[Official] Driver of the race: Bahrain Grand Prix

[stripedcat]

I'm going to give it to Lewisham Hamster again - for being German! In all seriousness - he did drive the car to the ragged edge and beyond - and manged to keep his teammate behind him. Also, apart from one incident - he was very clean in his racing.

Kudos to Rosberg as well. He did get pole - and he clearly isn't going to let his teammate(who is a former WDC) intermediate him. Strong racing from him - and very clean.

Congratulations to Pérez as well. A strong third place. Superb result.

What more can you say about Riccardio? That guy clearly does have some talent - going from 13th to 4th - despite his recent bad luck. Well done. I'm glad that he managed to finally get some points.

Special mentions to the Hulk(another strong showing) and also Massa for a strong performance.

[Neil22]

Ricciardo for me. Kudos to Jensen too for getting as far as he did with the car he had.

[F1Pete]

It was hilarious when Paddy Lowe told the drivers to bring both cars home and they went ahead and raced like hell. I am sure during the Schumacher days that Rubens or Massa would never have been allowed to cause any chaos.

Who was Vergne referring to when he said something like "That guy in the Lotus, I don't know who it was but he is absolutely mental!" I am guessing he was talking about Maldonado...

Anyway, I guess I have to divert my vote from Kimi to Hamilton being the driver of the race. Those two cars are truly a masterpiece.

[GT6]

had to give it to Lewis his best race for years IMHO

[steve_r]

Spoilt for choice here. Hamilton is the easy one to pick, but Rosberg also drove a brilliant race too. Perez as well - that Force Indioa car looks very impressive indeed. And of course, how good was it to see Ricciardo overtaking his team-mate.

[John Turner]

Great drives from the top 4. You expect it from Hamilton on a good day, and Rosberg has emerged as top drawer and Ricciardo is establishing his reputation, so the one guy, who, in my view, really exceeded expectation was Perez, so gave it to him and I'm not his greatest fan, frankly. Also agree with Neil, above, another fine drive under the radar from JB on his 250th. Deserved better than a fading car which failed even to get him to the finish. I actually think he maybe flattering that car at the moment. Better than last year's but not by much, methinks.

[Alan Raine]

Difficult to choose between Hamilton, Perez & Ricciardo but I'll go for the Australian for being the quickest non Merc, out driving Vettel and always having a smile on his face

[Greem]

Hamilton

[bauble]

Funny how our quadrupal World Champion was just another driver, without a superior car!

Hmmm?????

[bauble]

I will vote for Felipe Massa for demonstrating that free from Ferrari team orders he showed he is without doubt the best starter in the field, and can mix it with the best of them. Good to see.

bauble.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bauble

Funny how our quadrupal World Champion was just another driver, without a superior car!

Hmmm?????

It's not the first time I've seen that happen.

[Bononi]

Lewis Hamilton.

[Tracsmart]

Never been a fan of Hamilton but he certainly changed my opinion with a sterling battle with Rosberg. Great spectacle from both drivers.
What's with the Chilton vote, he only has to wait for others to drop out and Daddy stick another $000000 in the till

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Tracsmart

Never been a fan of Hamilton but he certainly changed my opinion with a sterling battle with Rosberg. Great spectacle from both drivers.
What's with the Chilton vote, he only has to wait for others to drop out and Daddy stick another $000000 in the till

Maybe that's it, he didn't drop out and brought the car home, .

[chillibowl]

Chilton has been surprisingly steady and much better than most of the pay drivers i have seen come through the doors. its almost a shame that he comes from a wealthy family otherwise he would get more respect imo.

that said, driver of the race is a bit of stretch to me as well.

[Aysedasi]

Hamilton. Superb to watch and thanks to Nico had to work bloody hard for it from start to finish. Worthy mentions to Perez and Ricciardo (that pass on Vettel gave ma a very large smile.... )


And good to see that Maldonado is managing to keep up his exacting standards.....

[Richard B]

Perez, awesome drive. I hope McLaren are thinking "the one they shouldn't have let go"

[mattt]

hamilton no questions.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by bauble

I will vote for Felipe Massa for demonstrating that free from Ferrari team orders he showed he is without doubt the best starter in the field, and can mix it with the best of them. Good to see.

After everything else that happened during the race, I had forgotten Massa's start. I doubt it shows him to be the best starter in the field though. Anyone who has ever raced knows that every so often it all comes together perfectly and you fly forward as if different rules of physics apply . And rather more often someone else hooks up like that and you watch them disappear . It was interesting to see that despite all the technology, sometimes it works better than others.

[wnut]

Hamilton - did what needed to be done, and intimidated Rosberg into coming second!

Very honorable mention to Rosberg, he backed out of a contact on at least three occasions, very mature! I fear if Vettel or Alonso were driving Perez would have had his maiden win, and Hamilton would have known not to do it again! I have no idea what will be said at Merc behind closed doors, or indeed what Paddy Lowe's message really meant.

What happened to leaving a car width on the outside of a turn for the overtaking car that Vettel and Schumacher were penalized for?

[bauble]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

After everything else that happened during the race, I had forgotten Massa's start. I doubt it shows him to be the best starter in the field though. Anyone who has ever raced knows that every so often it all comes together perfectly and you fly forward as if different rules of physics apply . And rather more often someone else hooks up like that and you watch them disappear . It was interesting to see that despite all the technology, sometimes it works better than others.

As a long term fan of Felipe I have watched him closely over the years, and while many deride him for his role at Ferrari, were you to re-run all of the GPs you would plainly see that the 'best starter' tag was not based on one start in Abu Dhabi. Massa consistently makes up ground from the lights.
Just one example. Hungary 2008, on second row behind Hamilton and Kovalainen, passes Heikki off the line and takes Hamilton at the first corner.

In the mad scramble that is the start of any race we tend to watch;

a) The front two rows to see who gets away first.

b) Our own particular favourite driver.

Hence my claim for Massa.

[bauble]

I think that Hamilton and Rosberg made quite an impression, but I agree with Aysedasi.

I think Maldonado made the biggest impact!

Bauble.

[numbersix]

I still don't like the cars, the sound or the regulations but, and fair play to them, the race was very exiting both at the front and in the midfield. If this carries on I will happily revise my opinion.

Top marks to team Mercedes for allowing their drivers to entertain us when it could so easily have become a procession.

[b1ackcr0w]

Tough choice, hard to say that Ricciardo or Perez weren't the best drivers on the day. But I have to go with Hamilton, given that he started 2nd on the grid, had the weaker of the split strategies and held his team-mate off to the line on the slower tyre.

[jedrinck]

Originally Posted by bauble

Funny how our quadrupal World Champion was just another driver, without a superior car!

Hmmm?????

Finally! Evidence that Vettel really doesn't know how to drive after all!