As it happened: Bahrain 2016 - The race

• 15:30

  Hello fact fans, how's everyone doing on this fine race weekend Sunday?

• 15:31

  Let's ignore all the rubbishy stuff that's been going on. Qualifying has been and gone so who cares what format it took? Instead, let's look ahead to the race today.

• 15:31

  Mercedes quite easily locked out the front row, with Ferrari behind them - that will be the story of the season, I think! Daniel Ricciardo was the next in line, and did a good job considering all other Renault/TAG Heuer engines were 15th or below.

• 15:31

  Grid positions

  1	L Hamilton	Mercedes
  2	N Rosberg	Mercedes
  3	S Vettel	Ferrari
  4	K Räikkönen	Ferrari
  5	D Ricciardo	Red Bull
  6	V Bottas	Williams
  7	F Massa	Williams
  8	N Hülkenberg	Force India
  9	R Grosjean	Haas
  10	M Verstappen	Toro Rosso

• 15:32

  Kevin Magnussen has had a pretty hefty sanction handed to him by the stewards. The Renault driver missed a weigh-in session during free practice on Friday, and so has been ordered to start from the pit lane.

• 15:32

  The pit lane, by the way, has just opened, so cars are firing up and leaving the garages. Few practice starts along the way.

• 15:33

  Circuit Data

  Bahrain International Circuit
  Local timezone	+03:00 GMT
  First race	2004
  Number of laps	57
  Circuit length	5.412km
  Race distance	308.238km
  Start offset	0.246km

• 15:34

  Let's not forget that poor Fernando Alonso is sitting out this weekend whilst recovering from his injuries sustained during the crash in Australia. In his place, one Stoffel Vandoorne who has already done a great job by outqualifying teammate Jenson Button. He starts 12th on the grid to Button's 14th.

• 15:34

  Tweet from @alo_oficial: "Good night! Strange race watching from the pits, but I will try to learn how the team works from this side and benefit next time in the car!"

• 15:34
  Medium

  Soft

  Supersoft

  Same tyres this weekend as in last weekend in Australia. Although the driver selections were slightly different this time out, most were happy to take 1 or 2 sets of the white stripes and focus instead on the softer compound.

• 15:37

  Tweet from @McLarenF1: Grid bound. @svandoorne makes his way to his first-ever #F1 grid. Go get 'em, Stoff.

• 15:38

  

  23°C
  Track	30°C
  Humidity	29%
  Wind speed	3.0mps

• 15:38

  The sun is slowly setting, of course, the sky turning a little pink. We'll be in moon territory later.

• 15:39

  Daniel Ricciardo on the grid: "The start, anything is possible. Ferrari had a good one in Melbourne, Mercedes was a bit up and down. It could get bunched up in turn one. Otherwise, our raw pace is fit. If it all goes in order off the start, fifth is what we have to target, but obviously aiming for a bit more."

• 15:42

  One of the talking points from Australia was the team radio from Max Verstappen, as he was getting feisty about being stuck behind Carlos Sainz. This inter-team battling could happen again, as the pair start 10th and 11th respectively.

• 15:42

  Valtteri Bottas: "Should be an interesting race, I think it’s going to be very close, so I’m looking forward to it. I feel like having a Red Bull today, so let’s see."

• 15:45

  Nico Hülkenberg: "Strategy is a bit of a question mark for everyone at the moment. It’s between two strategies so will be interesting to find out which one works best. I think we’re going to have an exciting race, degradation is quite high, so lots of good battles."

• 15:45

  Drivers have made their way to the front of the grid now, lining up on the red carpet to pay homage to the national anthem.

• 15:51

  Lewis Hamilton's pole position time was the fastest ever lap around Bahrain, showing the Mercedes has exceptional pace. However, neither Merc driver got a good start off the line in Australia, so they'll need to improve to get into the first corner ahead here. It's a long run down to turn one, anything could happen!

• 15:56

  Just a few minutes to go now, drivers have tucked themselves into the cars, helmets and gloves on, focus on the job ahead.

• 15:59

  The top ten cars are all starting on the red supersoft compounds, with Carlos Sainz the first to start on the yellow softs.

• 15:59

  Other drivers on softs are Kvyat, Wehrlein and Ericsson, plus Haryanto, Nasr and Magnussen in the pit lane.

• 16:00

  The formation lap gets underway with a rather slow start from Rosberg, he has to pass two Ferraris around the first corner to get back into position.

