F1 2018: Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel hung on from Valtteri Bottas to take victory, Kimi Raikkonen hit his mechanic during a pit stop, Lewis Hamilton fought back and there was a miserable few seconds for Red Bull. Vettel controlled proceedings from the start, but the race opened up when Ferrari and Mercedes opted for differing strategies at their first pit stops. Ferrari chose the soft tyres, Mercedes the mediums.

While Mercedes could go to the end comfortably, it was more of a stretch for Vettel, allowing Bottas to close up and create a grandstand finish. Ultimately, Bottas ran out of laps and Vettel held on to secure his 49th victory in his 200th Grand Prix start. Hamilton crossed the line third, with Gasly finishing a sensational fourth to give Honda their best result since returning to F1 and give Toro Rosso only their 10th top-five finish. Magnussen took an impressive fifth for Haas, ahead of Hulkenberg while McLaren scored double points finish for the second successive race with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne seventh and eighth respectively.

Hamilton delivered a brilliant comeback drive from ninth on the grid to complete the podium, but there was heartbreak for Red Bull as Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen retired for separate reasons within minutes of the race starting. Vettel led away from pole, with Bottas making use of starting on the clean side of the grid to beat Raikkonen to Turn 1 to take second.

Hamilton, who had started ninth after a five-place grid penalty, kept his nose clean at the start, but was passed by Alonso and then came under attack from Verstappen. Verstappen launched his Red Bull up the inside into Turn 1 and gave Hamilton the squeeze. But in running the Mercedes driver out of road, the duo made contact and Verstappen picked up a puncture.