Sebastian Vettel has won the Bahrain Grand Prix after an action-packed 57 lap race. Vettel took advantage of slow stops for both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, as the latter driver received a time penalty for being too slow and holding up Daniel Ricciardo in the pitlane. 

Vettel got off the line well and went for a move on Lewis Hamilton, while Valtteri Bottas got away unchallenged. Vettel went around the outside of Hamilton at turn 1 and immediately went in the hunt of leader Bottas.

Bottas failed to bolt away after lap 1 and a train formed behind him, which contained Vettel, Hamilton, a fast starting Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen had dropped down to seventh and spent a number of laps attempting to pass fellow veteran Felipe Massa, which he eventually did on lap 8.

The first retirement of the night came from Kevin Magnussen who pulled his Haas to the side of the track. Vettel pulled out of the train and pitted first, fitting the super soft tyre. He crucially rejoined the track in clean air and was able to push to make up time on the leaders.

Verstappen reported to his team that they needed to do something similar to Ferrari, and on the very next lap, the Dutchman came in to fit the super soft tyre onto his car. However, on emerging from the pits, he suffered a brake issue and was forced to retire, hitting the barrier at a mild speed. 

Vettel's stop triggered the rest of the group as Raikkonen was the next to pit. Carlos Sainz was then in to make a tyre change but made contact with Lance Stroll when he rejoined the track, sending both into retirement. The crash caused the safety car to come out and Bottas, Hamilton and Ricciardo all headed for the pits.

Bottas got in first, but in order not to stay stuck behind his teammate while waiting for his tyres to get changed, Hamilton backed off entering the pitlane and slowed Ricciardo right down. This continued into the actual pit-lane itself and subsequently, Hamilton received a five second time penalty.

The safety car peeled back into the pits on lap 17, and Bottas went on a charge and attempted to get by Vettel, who legitimately led the race after the slow Mercedes stops. Further back, Hamilton got by Ricciardo who jumped the Brit in the pits.

Raikkonen then made a move on Felipe Massa who managed to sneak by in the pit-stops, while a tense battle developed near the rear of the field between Jolyon Palmer, Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso. Palmer damaged a part of his front wing after contact with the rear wheel of Kvyat. 

Bottas was much slower than Hamilton at this phase of the race, despite the Finn being on the softer compound. It was later reported that there was rear tyre pressure issues with Bottas, which hindered his pace throughout the Grand Prix. Bottas let Hamilton through so he could attempt to get close to Vettel who was pulling away.

Ricciardo attacked Massa on lap 29 and claimed fifth position from him, while two laps later, Bottas pulled into the pits to rid himself of the super soft tyres that were giving him trouble. He fitted the yellow-walled soft compound and rejoined the action on the track.

Sebastian Vettel responded a lap later and the German peeled into his pit box and also fitted the softs. It was unclear if Hamilton, who now led the race, would stop again to change his soft tyres. However, after Vettel got by Raikkonen and there was a clear pace advantage, Mercedes called Hamilton in and put him on another set of soft tyres.

When the Brit rejoined the track, he was behind his teammate by about ten seconds but was able to go much faster on tyres that were newer. Bottas appeared to let Hamilton through and was lucky there was no contact as he let him through the awkward turn 13.

In the dying embers of the race, Hamilton was closing in on Vettel but couldn't get the back down fast enough. With six laps to go, Ericsson retired and was quickly followed by Fernando Alonso who so almost saw the chequered flag.   

Vettel rounded the final corner to win the race and take his 44th career victory. He was followed home by Hamilton and Bottas, with the Mercedes still yet to take a 1-2 finish.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth and was the only remaining Red Bull in the race as Max Verstappen was forced to retire due to a brake failure which left him lightly kissing the barrier. 

Felipe Massa took sixth place for Williams as his teammate Lance Stroll once again failed to finish after he made terminal contact with Carlos Sainz on lap 13. Sergio Perez took home some useful points for Force India in seventh, while Grosjean picked up his first points of the year by finishing eighth.

Nico Hulkenberg took Renault's first points finish since Malaysia 2016, while Esteban Ocon finished in tenth position for the third successive race in a row.

Fergal Walsh

Photos Bahrain 2017

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