Race
In a breathless Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel seized control early on and never relinquished it, cruising to his 28th career victory and second of the season. Taking a consecutive win in the principality at the head of a repeat of the 2012 podium, he led home the strategically cunning Lotus pairing of Raikkonen and Grosjean by over 9 seconds and 19 seconds respectively. Paul di Resta took an excellent fourth place just two seconds behind, comfortably clear of the battles for the remaining points. With a track temperature of 42 degrees centigrade, the harder compounds of tyre did little to abate the strategic focus of the race, with teams spread between two, three and four stops as they struggled for lasting pace on the thermally-degrading Pirelli rubber. Competition was fierce all the way to the flag behind the top four, and the top six places were taken by five different constructors in a race with just a single retirement despite some serious wheel-to-wheel scrapping.