Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes Nico Rosberg was back to his best in Sunday 's Bahrain Grand Prix . Rosberg has again found himself playing second fiddle to Hamilton so far this season , which has led to many questioning his character and ability . Although Rosberg could only finish third behind Hamilton and Ferrari star Kimi Raikkonen at the Bahrain International Circuit , he proved over the course of the race he still has what it takes . Nico Rosberg duels for position with the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel during Sunday 's race in Bahrain . Lewis Hamilton sprays Rosberg with champagne after the Briton secured his third win in four races this term . 1 . Lewis Hamilton ( Britain ) Mercedes 93 . 2 . Nico Rosberg ( Germany ) Mercedes 66 . 3 . Sebastian Vettel ( Germany ) Ferrari 65 . 4 . Kimi Raikkonen ( Finland ) Ferrari 42 . Rosberg conjured three superb overtaking manoeuvres , one on Raikkonen and two on the Finn 's Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel . A delighted Wolff said : 'Everybody who ever doubted Nico saw Nico at his best , fighting hard and overtaking . 'We are four races into the season and there are another 15 left , so I have no doubt after his driving in Bahrain , which was exceptional , we will have a very strong Nico bouncing back in Barcelona ( for the Spanish Grand Prix ) . ' Rosberg is already 27 points adrift of Mercedes team-mate Hamilton in the battle for this season 's title . Rosberg dices with Kimi Raikkonen . Asked as to what is required of Rosberg to overcome an in-form Hamilton , Wolff replied : 'To qualify on pole and control the race from there . 'We saw that Lewis qualifying on pole , running away and being in control of the race was similar to what we had in China . He was the key to scoring maximum points . ' A concern for Wolff , however , is the brake failures of Hamilton and Rosberg over the final two laps . For Rosberg , in particular , the brake system in his car failed on the penultimate lap , allowing a charging Raikkonen an easy pass , although it is likely the Finn 's pace at that stage would have resulted in him claiming second anyway . As for Hamilton , his brakes gave way on the final lap , but the 30-year-old was able to cross the line 3.3 seconds ahead of Raikkonen . 'We must be happy with one and three , no doubt about it , ' added Wolff . 'But Nico losing second place because of a brake failure is a bit of a pity . 'We saw very hot brakes on Nico 's car in traffic following Sebastian ( Vettel ) with lots of hard braking . We monitored that , but with the backmarkers and the lapping cars those brake temperatures went through the roof and we had a brake-by-wire failure on both cars in the same corner - Lewis on the last lap , Nico on the penultimate lap . 'Leading into the last lap it was under hard braking on the straight the temperatures went sky high . When that happens the brake-by-wire switches into a conventional system and then you are without weapons to defend . '
Nico Rosberg fought his way past Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel . He ultimately finished third after his brakes failed in closing stages . The Sebastian is now 27 points behind title leader Lewis Hamilton . Hamilton has out-qualified and finished ahead of Rosberg at every race .