2014 Bahrain GP race analysis: Delving into the detail and strategies from Sakhir
Was Sakhir the win that got away for Rosberg? How does the pecking order look behind Merc now? How did Ricciardo nearly grab a podium?
Tuesday 8 April 2014 15:18, UK
The resultant Safety Car of course means we will never know if Rosberg would have caught Hamilton back up at a quicker rate than he fell behind once their tyre compounds were reversed for the final stint. In any case, the reset of the field meant that Nico was immediately on the sister car's tail and on the faster tyres for what turned into a thrilling, no-holds barred 11-lap sprint to the flag. However, despite his rubber advantage and the access of DRS which presented him with more tries into the first corner, the German couldn't make a pass stick. That doesn't mean Rosberg wasn't the quicker of the two - as Lewis himself admits, Nico did arguably have the edge - but the race just underlined that Hamilton - in attack or defence - is right on the top of his game at the moment.
What's the pecking order now?
The one constant we can be sure of at the start of the 2014 is that Mercedes are out in front. But behind the runaway leaders, it's the closest of close-run things. The results from Saturday's qualifying hour are worth dwelling on because the session was the first dry qualy of the season so far and thus offered perhaps the most accurate depiction of the pecking order so far. What's immediately apparent is the proximity of the chasing pack to each other with the lead Williams, Force India, Ferrari and McLaren separated by less than two-tenths of a second and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo a smidgen further ahead. Given that a Red Bull started on the front-row in both Australia and Malaysia, albeit in the wet, and finished on the podium in both races (although Ricciardo was later disqualified) the World Champions' RB10 can legitimately be regarded as the second-fastest car on the grid. Just. Yet the balance of power is finely poised and the RB10's best-of-field aerodynamic advantage, but lack of power saw the team overtaken by both the Force India and, prior to Jenson Button's retirement, McLaren on race day and braced for another tough weekend at power-hungry Shanghai. Easily overlooked in the wake of their double retirement, McLaren had some cause for cheer with their speed on track on Sunday. After falling off the pace in Malaysia, when the improvement derived from a new front-wing was offset by the penal characteristics of the Sepang track, the team were in the mix this weekend. But where exactly? Even the team itself sounded unsure. According to Jenson Button, "In terms of pace, we took a step forward this weekend." In contrast, Kevin Magnussen thought "we were actually a little less strong here than we were in Malaysia". The middle ground, filled by team boss Eric Boullier, is that the team are currently treading water until next month's Spanish GP. And that brings us on to Ferrari. While reliability continues to prove the F14 T's strongest suit - they are the only team to get two cars to the finish in each race so far - Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen struggled with tyres, traction and power en-route to lowly ninth and tenth place finishes respectively. "We just don't have the speed overall - we are lacking a bit in a straight-line, we are lacking a bit of downforce," was Kimi Raikkonen's frank assessment. Ferrari's two-second deficit to the Mercedes on the fastest-lap charts alone will make depressing reading all the way to China. At present, they
The one constant we can be sure of at the start of the 2014 is that Mercedes are out in front. But behind the runaway leaders, it's the closest of close-run things. The results from Saturday's qualifying hour are worth dwelling on because the session was the first dry qualy of the season so far and thus offered perhaps the most accurate depiction of the pecking order so far. What's immediately apparent is the proximity of the chasing pack to each other with the lead Williams, Force India, Ferrari and McLaren separated by less than two-tenths of a second and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo a smidgen further ahead. Given that a Red Bull started on the front-row in both Australia and Malaysia, albeit in the wet, and finished on the podium in both races (although Ricciardo was later disqualified) the World Champions' RB10 can legitimately be regarded as the second-fastest car on the grid. Just. Yet the balance of power is finely poised and the RB10's best-of-field aerodynamic advantage, but lack of power saw the team overtaken by both the Force India and, prior to Jenson Button's retirement, McLaren on race day and braced for another tough weekend at power-hungry Shanghai. Easily overlooked in the wake of their double retirement, McLaren had some cause for cheer with their speed on track on Sunday. After falling off the pace in Malaysia, when the improvement derived from a new front-wing was offset by the penal characteristics of the Sepang track, the team were in the mix this weekend. But where exactly? Even the team itself sounded unsure. According to Jenson Button, "In terms of pace, we took a step forward this weekend." In contrast, Kevin Magnussen thought "we were actually a little less strong here than we were in Malaysia". The middle ground, filled by team boss Eric Boullier, is that the team are currently treading water until next month's Spanish GP. And that brings us on to Ferrari. While reliability continues to prove the F14 T's strongest suit - they are the only team to get two cars to the finish in each race so far - Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen struggled with tyres, traction and power en-route to lowly ninth and tenth place finishes respectively. "We just don't have the speed overall - we are lacking a bit in a straight-line, we are lacking a bit of downforce," was Kimi Raikkonen's frank assessment. Ferrari's two-second deficit to the Mercedes on the fastest-lap charts alone will make depressing reading all the way to China. At present, they
