Sebastian Vettel made an unconventional one-stop strategy work to claim victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, surviving a late challenge from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Vettel led from Bottas and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages. Making swift progress through the field early on, Lewis Hamilton soon climbed to fourth to become a factor in the strategic lead battle.
Mercedes took a different strategic decision at the first round of pitstops, taking the medium tyres, with both Ferrari drivers instead taking the soft tyre. Having started on the soft tyre, Hamilton stayed out until Vettel overtook on his fresher rubber, coming out still a long way behind Raikkonen.
With Vettel back in the lead, the gaps remained the same until Raikkonen came in for his second stop. It ended in disaster when he was released without the team changing his left rear tyre. He clipped a mechanic upon leaving the pit-box. The mechanic has since been taken to hospital.
After the pitstop drama, Ferrari switched Vettel to a one-stop strategy. Both Mercedes drivers closed on the sole remaining Ferrari, with Bottas getting the chance to challenge for the lead on the final lap. Ultimately it wasn’t enough though for the Finn, who only made a half move into Turn 1 with the assistance of the DRS.
Vettel held off Bottas to claim a second consecutive victory, with Bottas and Hamilton joining him on the podium in second and third respectively.
Pierre Gasly brought the Toro Rosso home in fourth, the best result for Honda since their return to Formula 1 four years ago. The impressive drive from the Frenchman saw him lead the midfield pack for most of the race.
Behind the Toro Rosso, Kevin Magnussen finished fifth, Nico Hulkenberg sixth and Fernando Alonso in seventh. After a poor start, Stoffel Vandoorne came home behind his McLaren team-mate in eighth.
As one of few drivers to complete a one-stop strategy, Marcus Ericsson brought home two points for Sauber beating Esteban Ocon who claimed the final point.
It was a disaster for Red Bull with both drivers retiring early. Max Verstappen clipped his left-rear tyre on Hamilton’s front wing resulting in a puncture. Verstappen retired shortly afterwards. Daniel Ricciardo retired after his car shut down, less than a minute after Verstappen and Hamilton’s contact.
