Sebastian Vettel Returns to Dominance in Unsettled Kingdom Vettel and Red Bull dominated in the desert with a reversal of their strategic fortunes from China, creating an unstoppable balance of performance and protection that carried them to a comfortable victory that keeps them in control of the championship ahead of the European season. Into the Weekend For the fourth race of the season so far, the Formula 1 circus touched down in Bahrain, against a backdrop of continued civil unrest, to wrap up the opening fly-away leg of the 2013 calendar ahead of a trip back to base. With temperatures predicted at a constant 35 degrees centigrade for the duration, the dry desert heat makes a change from the high humidity of Malaysia and China, providing different challenges to the teams in their pursuit of perfection. A typical Hermann Tilke circuit of modern times, Bahrain blends high-speed straights with low-speed corners to provide an emphasis on straight-line speed, braking and traction. The high ambient and track temperatures combined with the green nature of a sporadically used facility and desert sand makes it one of the toughest circuits of the year for tyres, especially the rears, with track evolution through the weekend difficult to predict. For this tough challenge, Pirelli supplied their hardest rubber in the form of the hard and medium compounds, one step above their pairing that suffered so heavily in Shanghai. Despite the tougher boots, another three-stop race was likely to be the ideal strategy to blend pace with endurance, but a team could potentially use the more durable option tyre to achieve a more competitive two-stop plan. As Lotus tweeted, It's not always just about how quick you go, it's sometimes how long you can keep it going for... With a strong record in Bahrain and following their unstoppable victory in China, Ferrari were confident going into the weekend with three-time winner Fernando Alonso and two-time winner Felipe Massa at the wheel of a competitive F138, looking for more strong points to take the constructors fight to Red Bull. Mercedes need to capitalise on their cars evident pace by bringing home stronger combined points for the title race, so far hampered by Rosbergs reliability problems. Red Bull sought to put their disappointing Chinese weekend behind them following their poor luck and strategy choices in Shanghai, aiming for a return to form even as Mark Webbers three-place penalty followed them to Bahrain. Lotus, after another strong result last weekend, were seeking continued podium positions, with Kimi seeking his 21st consecutive points finish and Grojean wanting more points. McLaren looked to limit the damage until they get major updates onto their car for the European season, needing solid points to stay in touch. Might they attempt a 2-stop strategy again? Force India, confident from their 2012 performance, simply wanted a clear weekend that could deliver strong points from their potential. Sauber aimed to build on their strong race a week ago, helped by development of their car, despite the 5-place grid penalty to Gutierrez, whilst Torro Rosso wanted more points to add to their Chinese tally. Williams needed anything they could get from Bahrain before a trip back to the factory, and Marussia aimed to keep up their dominance of Caterham at the back of the grid. As rain fell on Thursday afternoon, Bahrain hinted it could surprise us.