Good afternoon and welcome to the live feed for the Bahrain Grand Prix, I’m Aaron Irwin and I’ll be guiding you through the fourth race of the 2015 Formula One World Championship season.
So there you have it folks, Hamilton wins his third of the season, as sparks fly, so does Lewis. I've been Aaron Irwin and thank you so much for joining me as Hamilton, Raikkonen and Rosberg were your top three. See you in three weeks at the Spanish Grand Prix, goodbye.
Huge roar from the crowd for Kimi...bigger roar for Hamilton though.
Rosberg struggling to put the steering wheel on his car here. Let's hope Hamilton behaves on the podium here.
Classification: Hamilton, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Perez, Kvyat, Massa, Alonso, Nasr, Hulkenberg, Ericsson, Maldonado, Stevens, Merhi - Out - Verstappen, Sainz, Button.
Ricciardo's car explodes on the finish line, huge plumes of smoke out the Red Bull. Raikkonen's first podium for Ferrari since Italy 2009.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Bahrain Grand Prix of 2015! Raikkonen takes second with Rosberg third.
57/57. Final lap, Hamilton has an issue, but looks likely to win anyway.
56/57. Raikkonen is in P2!!! Rosberg goes wide at turn one and Kimi capitalises on the error!
54/57. Vettel almost runs into Bottas, he comes in too hot at turn one and almost crashes into Bottas, missing him by centimetres. Not long left now!
53/57. Raikkonen is closing on Rosberg, is it too late for the Finn to take second?
51/57. Hamilton's lead up to 5.7 seconds from Rosberg. Another win on the cards from the Brit. Vettel continues to fight Bottas for fourth place.
50/57. Ricciardo has had a quiet race, he sits sixth meaning Red Bull get some invaluable points, should he stay there...
49/57. I think 'Come on!" is Kimi's favourite saying on the radio, heard it in every race this season.
47/57. Top Ten: Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Massa, Perez, Kvyat.
46/57. Vettel trying to pass Bottas for fourth here. That front wing damage has really messed up Vettel's race. Hamilton still leads from Rosberg and Raikkonen.
45/57. Alonso on the precipice of the points here, can he get in there?!
42/57. Hamilton looks set for win number three here, four and a half seconds up on Rosberg.
40/57. Raikkonen pits for the softer tyre here. Looks on for P3, but has the skirmish with Alonso affected anything?
38/57. This is Raikkonen's chance to get his third podium in four years here. Meanwhile he laps Alonso, oh how times change.
37/57. Vettel back in the pits as he has front wing damage. Could cost him the podium finish.
36/57. Vettel goes wide and Rosberg takes second back, He went wide at the final corner and Rosberg sped through. Verstappen out as neither Toro Rosso will finish.
35/57. Vettel ahead of Rosberg as Ferrari achieve the undercut! He also sets the fastest lap with a 1:37:5.
34/57. Bottas pits from fifth, coming out in sixth. Kvyat has done well, only done one stop but he's currently eighth. Nasr goes round the outside of Hulkenberg and is now 12th.
32/57. Top ten: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Perez, Kvyat, Maldonado, Grosjean.
31/57. Sainz has stopped on track, meanwhile Nasr passes Alonso as the Spaniard is down to 14th. Sainz's car appears to have strange feeling in the car. He joins Button on the sidelines.
29/57. Alonso running 11th here, very impressive for MLaren, however the race is bittersweet due to Button's retirement.
27/57. Raikkonen is catching Vettel here, slowly but surely the Finn is closing in on his team mate. An issue for Ericsson as his wheel wouldn't go on in the pits. He's now P17.
26/57. Maldonado the winner there as he went in to pit behind Nasr and Massa, and comes out ahead of the two cars! great work from Lotus engineers.
24/57. Toro Rosso not looking as strong here as predicted. 16th and 17th sit the pair. Nasr overtakes Massa here in stunning fashion! They're now both in the pits.
23/57. Battle of the Felipe's as Nasr battles Massa for tenth. Jenson Button's stricken McLaren remains the only retirement so far here.
22/57. A gap of 1.6 between Hamilton and Rosberg, the pair lapping faster than Ferrari's Vettel, who sits in third. Massa has done incredibly well considering he started at the back of the grid. P10 currently.
