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 The Briton's flying pole-to-flag victory at the desert track was his
third win in four races this season and 36th of his career.
The 30-year-old increased his lead over Rosberg in the standings to
27 points, with the Briton now having 93 points to the German's 66
as the championship heads back to start the European season.
"I am gunning for it," Hamilton told triple world champion Jackie
Stewart, doing the podium interviews, when reminded that he could
also be a three-times champion by the end of the season.
"The Ferraris gave us a real good run for our money, and out there
it was really difficult to look after the tyres in these
conditions," he added after spraying the fizzy rose water that
replaces champagne in Bahrain.
He did so with less reckless abandon than in China last weekend,
when photographs of him aiming a jet of fizz in the face of a
hostess triggered a controversy and accusations of sexist bullying.
"Fortunately I was able to keep the car together, keep the tyres as
healthy as possible and got it through... I think we showed that
Mercedes are still the best," said Hamilton.
Unlike last year, when he beat team mate Nico Rosberg from second
place on the grid in a wheel-to-wheel battle, Hamilton was
untroubled by the German who finished third after fighting the
Ferraris.
Rosberg was holding second place until two laps from the end when he
lost his brakes, went wide and gave Raikkonen the chance to speed
past on his fresher soft tyres and pull away to the chequered flag.
Rosberg had been passed by Raikkonen at the start, regaining the
place four laps later, in the first move of a prolonged struggle
with the Ferraris.
The second place was the Finn's first appearance on the podium since
2013, when he was at Lotus, and first for Ferrari since 2009.
He also set the fastest lap, equalling four-times champion Alain
Prost's tally of 41 and joining the Frenchman in second place on the
all-time lists.
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Finland's Valtteri Bottas finished fourth for Williams with
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel fifth after starting on the front row but
suffering front wing problems when he made a mistake late on and
veered across the gravel.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was sixth for Red Bull, with the car's
Renault engine expiring in a belch of smoke just before he crossed
the line, and Frenchman Romain Grosjean was seventh for Lotus.
"All the fireworks went off and the engine felt like it needed to
join in," Red Bull principal Christian Horner commented wryly.
Mexican Sergio Perez finished eighth for Force India while Russian
Daniil Kvyat was ninth in a Red Bull and Brazilian Felipe Massa took
the final point for Williams after a problem on the grid left him
starting from the pit lane.
Britain's Jenson Button did not start the race at all, due to
electrical problems in the Honda power unit, but Spanish team mate
Fernando Alonso finished 11th.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
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