2015 Bahrain Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 19 in the 2015 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 19 April 2015 | ||
| Official name | 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix | ||
| Location |
Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain |
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| Course | Permanent Racing Facility | ||
| Course length | 5.412 km (3.363 mi) | ||
| Distance | 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, clear 24–26 °C (75–79 °F) air temperature 28–31 °C (82–88 °F) track temperature 1.5 m/s (4.9 ft/s) wind from the north |
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| Attendance | 32,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||
| Time | 1:32.571 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:36.311 on lap 42 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Mercedes | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Mercedes | ||
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The 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 19 April 2015 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race was the fourth round of the 2015 season and marked the eleventh time that the Bahrain Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton, who was the defending race winner, came into the race with a 13-point lead over Sebastian Vettel after his victory a week prior in China. He took the 42nd pole position of his career during Saturday's qualifying, and his fourth in a row. In the race, Hamilton managed to win from Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Rosberg, taking his 36th race victory.
There were tensions in the Mercedes team prior to the Grand Prix. After the Chinese Grand Prix the week before, Nico Rosberg had accused his teammate Lewis Hamilton of deliberately backing him into the charging Ferrari cars during the race, claiming he had "compromised" his race. Hamilton in turn claimed that Rosberg was never close enough to attack him, an assertion that Rosberg rejected, saying he "did try to attack". The team reacted by issuing a warning to their drivers, that they would start "managing" them more if they should not be able to race for the best of the team on track. After comments made by Hamilton saying that his contract extension negotiations were going slow, rumours arose that Hamilton had asked for a clear number one status in the team, a claim denied by both driver and team.
As with previous years there were protests against the race going forward. The protests highlighted the situation of the Shi'ite majority in the Sunni-ruled Arab country, demanding the release of political prisoners. The protesters tried to use the arrival of Formula One to bring their demands into the public eye. The race came only one week after a report was published by Amnesty International about "unabated" human rights violations in Bahrain. In previous years, Formula One commercial rights executive Bernie Ecclestone had maintained the view that the political situation should be kept separate from the sport, saying in 2013: "We’re not here, or we don’t go anywhere, to judge how a country is run". However, in what was viewed as a "180-degree policy reversal", Formula One issued a statement ahead of the 2015 Grand Prix, stating that it "has committed itself to respecting human rights in Bahrain and other countries in which it conducts business".
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