Manama, Bahrain – Team by team analysis of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix
(listed in championship order):
FERRARI (Sebastian Vettel 1, Kimi Raikkonen 4)
Vettel took his second win in three races and 44th of his career, after starting third on the grid. This was his third win in Bahrain and he now leads Hamilton by seven points. Raikkonen was caught in traffic at the start. Ferrari regained the championship lead from Mercedes.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2, Valtteri Bottas 3)
Bottas started on pole for the first time in his career but his tyre pressures were awry. He twice let Hamilton through. Hamilton incurred a five-second penalty for slow approach to the pit lane but ended up with his 107th career podium. Mercedes slipped three points behind Ferrari.
RED BULL (Daniel Ricciardo 5, Max Verstappen retired)
Verstappen made a good start in sixth, pitted but then crashed into the tyre barriers with rear brake failure on lap 12. Ricciardo started fourth, thought he might have a chance to win after running third early on but then struggled with the tyres.
FORCE INDIA (Sergio Perez 7, Esteban Ocon 10)
Perez completed his 13th consecutive race in the points, the longest run by anybody on the grid. Ocon chalked up his third 10th place in a row. Force India is the only team outside the top two to have had both cars scoring in every race. It moved up to fourth overall.
WILLIAMS (Felipe Massa 6, Lance Stroll retired)
Stroll's lap 12 collision with Sainz, who was blamed by stewards and handed a three place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix, brought out the safety car. The Canadian rookie has yet to finish a race. Massa ensured the team scored, and moved up a place, on founder Frank Williams' 75th birthday.
TORO ROSSO (Daniil Kvyat 12, Carlos Sainz retired)
Sainz crashed into Stroll as he left the pits. Kvyat went off at the start and dropped to last. He complained of a lack of grip. Toro Rosso dropped from fourth to sixth.
HAAS (Romain Grosjean 8, Kevin Magnussen retired)
Grosjean, who finished fifth in Bahrain in 2016, started ninth and scored his first points of the year. Magnussen, who scored in China, was the first to retire after eight laps with an electronics problem that cut the car's power supply.
RENAULT (Nico Hulkenberg 9, Jolyon Palmer 13)
Hulkenberg scored Renault's first points of the season. Both drivers started in the top 10 for the first time but finished below their grid positions. Palmer damaged his car in a brush with Kvyat.
SAUBER (Pascal Wehrlein 11, Marcus Ericsson retired)
Wehrlein made his Sauber debut after being sidelined from the first two races with a back injury. Ericsson retired a few laps before the end with a gearbox problem.
McLAREN (Fernando Alonso 14, Stoffel Vandoorne no start)
Still no points for McLaren, whose Honda engine woes continued with Vandoorne unable to start due to a water pressure issue and Alonso retiring two laps from the end.
"I’ve never raced with less power in my life," said the Spaniard.