Starting off the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position, Mercedes AMG Petronas’ Nico Rosberg led the race for two laps before being overtaken on the third lap by Sebastian Vettel who would then go on to win the race. Rosberg battled for fifth position for quite some time before dropping back after contact was made with Mark Webber’s Red Bull car, requiring him to take a fourth pit stop. Rosberg finished respectively in ninth position.
Lewis Hamilton started off the race in 9th position and dropped back as far as 11 in an effort to conserve his tires but truly came alive when he overtook the Webber’s Red Bull car on the 51st lap. Webber managed to take over Hamilton on the 53rd lap, setting up a great to watch side-by-side racing battle between the two – Webber blocked Hamilton and Hamilton ducked and dived behind him. It was on the very last lap of the race going into Turn 1 with Hamilton on the inside that Webber had to concede to Hamilton ending in a fifth place finish for Hamilton and a seventh place finish for Webber.
- Lewis completed a three-stop strategy to finish in fifth place after starting ninth
- He stopped on laps 10, 22 and 38, running option/option/prime/prime
- After starting from pole, Nico was forced to convert to a four-stop strategy at the end of his third stint
- He stopped on laps 9, 20, 33 and 44, running option/prime/prime/option/option
| Drivers | Car No. | Chassis No. | Race Result / Fastest Lap |
| Lewis Hamilton | 10 | F1 W04 / 04 | P5 1:38.204 |
| Nico Rosberg | 9 | F1 W04 / 03 | P9 1:37.558 |
| Weather | Hot | |
| Temperatures | Air: 26-29°C | Track: 37-42°C |
Lewis Hamilton
I’m really happy with our result today. It’s been a tough weekend for us but we got through it and finishing in fifth place was some good damage limitation. My race didn’t start well at all. I was looking after the tires but I really struggled on the first two stints and was falling back. But as the temperatures dropped, the car picked up and then I had the grip that I needed to push and close the gap. I had so much fun fighting with Mark at the end. We really needed that point and I was so determined to get by. It was good, clean wheel-to-wheel racing. I’m very proud of what we have achieved over the first four races and to be third in the Drivers’ Championship is beyond any of our expectations. But we’ve got to keep pushing and find more performance. We’re hanging on by the skin of our teeth at the moment and, if we can make that next step, then we can close the gap.
Nico Rosberg
A tough day for me. As nice as it was to start from pole this afternoon, it was just as hard to finish in ninth place. I didn’t feel comfortable in the car today and it wasn’t much fun out there really. We switched to a four-stop strategy at the end of my third stint but it wasn’t enough. We were using the rear tyres too much and at the end, I was really struggling and wasn’t able to push hard enough. There is a lot of work ahead and we need to focus on why our race performance isn’t matching the pace that we can show in qualifying. Hopefully we can make some steps here before the European season starts.
Ross Brawn
We struggled badly in the early part of the race when the track temperatures were at their highest. This is an issue we have to address and we will continue working on solutions to improve our performance in this area. In the second half of the race, as the track temperatures cooled somewhat, our pace was not bad – particularly with Lewis. We got two cars home in the points, both drivers enjoyed some exciting wheel-to-wheel racing and the pit crew delivered some great stops. Lewis and Nico did as good a job as possible with the car we had this afternoon but it was a case of damage limitation for both of them. However we must make it a priority to cope better with elevated temperatures: the tyres are the same for everybody and we are not performing as well as our competitors in these conditions.
Toto Wolff
We knew it would be a tough day and the high track temperatures were clearly not good for us. That’s not an excuse but a priority area to improve. We need to analyse carefully why we suffered so much, particularly in the early stages, and why we were not on the pace. Both drivers were tough but fair in defending their positions and delivered some good racing, particularly Lewis in the closing stages. But from a team perspective we must see this as a disappointing result. We learned a lot this afternoon but it is clear that we still have a lot to learn.