20/57. Top ten: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Ericsson, Hulkenberg, Massa.
17/57. Wondering what will become of Raikkonen here, he could well play a part here as he's impressing on his first stint. Raikkonen is in at the end of lap 17. Hamilton back in the lead.
16/57. Hamilton in for his first stop, Raikkonen assumes the lead from him, only while Raikkonen pits as Rosberg and Vettel fight into turn one, Rosberg back past Vettel as Rosberg looks to have successfully undercut Hamilton!
15/57. Rosberg pits, Vettel on the straight, and Vettel is ahead! has the Ferrari got the pace to remain there? Also Ericsson passes Hulkenberg for 10th.
13/57. A McLaren in the points! Alonso tenth but yet to stop, can he make the most of the position and attempt any undercuts? Meanwhile Grosjean pits while Maldonado sets the fastest lap, are you sure?
11/57. What is Ferrari's next move? will they pit either car and try another strategy?
10/57. Rosberg moves into second! the German took Vettel at turn one and is now going to go after Hamilton.
8/57. Meanwhile Rosberg takes a look at Vettel, just what we needed to see from Nico!
7/57. Massa overtakes Alonso and continues his recovery up the grid, he's now P13. Alonso keeping up with the Williams.
6/57. Lewis pulling away from Vettel here, Button remains the only retirement so far here in Bahrain. Maldonado has a five second penalty for being out of place on the grid.
5/57. Hamilton continues to lead here, Vettel in tow behind, Rosberg third, then Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Ericsson and Sainz is your top ten.
4/57. Rosberg overtakes Raikkonen at turn one! great fighting from the pair.
Lap 3/57. Maldonado under investigation for supposedly being out of position on the grid start.
Lap 1/57. We're all away safely here, Raikkonen up into third as sparks fly on the straight! Rosberg down to fourth and loses out at the start here. Massa already ahead of the Manors.
4:00. Formation lap underway, the tension is building here as we look to the 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix! Massa hasn't gotten away and will now start from the pitlane.
3:55. Five minute warning! get strapped in folks, it's time to see who will win, who will finish, who won't, who'll grab points, who'll gain some confidence and who will edge ahead in the championship. All these questions about to be answered so stay tuned here on VAVEL.
3:50. Vettel v Hamilton here it seems, Ferrari are best in the hot temperature, while Mercedes have the better all round car. Let's get this show on the road!
3:45. National anthem time, still not sure if this is a good move to make before every race or not.
3:40. CONFIRMED: Jenson Button will not start the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Brit will have to wait for his 100th McLaren race start.
3:35. Bahrain is a beautiful sight at sunset, the race will get underway at nightfall.
3:30. It now looks like Jenson Button will NOT start this race, his car is still in the garage with no wheels on the MP4-30. Bad news for McLaren.
3:25. The cars are starting to make it to the grid, not long left now, who's excited?!
3:20. Williams have somewhat slipped under the radar, they were the team playing second fiddle to Mercedes last season, and now they're a team within the points just quietly going about their business.
3:15. There were more issues with Button's car, with the problem causing a fire which gave McLaren more problems. But the team worked through the night and have fixed the Brit's car, meaning he'll start the race.
3:10. It's so good to see Ferrari back at the front of the grid. Watching Vettel and Raikkonen fight for wins means Ferrari are back in their spiritual place at the front of the grid.
3:05. What can McLaren do here? especially Jenson Button, the Brit is dead last after a power unit issue. The 35 year old has it all to do, but can he make the points? or even finish the race?
3:00. One hour to go! Stay tuned as we bring you live updates and keep you well informed of all the goings on here.
2:55. Last year's battle between Hamilton and Rosberg was one of the best battles of modern times, will we see anything quite as good here?
2:50. Red Bull need a result here, they can't afford to lose out on more points. But with Renault claiming their power unit will struggle in Bahrain, it'll be intriguing to see how the quartet get on.
2:45. The most exciting battle here, as always, will be who will be in the points or not. So many teams are capable of fighting for points, Sauber, Force India, Toro Rosso, Lotus and maybe even McLaren, things could get very interesting.
2:40. Ahead of today's race Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Sebastian Vettel is his mian rival, rather than team mate and 2014 challenger Nico Rosberg. "The biggest rival is always the guy that's closest to you," Hamilton said.
