Sebastian Vettel WINS the Bahrain Grand Prix for Ferrari – Hamilton 2nd, Bottas 3rd
Sebastian Vettel has won the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix from third place on the grid, with Lewis Hamilton in second and Valtteri Bottas in third.
It was the second win in three races for Vettel, but it could be argued the result would have been different if Hamilton hadn’t got a five second penalty for holding up Daniel Ricciardo on the pit entry.
Hamilton slowed almost to a crawl as he entered the pits with Ricciardo behind, resulting in the penalty from the marshalls, which he took at his second pit stop, rejoining in third spot.
Bottas was ordered to let Hamilton to pass so he could chase Vettel, but the gap was just too big.
But despite arguments over who was actually quickest, it’s clear Vettel has the measure of Hamilton, and that Bottas and Raikkonen are fighting for third and fourth places at the moment. And that’s how the race finished.
But it wasn’t just Hamilton’s sully moves and subsequent penalty that won it for Vettel, it was also Ferrari’s clever, and early, first stop when Vettel was caught in a train of cars, with the rest of the train pitting a bit later under the safety car.
That saw Vettel in the lead, with Bottas and Hamilton behind, and Vettel pulled away, further helped down the line by Hamilton’s penalty.
Behind the top four it was Ricciardo in fifth, Massa in sixth, Perez in seventh, Grosjean in eighth, Hulkenburg in ninth and Ocon in the Force India taking the last point.
There was a bit of fun at the back as Alonso tussled with Palmer and Kvyat, with Alonso showing just how good he is despite have a Civic engine in his McLaren.
But that engine gave up with just a couple of laps to go. Team mate Vandoorne’s engine was too sick to even make the start.
Jenson Button must be really looking forward to his Monaco outing.
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