Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 1, Nico Rosberg 2) – Hamilton won from pole. His sixth victory of the season and 39th of his career. The race also brought his 80th podium, equalling Ayrton Senna’s tally. The Briton now leads Rosberg by 28 points with eight races left. Mercedes had their seventh one-two of the season. Rosberg set the fastest lap.
FERRARI (Kimi Raikkonen 7, Sebastian Vettel 12) – No joy for Ferrari in their 900th race and Vettel’s 150th grand prix start. Vettel was third when a blowout on the penultimate lap wrecked his chances. The result ended his run of 21 successive races in the points. Raikkonen started 16th after a penalty for a gearbox change.
WILLIAMS (Felipe Massa 6, Valtteri Bottas 9) – Bottas started third but a calamitous pitstop, when the team sent him out on three soft tyres and a medium, triggered a drive-through penalty and blew his hopes. Massa finished where he started on the grid.
RED BULL (Daniil Kvyat 4, Daniel Ricciardo retired) – Ricciardo had run as high as third place but ground to a halt on the final corner on lap 21, triggering a virtual safety car (VSC). Kvyat started 12th and made the most of staying out during the VSC period. Red Bull gained two points on Williams.
LOTUS (Romain Grosjean 3, Pastor Maldonado retired) – Grosjean celebrated his first podium finish since 2013, and at a track where he triggered a first corner pile-up in 2012 that brought him a one race ban. Maldonado retired early on after losing power. The third place was a boost for financially-troubled Lotus, whose cars were set to be impounded after the race in a legal dispute with former reserve driver Charles Pic.
FORCE INDIA (Sergio Perez 5, Nico Hulkenberg did not start) – Perez made a storming start and challenged Hamilton for the lead before settling into second place for a while. Hulkenberg reported a loss of power on the first formation lap and then caused the start to be aborted. He returned to the pits and retired.
TORO ROSSO (Max Verstappen 8, Carlos Sainz retired) – Sainz also reported power problems before the second start and pitted. He rejoined but, two laps down, was then told to retire on lap 35. Belgian-born Verstappen pulled off some sensational overtaking to keep the local fans happy.
SAUBER (Marcus Ericsson 10, Felipe Nasr 11) – Ericsson scored his second point in two races, helped by Vettel’s puncture. Nasr struggled with brake problems and also had a slow puncture on his final stint.
MCLAREN (Fernando Alonso 13, Jenson Button 14) – The start was the highlight of the race for Alonso, who made up several places after starting on the back row with Button. The pair had been handed a combined grid drop total of 105 places for a raft of engine and component changes. The penalty was meaningless, with only 20 places on the grid.
MANOR MARUSSIA (Roberto Merhi 15, Will Stevens 16) – A solid and reliable afternoon between two team mates battling only each other.
