2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 April 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the third round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, the 900th Formula One World Championship event, the 11th Bahrain Grand Prix and the first time that the race was held at night. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 57-lap race starting from second position. His teammate Nico Rosberg finished second and Force India driver Sergio Pérez took third. It was Hamilton's second victory of the season and the 24th of his Formula One career.
Hamilton accelerated faster than Rosberg off the line and overtook him at the first corner. Both Mercedes drivers pulled away from the rest of the field and Rosberg conserved fuel which allowed him to attack Hamilton before the first round of pit stops on lap 19 with his teammate successfully defending the lead. He extended his advantage over Rosberg over the next 22 laps before an incident between Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutiérrez caused the safety car to be deployed and his lead was reduced to nothing. Following instructions to bring the cars safely to the finish, Rosberg immediately battled Hamilton for first place, but was unable to get ahead of him and Hamilton maintained a steady advantage when his teammate's soft compound tyres were worn out to win the race.
The result reduced Rosberg's lead over Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship to 11 points. Nico Hülkenberg moved from sixth to third after finishing in fifth place, while Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button fell one place each to round out the top five. Mercedes increased their advantage in the Constructors' Championship to be 68 points ahead of second-placed Force India who moved from fifth to second because of their strong result. McLaren were third with Red Bull and Ferrari in positions fourth and fifth with 16 races left in the season.
Background
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was the third of 19 scheduled rounds of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, the eleventh running of the event, as well as the 900th Formula One World Championship race. It was held on 6 April 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought two types of tyre to the race: two dry compounds. The drag reduction system had two activation zones for the race: one was on the straight between turns 10 and 11, and the second was on the start/finish straight from the final to the first corners.Going into the race, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship with 43 points, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in second, and Fernando Alonso in third place. Jenson Button was fourth on 23 points, three ahead of his McLaren teammate Kevin Magnussen in fifth. Mercedes were leading the Constructors' Championship with 68 points, McLaren were in second on 43 points. Ferrari were third on 30 points, while Williams and Force India contended for fourth place.
With the potential of a title challenge between the two Mercedes drivers, Hamilton felt their relationship would be unaffected by the race, noting that the two had a healthy working association. Rosberg said that he recognised that his relationship with Hamilton could change as the season progressed, noting that the two drivers had battled for a championship when they were competing in go-karts. He was confident they would work through the circumstances. Hamilton aimed to secure his first victory at the circuit, while Rosberg stated that he enjoyed racing at the track and hoped to continue his recent momentum in the race. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner felt the power advantage of both Mercedes cars would possibly be greater because of the Bahrain International Circuit being a "power-dominated" track. He believed the country's hot climate would affect his team's chances, but said they would attempt to make progress during the race weekend.
In January 2014, an alliance of Bahraini human rights organisations including the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights wrote to Jean Todt, the president of the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, requesting that the Bahrain Grand Prix be suspended until the FIA's Ethics Committee could investigate the impact the race has on human rights in Bahrain. According to the BCHR no response was received from the FIA. Reports from the race meeting indicated that thousands of people attended a rally held on the Friday before the race itself outside the Bahraini capital of Manama protesting against the Grand Prix and the government. Clashes between protesters and police took place following the demonstration.
In October 2013, it was revealed by former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh that the race would occur between the early part of the evening and nightfall saying he had observed plans for the idea. This was confirmed by the race organisers one month later as part of an effort to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the event's first running. Its floodlighting system was tested at the 2013 6 Hours of Bahrain. Following the success of the trial, it was later confirmed on 5 April by the chairperson of the Bahrain International Circuit, Zayed Al Zayani, that the Bahrain Grand Prix would remain a night race for future seasons. Sunday is a work day in Bahrain so scheduling the race in the evening resulted in sharply higher ticket sales. That, along with the investment in lighting, made it certain that all Grand Prix races in Bahrain would be evening events.
