Lewis Hamilton wins his third race of the 2015 season at Bahrain

Yesterday afternoon in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton won his third race of the 2015 season at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain ahead of Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen and his team mate Nico Rosberg.

Before the start of the race, it was announced that Jenson Button would not start the race after suffering with ERS problems on his McLaren-Honda MP4-30 and the team decided not to run him for safety reasons. It is a great shame for Button after showing promise in FP3 despite suffering problems throughout the weekend.

Before the race begun, Felipe Massa could not move from his grid position on the warm up lap. He then had to be removed from the grid to the pitlane in order to start the race. We also saw the stewards announcing that Carlos Sainz Jr was to receive five second time penalties for exceeding the maximum time for the reconnaissance laps.

At the start of the race, Lewis Hamilton got a good start as did Sebastian Vettel who was ahead of Nico Rosberg. Kimi Raikkonen was then able to pass Valtteri Bottas who locked up as they went into Turn 1. There was a battle between Carlos Sainz Jr and Sergio Perez with both trying to pass each other and Perez getting the upper hand.

As the pack moved into the next few corners on the opening lap, Perez was then able to pass Felipe Nasr. At Turn 9, Daniil Kvyat moved up a position and Pastor Maldonado ran wide yet again. Lap 3 saw the stewards announcing that Pastor Maldonado was under investigation for being out of position on the grid and the next lap saw Rosberg passing Raikkonen at Turn 1 for position.

Lap 7 saw the stewards announce that Maldonado would receive a five second time penalty for being out of position at the start of the race.

Throughout the early stages of the race there were battles up and down the field between Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson, a battle between Carlos Sainz Jr and Sergio Perez, a battle between Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso and also between Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Rosberg then able to pass Vettel for second place on Lap 9 with a great move into Turn 2.

After the first round of pit stops, Rosberg found himself once again behind Vettel after Ferrari pitted him in order to undercut Rosberg and the Mercedes team. But on Lap 16, Rosberg into Turn 1 with another great move passed Vettel for position.

Hamilton regained the lead of the race after the first round of pit stops on Lap 18 and led Rosberg by 1.8 seconds. There was a battle for ninth between Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr which was grabbing everyone's attention at this stage of the race. On Lap 25, we saw Nasr being able to pass Massa for position; both drivers then pitted and found themselves behind the Lotus of Maldonado!

Fernando Alonso was battling for position with Hulkenberg and Massa but lost out to both drivers by Lap 30 of the race. Further on down the track, Maldonado, Nasr and Kvyat were battling each other for position with Maldonado gaining the upper hand and was now in eighth place.

Lap 31 saw Sainz Jr officially retiring from the race after stopping on the circuit at Turn 8 when one of the wheels on his Toro Rosso wasn't fitted properly during his pit stop the lap before.

Lap 35 saw Rosberg gaining on Vettel once again. Vettel going wide on the final corner of the circuit and at the start of Lap 36; Rosberg passed Vettel at Turn 1 with another great move and was now third.

Vettel as a result of running wide had to pit at the end of the next lap for a new nose section. Also, Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen officially retired from the race on the same lap with engine problems.

Lap 40 saw Hamilton passing Raikkonen for the lead of the race which he did not lose. At the end of the lap, Raikkonen pitted and Hamilton on Lap 41 now leads his team mate Rosberg.

The next lap sees Maldonado's brakes smoking as he makes his pit stop but he was able to continue running during the race.

In the latter stages of the race, Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel were battling each other for fourth place but Bottas did not put a foot wrong and kept his cool and composure ahead of the four times world champion. Everyone's focus was on Nico Rosberg trying to keep Kimi Raikkonen behind him for second place but on Lap 56, Rosberg ran wide going into Turn 1 as a result of his brakes failing and handed the second place to Raikkonen.

In the end it was Lewis Hamilton that took his third victory of the season at the Bahrain GP ahead of Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen who finished the race in second place 3.3 seconds behind him but ahead of Hamilton's team mate Nico Rosberg in third place who was 6 seconds behind Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas finished the race in a brilliant fourth place ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo who finished in fifth and sixth places despite Ricciardo's Renault engine letting go in a spectacular fashion before finishing the race, he managed to finish ahead of Romain Grosjean who finished in seventh place. Sergio Perez finished the race in eighth place ahead of the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat who put in a good drive to finish in ninth place and Felipe Massa who finished in tenth place despite starting from the pitlane.

Fernando Alonso ended the race in eleventh place 1 lap down ahead of Felipe Nasr in twelfth place who was ahead of the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson who finished the race in thirteenth and fourteenth place one lap down on Hamilton.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Pastor Maldonado ended the race in fifteenth place ahead of the Manor F1 drivers of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi finished the race in sixteenth and seventeenth places; both 2 laps down on Hamilton. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr did not finish the race due to engine problems while Jenson Button did not start the race. **
The classification of the Bahrain GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.35.05.809
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 3.380s
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 6.033s
4. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 42.957s
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 43.989s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1.01.751s
7. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.24.763s
8. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1 lap
9. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1 lap
10. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault, 1 lap
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1 lap
12. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1 lap
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1 lap
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1 lap
15. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1 lap
16. Will Stevens, Manor-Marussia, 2 laps
17. Roberto Merhi, Manor-Marussia, 2 laps
18. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, Not Classified
19. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, Not classified
20. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, Did not start

Lewis Hamilton leads the 2015 Driver's championship with 93 points, Rosberg is second with 66 points, Vettel is third with 65 points, Raikkonen is fourth with 42 points, Massa is fifth with 31 points, Bottas is sixth with 30 points, Ricciardo is seventh with 30 points, Nasr is eighth with 14 points, Grosjean is ninth with 12 points and Hulkenberg is tenth with 6 points.

Mercedes lead the 2015 Constructor Championship with 159 points, Ferrari is second with 107 points, Williams is third with 61 points, Red Bull is fourth with 23 points, Sauber is fifth with 19 points, Toro Rosso is sixth with 12 points, Lotus are seventh with 12 points. Force India are eighth with 11 points.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa