2017 Bahrain GP: Vettel trumps Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari proved that their Australian Grand Prix win was no fluke, winning an intense Bahrain Grand Prix, ahead of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Despite starting from third, Vettel managed his race to perfection, taking advantage of Hamilton's own error at his first pit stop to retake the outright lead of the Drivers' Championship, although Hamilton threatened to catch the German during a supreme final stint.

2017 has proved to be a year of real resurgence for Ferrari thus far; with Vettel only having won three out of his first 40 races for the Scuderia previous to this season. He now sits on two wins out of the last three races, ensuring that the title will be far from the foregone conclusion it has been for the first three years of the V6 Turbo Hybrid era.

Having started on pole for the first time in his career, Bottas couldn't use the advantage in his favour, having to yield to the charging Hamilton twice over the course of the 57 laps, potentially marking him as a 'second driver'. He now lies 23 points behind Hamilton in the Drivers' standings. When asked about letting Hamilton through, he admitted that "as a racing driver, it's the worst thing you could hear."

Vandoorne goes nowhere

However, his problems are dwarfed by Stoffel Vandoorne and McLaren's ongoing woes and dread. After having a disrupted Friday, the Belgian failed to take the start with a reoccurrence of a MGU-H problem. What a difference a year makes, just 12 months ago he took points on his Formula One debut in Bahrain, standing in for his teammate Fernando Alonso; who also endured another trying weekend, failing to finish with alleged engine problems. That meant that the two-times World Champion is still yet to finish a race in 2017, despite three fine drives.

When the 19 other drivers did start, Bottas held his lead into Turn 1, with Vettel leapfrogging Hamilton, who started on the dirty side of the track. Max Verstappen moved up to fourth from sixth on the grid, with Felipe Massa also looking lively in the Williams. And whilst his Ferrari teammate went forwards, Kimi Raikkonen fell backwards - demoted to seventh. That start will do nothing to relieve the rapidly mounting pressure on his shoulders from the senior members of the Scuderia.

Vettel wasn't settling for second, hounding Bottas and pulling away from Hamilton in the opening laps; with Bottas warned about his rear tyre pressures and temperatures. And just as they did in Australia, Ferrari called Vettel into the pits first, on lap 12. He rejoined the action in clear air, in 12th. The German responded, by putting his foot down, setting fastest lap after fastest lap.

Verstappen, sitting in fourth, urged his Red Bull crew to follow Vettel, stopping on lap 12. His gamble looked to pay off, until his brakes failed at Turn 4, ending his race in the barrier. His frustration was clear, kicking the wall and ripping off his gloves.

Vettel's charge was ongoing, but was put on hold when Carlos Sainz steamed into the side of Lance Stroll after coming out of the pits. The Canadian rookie is yet to finish a race after circumstances out of his control. Sainz will serve a three place grid penalty in Russia.

Hamilton's error changes picture

That clash brought out the Safety Car, Mercedes bringing both Bottas and Hamilton in for new tyres. And it's where the race defining moment came from, Hamilton slowing down excessively before the pit entry in order to avoid waiting behind Bottas. However, in doing so, he held up Daniel Ricciardo and the stewards penalised him with a five second time penalty - that he took with his second and final stop.

Furthermore, he dropped behind the Australian, but wasted little time in getting back past. As soon as the Safety Car pulled in, Ricciardo was left for dead by the sheer grunt of the Mercedes factory Power Unit.

Up ahead, Bottas had a look at Vettel around the outside of Turn 4, but just as Hamilton did to Nico Rosberg in 2014, the German edged him wider and wider, towards the sand, forcing the Mercedes to take a back seat.

Bottas' race was about to get worse. In order to negate the effect of the time penalty, he had to wave Hamilton through - he did so at the day's overtaking spot of the day, Turn 1. Vettel was warned about the Silver Arrows' tactics, as Riccardo Adami gave him the hurry up, calling it "the most important phase of the race."

At the same time, Bottas and Vettel made their final stops, falling to seventh and third respectively. That wasn't to last long, as he scythed through the field with devastating efficiency. Seven laps later, Hamilton made his stop, having tried to stretch his legs at the front.

Hamilton's fightback

After a torturous five second wait, his mechanics could work on his car, as he fell to third, behind Vettel and once again, Bottas. Despite not being overly happy with the tyre choice, Hamilton set numerous fastest laps, reaching and passing Bottas, in another planned move. Undeterred by the gap, he set about eating into Vettel's lead, turning 12 seconds into five in just seven laps.

Will the penalty torment him? That's for him and the year's events to decide, but he settled for a comfortable second behind Vettel who could coast to victory.

Ferrari could get used to that. Again.