The 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix is officially in the books and that means it is time to update AutoSportsNation’s 2017 Formula One driver rankings. In the race, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won his second race of the year – taking two of the first three so far – and the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took second and third on the podium.
ASN awards the three first-place points for the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix to Vettel as he clearly had the best start of the race, starting from the second row and splitting the first row Mercedes by getting in front of Hamilton and slotting behind Bottas, whom eventually succumbed to both him and Hamilton. Force India’s Sergio Perez gets second place after moving up 11 spots to finish seventh on the day and Romain Grosjean claims the final point as he grabbed 8th in his Haas.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award was uncontested this week – going to Sauber’s Carlos Sainz, Jr. – for executing a very Maldonado-esque t-boning of the Williams of Lance Stroll as Sainz was emerging from the pit lane. Sainz was subsequently handed a three-grid race penalty at the Russian Grand Prix for the incident.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award was also uncontested – going to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso – who continued his in-race verbal assault on his employer, this time griping a mere 24 laps into the race – “I’ve never raced in a worse car, in all my life.”
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award went – for the first-time this season – to its namesake as Ecclestone admitted in an interview with ESPN that, if he were still in charge, he would have blocked Alonso’s move to race at the Indianapolis 500 next month instead of the Monaco Grand Prix. Fortunately for F1, Ecclestone is no longer calling the shots, and now he is just a grumpy old man.
2017 ASN Formula One Driver Rankings [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – eight points
2] Lewis Hamilton – three
3] Valtteri Bottas/Sergio Perez – two
5] Romain Grosjean/Esteban Ocon/Max Verstappen – one
2017 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Kevin Magnussen/Perez/Carlos Sainz, Jr. – one point
2017 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Fernando Alonso/Mercedes pit [Bottas]/Red Bull pit [Verstappen] – one point
2017 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Australian Grand Prix officials/Bernie Ecclestone/Mercedes marketing – one point.