Vettel Untouchable In Bahrain

Sebastian Vettel takes his second victory of the season to extend his lead in the early stages of the season. The Red Bull took the lead in the third and virtually never looked back as he finished nine seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who still breathes down his neck in the race for the title. Paul Di Resta was six laps away from claiming his first ever podium in Formula One, but Romain Grosjean took advantage of the Force India's failing tyres to put both Lotus' on the podium.

Fernando Alonso's race was virtually ended before it began after suffering a problem with his DRS flap. Numerous pit stops to try and find a solution meant the Ferrari was well out of contention, but he did well to finish eighth. Mark Webber started and finished seventh after a three grid place penalty for his collision with Jean-Eric Vergne in Shanghai, Vergne ended up being the only retirement of the Bahrain GP. A quiet race saw Lewis Hamilton finish fifth with Nico Rosberg ninth after struggling from Pole. It ended up being a good race for McLaren as Sergio Perez finished sixth and Jenson Button tenth. 

The race was an extremely eventful one and another great start from Alonso saw him pass Vettel to claim second, but that only lasted for a few corners. Di Resta got himself up to fourth from the lights. The incidents came at the back of the grid as Esteban Gutierrez and Giedo Van Der Garde suffered substantial front wing damage. Van Der Garde's damage came via a collision in to Vergne and the Toro Rosso sustained fatal damage underneath it and he was finally retired on around lap-18. Felipe Massa also suffered slight front wing damage after a coming together with Adrian Sutil, this harmed the Force India greatly as he was forced down the back of the pack.

Vettel's hunt for Rosberg was almost completed on the second lap, but the Red Bull had to wait another lap before finally getting his prey and taking the lead. By the third lap Raikkonen had lost ground behind the McLarens in ninth while Hamilton was struggling down in 11th. 

Alonso had the same experience with Rosberg; almost catching him on lap four before finally getting the overtake done on lap five to take second. Di Resta was the next to overtake Rosberg on lap six before he gained second after Alonso's DRS flap problems began. The first time around, Alonso came out 15th but the flap still wouldn't shut when opened and he again had to come in. There was nothing that could really be done so Alonso had to drive the stricken Ferrari without the use of the DRS. 

Webber was the first to pit solely for tyres on lap nine and Massa had managed to overtake Rosberg to gain third in the same lap. Button and Rosberg both pitted on lap ten but ended up coming out behind Webber, which was a huge gain for the Red Bull. Lap-11 saw Vettel, Massa and Perez all pit which meant Di Resta was now leading the race. Button was the next to fancy a move on Rosberg in lap-12 but the Mercedes regained the place a lap later, the battle also Massa to close the gap on the pair.

Di Resta pitted on lap-15 and Vettel's fresher tyres allowed him to easily overtake Raikkonen, who was still yet to pit until lap-17, to regain the lead in the race. Massa suffered a puncture on lap-18 but was able to get back to the pits before coming out in 15th and at this point there was a Red Bull one-two.

Button managed to re-overtake Rosberg on lap-20 to take third and Grosjean took fourth a few corners later as Rosberg was again in free fall. Lap-21 saw Rosberg and Perez pit for their second stops and Perez had overtaken the Mercedes by the next lap just as Webber and Button came in. To his credit, Rosberg never stopped fighting and he managed to regain the place on Perez on lap-23, only to see both McLarens force their way past the Mercedes on the following lap.

Vettel pitted on lap-25 but his lead was substantial enough to remain in front and Button managed to overtake Perez on lap-27 in what was the beginning of a great inter-team battle. Di Resta had gained second over Raikkonen on the same lap before the McLarens came together on lap-30, fortunately there was only bit of damage to Perez's front wing and perhaps Button was lucky not to suffer a puncture. 

Grosjean then picked off the squabbling McLarens on lap-33 to move in to fifth and Raikkonen reclaimed second from Di Resta at the end of the lap before pitting for the second time in the race. Hamilton managed to overtake Perez on lap-36 to take fifth as Di Resta pitted on the next lap. Massa ended up suffering a second puncture but once again made it to the pits in order to carry on.

Raikkonen claimed third off Hamilton on lap-39 before Vettel pitted for his final time on lap-42, Grosjean did likewise and came out in fifth. The Frenchman was soon third on lap-44 after overtaking Webber and Rosberg with Button sitting sixth. Although that only lasted for another lap before Button was passed by his former team mate, Hamilton. Perez and Alonso also managed to pass Button on lap-46 to push the Brit down to eighth.

Hamilton took fifth off Webber on lap-51 with Grosjean breaking Di Resta's heart a lap later to steal the final podium place. Webber took that place back on lap-54, only for both Hamilton and Perez to overtake the Red Bull on the final lap to force the Red Bull down to seventh. Result:

1. Vettel (Red Bull), 2. Raikkonen (Lotus), 3. Grosjean (Lotus), 4. Di Resta (Force India), 5. Hamilton (Mercedes), 6. Perez (McLaren), 7. Webber (Red Bull), 8. Alonso (Ferrari), 9. Rosberg (Mercedes), 10. Button (McLaren), 11.Maldonado (Williams), 12. Hulkenberg (Sauber), 13. Sutil (Force India), 14. Bottas (Williams), 15. Massa (Ferrari), 16. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 17. Pic (Caterham), 18. Gutierrez (Sauber), 19. Bianchi (Marussia), 20. Chilton (Marussia), 21. Van Der Garde (Caterham) DNF: Vergne (Toro Ross)