Sebastian Vettel claims his second victory of the season in Bahrain F1

It was now the turn of Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari to come in first in the third Formula 1 race of the season, having done the same thing in the first race. With this win, Vettel has a clear lead in the drivers’ championship after winning the 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the second race of the season  had to be content with a second place here in Bahrain. Despite his late charge in the race, he could not prevent Vettel winning a a splendid victory for Ferrari. But Mercedes team had reason to smile as Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas took third position.

For Force India’s drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, it was good news as both came in the first ten standings and earned points. They finished seventh and tenth respectively. Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen came in fourth. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth while his team mate Max Verstappen retired early with brake failure. Felipe Massa secured sixth for Williams, Haas’s Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg came in eighth and ninth respectively.

From third on the grid, Vettel pushed past Hamilton’s Silver Arrow going into Turn 1 at the start, then chased polesitter and early leader Bottas as the three of them were joined by the Red Bulls of fast-starting Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in a high-speed train. But then Verstappen crashed in Turn 4 on the 12th lap, due to suspected brake failure. In the 13^th lap  Carlos Sainz, leaving the pits after a stop in his Toro Rosso, collided with the side of rookie Lance Stroll’s Williams as the Canadian turned into Turn 1, resulting in Sainz earning a three-place grid drop for the next round in Canada.

There were lots of other retirements but for Vettel it was his 44th career victory, now leading the championship table with 68 points to Hamilton’s 61, with Bottas now third on 38 , Raikkonen on 32, Verstappen on 25 and Ricciardo on 22.

Mercedes still lead the constructors’ stakes, with 109 points to Ferrari’s 100, with Red Bull on 47 ahead of Force India on 17, Williams on 16, Toro Rosso on 12, Haas on 8 and Renault on 2.

 2017 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX - RACE RESULT