Jenson Button on Twitter: Seems like low degradation on the second set of tyres for most, option or prime.

Lotus on Twitter: A nice quickie for Pastor means a couple of places gained - crowded exit.

Image source, Lotus

We've just seen a replay of Vettel running wide at the end of the back straight. More encouragement for Raikkonen running behind.

Jenson Button on Twitter: Great pit lane action between Maldonado, Massa and Nasr.

The gap among the leading cars is:

Hamilton leading by 2.5secs from Rosberg, with Vettel 3.5 further back. Raikkonen, on the medium, is 6.5secs behind his team-mate.

The two Felipes are having a good scrap for 10th place.

The vastly less experiences Nasr gets the job done in the Sauber, but the two men are immediately into the pits for their second stops.

They pitted with Pastor Maldonado behind them - but the Lotus mechanics do a brilliant job and the Venezuealan gets the jump on both Nasr and Massa as they exit.

Jenson Button on Twitter: Ooh is Lewis backing his team mate into Vettel?!? #oldstory #whynot

Ben Edwards
BBC F1 commentator

"Under three seconds between the top three, 20 laps completed and nothing much to choose between them."

Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"I think the top three are tripping over each other. And that's why Raikkonen is gaining on the harder tyre."

Not sure how, given the medium tyre looked around two seconds slower than the soft in practice, but Kimi Raikkonen has been gaining time on the top three, who are all on softs.

Not what was predicted but there you have it.

He'll be on softs later when the others are on the medium. Definitely a man to watch.

Edward Williamson: If Ferrari are faster on the Mediums, Mercedes have had it.

Simon Partridge: How dangerous is the pit lane at Bahrain? Rosberg and Vettel only needed to be 0.5s earlier! Loving the close racing though!

Jamie Robinson: Kimi could be a dark horse here on a different strategy.

So now we've had the first stops, the order is :

1 Hamilton 2 Rosberg 3 Vettel 4 Raikkonen 5 Bottas 6 Ricciardo 7 Grosjean 8 Ericsson 9 Hulkenberg 10 Massa

Raikkonen is on the medium tyre, whereas the front three of Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel are on the softs.

He lost a lot of time still running around on his old softs after the front three had put on fresh sets.

Being on the mediums is not going to see him close in anytime soon, but will he be able to come back into play later in the race?

David Coulthard
BBC F1 co-commentator

"Rosberg is aggressive yet assured that is what we wanted to see last year. People mature at different rates but this is a great display from Rosberg this afternoon."

The Finn is back out again just in front of Bottas. He's fallen away from the front three during that first round of stops.

Jenson Button on Twitter: I think all the fast cars going 3stop, Only person in top 10 going for a 2 is Perez.

Hamilton has a slowish stop - 3.7secs - and comes out JUST in front of the battling Rosberg and Vettel, the Mercedes man overtaking the Ferrari down the pit straight.

Rosberg gets the pass done as the pair charged down towards the first turn, where the re-joining Hamilton was just getting up to speed.

Spectacular stuff.

David Coulthard
BBC F1 co-commentator

On Pastor Maldonado setting the fastest lap of the race: "It shows the difference between a new set of options. He doesn't get the chance to finish many races so he has to go for it when he has the opportunity."

Lap 15 and Rosberg is in, and he comes out BEHIND the Ferrari of Vettel.

The undercut gets the job done for Ferrari.

"Attack him now in fresh tyres," is the message from the Mercedes pit wall to Rosberg.

2.4secs stationary for Vettel. His team-mate Raikkonen was right on his tail so when the Finn stops they will be scrapping for track position.