Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers’ championship after winning a tense 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix from Lewis Hamilton. A late charge from Hamilton wasn’t quite enough to prevent a Ferrari victory, as his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas took third.

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari, with Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull’s only finisher in fifth, team mate Max Verstappen having retired early with brake failure. Felipe Massa secured sixth for Williams, from Force India’s Sergio Perez and Haas’s Romain Grosjean. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Force India’s Esteban Ocon completed the top ten.

Polesitter Bottas led from Vettel at the start, as Hamilton dropped to third, but the complexion of the race was altered on Lap 13 when Williams’ Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz collided as the latter exited the pits. It ended both men’s evenings and brought out the safety car, prompting a flurry of pit stops. Hamilton had to queue behind Bottas and delayed Ricciardo behind him in the process, leading to a 5-second time penalty from the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly in the pit lane.

With the safety car shuffle complete, it was Vettel who led from Bottas at the restart on Lap 17, while Hamilton immediately reclaimed P3 from Ricciardo. The final showdown began after Hamilton pitted for the last time on Lap 41 to take his penalty, rejoining in third. He quickly caught Bottas, who dutifully moved aside, leaving the Briton with 10 laps to hunt down Vettel, who was 13s up the road. He gave it his all but it ultimately proved too big an ask, and the gap was 6.6s at the flag.