Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel enjoyed one of his more comfortable days in the sunshine as the reigning world champion cruised to the 28th win of his remarkable career.
In taking the chequered flag for the second successive time at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and in claiming his second victory this year, Red Bull star Vettel now has a 10-point lead over lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn again had to settle for the runner-up spot, as was the case last Sunday in China, but at least had team-mate Romain Grosjean for company on the podium. Astonishingly, it was the same one-two-three at the desert-based Bahrain International Circuit as it was in 2012.
Adopting a two-stop strategy, like Raikkonen who has extended his run of results in the points to 21 races, Force India’s Paul Di Resta almost made it work as he conjured one of his finest drives.
But in being passed by Grosjean five laps from home in the 57-lap race, it denied the Scot the first podium of his 43-race career, but at least in finishing fourth he equalled his best result. With people tipping Fernando Alonso as the man to beat this season following his victory last Sunday in China, the double champion suggested the campaign could be a rollercoaster one if the opening four races are anything to go by.
Second in the season-opener in Australia, Alonso crashed out early in Malaysia a week later when he ran over his front wing that had worked loose following a lap-one tussle with Vettel.
The Spaniard’s 31st-career triumph followed seven days ago, and after lining up third on the grid here the belief was he could double up. After seven laps, however, he was the first of the leaders to pit, not only switching from the medium-compound tyres to the hard, but primarily due to a problem with his DRS.
One lap later, and with Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Grosjean pitting as the first round of stops began in earnest, Alonso was in again as his DRS was lodged in the open position. It took three mechanics to push down and snap it shut again, but with that went any hope of win number 32, the 31-year-old ultimately just scraping into the points with eighth place.
Di Resta finishes 4th
Paul di Resta finished fourth with an impressive drive to give Sahara Force India the best show so far this season.
Di Resta, who started the race in fifth place, missed the podium by 2.2 seconds. The Briton also led the race for a few laps before ending 2.2 seconds behind third-place finisher Romain Grosjean of lotus, to bring home 12 points. He equalled his best ever finish in F1 race. The last time he finished fourth was at the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix.
Teammate Adrian Sutil, who started sixth, finished 15th after an having a minor accident with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari in the opening lap of the race. The German could not recuperate and had to settle for a non-point finish.
Daily Telegraph/PTI