Hamilton nicks Bahrain victory

Formula One: Lewis Hamilton survived a pulsating battle with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to clinch back-to-back victories for the first time in four years.

Mercedes were utterly dominant, crushing their rivals into the Bahrain desert sand that surrounds what is now an illuminated citadel of speed as the track staged its first night race to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Come the conclusion, just a second separated Hamilton and Rosberg, the former winning his 24th grand prix, while for Mercedes it was a heart-stopping second successive one-two.

After clinching his first victory in Bahrain, Hamilton said: “It was exciting. Nico drove fantastically well, very fair, and it was hard to keep him behind at the end. I was on a knife edge the whole time. It was a relief when I crossed the line.”

Despite the fact he was runner-up for the second consecutive race, with the gap between him and Hamilton now just 11 points, Rosberg acknowledged it was a thriller.

“I strongly dislike coming second to Lewis, but on the other hand that was the most exciting race I’ve ever had in my career,” said Rosberg.

“Today was a great day for the sport, and hopefully you had a lot of fun watching on TV.”

From the moment they locked out the front row, with Rosberg on pole by a quarter of a second from Hamilton, a captivating battle was always on the cards.

The first flashpoint came on lap one and the first few corners, with Hamilton eking ahead towards the first turn.

Come corner four at the end of the first long straight, Hamilton had the racing line, holding off Rosberg who was forced off the circuit.

Try as he might, Hamilton was unable to shake Rosberg off his tail, and as the first pit-stop approached and with tyres wearing, the duo clashed on lap 17.

At one stage Rosberg managed to get his nose in front, only for the Briton to cut back on the inside and the duo to brush rubber before they continued to dice as the lap unfolded.

Hamilton then pitted after 20 laps, taking on a new set of the faster soft tyres, whilst Rosberg was in two laps later, switching to the fractionally slower medium Pirelli rubber.

It appeared it would prove crucial because on lap 41, and with Hamilton almost 10 seconds ahead of Rosberg, a serious crash saw Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus T-bone Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez. Both were unscathed but the incident brought the safety car into play, resulting in the leaders making their second stops, with Hamilton forced to take on the medium tyres and Rosberg the softs.

It appeared game over for the Hamilton. As they ran behind the safety car, Hamilton and Rosberg were told by executive technical director Paddy Lowe to bring both cars home.

And they did, but only just, Hamilton producing a great performance on the slower rubber to keep Rosberg at bay.