2:35. The fact Rosberg was almost beaten not only by Kimi Raikkonen, but by the Williams of Valterri Bottas too, just shows the lack of confidence the German has. He needs to get his mojo back pronto if he wants to mount a real title challenge.
2:30. It seems Vettel is showing the same qualities as another German Ferrari driver. The four time champ is showing pace with the Scuderia, and the same sort of consistency as Michael Schumacher, winner of five titles with the prancing horse.
2:25. Rosberg and Raikkonen, the understudies supposedly, will have to perform here if they are to keep their title credentials alive. If they don’t they could soon start to be used as blockers to aid their team mate’s title bids.
2:20. So with the race set to go down to the wire between Mercedes and Ferrari, things could really get interesting. If Vettel can do Hamilton on the line then the Ferrari man could seize the advantage. However with Hamilton’s history of strong starts, it’s likely the Brit will lead going into turn one.
2:15. Speaking of rookies, Max Verstappen appears to be the best of the new drivers so far, with team mate Carlos Sainz and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr as his main opponents. The 17 year old Dutchman is already being marked as a potential future world champion.
2:10. Ricciardo hasn’t quite repeated his performances of last season yet, with it being evident the Red Bull isn’t as fast this season, the Australian has his work cut out to prove his breakthrough year wasn’t a fluke.
2:05. Williams continued to stake their claim as the third best team as the duo of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa went fifth and sixth fastest respectively, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
2:00. Speaking of Force India, Nico Hulkenberg made it through to Q3 for the first time since last season’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Team mate Sergio Perez just missed out and went 11th fastest. Not bad from the team which looked set to struggle at the beginning of the season.
1:55. Last Season: 2014’s edition saw arguably one of the best team mate battles of all time. Hamilton and Rosberg fought all race nearly coming into contact many times, with Hamilton prevailing. Rosberg finished second with a surprise of Sergio Perez in the Force India grabbing third.
1:50. Having said that Roberto Merhi isn’t exactly slow, but Stevens has continually outperformed his fellow rookie and Merhi will need to step up if he is to fight Stevens.
1:45. Manor Marussia are still sitting in the lower echelons of the grid, around three seconds down on Kvyat in qualifying. Will Stevens has been looking impressive, (as much as you can do in an uncompetitive car) and looks like he has a future in the sport.
1:40. It’d the 22nd time that Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have shared the front row on the grid since the pair joined Formula One in 2007. Two of the sport’s modern greats sharing the first two positions on the grid.
1:35. It’s been a hard week for Nico Rosberg, the German claimed team mate Lewis Hamilton put him under unnecessary danger in China, and with him qualifying third, he’ll want to seize an advantage today.
1:30. Our debate for this weekend is whether McLaren can break into the points, with Alonso getting into Q2, it’s possible he and Button could be fighting for points. I’d love to know what you think, if you have an opinion tweet us over at @VAVELF1 or use the hashtag #VAVELF1.
1:25. Mercedes continued to show their dominance on a Saturday, but Ferrari’s race pace may give the Silver Arrows a problem. The Scuderia are best suited to hot temperatures, which we always see here in Bahrain.
1:20. Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull career continues to get off to a poor start as he went out in Q1, not what the Russian expected when he signed for the team at the end of last year.
1:15. It was contrasting fortunes for McLaren, as Fernando Alonso made it into Q2, the first time either McLaren got that far this season. Jenson Button however lost power and pulled up on the track, with Button not setting a time, seeing him start at the back.
1:10. The grid for today’s race..
1) Hamilton, 2) Vettel, 3) Rosberg, 4) Raikkonen, 5) Bottas, 6) Massa, 7) Riccardo, 8) Hulkenberg, 9) Sainz, 10) Grosjean, 11) Perez, 12) Nasr, 13) Ericsson, 14) Alonso, 15) Verstappen, 16) Maldonado, 17) Kvyat, 18) Stevens, 19) Merhi, 20) Button
1:05. Lewis Hamilton kept his 100% Qualifying record yesterday as he grabbed his fourth pole of the season, defeating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who starts on the front row with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg third.
1:00. Good afternoon and welcome to the live feed for the Bahrain Grand Prix, I’m Aaron Irwin and I’ll be guiding you through the fourth race of the 2015 Formula One World Championship season.