Post-Race Analysis: Bahrain GP

With so many different race strategies we have tried to analyse lap times to get a better picture of the raw pace of each car. We have compared lap times for cars on the same tyre compound, with similar fuels loads and broken down the race into ‘stints’.

Stint 1

Sebastian Vettel got to the front on lap 3 and never looked back. His pace throughout the race was outstanding.

Stint 2

As in the first stint, the chasing pack were evenly matched, with Nico Hulkenberg outperforming expectations. Fernando Alonso had problems with his DRS, which ruined his race and means he doesn’t feature in the breakdown.

Stint 3

Lewis Hamilton rallied during this stint but was at a loss to explain the sudden improvement in performance after his second pit-stop.  There is pace in the Mercedes the team just need to unlock it.

Stint 4

Sebastian Vettel eased to victory but proved he still had plenty left in the locker by clocking the fastest lap of the race at 96.91s, his 55th lap of the race. Sergio Perez enjoyed a strong race, showing consistent pace through all four stints to suggest he is adjusting to life at McLaren.

Summary
- Sebastian Vettel imperious and could have gone even quicker.
- Hamilton’s Mercedes has moments when it looks quick but these are hard to predict.
- Sergio Perez enjoyed his strongest race of the year and is starting to resemble the driver we saw at Sauber.