2015 Bahrain Grand Prix Driver Reaction

Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory under floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit, finishing over three seconds clear of Kimi Raikkonen.

© Daimler Mercedes

A late charge and brake problems for the Mercedes duo saw the Finn move ahead of Nico Rosberg with two laps remaining. Here are some post-race thoughts from the the 2015 grid.

© Daimler Mercedes

Hamilton delighted with win number three of 2015:

"I'm really happy with that. It doesn't matter who it's against - you always try to beat everyone. But it's great to have a fight with Ferrari as well as Nico. Mercedes has been the best team on the grid for the last year or so but Ferrari are pushing us really hard now. It definitely wasn't an easy win.

"It was close when I came out of the pits after the first stop and the battle behind me was intense. I had a bit of a slow stop which reduced my gap and when I was braking into T1 I saw them right there in my mirrors! From there I felt like I had it pretty much under control. I had to back off at the end with the traffic and the brakes but luckily for me the effect wasn't as great as for Nico.

"The car was really nice to drive this weekend and they've done a great job. They won't be 100% happy I'm sure as Kimi took points from us today. But it's still a good haul of points and I know we'll work even harder to do better at the next race. That's what motorsport is all about and that's why we go racing - to fight with other teams."

Sixth the maximum for Ricciardo:

"I think the race went as well as it could and I drove well to finish sixth. The chassis is working better and through the corners we are more or less there; we’ll move onto Europe and see if we can get further up the grid and keep improving. The weekend went pretty smooth for me until the end of the race, I don’t know what happened, but the team will have a look at it."

© Williams Martini Racing

Bottas enjoyed fight with Vettel:

"I am pleased with the race and happy with fourth position. It was a real shame for the team that Felipe had an issue at the start. It was a lonely race but the final 20 laps were very tough.

"Sebastian was quicker than me, and closed up behind very fast, but the fight was really good fun. I know a few tricks that can really help to defend and they all worked today, and I am delighted to come out on top today."

Mixed emotions for Raikkonen:

"After a difficult year last year and a beginning of the season that was a bit unlucky, it’s great to be back on the podium. I have mixed emotions, it’s a great feeling to be back, but we want to be on the top. The start was really good , I managed to pass Nico, but then I lost the position and there I lost a bit of time. 

"The strategy was perfect, we did the right calls and the right tyre choice , I was happy with the car , we kept up a good speed through the whole race. In the last laps I was getting closer and closer and could see Hamilton, but the race was at its end, we would have needed more laps to try to do something.

"I think we are still a little bit behind the Mercedes but in some circuits and some conditions we can be very competitive, especially in the race. Today we did our best , we have to be happy with the result , we did the maximum and took some good points for the team. We keep improving step by step, we just have to keep working doing the same things in the same direction,and I’m sure we’ll get there."

© McLaren

A lot of work to do - Alonso:

"We weren’t quite fast enough to get into the top 10, but we finished the race and got a bit more valuable experience with the car, which had been our main objective. “Everything worked fine on my side of the garage, but unfortunately Jenson couldn’t start the race. We need to look at many things before the Spanish Grand Prix, and we have three weeks in which to increase our performance and improve our reliability.

"There’s a lot of work ahead, but we’re optimistic. “It’s clear that we’re all committed to this project and to doing all we can to bring about our eventual comeback. The whole team is united and everyone is hugely motivated by the challenge ahead. Hopefully, we can build on what we’ve achieved so far, and see further improvements over the next few races.”  

Eighth a nice reward for Force India - Perez:

"Eighth place feels very good and I’m very satisfied. It was a great opportunity to score points today and this is a nice reward for the whole team. Before the race we were not sure a two-stop strategy was possible for us – we thought the tyre degradation would be too high, but the team did an amazing job to make it happen.

"My engineers were giving me good information over the radio and after the first stint we knew that stopping twice was our best chance of scoring points. I think this was one of my best races in terms of managing the pace and the tyres. There are a lot of positives to take from this weekend and once again we showed that this team has a lot of heart and that we never give up."

Sainz Jr disappointed with DNF:

"Quite a disappointing day today for all of us, especially after such a good qualifying yesterday. I don’t know what happened to my car today, I just know that I felt something weird with its behaviour and I was forced to stop. 

"I can’t hide the fact that I’m upset because we had a very good starting grid position but we suffered from a lack of pace today. We’ll do our best to be in good shape for the start of the European season in Barcelona, a race which will be very special for me as I will be racing at home." 

© Lotus F1 Team

Seventh a nice birthday gift - Grosjean:

"It had been a tough weekend until now for me, so it was really great to get another strong seventh position. Today’s race was great, especially as there was lots of overtaking. I was really hoping to catch Daniel Ricciardo but he was too quick for us today. It was quite difficult to manage tyres, especially with the rears so I think we did a good job to make the two-stop strategy work.

"We only had new medium compound tyres for the race, the rest were scrubbed, so it really was a great job by the team. It was a good recovery from Friday and Saturday’s session and I’ll happily take seventh place as my birthday gift for myself and the team."

Positive progress at Manor - Stevens:

"Overall I’m pretty pleased with my race. It didn’t get off to the best start because of Maldonado being out of grid position, so that meant Roberto got away ahead of me. We had a good duel for me to get that back but by the time I was able to get by 8 laps in, I’d lost a lot of time.

"The positive thing is that when I was back with the pack, the pace is good and it’s pretty impressive that we’re bringing both cars home when you can see from other teams that it’s no mean feat. Massive congratulations to the team for an incredible job in this first part of the season. Obviously the job gets harder still as we head to Europe, but everyone is very motivated by our achievements so far."

Pit stop problem costs Ericsson positions:

"I had a really good start into the race. On the first lap I moved up from 13th to ninth. In the first and second stints our lap times were quite strong, keeping up with our direct competitors. We were running as planned, but then unfortunately we had the mistake during the second pit stop due to a mechanical problem that came up when the crew changed the left front wheel. 

"Of course, it is very disappointing, but sometimes this happens in racing. We win together, and we loose together. After that our race was extremely compromised. However, I still tried to do my best and during the rest of the race my pace was good. All in all, we showed a reasonable performance and this is what counts for the next race in Barcelona."