• 16:02

  Replays show Rosberg's car jumped into second gear which slowed him off the line.

• 16:02

  Meanwhile, Vettel's car has started billowing smoke, an engine failure for the German before the race has even begun.

• 16:02

  Vettel pulls his Ferrari off track and out of the way, as Hamilton backs up the rest of the pack round the final corner and onto the grid.

• 16:03

  

• 16:03

  Race started.

• 16:04 Lap 1

  Jolyon Palmer went into the pit lane at the end of that formation lap.

• 16:04 Lap 1

  Rosberg got into the lead off the line, with Hamilton slotting into second.

• 16:04 Lap 1

  Hamilton got squeezed by Bottas and there's contact and debris scattered but both continue.

• 16:05 Lap 1

  Team radio from Hamilton: "Something feels wrong with the rear."

• 16:05 Lap 1

  The chaos at the front leaves Rosberg in the lead ahead of two Williams drivers, Massa and then Bottas.

• 16:05 Lap 1

  Team radio from Bottas: "Everything feels okay on my side."

• 16:05 Lap 2

  Hamilton dropped down to ninth, but is up to seventh now.

• 16:06 Lap 2

  Hülkenberg has come into the pit lane.

• 16:06 Lap 2

  There's a puncture on the Toro Rosso of Sainz.

• 16:06 Lap 2

  And the two Sauber drivers are dipping this way and that, side by side through corner after corner. They're only battling for 15th but it's epic!

• 16:06 Lap 2

  The tyre of Sainz's car pops off and rolls harmlessly across the run off and into the barriers.

• 16:07 Lap 3

  Sergio Pérez has front left wing damage and is running slowly. He dives into the pit lane for a new front wing.

• 16:08 Lap 3

  Sainz has made it back to the pit lane and swapped three soft tyres for four medium ones.

• 16:09 Lap 4

  Replays show that both Williams drivers got a great start, but Hamilton closed the gap on Bottas which put them onto a collision course.

• 16:10 Lap 4

  More replays, Ricciardo's front wing endplate on the right side got caught up on Bottas when the Williams was tussling with Hamilton.

• 16:10 Lap 5

  And Pérez made contact with Sainz, which explains the Force India's front wing issue, and the Toro Rosso's troublesome tyre.

• 16:11 Lap 5

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	N Rosberg	0
  2	5	F Massa	0
  3	3	V Bottas	0
  4	1	D Ricciardo	0
  5	-1	K Räikkönen	0
  6	-5	L Hamilton	0

• 16:12 Lap 6

  Hamilton's sixth place comes after he dispatched Romain Grosjean, who in turn is up a couple of places and running in seventh place. Haas teammate Esteban Gutiérrez is just behind him.

• 16:12 Lap 6

  Räikkönen passes Ricciardo as the Red Bull driver makes a mistake into the first corner. Up to fourth for the Ferrari driver, back to where he started on the grid.

• 16:13 Lap 6

  Ricciardo is really struggling with that Red Bull, he's got Hamilton breathing down his neck.

• 16:13 Lap 6

  However, close ups show the right side of Hamilton's barge board is dragging, creating even more sparks than normal.

• 16:14 Lap 7

  Ricciardo has pitted.

• 16:14 Lap 7

  Tweet from @pirellisport: Currently Perez fastest on the supersoft. Expect the first pit stops in a few laps time. @nico_rosberg looking very comfortable in front.

• 16:15 Lap 8

  Jenson Button is cruising now, he pulls off track and parks the McLaren. Alonso in the garage lets out a big sigh.

• 16:16 Lap 8

  Hamilton passes Bottas on track, it's a cleaner turn one for the two this time, and Lewis takes third place.

• 16:16 Lap 8

  Massa makes his first pit stop for the day, and that drops him down to 14th position.

• 16:16 Lap 8

  Turn one incident involving Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas under investigation - causing a collision.

• 16:17 Lap 9

  Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutiérrez both come into the pit lane - Esteban had a brief excursion off track so will be looking for fresh tyres.

• 16:18 Lap 9

  A piece of the dangling bargeboard from Hamilton's car detached and bounced off on track. Bottas avoided it but Gutiérrez ran over it.

• 16:19 Lap 10

  Drive through penalty for Valtteri Bottas - causing a collision.

• 16:19 Lap 10

  Bottas immediately takes his drive through penalty, rolling through under the watchful gaze of the Williams pit wall.

