Vettel was involved in a tense battle with Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg at the start of the race, but once he emerged in the lead from the exit of turn four on lap three he looked unbeatable. Alonso looked likely to be his closest rival but his race was ruined when his DRS flap stuck open on lap five. He had to make an early pit stop to fix it but the problem emerged again the next time he used it and he pitted once more, dropping to 17th on lap nine. Impressively he managed to fight back to 8th without the use of DRS.
With Alonso out of contention, the best of the rest battle became a contest between di Resta and Raikkonen, both two-stopping compared to most frontrunners' three. Di Resta looked to be best-placed until approaching their final stops, when Raikkonen slipped past him just before pitting, and then built an advantage on his fresh tyres. Later Briton lost out on a podium as a result of Grosjean's late push and after an accomplished drive on a two-stop strategy had to settle for fourth.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from his grid penalty to finish fifth but had a tight battle with Mark Webber in the closing laps as the two traded position while trying to limit tyre wear. Webber ultimately lost out and on the final lap conceded another position to McLaren's Sergio Perez, who put in a very bullish performance that included running Alonso onto the gravel and contact with team-mate Button.
The four-stop strategies for Rosberg and Button left them ninth and tenth.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain
57 laps, 308.405km., Weather: Dry.
Classified:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1h36:26.945
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus + 9.100
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus + 19.500
4. Paul Di Resta Force India + 21.700
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG + 35.200
6. Sergio Perez McLaren + 35.900
7. Mark Webber Red Bull + 37.200
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 37.500
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG + 41.100
10. Jenson Button McLaren + 46.600
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 1:06.400
12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber + 1:12.900
13. Adrian Sutil Force India + 1:16.700
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 1:21.500
15. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1:26.300
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 1 lap
17. Charles Pic Caterham + 1 lap
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + 1 lap
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia + 1 lap
20. Max Chilton Marussia + 1 lap
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham + 2 laps
Not classified:
Driver Team On lap
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 16
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel - 1:36.961
After 4 Races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. S.Vettel 77 1. Red Bull 109
2. K.Raikkonen 67 2. Lotus 93
3. L.Hamilton 50 3. Ferrari 77
4. F.Alonso 47 4. Mercedes AMG 64
5. M.Webber 32 5. Force India 26
6. F.Massa 30 6. McLaren 23
7. R.Grosjean 26 7. Toro Rosso 7
8. P.Di Resta 20 8. Sauber 5
9. N.Rosberg 14
10. J.Button 13
11. S.Perez 10
12. D.Ricciardo 6
13. A.Sutil 6
14. N.Hulkenberg 5
15. J.Vergne 1