There were a total of 11 teams each fielded two race drivers for the event. Three drivers made their first appearances of the season in a Formula One car during the first practice session. Felipe Nasr drove in place of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, the Sauber of Esteban Gutiérrez was taken over by Giedo van der Garde, and Robin Frijns utilised Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham.
Practice
There were practice sessions—two 90-minute sessions on Friday and a third one-hour on Saturday—preceding Sunday's race. Hamilton lapped fastest in the first practice session at 1 minute and 37.502 seconds; Rosberg, Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, Button, Kimi Räikkönen, Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel were in positions two to ten. In the second practice session, held in cooler weather, Hamilton recorded the day's fastest lap of 1 minute and 34.325 seconds, with teammate Rosberg in second. Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Vettel, Magnussen, Pérez and Bottas followed in the top ten. Pastor Maldonado damaged his car after it went airborne from striking the turn four exit kerbs, and Max Chilton lost control of his Marussia braking for the same corner due to a front-left brake disc failure. Pérez swerved to avoid hitting Rosberg who slowed in the 13th and 14th turns. The stewards reprimanded Rosberg, while Gutiérrez was not penalised for impeding Massa in the same area. The turn four kerb was removed by course officials following complaints from several drivers. The FIA's race director Charlie Whiting wrote to all teams warning that the track limits would be strictly enforced in the event any driver was shown to gain an advantage by going over this area. Several cars ran wide at the entry of turn 11 during the second session because of a breezy tail wind on the backstraight. Hamilton set the fastest lap with a time of 1 minute and 35.324 seconds, ahead of Rosberg, Pérez. Bottas, Massa, Button, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Kvyat and Räikkönen. Vettel missed the session's final 20 minutes because he spun at the second turn's exit and beached his car in the corner's gravel trap.Qualifying
Saturday evening's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 17th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second session lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 16th. The final session lasted 12 minutes and determined pole position to tenth. Cars who progressed to the final session were not allowed to change tyres for the race's start, using the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times in the second session. It was the first dry qualifying session of the season, and the track temperature cooled gradually as it progressed. Rosberg set the fastest times in the second and third sessions to clinch his first pole position of the season and the fifth of his career with a time of 1 minute and 33.185 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Hamilton, who locked his brakes going into the first turn on his final timed lap, flat-spotting his tyres and abandoning his attempt. Ricciardo qualified in third, but took a ten-place grid penalty for an unsafe pit stop release at the season's previous round in Malaysia. Hence, Bottas inherited the position and Pérez took fourth. Räikkönen felt uncomfortable with his Ferrari and medium compound tyre issues restricted him to fifth. Button—in his 250th Grand Prix— took sixth while an oversteer left Massa in seventh. Magnussen and Alonso were eighth and ninth respectively. Vettel rounded out the top ten qualifiers due to a lack of track running following his final practice session spin, and a downshifting issue.Hülkenberg was the fastest driver not advancing into the final session; he went wide at the turn eleven exit kerb which cost him time. Kvyat's fastest time was achieved in the track's first sector which qualified him 12th. After Ricciardo's penalty was applied, Kvyat was separated by teammate Jean-Éric Vergne who made an engine adjustment after feeling he was low on power. Gutiérrez took 15th ahead of the two Lotus cars of Romain Grosjean and Maldonado who both struggled for pace. Adrian Sutil failed to advance beyond the first session due to slower cars causing him to abort his final timed lap. However, he incurred a five-place grid penalty after he was deemed by the stewards to have forced Grosjean wide between turns 13 and 14 and two penalty points on his super licence and started from the back of the field. Kobayashi and Jules Bianchi started from 18th and 19th; Kobayashi did one timed lap on the soft compound tyres before entering the pit lane and rejoined the track with three minutes remaining for one further lap. Bianchi lost three-tenths of a second on the straights which he felt prevented him from qualifying ahead of Kobayashi. Marcus Ericsson used a new set of soft compound tyres but brake locking and an energy recovery system issue slowed him. He made a pit stop for a new set of soft compound tyres and qualified in 20th, ahead of teammate Max Chilton in 21st.