Nico Rosberg continued his perfect start to the season with a second consecutive race victory as he triumphed at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, his fifth consecutive win in Formula 1.
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS was delighted with the outcome of the race after jumping into the lead at the start and missing the chaos that ensued behind, pulling away to beat Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by just over ten seconds at the chequered flag after matching the Finn’s strategy calls to play it safe.
The only disappointment Rosberg had was his performance in qualifying, where he was narrowly beaten to pole by team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but the German is delighted to start the season so strongly.
“Wow, what a weekend!” exclaimed Rosberg. “I am so happy with how everything is working out at the moment. The start was definitely the key to my win – and that was a really great moment, as it was an area that we put a lot effort into before the race.
“Leading into Turn One was a relief, to be honest, as I could see in my mirrors that it was very busy behind me. But from then on I was able to control the pace and take the win. Strategy-wise we had to play it safe. It maybe wasn’t the quickest option – but we had to cover the risk of a safety car.
“It was an almost perfect weekend for me – only qualifying could have been a fraction better. What a great start to the season – a big thank you to the guys and girls at the factories for this amazing car!”
