Bahrain GP: 10 talking points

In a manner of speaking, anyway. A rule change this season requires cars to be fitted with a titanium skid plate, which helps protect drivers but also creates a dramatic visual display on track.

The sparks have been met with widespread approval as a way to improve the spectacle of races, although 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell had a different use for them during his days in F1:

"In free practice I would search out bumps that were slightly offline that I could use in the race if someone was right behind me.

"The lines wouldn't slow me, but I knew would give a big shower of sparks to the guy behind, and hopefully pock-mark their visor too. They really did make burns on your visor."

He might be 84 now, but Bernie Ecclestone is still as sharp as ever.

In a wide-ranging interview before the race the F1 supremo confirmed that the sport was suffering "a little bit of a dip", saying the new V6 hybrid engines remain the biggest problem.

"We have got past sticking plasters and we need an operation.

"We need to really seriously address costs because there are a lot of teams having difficulty trying to keep up."

The 2009 world champion was left with nothing to do on Sunday after McLaren failed in their bid to get his car ready in time for the race. Button completed just 17 laps in free practice due to a number of malfunctions which couldn't be repaired before lights out.

Instead, the veteran driver took to Twitter to provide followers with some insightful commentary on the grand prix.

Button pointed out that Raikkonen's tyre management made him "the man to watch", while also picking up on former teammate Sergio Perez's efforts to get into the points with Force India.

With three weeks until the Spanish GP, Jenson plans to keep further boredom at bay by running the London Marathon in six days' time. As you do...

Red Bull's season descended into further meltdown after Daniel Ricciardo suffered a spectacular engine failure on the very last corner in Bahrain.

The Australian was fortunate that he had enough momentum to coast over the line, recording a hard-fought sixth place finish with smoke billowing out the back of his car.

Team boss Christian Horner said afterwards: "All the fireworks went off and the engine obviously wanted to join in."

Having also lost one engine in free practice in Melbourne and another as a precaution in Shanghai, Ricciardo will be onto power unit number four in Barcelona next month.

An agreement to allow teams to use a fifth engine - one more than their original allocation - remains in the pipeline, but is expected to go through sooner or later.

Ferrari pushed their rivals all the way for the third race in succession, although there is still doubt over how big the gap between the manufacturers actually is.

Sebastian Vettel may have beaten Nico Rosberg to the front row in qualifying, but Rosberg was able to pass both Ferraris relatively quickly after dropping back to fourth off the start.

The only time the Italian outfit were able to get close to the champions was by using the undercut in the pits, and it took a brake problem for Rosberg on the penultimate lap to gift second place to Kimi Raikkonen.

The Merc advantage remains a few tenths of a second, but as Toto Wolff put it, the days of the Silver Arrows running away with races is now "over".

A number of oddities were spotted over the weekend, not least the overly ambitious photographers who placed themselves right on the edge of the pit lane entry in Sakhir.

With no protective gear and nowhere to run, the paps were stood just inches away from the 900bhp beasts heading for the garages. "A bit crazy," according to Nico Rosberg.

There was also a rogue marshal near the Lotus garage, who leapt into action with a fire extinguisher after seeing smoke on the front brakes of Pastor Maldonado's car.

The well-intentioned individual briefly opened fire on the front wing before being frantically waved away by Lotus's mechanics.

When asked before the race if he wanted Manor Marussia in Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone merely shrugged and said: "not particularly."

However, team boss Graeme Lowdon was quick to respond, saying: "I think, with the greatest respect to Bernie, the most important thing is whether the fans wants us there, and the message that we get loud and clear is that the fans want us.

"We want to contribute more, and I'm sure at the stage where Bernie feels we're contributing more he'll feel differently."

Manor can be proud of the fact that they got two cars to the end of the grand prix in Bahrain, which is more than can be said of former champions McLaren...

You might think that F1 battles are played out solely on the track, but Sebastian Vettel has shown that advantages can be found in the paddock as well.

In a joint interview with his Ferrari rival, Lewis Hamilton recalled the time Vettel presented him with a squeaky toy for his dog, Roscoe.

"He gave me this damn ball and it squeaked so much," said Lewis. "He wouldn't leave it alone all night.

"It's definitely tactics man..."

Vettel - who presumably got a better night's sleep - won the unspecified race the next day.

There were a number of good performances in Bahrain on Sunday, although the drives of Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso were among the very best.

Kvyat negotiated the traffic maturely after starting 17th on the grid, eventually finishing just three places behind his teammate. Meanwhile, Perez and Alonso's exceptional tyre management helped them guide their uncompetitive cars into 8th and 11th respectively.

The McLaren driver believes this is the last race he will finish outside of the points, with more improvements set to be made before the Spanish grand prix. Optimistic?

"To find the limit, you need to cross the limit. I think I have the big balls to cross the limit every time."

Those are the words of Pastor Maldonado, who endured another controversial weekend in Bahrain after coming into contact with Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa at the start of the race.

A purple time of 1:38:495 on lap 13 suggested the Venezuelan could make an unlikely finish in the points, but a problem with his car thirty laps later cost him dearly, leading to a 15th place finish.

In other news, we can confirm that Maldonado Bingo© is in its testing phase. Watch this space.