Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel wins the Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel celebrated his 200th career start by winning the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix today.

After his victory in Melbourne in the opening race of the season, the German maintains his 100% record after taking the chequered flag in Bahrain ahead of Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel held on to finish just 0.699s ahead of Bottas while Hamilton battled back from ninth place to complete the podium. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly celebrated a superb fourth place to take away 12 points.

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After a dull season-opener in Melbourne, the Bahrain race was full of highlights. The Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were out early in the race, Kimi Raikkonen drove over and broke a Ferrari mechanic’s leg in the pits and Hamilton overtook three cars in one corner.

The day belonged to Vettel though. On the podium, the German said: “I think I came on the radio with 10 laps to go saying everything was under control. That was a lie. With Bottas’ pace I thought he would catch me. I tried to keep it as clean as possible. Our plan worked but just, Bottas had a bit of a sniff but ran out of laps.”

Bottas said finishing second was “extremely disappointing”, but for world champion Hamilton he was happy to secure third spot after coming through the field from ninth.

F1 drivers’ standings after two races

• 1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 50 points
• 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 33
• 3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 22
• 4. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 16
• 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 15
• 6. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 14
• 7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 12
• 8. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 12
• 9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 10
• 10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 8