Sebastian Vettel claimed a second consecutive victory in Formula 1’s fledgeling 2018 season by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix despite being on a compromised strategy.
Ferrari had committed to a two-stop on Vettel’s car. Mercedes, meanwhile, opted to use the hardest tyre of the allocation, fitting the medium compound to both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton – who was recovering from his five-place grid penalty – at the opening pitstop, making their race a one-stop and performing what looked like a “checkmate” strategic move against Vettel.
Tasked with stretching his tyres beyond mileage recommendations, Vettel switched to a one-stop himself and defied a late challenge from Bottas to win. Hamilton finished third after starting ninth following his gearbox penalty.
Elsewhere, Pierre Gasly recorded a remarkable fourth-place finish for the Honda-powered Toro Rosso to scoop a critical 12 points as F1’s frenetic midfield battle appeared to tighten yet further.
Here’s how we rated each drivers’ performance over the Bahrain GP weekend.
