2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race held on 6 April 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race, which was contested over 57 laps, was the third round of the 2014 season, and marked the tenth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been held as a round for the Formula One World Championship and the 900th World Championship event. The race was held as a night event, starting at 6:00pm local time under lights, similar to the Singapore Grand Prix. The decision to hold the race under lights was taken as a means of marking the tenth anniversary of the event.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the race after starting 2nd and overtaking teammate Nico Rosberg at the start. Rosberg finished second, with Force India's Sergio Pérez finishing third, scoring Force India's second ever podium, and first podium since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. The race was notable for the race-long battle between Hamilton and Rosberg and a collision on lap 41 between the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado and the Sauber of Esteban Gutiérrez. Gutierrez was flipped over in a side impact caused by Maldonado. The Venezuelan will serve a 5 place grid penalty at the Chinese Grand Prix for causing the crash.

Background
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre, as opposed to the previous year where hard and medium selections were provided.

Following the, Daniel Ricciardo was given a 10-place grid penalty, after his team released him from his pit box in an unsafe manner during the race.

Qualifying

 * Notes:
 * — Daniel Ricciardo was given a ten-place grid penalty for an unsafe pit release during the.
 * — Adrian Sutil was given a five-place grid penalty for impeding Romain Grosjean during qualifying.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Anti-government protests
In January 2014 an alliance of Bahraini human rights organisations including the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights wrote to FIA President Jean Todt, requesting that the Bahrain Grand Prix be suspended until the FIA's Ethics Committee could investigate the impact the race has had on human rights in Bahrain. According to the BCHR no response was received from the FIA. Reports from the race meeting indicated that thousands of people attended a rally protesting against the Grand Prix and the government, held on the Friday before the race itself outside the Bahraini capital Manama. Clashes between protesters and police took place following the demonstration.