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Formula 1

Christopher Bruce2013-04-21 15:56:08

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

Problems for Rosberg and Alonso

 
 
Slideshow
Lotus took advantage of weak performances from Ferrari and Mercedes to move up the grid

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. 

Bahrain Grand Prix Results
Position Driver Team
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
4 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
6 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes
7 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
11 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari
13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari
16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari
17 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault
18 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth
20 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth
21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault
22 Retire Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari
World Drivers' Championship Points
Position Driver Team Points
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 77
2 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 67
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 47
5 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 32
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 30
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 26
8 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 20
9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 14
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 13
11 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 10
12 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 6
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 5
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
World Constructors' Championship Point Standings
Position Team Points
1 Red Bull-Renault 109
2 Lotus-Renault 93
3 Ferrari 77
4 Mercedes 64
5 Force India-Mercedes 26
6 McLaren-Mercedes 23
7 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7
8 Sauber-Ferrari 5

 

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