Much to absolutely nobody’s surprise, Mercedes has won the first two races in the 2016 Formula One season with the only surprise – mild as it is – being that the winner both times has been Nico Rosberg over his defending champion teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg ran away from the field from the start and it was a non-competitive race for him as he won easily over runner-up Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari. Hamilton filled out the podium with a third place finish behind Raikkonen.
Hamilton’s finish was likely due to being t-boned on the first corner by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, who subsequently was penalized for the maneuver. But the damage was done to Hamilton’s car, which suffered maneuverability issues for the remainder of the race.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was one of five drivers who did not finish the race, with his engine failing on the warm-up lap prior to the race start. Only six cars finished on the lead lap.
Of the non-podium finishers, Romain Grosjean and Stoffel Vandoorne were the two brightest stars. Grosjean finished fifth in the American-funded Haas car in that team’s second outing on the F1 circuit and Vandoorne, subbing for the injured Fernando Alonso, finished 10th in his McLaren and grabbed a single point in his first-ever F1 race.
Rosberg leads the season standings with 50 points overall with Hamilton in second with 33 points.
2016 Bahrain Grand Prix Results – 57 laps – 192 miles
1 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
3 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
4 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
5 Romain Grosjean – Haas
6 Max Verstappen – Toro Rosso
7 Felipe Massa – Williams
8 Daniil Kvyat – Red Bull
9 Valtteri Bottas – Williams
10 Stoffel Vandoorne – McLaren
11 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
12 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
13 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor
14 Sergio Perez – Force India
15 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
16 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
17 Rio Haryanto – Manor
18 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso
19 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
20 Jenson Button – McLaren
21 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
22 Jolyon Palmer – Renault