BAHRAIN GP – RACE RESULTS – KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE

One runner-up spot and one fifth place for Ferrari come the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen staged a great climb up the order, which ended in him passing Nico Rosberg two laps from the end.

The Finn crossed the line 3 seconds behind the Mercedes of race winner Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel finished fifth, spending much of the race trying to pass Valtteri Bottas in the Williams, while never having a real chance to attack. Now the Formula 1 circus has a three week break before the action resumes at the first European leg of the 2015 Championship, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona circuit. [ferrari.com]

Final Results:

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	1h35m05.809s
2	Kimi Raikkonen	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	3.380s
3	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	6.033s
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing	Williams/Mercedes	42.957s
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	43.989s
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull/Renault	1m01.751s
7	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus/Mercedes	1m24.763s
8	Sergio Perez	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India/Mercedes	1 Lap
9	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull/Renault	1 Lap
10	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing	Williams/Mercedes	1 Lap
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	McLaren/Honda	1 Lap
12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber/Ferrari	1 Lap
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India/Mercedes	1 Lap
14	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber/Ferrari	1 Lap
15	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus/Mercedes	1 Lap
16	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia/Ferrari	2 Laps
17	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia/Ferrari	3 Laps
–	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso/Renault	Retirement
–	Carlos Sainz	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso/Renault	Retirement
–	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	McLaren/Honda	Not started

QUOTES + STUFF

From richlandf1.com – Kimi: “Obviously we came through in the end very quickly, but we ran out of laps. I think we have to be happy after that and where we qualified. I’m very happy with how the team is working. After last year, where we are now is a big step. Everyone is working very well together, and the atmosphere is very good now. We have a good direction to keep pushing. It seems to be working well. Things are improving. I’m sure as a team we will get there and be able to be fighting for wins, but it will take a bit more time.”

From espn.co.uk (podium comments) – Kimi: “Obviously you are never happy when you finish second but after a difficult start to the year I’m a bit pleased to get some result. We came through in the end very quickly but we ran out of laps. I think we have to be happy after where we qualified but we will be looking for better results soon. I think we did more or less the right calls. We lost a bit of time at the beginning with Nico getting past. Obviously afterwards it’s easier to say, but that’s how we planned it and I think it worked out pretty well.”

From autosport.com – Kimi: “We had decent speed today, I think we just have to keep working and improving the whole package. I’m sure we will get there and we can fight every weekend after that. I’m very happy with the team and I think many people didn’t expect after last year that we would be in this position this early. We will start winning [more] races. We have to be patient and do the same work as we have done so far and we will get there. The whole package has gone forward. A big chunk of it is the engine but you cannot give all the credit to them. The car has improved a lot, there’s a lot more downforce, it’s handling a lot better. All areas have improved, that is the key. People are working more closely, which has helped us get to where we have now. I think we had a few different approaches of how to run the race. On the medium tyre it was quite easy to catch up to them. In the end it was the right choice to go soft – we were much faster still. We did more or less the maximum we could have done, we had a pretty good race and hopefully we can have a few more.”

From ferrari.com – Kimi: “After a difficult year last year and a beginning of the season that was a bit unlucky, it’s great to be back on the podium. I have mixed emotions, it’s a great feeling to be back, but we want to be on the top. The start was really good , I managed to pass Nico, but then I lost the position and there I lost a bit of time. The strategy was perfect, we did the right calls and the right tyre choice , I was happy with the car , we kept up a good speed through the whole race. In the last laps I was getting closer and closer and could see Hamilton, but the race was at its end, we would have needed more laps to try to do something. I think we are still a little bit behind the Mercedes but in some circuits and some conditions we ca be very competitive, especially in the race. Today we did our best , we have to be happy with the result , we did the maximum and took some good points for the team. We keep improving step by step, we just have to keep working doing the same things in the same direction,and I’m sure we’ll get there.”

From crash.net – Arrivabene: “I am delighted. I am happy for Kimi because now we have two drivers and this is what I am looking for. I’m happy for Kimi because now I can say officially that Kimi is back and we have two strong drivers. We had a clear strategy for the two drivers and then Seb made two little mistakes. The big one was at the beginning so we were obliged to change the strategy for Seb. Kimi, we told to follow our strategy. At a certain point he was not really convinced and we said ‘no, we stay as we are’ and he was brave enough and disciplined enough to follow. It was a good result. Regarding Seb, I have to say he made two big mistakes but we don’t have to forget what he has done up to now. He won one race and two podiums so sometimes it happens. We are humans, thank God and that is the beauty of the sport.”

From ferrari.com – Arrivabene: “I am really happy for Kimi: today I can officially state that he’s back. He showed what a race animal he is, and if he had had a few more laps perhaps… Also, I am happy for the team, because they worked really well. Sebastian made a couple of mistakes today, one at the beginning, which forced us to change his race strategy, whereas in the case of Kimi we followed our plans. He was not totally convinced about it at a point, but showed a great deal of discipline in following instructions from the pit-wall. As for Seb, he actually made something wrong, otherwise we could have had two drivers on the rostrum; but he’s a human being as we all are. He’s a fantastic driver and let’s not forget now what he has already achieved so far. I wish to thank everybody back at Maranello, because they were able to work on the engine development, but also on every single component, achieving over three months what normally would have required twice as much. I can’t tell if we are going to catch the Mercedes, but I do like the idea of putting some pressure on them. Today we were aware of the gap between them and ourselves, and that required an aggressive strategy. Having said that, with regard to the Friday log runs where we had showed a good pace, the temperature was much lower today, and we had to react accordingly.”

Kimi Raikkonen’s Bahrain Grand Prix in his own words – “Yeah, thanks everybody.” #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/9cKGF7MTtQ

— Ky (@FiftyBuckss) April 20, 2015

And a big congrats to #Kimi and @ScuderiaFerrari – a great drive executed flawlessly there. Fair play. #Respect #F1Family #F1 #BahrainGP — MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) April 19, 2015

FINAL FASTEST LAPS CHART: Ferraris were flying at the end but Raikkonen ran out of laps #BahrainGP #F1atTwilight pic.twitter.com/VbJ1vkOhrE — Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2015

All time F1 fastest laps: 1. Schumacher 77 2. Raikkonen 41 3. Prost 41 4. Mansell 30 5. Clark 28 Raikkonen now second of all time!
— Kimi Raikkonen™ (@theFakeKimi) April 19, 2015