• 16:20 Lap 11

  The Haas of Esteban Gutiérrez has come into the pit lane, and the mechanics are pushing it into the garage. Another retirement for Guti.

• 16:21 Lap 11

  Tweet from @HaasF1Team: .@EstebanGtz retiring from #BahrainGP - team to investigate the issue. Car parked in the garage.

• 16:21 Lap 12

  Stoffel pulls up alongside Nico Hülkenberg, they run side by side but the rookie is giving nothing away and takes the position - up to 14th for the McLaren.

• 16:22 Lap 12

  Romain Grosjean is up to fourth now, with Daniil Kvyat up to fifth.

• 16:23 Lap 13

  Jenson Button is out of the car and in the garage, eyeing some of the screens. That's both of McLaren's top drivers sitting around in the garage.

• 16:24 Lap 13

  Vandoorne is on the move again, he takes on another Force India to muscle his way past Pérez into 12th place.

• 16:25 Lap 14

  Räikkönen pits and rejoins directly between a battle. Ricciardo was overtaking Massa, and then Kimi had the momentum to sweep past the Williams as well.

• 16:25 Lap 14

  Race leader Nico Rosberg comes into the pits, and Lewis Hamilton is in just one lap later.

• 16:26 Lap 14

  Daniil Kvyat hasn't stopped yet, he was up in seventh. Rosberg exited his pit stop and retained the lead, with the Red Bull behind him.

• 16:26 Lap 14

  Then Kimi Räikkönen sweeps into second place, whilst Hamilton drops back to sixth.

• 16:26 Lap 14

  Fastest lap of the race so far, Romain Grosjean - 1:37.285.

• 16:27 Lap 14

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	L Hamilton
  Team	Mercedes
  Pit lane	24.512s
  Stopped	2.4s

• 16:28 Lap 15

  Ricciardo easily passes Kvyat as well, it's probably about time the Russian pitted. Hamilton moves up to fourth soon after as well. Kvyat down to fifth.

• 16:29 Lap 15

  The two Mercedes drivers are on different tyres, the team splitting their strategy for the evening. Rosberg currently on softs, Hamilton on mediums.

• 16:29 Lap 16

  Massa is the next one to pass Kvyat, up to fifth for the Williams.

• 16:29 Lap 16

  One to Watch

  D Ricciardo	vs.	L Hamilton
  3rd	+0.416s	4th

• 16:30 Lap 17

  Kvyat's descent continues, Grosjean up to sixth.

• 16:31 Lap 17

  Hamilton breezes past Ricciardo into turn one, and just behind them Grosjean is closing up to Massa.

• 16:32 Lap 18

  The Haas pulls alongside but doesn't quite have enough pace to make it stick. He waits for the next corner, Massa locks up into ten and gets the slipstream into the long back straight. He moves ahead to fifth place.

• 16:32 Lap 18

  Tweet from @ManorRacing: Lap 16/57 | Encouraging words for both drivers from their engineers. They really are racing their hearts out today.

• 16:33 Lap 18

  The Manor pair are doing well - Wehrlein in 12th, keeping tabs on the two Sauber drivers ahead. Haryanto is down in 15th.

• 16:35 Lap 19

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	N Rosberg	1
  2	2	K Räikkönen	1
  3	-2	L Hamilton	1
  4	1	D Ricciardo	1
  5	4	R Grosjean	1
  6	1	F Massa	1
  7	3	M Verstappen	1
  8	4	S Vandoorne	1
  9	-3	V Bottas	2
  10	7	M Ericsson	1

• 16:35 Lap 20

  All three compounds are currently in use out on track. Grosjean and Magnussen are on the supersofts. Hamilton and two Williams on the mediums. All else on softs.

• 16:36 Lap 20

  With a DRS boost but some incredible control, Verstappen clings on around the corner to make a move on Felipe Massa in the battle for sixth.

• 16:37 Lap 21

  Tweet from @F1PaddockPass: It's a shame we don't get decent team radio anymore. Some of these exchanges during this race would be priceless.

• 16:39 Lap 22

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	ROS	1:37.692
  2nd	RAI	+12.913
  3rd	HAM	+20.766
  4th	RIC	+32.662

• 16:39 Lap 22

  Carlos Sainz made another pit stop, his second of the evening, but he was at the rear of the field anyway, so lost nothing.

