2014 Bahrain GP

That was the best racing I've seen in a while! Mercedes are still way ahead, and Mercedes-powered cars look more competitive than others. But, what made this race wonderful is that teammates are allowed to race each other. Hamilton and Rosberg all the way up front battled it out to get the top of the podium. Rosberg came very close a few times, but Hamilton held on to the lead he grabbed after a great start. It was fantastic drives from both of them; Hamilton, though, great defending throughout. Especially in the last stint, after the safety car, with Rosberg on the option tyres while Hamilton had primes.

I was pleasantly surprised by how calm Vettel was at getting the team order and letting Ricciardo through earlier in the race. Ricciardo did prove himself to be the faster driver though, overtaking Vettel with a brave move later on. Ricciardo did an amazing job, starting 13th after a 10-grid penalty, finishing up in fourth, very close behind Force India's Perez.

Force India was, in my opinion, the surprise of the race. With Perez finishing third, the team has claimed their second ever F1 podium finish. They didn't look particularly threatening in qualifying. Their cars' setup, aided with Mercedes engines, really set the race alight. For quite a few laps, it was Mercedes 1-2, Force India 3-4, and Williams 5-6. Perez's overtake on teammate Hulkenberg was another good move. I think Williams would be disappointed in finishing 7-8 here, because they looked better than that for most of the race. Red Bull, however, somehow found power and pace after the Safety Car restart with only 10 laps of racing to go.

Ferrari, well, still disappointing. Their lack of pace was very visible this race. They managed to get both drivers in the points, though. I really want them to have better cars. With the drivers they have this season, I want to see some good racing. Although, it would be interesting to see if Ferrari would let their drivers race each other like the other teams did today.

It was a shame that Button didn't get a good end to his 250th F1 race. He was doing quite well, sitting at P5 when the Safety Car came on. After the restart, at first it looked like he couldn't get his prime tyres warmed up as quickly as the others, which was why the Williams passed him easily. A few laps later, however, he was forced to retire.

The Safety Car really made the last ~10 laps incredibly interesting, but what caused the safety car to come out in the first place? Crashtor strikes again! I'm not convinced if the shunt wasn't actually as bad as it looked on first watch (argument is tyre traction caused Gutierrez's car to flip, not Maldonado crashing to the side of the Sauber), but still, that was a bad crash from Maldonado. He's really not helping his reputation here.

In any case, what a race! Here's hoping that Ferrari can get their shit together sooner rather than later. Also for Williams and Force India to continue to be competitive. Red Bull will be up there in the mix too. More importantly, hope this racing between teammates would still be allowed when the season grows older.