Lewis Hamilton took a well earned victory in Bahrain to move closer to Nico Rosberg in the championship after his team-mate came in second to give Mercedes a second 1-2.
Hamilton forced his way through at the start to claim the lead, but the pair traded places throughout the opening laps before Hamilton managed to open up a gap with half the race to go.
It wasn’t until a big accident for Esteban Gutierrez, in which his Sauber flipped over after contact with Pastor Maldonado, which brought out the safety car and eroded Hamilton’s lead.
That left Hamilton with Rosberg on his tail for the final ten laps, with the pair once again trading places with wheel-to-wheel racing.
Sergio Perez came from 4th place to take Force India’s first podium of 2014 and only their second ever podium since the team joined F1.
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth with the second Nico Hulkenberg just behind, to split the Red Bulls.
It was an intense race with wheel-to-wheel action from start to finish up and down the grid, with the Mercedes, Williams, Force India, Red Bull and Ferrari duos all enjoying race long fights.
Race Result – 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 25 | |
| 02. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +1.0 | 18 |
| 03. | S. Perez | Force India | +24.0 | 15 |
| 04. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | +24.4 | 12 |
| 05. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | +28.6 | 10 |
| 06. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +29.8 | 8 |
| 07. | F. Massa | Williams | +31.2 | 6 |
| 08. | V. Bottas | Williams | +31.8 | 4 |
| 09. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +32.5 | 2 |
| 10. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | +33.4 | 1 |
| 11. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | +41.3 | |
| 12. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +43.1 | |
| 13. | M. Chilton | Marussia | +59.9 | |
| 14. | P. Maldonado | Lotus | +62.8 | |
| 15. | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | +87.9 | |
| 16. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | +1 lap | |
| 17. | J. Button | McLaren | +2 laps | |
| 18. | K. Magnussen | McLaren | Retired | |
| 19. | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | Retired | |
| 20. | M. Ericsson | Caterham | Retired | |
| 21. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | Retired | |
| 22. | A. Sutil | Force India | Retired |
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