• 16:40 Lap 22

  

  21°C
  Track	27°C
  Humidity	46%
  Wind speed	2.1mps

• 16:41 Lap 23

  Replays of Sainz's pit stop show when lifted up, the car slipped off the rear jacks as they were trying to change the rear tyres. A second attempt was more successful, but a slow and bumpy stop for the Spaniard.

• 16:42 Lap 24

  Tweet from @pirellisport: Great job from @LewisHamilton on medium tyre; matching those in front of him on softs (which are around one second quicker).

• 16:43 Lap 25

  Romain Grosjean sweeps past the Red Bull of Ricciardo to push his way into fourth place. Daniel looked like he might be able to get back past but Grosjean kept his foot stuck in and stayed ahead.

• 16:44 Lap 25

  Team radio from Kevin Magnussen: "There's no way I'm going to get past the Manor, it's like a rocket on the straight."

• 16:44 Lap 25

  Daniel Ricciardo pits for what turned out to be a slightly slow stop with no real issues though. He's out in 11th place.

• 16:45 Lap 26

  Kevin Magnussen comes in for a stop too, rejoining in 17th place with no Manor cars in sight.

• 16:46 Lap 26

  Team radio to Stoffel Vandoorne: "Stoffel, we want to keep this pace going as long as we can."

  "Can I box?"

  "Box now."

• 16:46 Lap 27

  And there he goes, into the pit lane for a quick hustle by the mechanics - old rubber off, new tyres on, and he's off again.

• 16:47 Lap 27

  With the fresh tyres on the Red Bull, Ricciardo easily gets past Bottas for ninth place.

• 16:47 Lap 27

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	S Vandoorne
  Team	McLaren
  Pit lane	24.682s
  Stopped	3.0s

• 16:48 Lap 27

  Max Verstappen comes into the pit lane for a nice, clean stop. He rejoins in tenth place.

• 16:49 Lap 28

  The Manor of Pascal Wehrlein is hassling Sergio Pérez for 12th place, but he can't quite close the gap just yet.

• 16:49 Lap 28

  Romain Grosjean dives into the pit lane, rejoining in eighth place with another set of supersofts on.

• 16:50 Lap 28

  Daniel Ricciardo passes teammate Kvyat for fifth place, both cars have front wing damage as we reach the halfway point of the race.

• 16:51 Lap 29

  Lewis Hamilton pits from third place, supersofts go on the Mercedes, and he retains third place.

• 16:52 Lap 30

  Ricciardo posts the fastest lap, as he gets past Massa to move into fourth place. Kimi Räikkönen pits from second place.

• 16:52 Lap 30

  Massa pits for his second stop of the afternoon/evening.

• 16:53 Lap 30

  Tweet from @SauberF1Team: More than halfway through the #BahrainGP. It is still looking good for us with #ME9 P10 and #FN12 P11 #F1

• 16:54 Lap 31

  Slow stop from the Mercedes team as they call in race leader Nico Rosberg. He still easily retains his lead, but there have been a lot of dodgy pit stops so far this race!

• 16:54 Lap 31

  Lewis Hamilton posts the fastest lap to date: 1:34.721.

• 16:55 Lap 31

  Sainz looks set to retire, the Toro Rosso car has been pushed back into the garage and Carlos is about to climb out.

• 16:56 Lap 32

  Nasr complains that his Sauber is very difficult to drive, he's down in 17th place, last of the remaining runners.

• 16:58 Lap 33

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	ROS	1:35.910
  2nd	RAI	+8.612
  3rd	HAM	+12.407
  4th	RIC	+38.784

• 16:59 Lap 34

  Driver Analysis

  Driver	R Grosjean
  Team	Haas
  Position	6
  Started	9
  Stops	2
  Last lap	1:38.025
  Best lap	1:37.285

• 16:59 Lap 34

  Stoffel Vandoorne is currently the meat in a Williams sandwich, he's not making much headway on Bottas ahead but is facing pressure from Massa behind.

• 17:01 Lap 35

  Vandoorne and Massa have closed the gap to Bottas, and the three are running next to each other now. Who will be first to blink?

• 17:02 Lap 36

  Bottas is slow out of the last corner as he dives into the pit lane. That slowed up Stoffel which allowed Massa to pass down the home straight. Bit of Williams gamesmanship there?

• 17:02 Lap 36

  Force India teammates do battle with Hülkenberg passing Sergio Pérez. Marcus Ericsson follows to get past the Mexican as well. Two places lost in two corners for Pérez.

• 17:03 Lap 37

  Hulk Hulkenberg is in the pits for his third stop of the day. Supersofts on the Force India.

