The report cards of the Bahrain Grand Prix

NICO ROSBERG 9.5

It's a new Nico racing for Mercedes in 2016, the Nico we finally like, a Nico Rosberg who has already accumulated 50 points at the start of the championship, with two great victories in the two opening races. This time only Pole is missing to seal the perfect weekend, and in fact first place on Saturday eludes him by just 77 thousandths. At the start, however, a few meters were enough for him to once again overtake his teammate and immediately take the lead of the race. From the first lap onwards it's a solo: he adopts the same strategy as those following him, so as to prevent any recoveries, and after 57 laps he passes first under the checkered flag!

KIMI RAIKKONEN 8.5

Eight podiums on this circuit and never on the top step, never once. When you then realize that Kimi had to drink rose water eight times you understand what a terrible torture it must have been. Jokes aside... great comeback for the Finnish driver, who, after a bad start, immediately sets out to chase the race leader, but with very little hope of being able to catch him. The race pace is there, so much so that he remains firmly in second position even when he is put to the test by Hamilton's return. At the last stop, with an excellent undercut he manages to get close to Rosberg and put precious seconds between his Ferrari and Hamilton. Iceman likes this track, and every year he reminds us of it in style.

LEWIS HAMILTON 6

If arriving on the circuit dressed as a sheik could have been a good way to ensure the favor of a good part of the public present, this new outfit of the English champion certainly did not help him win the race, which, from the first corner, took a bad turn. He gets the start wrong and he can stay there, but the real problem is Bottas, who, in a rare moment of nostalgia "maldonadesca”, he doesn't think we were at Luna Park. Miraculously the car was not damaged beyond repair and allowed him, despite a few scratches and broken straps, to get back on the track. From the seventh position he was in, he returns to third place after a few laps, and in the first pit he tries a gamble with the mediums, but this doesn't pay off. He then tries to overtake the Finn in front of him with the undercut, but this doesn't work either. At that point he resigns and brings the car to the finish line in third place.

DANIEL RICCIARDO 8

With two fourth places in a row Daniel surprisingly becomes third in the drivers' championship. This Sunday too the Australian manages to bring out the full potential of his Red Bull, having to fight with a knife between his teeth to be able to bring home this wooden medal. His strategy sees two race stints on soft tires lasting 18 laps, in which he gained a position on Massa while he had to guard against attacks from Grosjean's Haas, with fresher tyres. He closed the race on medium tyres, still managing to maintain his position.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN 8.5

The Frenchman also repeats the great result of the opening race of the championship, scoring the second fifth place in a row. With a good start, from ninth place he immediately managed to gain sixth position. At the first stop he mounts supersoft and begins to nibble away seconds from his opponents. Massa passes, Ricciardo passes but the latter gets back in front of him with the undercut in the second pit. For the entire third stint, again on supersoft, Romain chased the Australian, but was unable to get close. The final stop sees him put on soft tires and rejoin behind Kvyat and Verstappen, who however still have to stop to change tyres. At this point the road is clear towards the fifth place finish, which perhaps would have been even something more without that small hitch at the last pit stop.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 7.5

Starting from tenth position, the young Dutch phenomenon does not fail to give us a good race as always full of exciting overtaking. He leads a fairly calm first part of the race and then unleashes himself after the first stop, where, having returned behind Perez, Magnussen and Edicsson, he overtakes all three of them within a few laps, putting himself in Grosjean's slipstream. On the thirtieth lap, at the wall they decide to risk the medium compound, but the choice turns out to be a little too far-fetched. In fact, Max initially manages the tires well, passes Bottas and manages to stay in fourth position until ten laps from the end, however at that point the car is totally undriveable and forces him to stop again. In the last ten laps he can do little other than take the final sixth place.

DANIIL KVYAT 8

A somewhat overlooked comeback which sees the Russian driver gain eight positions compared to the starting grid, above all thanks to two long stints on soft tires in the first part of the race, where he manages the tires well without worrying too much about being passed by drivers with cooler covers. Twice he then fitted Supersoft tyres, and at that point it was his turn to go and catch his rivals, especially in the final laps when Bottas passed and in the very last lap also Felipe Massa.

