil Kvyat 9)
• Ricciardo’s engine blew metres from the finish. Kvyat battled through from 17th at the start. The team secured their biggest points haul of the season so far but still lost ground to Williams.
Sauber
(Felipe Nasr 12, Marcus Ericsson 14)
• No points for the Swiss team. Ericsson might have scored but a long second pit stop due to a mechanical issue with the left front wheel scuppered his chances. Nasr lost positions at the start and power for several laps during the race.
Lotus
(Romain Grosjean 7, Pastor Maldonado 15)
• Grosjean started 10th and worked his way up. Maldonado collected a five-second penalty for being out of position on the grid and lost time at the final pit stop when the engine had to be restarted.
Toro Rosso
(Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz retired)
• No points for the second race in a row. Sainz collected a five-second penalty for speeding on the way to the grid. He retired after running strongly initially. Verstappen retired in the pit lane with a suspected electrical issue.
Force India
(Sergio Perez 8, Nico Hulkenberg 13)
• Perez’s best result so far this year at a circuit where last season he finished on the podium. Hulkenberg struggled for grip and made one more stop than his twice-stopping team mate.
McLaren
(Fernando Alonso 11, Jenson Button did not start)
• Button’s car suffered another electrical fault, after limited running on Friday and no timed lap in qualifying. Alonso narrowly missed out on the team’s first point of the year.
Manor Marussia
(Will Stevens 16, Roberto Merhi 17)
• Both cars made it to the finish again.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)