• 17:05 Lap 38

  Biggest Movers

  Pos		Driver
  9	6	D Kvyat
  10	12	K Magnussen
  14	7	F Nasr

• 17:07 Lap 39

  Kimi Räikkönen takes on a fresh set of soft tyres which promotes Hamilton up to second. It's taken almost 40 laps, but Mercedes are back in their 1-2 position.

• 17:08 Lap 39

  Tweet from @Jamesallenonf1: It's clear that none of frontrunners fancy the Medium tyres . Williams got it v wrong. Window open now to take softs and make finish

• 17:08 Lap 40

  Hamilton sweeps into the lead of the race as Rosberg comes in for another pit stop. Nico joins in second place.

• 17:09 Lap 40

  Kvyat easily passes Vandoorne, moving ahead of the McLaren as though it was standing still - Stoffel on older and harder tyres, though.

• 17:10 Lap 41

  Slo-mo replays show both Ricciardo and Kvyat have identical damage to their Red Bull front wings. Missing right hand endplates are costing them each lap.

• 17:11 Lap 41

  Romain Grosjean pits, taking on the yellow sidewalls of the soft compound. It's a slow stop for the team as the rear tyres took a while. Romain rejoins side by side with Stoffel Vandoorne but just about gets ahead.

• 17:12 Lap 42

  Providing an example of how pit stops should be done, Lewis Hamilton comes in and the Mercedes team turn him around in super quick style. At the same time, Nico Rosberg sets the fastest lap of the race so far.

• 17:13 Lap 42

  To be fair to Haas, it's their first race with pit stops. Australia saw one car retire early and the other change tyres during a red flag. They're making up for it with three stops for Grosjean so far.

• 17:15 Lap 44

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	D Ricciardo
  Team	Red Bull
  Pit lane	24.879s
  Stopped	3.0s

• 17:16 Lap 44

  Team radio to Nico Rosberg: "15 laps to go, you're going to the end on this set. Gap to Räikkönen is..."

  "Don't tell me every lap. Tell me every four laps or something."

• 17:17 Lap 44

  Coming into turn one, Magnussen gets a good run on Nasr, both have DRS as they're following a Ferrari. Kevin goes to the inside and easily gets the position as Nasr slows right down - either distracted or losing drive for a moment.

• 17:19 Lap 46

  Vandoorne overtakes Ericsson for tenth place, moving into the points at a crucial part of this race. Ericsson radio sounds slightly hysterical as he's asking for information about potential car problems - the clampdown on radio traffic not helping him. The pit wall inform him there's nothing wrong with the car, though.

• 17:19 Lap 47

  Romain Grosjean heads up the outside of Felipe Massa, the Williams gives him plenty of room and the Haas jumps up to sixth place.

• 17:21 Lap 47

  Ricciardo closed up to three tenths of a second of Max Verstappen, but the Toro Rosso dives into the pit lane and avoids the challenge.

• 17:24 Lap 49

  Despite the variety of strategies, three stopping seems to be the way to go. Only Felipe Massa in sixth and Marcus Ericsson in 11th have stopped twice at the moment.

• 17:24 Lap 49

  Ericsson is under pressure from Kevin Magnussen in the Renault, the yellow car pulls alongside the Sauber but has nothing coming out of the corner and drops back again.

• 17:25 Lap 50

  Another move by Magnussen sees him alongside the Sauber, but this time he's on the outside and the momentum favours the Sauber.

• 17:25 Lap 50

  The pair are lapped by Lewis Hamilton which gives Magnussen yet another chance to try and pass the distracted Sauber. Still nothing!

• 17:26 Lap 51

  Kvyat runs a little wide and puffs up some dust off the track, but he recovers quickly to zoom up alongside and past Bottas.

• 17:27 Lap 51

  Bottas won't give up and pulls back alongside Kvyat, there's brief contact as they touch wheels, and then Kvyat appeared to push the Williams off track to retain the position.

• 17:28 Lap 52

  Pascal Wehrlein closes up behind the Force India of Nico Hülkenberg and moves past for 13th place. Good driving by Manor, but what is up with the Force Indias today?

• 17:31 Lap 54

  Magnussen finally got past Ericsson and has swept into the distance, he's got over three seconds ahead already.

• 17:33 Lap 55

  Only the top seven cars are still on the lead lap at the moment.

