Bahrain Grand Prix 2015: Lewis Hamilton takes victory amid late push from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen

Lewis Hamilton increased his lead in the championship after taking his third victory of the season. A race that saw the Ferrari's put pressure on the Mercedes duo yet again.

Kimi Raikkonen capped off a brilliant drive to grab his first podium of the season, ahead of Nico Rosberg, who took the final step of the podium.

Sebastian Vettel was the chief tormentor during the start of the race, but a front wing damage that required a nose change on lap 36 saw his charge for a podium place negated.

Raikkonen's late charge was the cause of a different strategy from his teammate, which saw the Finn opt for the medium compound tyres in his second stint unlike the three cars in front him, who went for a second set of softs.

This allowed the Finn to save a set of fresh soft tyres for his final stint, when he pushed with one quick lap after another to catch Rosberg with two laps to go and then finally passed him on lap 56 after the German driver ran wide due to brake issues.

Vettel, who had a front wing change, came out behind Vallteri Bottas in fifth after his third unscheduled stop, and despite coming close to the Williams on a few occasions, he could not find a way past him before the chequered flag.

Daniel Ricciardo finished in sixth place for Red Bull, but had a spectacular engine failure as he crossed the line and came to a halt along side the pit wall.

Romain Grosjean gave Lotus something to smile about with a great drive to seventh place, ahead of Force India's Sergio Perez in eighth.

Daniil Kvyat came home in ninth just ahead of Felipe Massa, who rounded out the top ten, with both the drivers coming quite away up the grid after starting in 17<sup>th place and the pit lane respectively [Massa stalled on the grid ahead of the formation lap].

Both the Toro Rosso drivers failed to finish with Carlos Sainz the first to retire with a loose left front wheel following his second stop, and Max Verstappen suffered engine trouble before retiring on lap 33.

McLaren had a mixed day, as Jenson Button failed to start the race due to ERS troubles, while Fernando Alonso underlined their progress by finishing in 11<sup>th, just one place out of the points.

The drive of the day is shared by Kimi Raikkonen for his final stint push that saw him grab second and Nico Rosberg, who showed great appetite for a scrap for the first time this season.