In the heat of the sun and surrounded by the sand and instability of the region, the Bahrain Grand Prix once again had familiar faces atop the podium as Sebastian Vettel took his second consecutive victory at Sakhir and his second of the season as well.
Nico Rosberg started the race from pole position in his Mercedes AMG with a strong start from Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull Renault seeing him go past the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Paul DiResta also had a good start for Force India, climbing to P4 after the first corner. As Rosberg battled with Alonso and Vettel over the next few laps, DiResta was catching up as well. At the end of lap 6, Vettel, who wrestled for the lead earlier on, was now in front, with DiResta now in P3 and Rosberg in P4. Alonso meanwhile had his DRS fail on him. The drag reduction system left his rear wing open and he was called into the pits, which dropped him down to P8. Paul DiResta was now leading the race for a good few laps until Vettel was back out in front. After a long stint which saw a considerable gap being opened up, Vettel pitted for hard tyres, emerging from the pit lane still in the race lead. Romain Grosjean was now P2 in his Lotus Renault, with DiResta behind him in P3 for Force India.
Lap 31 saw the battle of the McLarens begin as Sergio Perez had caught up with his team mate Jenson Button. The battle saw many close encounters and after some wheel-banging, Perez nudged the back of Button’s rear wheel losing a piece of his front wing while the others caught up from behind. However, both continued on and lap 32 saw a train of cars with Button up front; Perez right behind him; Grosjean, having pitted, now behind the McLaren, and Nico Rosberg at the end of the pack. Carrying more speed into the corner, Grosjean managed to get past Perez on the next lap; putting his Lotus ahead of the McLaren. Further up the order, Kimi Raikkonen swept past Paul DiResta at the end of the straight for P2. Lap 37 saw DiResta hit the pits, followed by Vettel on Lap 43. The action continued as several battles occurring simultaneously with the two-stoppers, Vettel and Raikkonen, up front ahead of the three-stoppers DiResta, Grosjean and Webber. On lap 52, Grosjean finally managed to pass Paul DiResta to take the final podium spot. With just 5 laps to go, Perez muscled his McLaren past the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso in his hunt for more points. In the lead up to the chequered flag, Mark Webber lost two positions, with Hamilton and Perez both getting past.
Sebastian Vettel clinched his second victory of the season for Red Bull with the Lotus Renaults of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean coming in second and third: providing the same podium result as last year. Paul DiResta took home a valuable 12 points for Force India with 4th and Lewis Hamilton finished in 5th for Mercedes AMG. Vettel now leads the driver’s championship with 77 pts, followed by Raikkonen 10 pts behind him on 67. Hamilton is now 3rd with 50 pts. In the constructor’s championship, Red Bull lead with 109 pts, Lotus are now in 2nd with 93 pts, followed by Ferrari in 3rd with 77 pts. Next up, we head to Spain for round 5 of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship and it’s another three week wait away. Stay tuned!