• 17:33 Lap 55

  It looks like there's a bit of debris on the home straight, a wing mirror or somesuch. It's not on the racing line so hopefully no one will run over it.

• 17:34 Lap 56

  Two laps to go, Rosberg has a comfortable lead over Räikkönen.

• 17:35 Lap 56

  Pascal Wehrlein is the next car to try and make a move on Ericsson, the Sauber providing quite the roadblock today.

• 17:36 Lap 57

  Rosberg laps Massa and Kvyat, but both have the DRS to close back up to the Mercedes. Rosberg escapes unscathed but the tussle allows Kvyat to get past the Williams and move into 7th place.

• 17:37

  Nico Rosberg wins the Bahrain Grand Prix!

• 17:38

  Räikkönen takes second, and Lewis Hamilton rounds the final corner to secure third place and a podium finish.

• 17:38

  Romain Grosjean secures fifth place, one position better than the solid result in Australia last time!

• 17:39

  Stoffel Vandoorne finishes tenth place to pick up a point for McLaren, and his first ever F1 point!

• 17:40

  Race Winner

  Driver	N Rosberg
  Team	Mercedes
  Race time	1:33:34.696
  Race distance	308.238km
  Average speed	197.634km/h

• 17:41

  Rosberg climbs out of the car and he looks properly happy, fist pumps, clasping hands with the waiting crew.

• 17:41

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	N Rosberg	3
  2	2	K Räikkönen	3
  3	-2	L Hamilton	3
  4	1	D Ricciardo	3
  5	4	R Grosjean	3
  6	4	M Verstappen	3
  7	8	D Kvyat	3
  8	-1	F Massa	2
  9	-3	V Bottas	3
  10	2	S Vandoorne	3

• 17:42

  Five race wins in a row for Rosberg, and a healthy lead in the 2016 championship at this early stage. Plenty to be happy about for the German.

• 17:42

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	ROS	1:38.101
  2nd	RAI	+10.282
  3rd	HAM	+30.148
  4th	RIC	+62.494
  5th	GRO	+78.299

• 17:45

  The drivers take to the podium, smiles and clapping, before the national anthems ring out.

• 17:47

  The trophies are handed out, Kimi Räikkönen looks like he's barely there as he accepts the second place cup.

• 17:51

  Podium interviews - Nico Rosberg: "It’s been an awesome weekend. The key was really the start, I got a great getaway. From then on, I was trying to control the pace. Very happy with today, awesome to get another win."

• 17:52

  Podium interviews - Kimi Räikkönen: "Obviously not too bad, but I made a bad start, and after a few laps we were one straight behind Nico. Pretty difficult to recover from there, but we did what we could. We had good speed, not enough to win, but we took second today and try to improve from there.

  "I don’t think there’s any special things we do, it just seems to happen here. There are some circuits we have all the time bad luck. I take it, still we know it’s unfortunate for the team the other car having issues, we have some work to be done."

• 17:52

  Podium interviews - Lewis Hamilton: "Both equally as painful I’d say, perhaps today more painful today. We still managed to get back up there and get some points. Again damage limitation, congratulations to Nico. Kind of an easy race for him, I’d assume. I’m glad it wasn’t more point, and I could have not finished the race so..."

• 17:58

  Retirements

  Driver	Reason	Lap
  S Vettel	Engine	0
  J Palmer	Hydraulics	1
  J Button	ERS failure	8
  E Gutiérrez	Brake failure	11
  C Sainz	Unknown	31

• 17:58

  Jenson Button: "It just cut out. I don’t know what the problem was. I felt it out of turn two and eventually stopped at turn ten. It’s touch. I was running in ninth when it stopped, and we were just cruising. It was one of those days where a lot of people make mistakes and we should have capitalised and we couldn’t. I think we take away positives from the weekend about our outright pace… the pace is there, it’s good progress but at some point we need to show it."

• 18:03

  Another fantastic race for F1, 2016 has been two for two so far. Great job by Haas to finish in the points in both races but Esteban Gutiérrez will be hoping to see a chequered flag at some point soon.

• 18:04

  Mercedes have their domination as expected but it's not really unfolding as we might have imagined. Plenty to come in that fight, I think.

• 18:04

  Fabulous debut for Stoffel Vandoorne - whilst I want Fernando Alonso to heal up as soon as possible, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see what the Belgian can do in China.

• 18:05

  Two weeks to go until the Chinese Grand Prix, plenty to discuss between now and then so let's get to it. I'll be back in a fortnight, join me then!