Bahrain Grand Prix driver ratings

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W07

Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

This was a near-faultless performance from Rosberg on a track he usually excels at. He loses one mark because he couldn't hold on for pole despite having the advantage going into the second Q3 runs.

He made another excellent start to the race and the victory was his to lose once Hamilton and Bottas collided at Turn 1. He just managed the gap from thereon.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W07

Start: 1st
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/medium/super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Hamilton concedes Rosberg is very tough to beat in Bahrain and he was struggling on Friday, in sector three particularly. The way Hamilton recovered to snatch pole, having messed up that sector again in Q3 initially, showed immense resolve under pressure.

The champion fluffed the start again, for which he loses marks. His recovery drive after the Bottas tangle was the best possible given the floor damage his Mercedes sustained.

5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Ferrari SF16-H

Start: NS (3rd)
Finish: N/A
Strategy: N/A

Rating: 8

Vettel can only be marked for his qualifying performance, which seemed to be about the maximum Ferrari could realistically expect, though he arguably should have made more of his second run in Q3. Still, the ultimate 0.5s gap to Mercedes was certainly not bridgeable so he wouldn't have qualified any higher than third.

He failed to start the race owing to engine failure.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari SF16-H

Start: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Raikkonen equalled his best result since returning to Ferrari with another second place in Bahrain.

He gets marked down for blowing his second Q3 lap at Turn 1 (thanks to insufficient front tyre preparation) and fluffing the start of the race with poor clutch release. Otherwise Raikkonen drove very well, and at least gave Mercedes something to think on, if not unduly worry about.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW38

Start: 7th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 6

Massa was handicapped by the late arrival of the new, shorter Williams nose on Saturday and in qualifying he trailed Bottas by 0.002s despite having a tenth advantage theoretically via the upgrade.

He started the race superbly to get up into second place, helped by the collision between his team-mate and Hamilton. But a two-stop strategy focusing on the medium tyre was not the way to go.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Mercedes FW38

Start: 6th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 7

The highlight of Bottas's weekend was an impressive sub-1m31s Q2 lap. He went two tenths slower in Q3, which was disappointing, but he wouldn't have qualified any higher.

He tried to aggressively defend the two places he gained at the start, but ended up clattering into Hamilton. The subsequent drive-through penalty ruined his race. Bottas might have beaten Kvyat's Red Bull to seventh without that.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB12

Start: 5th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/medium)

Rating: 9

Ricciardo revelled in the braking power, stability and slow turning prowess of the RB12 and used it to good effect to bag the best possible result again. Carlos Sainz Jr thought Ricciardo was "on another planet" in qualifying, and his Q3 lap was pretty special.

The only blot was tagging Hamilton's Mercedes at Turn 1, which damaged a front wing endplate, as the Hamilton/Bottas tangle unfolded.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Red Bull-Renault RB12

Start: 15th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/soft/super-soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

Qualifying was a disaster again and Kvyat was mystified he could not extract the same performance as Ricciardo from the RB12, despite feeling everything was "normal" in the car.

The race was much better and saves him from a low score. He made an alternative strategy work with decisive overtaking, including successfully hunting down both Williams drivers at the end.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM09

Start: 18th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 5

Another race to forget for Perez. The car was good enough for the top 10 but Force India mistimed his second Q1 run. He loses marks for being too far off Hulkenberg on the first run in any case.

The Mexican's race began well, but a collision with Sainz on lap two spoiled it. Perez tried to stretch to three stops anyway, but lost out to Nasr and Hulkenberg on the last lap.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM09

Start: 8th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 4 stops (super-soft/soft/medium/super-soft/super-soft)

Rating: 6

Hulkenberg became a hero figure to Grosjean for stealing the final Q3 spot, but however farcical the tyre rules have made Q2, he deserves credit for showing competitive ambition and realising it.

The German admitted to making a poor start to the race, before damaging his front wing in the first-corner melee. He then ate through tyres in an attempt to recover the lost ground.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
Renault RS16

Start: Pits
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/super-soft/super-soft/super-soft)

Rating: 8

Qualifying was irrelevant given the penalty Magnussen received for missing the weighbridge in Friday practice, but he gets marked up for asserting himself over rookie team-mate Palmer (with a single run) regardless.

The Renault was relatively more competitive in the race and Magnussen pulled off an aggressive strategy to beat both Saubers and Wehrlein's Manor on merit - the best result possible in the circumstances.

30 JOLYON PALMER
Renault RS16

Start: NS (19th)
Finish: N/A
Strategy: N/A

Rating: 6

Palmer struggled to find his rhythm at this track and was disappointed to qualify 20th when the aim for Renault was Q2. The 0.257s gap to Magnussen was also too big given Palmer had two runs in Q1. He loses marks for that.

