Helmut Marko is not convinced Sunday's Bahrain grand prix was a F1 thriller. After all the carping about the radical 2014 rules having turned F1 into 'formula yawn', Bahrain was hailed as a timely and highly-entertaining spectacle. "There was a lot of criticism beforehand," Mercedes' Nico Rosberg told German television ARD as Tuesday as he began post-race testing in Bahrain. "But people who watched the race tell me it was one of the best ever."
But Marko, whose employer Red Bull is one of the teams most vocally unhappy with the new regulations, is not so sure. "Only after the safety car was it a really great race," the outspoken Austrian told Red Bull-owned Servus TV.
There were only ten laps of the 57-lap Bahrain race left when the safety car for Esteban Gutierrez's roll-over shunt finally pulled into the pits. It was then that Lewis Hamilton's epic duel with his Mercedes teammate Rosberg really began. "If the safety car had not come out, it would have been a relatively bland race," Marko claims.
Rosberg said it is "logical" that Mercedes' rivals are not happy with the current situation. "We made the best of the new rules and are absolutely dominant at the moment," he admitted. "That the other teams don't like it is logical. Last year, it was Red Bull doing the best job, now it's us. So it's not nice that now the others are crying all of a sudden about rule changes," Rosberg added. (GMM)
Bahrain would have been a bland race without safety car - Marko
- Published on 09 Apr 2014 12:12
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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C. Leclerc
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A. Antonelli
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Ferrari
- Points 3,716
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- Grand Prix 244
- Country GB
- Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (41)
- Place of b. Tewin, GB
- Weight 68 kg
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- 485,176 comments on Ferrari
67 members have this team as their favourite
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Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,728 comments on Mercedes
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- Tweets about Mercedes
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