FELIPE MASSA 6 & VALTTERI BOTTAS 5

The two Williams drivers find themselves in this hot desert having to drive in total defense due to some questionable strategic choices. The race of both is truly an eternal duel in the central part of the group, especially that of Bottas who also gets a drive through for having literally rammed Hamilton at the start. The two drivers differentiate their strategies by preferring the medium compound to the others, a choice which, unlike the Australian GP, ​​does not give any advantage. Felipe reaches the finish line with worn out tires and loses two positions in the last seven laps, Valtteri only manages to narrowly get back into the points, ninth. Definitely disappointing weekend at the Williams wall.

STOFFEL VANDOORNE 9

In our opinion the best of this Grand Prix. More Rookie than ever, at his first taste of what this Formula 1 is, the young Belgian, 2 GP2015 champion, leaves everyone amazed by managing to precede a certain Jenson Button in qualifying, and collecting the first world championship point for McLaren in the 2016 championship. Determined More than ever, Stoffel shows a determination worthy of a champion on the track and launches into overtaking moves that - also thanks to this season's McLaren - last year both Fernando and Jenson could have dreamed of. For the whole race at the wall I'm keeping my fingers crossed but in the end he makes it! Scored points on his debut! We are sure that as soon as there is an opportunity, this great talent will return to the track and show us again what he is capable of.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 7

The carelessness of entering the pit lane when it was closed cost him the start from the pit lane, a handicap which significantly affected his race given the final result, an indication of the fact that the margin for a good result was there. His strategy is more aggressive than ever, with just one stint, the first, on soft tyres, and all the others on supersoft, trying to gain ground and make his way between the two Force Indias and the Saubers. He manages the remaining supersoft tires well in an 18-lap segment, finishing eleventh at the finish line.

MARCUSS ERICSSON 5.5

Starting from the last positions, the choice to risk a strategy rather than hope for a comeback due to the goodness of one's performances also seems quite justified. Unfortunately, holding a set of averages for 29 laps actually did not prove to be the right strategy for the Swede, who, having almost reached the points, saw a noteworthy placing fade away in the final laps, having to give way to Vandoorne and Magnussen.

PASCAL WEHRLEIN 7.5

If making his teammate look bad was his goal, he succeeded very well. Now the Manor is associated only with his name - except in Indonesia, mind you - given his brilliant performance in Bahrain. A Manor that surpasses a Force India? Hard to believe, but that's what happened a few hours ago in Sakhir. Now, the fact that the young DTM champion was a considerable talent was known, but that Manor was able to make a leap in quality of this magnitude... other than that Redbull gives you wings, here Mercedes puts a rocket under your belt …

FELIPE NASR 5

Similar to his teammate, Felipe also tries to venture a strategy that is a little too optimistic about the duration of certain covers. With ten laps to go he is forced to run for cover in the pits by fitting a set of supersofts for the final laps. The result is quite merciless, with only a fourteenth place finish.

NICO HULKENBERG 5 & SERGIO PEREZ 5

Force India's weekend is blacker than ever. Both drivers were involved in contacts that forced them to pit in the first two laps. From then on there is no more race, and both are no longer able to close the gap accumulated on the others, always remaining among the last positions.

RIO HARYANTO 5

Totally absent from the Sunday news, he should start worrying about putting himself in the spotlight a little more, otherwise his teammate will steal all the media attention from him.

CARLOS SAINZ JR. sv

First victim of a puncture caused by a contact with Perez, then forced to retire due to a breakdown. Unlucky race.

ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ 7

Good glimpse of the race considering that at the time of retirement he was traveling around fifth position. Haas can be proud of the work done so far.

JENSON BUTTON sv

The usual proverbial one luck he wants it retired after a few laps.

JOLYON PALMER sv

He returns to the pits after the formation lap and does not return to the track.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL sv

An ERS problem doesn't even allow him to start the race, stopping him during the reconnaissance lap. Will it always be due to the elusive turbo being too large?

 

Matteo Bramati.