The British rookie was another whose race was over before it began, thanks to a suspected hydraulic problem that shut down the car's brake-by-wire and power-steering systems.

33 MAX VERSTAPPEN
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11

Start: 10th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/medium/super-soft)

Rating: 9

Verstappen apologised to Toro Rosso for his renegade antics in Australia and delivered a performance more reminiscent of his outstanding rookie season in Bahrain.

He lost out to Gutierrez on the frantic first lap, but otherwise drove well. He was in a tight battle with Grosjean for fifth, and charged after the Haas on super-softs at the end, but just ran out of laps. Much, much better.

55 CARLOS SAINZ JR
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11

Start: 11th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/medium/soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Sainz was again slightly quicker than Verstappen in qualifying, but only in Q1 rather than when it counted in Q2. He lost out to Button and Gutierrez on the first lap of the race, but had just repassed the McLaren when Perez came down the inside and clattered into his car.

He soldiered on for a bit, but decided to retire to save engine mileage.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Sauber-Ferrari C35

Start: 17th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/medium)

Rating: 7

This was one of Ericsson's better weekends in F1. He felt the car was handling well and called his qualifying lap "perfect", though arguably should have beaten Wehrlein's Manor.

Ericsson said he lacked full power for the first three laps of the race but recovered to beat Wehrlein and team-mate Nasr. He used the medium tyre well at the end, but couldn't hold off Magnussen's Renault.

12 FELIPE NASR
Sauber-Ferrari C35

Start: 21st
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/soft/medium/super-soft)

Rating: 4

Another tough race for Nasr, who struggled with the same braking and handling problems he suffered in Melbourne.

He was a massive 0.795s adrift of Ericsson on the first Q1 runs and wants a deep analysis of why his chassis behaves so differently. He feels he doesn't have a proper weapon to fight with, but as yet the team has found no clear reason.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Honda MP4-31

Start: 14th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Button raised eyebrows with the third fastest time in second Friday practice, but loses marks for being slower than his rookie team-mate when it mattered in qualifying, complaining of a mysterious loss of rear grip in Q2, later put down to tyre temperatures.

He started the race really well, though, and was tracking Verstappen's Toro Rosso until his engine cut out. Button felt he could have been on for a big result without that.

47 STOFFEL VANDOORNE
McLaren-Honda MP4-31

Start: 12th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

The GP2 champion deserves enormous credit for an accomplished F1 debut, having rushed back from Japan to sub for Alonso without having even tested the car before. Narrowly outqualifying Button at the first attempt was a real feather in Vandoorne's cap, though that was mainly down to Button underperforming.

The first lap was probably the only weak point. Otherwise he was excellent - consistent and mistake-free.

88 RIO HARYANTO
Manor-Mercedes MRT-05

Start: 20th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/soft/medium/super-soft)

Rating: 5

Haryanto was overshadowed by the superb performance of his team-mate in Bahrain. He got ahead in final practice but only by running softer tyres, and a steering rack change before qualifying meant he was up against it.

He qualified a second adrift of Wehrlein and was far behind in the race too, but to achieve comparable pace over the second stint on softs and final stint on super-softs was decent.

94 PASCAL WEHRLEIN
Manor-Mercedes MRT-05

Start: 16th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/soft/super-soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

The Mercedes junior was the undoubted star of qualifying, taking 16th (Manor's best ever result in a fully dry session) and beating both Renaults and Ericsson's Sauber. He was disappointed not to make Q2 but there's no shame in being 0.247s behind Kvyat's Red Bull.

Wehrlein struggled with tyre degradation in the race but enjoyed a feisty battle with the Saubers and Magnussen's Renault.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Haas-Ferrari VF-16

Start: 9th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/super-soft/super-soft/soft)

Rating: 10

A flawless weekend for Grosjean, who did a great job to beat both Toro Rossos in qualifying and took perverse delight in Hulkenberg's Force India knocking him out of Q3, which allowed Haas to start the race on new tyres.

He absolutely made the most of that strategic advantage to beat both Williamses and Verstappen, despite a slow final pitstop. Fine work.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Haas-Ferrari VF-16

Start: 13th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (super-soft/super-soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Another case of what might have been for Gutierrez, who followed that frightening Alonso collision in Australia with retirement in Bahrain, thanks to a failed front brake disc.

He underperformed in qualifying relative to Grosjean, which left him behind both Toro Rossos and Vandoorne's McLaren, but made up for that with a ballistic first lap. Gutierrez wasn't much slower than Grosjean in the race until the car broke.