RACE REPORT
F
errari’s Sebastian Vettel took his second victory of the season in Bahrain as
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton recovered from a poor start and a penalty to finish
in second place ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton exerted intense pressure in the final stages, chopping deep into a
13-second deficit to Vettel but the German kept a cool head to thread through
traffic and take the flag with 6.6 seconds in hand. Had Hamilton not earlier been
penalised for holding up Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo during a pit stop, the battle
might have been more nerve-wracking for Ferrari. Behind, Kimi Raikkonen was