Top vs Flop 5: Bahrain GP driver ratings

There were some stand out performances in Bahrain and some that will be forgotten about very quickly.

Pole and the win, Sebastian Vettel might have gotten lucky in Melbourne but there was no questioning that he judged his drive to victory in Bahrain to perfection. Switching strategy halfway through the race to cover off both Mercedes', the championship leader nursed his soft Pirelli tyres home, holding off a late surge from Valtteri Bottas to earn his second win of the season.

Valtteri Bottas showed he had some newfound pace in the car on Sunday and helped force Ferrari into a mistake by bringing Raikkonen into the pits. The Finn had a real opportunity of victory with Vettel on older tyres and after what looked to be a decent chance into turn one, a half-hearted attempt on the final lap meant he ended up following the Ferrari home for second.

It was a weekend of damage limitation for the reigning world champion. Lewis Hamilton started ninth after his gearbox penalty and got off to a tricky start. Contact with Max Verstappen was not ideal but Hamilton put it behind him quickly, making the overtake of the season so far with a brilliant triple overtake into turn one. Had radio communications between himself and the team been clearer, he might have caught Bottas and Vettel but ultimately had to settle for third. A good recovery drive.

What a weekend for Pierre Gasly. He not only made Q3 comfortably but he ended up sixth with a great lap and was promoted one position more by virtue of Hamilton's gearbox penalty. The Frenchman drove a faultless race and came home fourth for Toro Rosso Honda, a hugely impressive drive in just his seventh Formula One race.

In what might be considered his finest drive in F1, Marcus Ericsson finished ninth for Alfa Romeo Sauber with a fantastic performance in Sakhir. Many regard the Sauber as one of the poorer cars in the field but Ericsson showed brilliant judgement with the tyres and his overtaking was quick and decisive and it earned him two championship points. Well deserved.

A crash in qualifying left him with a lot to do on Sunday starting from 15th on the grid. His weekend didn't improve either, a move down the inside of Lewis Hamilton at turn one spelt the end for Max Verstappen's 2018 in Bahrain. Contact on the exit after he squeezed Hamilton out wide punctured his rear left tyre and left him with a broken differential. A messy weekend for him with mistakes that shouldn't be happening from a driver of his calibre.

While his teammate was going about the best race weekend of his career, Charles Leclerc looked to be filling the role of rookie rather too well. He admitted on Saturday he was overdriving the car and had to calm down but the form of the F2 champion took a dip in Bahrain and he needs to find his feet quickly with a Ferrari seat on the horizon.

Whatever Sergey Sirotkin does in 2018, there will always be the whispers behind his back of what could Robert Kubica do in the same car? Despite outqualifying his teammate on Saturday, Sirotkin came across the line last of the classified runners on race day. Would Kubica do better in the seemingly appalling Williams? Who knows, but the team have serious issues at hand with their FW41.

Anonymous is the word to describe Carlos Sainz's Bahrain Grand Prix. The Spaniard was out-qualified and then outperformed on Sunday by teammate Nico Hulkenberg who scored points in his Renault. Sainz meanwhile couldn't break into the points while Hulkenberg came home sixth. Sainz will know he can perform better and needs to find the pace he had at the end of last season quick.

His teammate will get all the applause and it is fully deserved. He might have outqualified both McLaren's but Brendon Hartley never really looked as good for the rest of the weekend. A clumsy bit of contact on the opening lap with Sergio Perez netted the Kiwi a 10-second time penalty and from there he never really recovered. On a night where his teammate scored strong points, Hartley looked lacking.