F1: Championship favourite Lewis Hamilton eyes room for improvement after defensive masterclass in Bahrain Grand Prix

Hamilton took his second victory of the season after managing to hold off his team-mate Nico Rosberg throughout the race

Lewis Hamilton celebrates his victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix with his Mercedes mechanics (Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton knows he has to improve despite conjuring a victory to savour at the end of one of the sport's greatest grands prix.

For the first time in four years Hamilton clinched back-to-back wins, taking the chequered flag in Bahrain by just 1.085secs from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

The duo were again in a class of their own, but they produced a duel in the desert of epic proportions under the 5,000 lights that line the Bahrain International Circuit as the event embraced night racing for the first time.

On numerous occasions Hamilton and Rosberg went wheel to wheel as the team underlined the pair are free to race, doing so cleanly, although there were times when they came perilously close to an incident.

In the end, with Rosberg hounding Hamilton over the final 10 laps in the wake of a safety car period after Lotus' Pastor Maldonado had T-boned Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez, the Briton produced a doggedly defensive display to keep the German at bay.

"That was incredibly tough, one of the toughest situations I've been in for a long time," said Hamilton.

"For me it feels like a long time that I've been able to have a real racer's race, and really use whatever skills I've acquired over the years as a youngster in karting.

"Being able to apply them in Formula One is a lot harder, but to be able to pull them out of the bag and use them again...

"The time I went around the outside (of Rosberg) or got back (on the inside), timing it just right, is a fantastic feeling to be able to do that.

"It's one of the greatest feelings when you obviously come out on top, and winning this race, I am absolutely delighted to have come away with the victory."

Hamilton holds off Rosberg to win humdinger

Despite closing the gap to Rosberg at the top of the standings to 11 points, Hamilton appreciates he has to raise his game for the next race in China on April 20.

"I'm very happy, of course, but deep down inside I didn't have the pace and that's always still in the back of my mind," said Hamilton.

"I've got to really work hard to try and find out why that is because that wasn't the case in the last race (in Malaysia).

"A lot of the advantages I had in the last race Nico found them as we came here, applied them and did even better.

"So I've got to now go and find out what he did better than me and see if I can improve for the next race."

Behind the leading duo there there were overtakes and close-shaves galore, with Sergio Perez providing Force India with only the team's second podium in its history.

On the occasion of his 250th grand prix, Jenson Button retired two laps from home in his McLaren with a clutch problem, whilst Max Chilton brought his Marussia home for the 22nd consecutive race in finishing 13th.

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