Vettel wins Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix

The Red Bull driver won the championship, easily beating Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
Vettel wins Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix Sunday, easily beating Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean in a dominant performance that will bolster his chances of winning a fourth consecutive championship.

Vettel grabbed the lead for good on the 17th lap and beat Raikkonen by nine seconds. Grosjean was nearly 20 seconds back in third. The Frenchman managed to pass Force India's Paul di Resta for third with five laps to go for his best finish this season. Still, the fourth-place finish for di Resta matched his best-ever finish.

Vettel retains the championship lead after four of 19 races, with his advantage over Raikkonen now 10 points while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is up to third after finishing fifth.

It was a day to forget for Ferrari, with both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa encountering problems early on that dropped them out of contention. Alonso had to pit twice in the first few laps when his DRS system malfunctioned while Massa damaged a front wing in a collision with Force India's Adrian Sutil. Alonso finished eighth while Massa was 15th.

With his 28th career victory and second of the year, Vettel significantly boosted his chances of defending his title.

"Fantastic race, it was seamless from start to finish," Vettel said. "I thought it was crucial to get into the lead from the start and go from there. It seemed to get better and better toward the end."

It was also a stunning showing for Lotus considering Raikkonen started the race ninth and Grosjean 11th. It was especially heartening for Grosjean, who a few days earlier complained about struggling with the softer tires this season and not being able to challenge the leaders.

The race has been the target of rights groups that contend it glosses over the country's political problems while anti-government protesters intensified their demonstrations against the Sunni-led government. While the race went off without incident, there were sporadic clashes in other parts of the Gulf country. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades and rights groups said authorities launched raids on houses of several protesters.

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The New Indian Express
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