With a strong showing in practice and qualifying, Red Bull was looking like a serious contender for the Ferrari team. However, early drama ended their chances early on. There was pitstop drama for Ferrari as well. At the end of the day, Sebastian Vettel took the top step of the podium in a tight contest with Mercedes in the FORMULA 1 2018 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX.
It was a typical chaotic start to the race. Sebastian Vettel maintained his position in the lead off of the grid, while Valtteri Bottas got by Kimi Räikkönen on the front row. A little later in the lap, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen made contact, forcing the Haas driver to run wide, but both were lucky to escape any damage. Meanwhile Sergio Pérez made contact with Brendon Hartley in turn four and spun around. Hartley was handed a 10 second time penalty for causing the collision.
But the drama really heat up at the start of the second lap when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, both of which started lower than normal on the grid, found themselves within range of each other. Heading into the first corner Hamilton was ahead, but Verstappen saw a gap up the inside line. The duo were side-by-side in the first corner, but Verstappen ran wide partly because he was avoiding the slower Fernando Alonso at the exit of the corner. In doing so, he ran Hamilton out of space and the two made contact. Hamilton was lucky to escape damage, while Verstappen suffered a left-rear tyre puncture.
At the same time, Daniel Ricciardo lost power in his car and parked up on the side of the track. While this was bad for the team, it played into the hands of Verstappen as the virtual safety car was deployed, minimizing the time lost for Verstappen as he cruised back to the pits.
When the race restarted, Magnussen again found himself making contact with another car. This time around it was with the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, who was caught napping on the restart. Neither driver suffered damage or lost any real time.
There was drama again in the first corner for Hamilton, although it turned out a bit better for him his time around. Down the main straight, Alonso and Hamilton were side-by-side. Directly ahead Hülkenberg and Esteban Ocon were also side-by-side. Hamilton got past the McLaren with ease and dove up the inside of the Force India and Renault ahead, almost getting onto the grass at the exit of the pit exit. Hamilton won big, while Ocon lost out on all of the positions.
While all of this was going on, Verstappen parked his in a safety road on lap five. The cause of the retirement seemed to be an engine failure of some sort.
Some laps later, the leader began their pit stops. Räikkönen was the first to pit for the soft compound tyre. Vettel followed, pitting for the soft tyres, while the Mercedes crew dashed to the pit box, but no car appeared. Instead, Bottas pitted a lap later for the medium tyre, suggesting that Mercedes were going for the 1 stop strategy, while Ferrari were going for the 2 stop.
Vettel maximized his pace on his new tyres, catching up to Hamilton in the lead. Hamilton was able to fend off Vettel for a while, but Vettel eventually got by, although his strategy had surely taken a hit. Hamilton then pitted, joining Bottas on the medium compound.
There was some anger on the 31st lap between the two Haas drivers. Romain Grosjean was the leading Haas, stuck behind Ocon. However, Magnussen was the faster car because he had the fresher tyres, but that didn’t stop Grosjean from making overtakes on the car ahead, while slowing his teammate in the process. Magnussen was very vocal on team radio about his displeasure, but Grosjean pitted the following lap.
A few laps later, Räikkönen came to the pits for the supersoft tyres, but it all went wrong. The mechanics at the left-rear tyre had some issues getting the tyre off. Räikkönen was given the green light to exit the pits, striking a team mechanic. Räikkönen was told to stop and parked his car in front of the Force India pitlane. Vettel was switched to “plan B” as the medical team worked to remove the injured mechanic from the Ferrari pit box.
With the life slowly dwindling from the tyres on the Ferrari of Vettel, Bottas began to reel him in as he fought from the victory. Vettel began to struggle with vibrations from locking the brakes and an absence of rear traction. Bottas rapidly gained time to Vettel, creeping within the DRS zone. With no more lapped cars in the way, both drivers were able to push to the limit until the finish of the grand prix.
With the laps quickly running out, Bottas was running out of the time to get by the Ferrari. At the end of the DRS zone into turn one a Bottas had a look but was just too far back. No more opportunities presented themselves. Vettel took the victory, with Bottas and Hamilton completing the podium.
Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
