Vettel Drives Away in Bahrain, But Lotus Takes Rest of Podium

Sebastian Vettel drove away at the front of the Bahrain Grand Prix to win by nine seconds after some early-race fights with Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg. Both Lotus drivers put in strong performances to move up to second and third. Kimi Raikkonen moved up six spots to take second, and Romain Grosjean moved up eight positions to finish third. The two podiums also bring Lotus up to second in the World Constructors' Championship Standings.

The star of the show outside of the podium was Paul di Resta. He qualified well by starting fifth and finished fourth. However, he was briefly in first place and would have been on the podium if Grosjean had not passed him on the final lap. 

The Lotus cars were partially helped with their race to the top by the poor performance of the Ferrari and Mercedes teams. Fernando Alonso showed early speed, but his Drag Reduction System got stuck open, which forced him to go into the pits twice for the mechanics to close it. After that, he was unable to use the DRS for the rest of the race. He was able to manage an eighth-place finish. Massa damaged his front wing in the early laps and had problems with tire degradation. He finished 15th. 

Nico Rosberg started in first, but it did not last long. He finished ninth. 

Vettel and Raikkonen retain their top two positions in the World Drivers' Championship, but Alonso's poor performance drops him to fourth in the championship and brings Lewis Hamilton up to third.