Formula 1®
Mercedes Fastest Lap Fight – Nico Rosberg Takes Second of Season
It was Formula 1 racing at his finest at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Mercedes’ intra-team battle for victory, Force India’s surprising late surge and fights throughout the order all made for outstanding race action in every sense. Nico Rosberg races the DHL Fastest Lap during his late drive to catch teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Click play above to watch cockpit footage of Nico Rosberg’s Fastest Lap and DHL’s F1® Expert and former F1 driver Christian Danner tell the story behind it.
If you thought this season was going to get boring on account of Mercedes’ early dominance, think again. Hamilton and Rosberg went head-to-head on Sunday in an epic battle for victory, putting on the most exciting display yet of the new formula. It took a tremendous effort, but in the end the Englishman fended off his German teammate in a classic duel.
It was a pretty easy pick for DHL’s F1 expert Christian Danner before the season’s first night race in Bahrain. “The race track in Bahrain [...] does favor the Mercedes cars,” said Danner before the race. “So for me personally, the favorites to win the DHL Fastest Lap [are] either Rosberg or Hamilton.”
“Nico was in an incredible fight toward the end of the race – a fight for victory against his teammate Lewis Hamilton." (Christian Danner)
But we sure didn’t know the two would battle it out for Fastest Lap bragging rights. Hamilton set the second fastest lap of the day less than one hundredths of a second behind teammate Rosberg in the same lap that Rosberg piloted the day’s perfect lap in 1min 37.020 sec: lap 49.
“Nico was in an incredible fight toward the end of the race – a fight for victory against his teammate Lewis Hamilton,” said Danner. “And in exactly that period of the race he set the Fastest Lap. Now that was an outstanding performance!”
With two Fastest Lap notches on his belt, Nico Rosberg leads the DHL Fastest Lap standings ahead of teammate Hamilton. Rosberg’s second-place finish keeps him atop the drivers’ table, which makes him the number one candidate for the title at the moment.
“However, he has a very very strong teammate,” Danner adds. “And I think we’re going to see a wonderful fight between these two.”
See all Danner’s Fastest Lap Tips and Reviews
Christian Danner shares the Fastest Lap story with us each week and you can have a look back at his past picks and reviews at any time on DHL's YouTube channel.
Before and after each Grand Prix™ this season, Christian Danner offers up his pick for the DHL Fastest Lap and then reviews that perfect lap after the race. "One thing that is so cool about the fastest lap," says Danner, "is that there's always a story behind the story."
Click here to keep pace with what is happening in Formula 1 and DHL Motorsports on DHL InMotion –events that will move you!
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