2016 F1 Round 2 Bahrain Grand Prix race – Rosberg wins again, Vandoorne scores on debut

The Bahrain Grand Prix on April 3 ran for 57 laps, with Rosberg winning in 1:33:34.696, 10.282 seconds ahead of Räikkönen, to make it two victories from the first two races of the season. Hamilton recovered from a first-lap collision to finish third, giving Mercedes first and third.

Rosberg moved into the lead from second on the grid at the start. Hamilton made contact with Bottas at Turn 1, damaging his car and dropping as low as ninth. Bottas received a drive-through penalty for the incident. Hamilton then steadily recovered positions to reach the podium.

Vettel’s car began smoking on the formation lap and he could not reach his grid position. Palmer’s Renault also developed a problem before the start, preventing him from taking part in the race. Both were recorded as non-starters with zero laps in the classification, leaving Räikkönen as Ferrari’s only starter.

Räikkönen and Rosberg both started on supersoft tyres, switched to softs at their first stops, returned to supersofts at their second stops and fitted softs again for their final stints. Both followed the same three-stop tyre sequence. Räikkönen kept up the chase but was still 10.282 seconds behind at the finish.

Haas continued its strong start to the season. Grosjean finished fifth in Bahrain to bring the new team more points, recovering positions even after a lengthy pit stop. The Australian and Bahrain rounds yielded a combined 18 points, while Gutiérrez retired from this race.

Vandoorne stood in for the injured Alonso for his first F1 race and finished tenth to score one point. Button’s McLaren retired on lap six, while Vandoorne completed 56 laps and was the team’s only points finisher that day.

Ricciardo finished fourth, with Verstappen sixth and Kvyat seventh. Massa, Bottas and Magnussen were eighth, ninth and eleventh respectively. Magnussen, who started from the pit lane after failing to report for weighing as instructed in FP2, finished one place outside the points.

Seventeen drivers were classified at the finish. Sainz, Gutiérrez and Button retired, while Vettel and Palmer did not start. Rosberg had won both opening races and led the championship on 50 points, with Hamilton second on 33, extending his advantage to 17 points.