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Vettel Regains Form; Wins In Bahrain

SAKIR, Bahrain- After having three consecutive races without a victory, defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel finally caught up with his rivals Sunday to win from pole position, the Grand Prix of Bahrain ahead of Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. The victory puts the German four points clear of Lewis Hamilton in the Formula One World Championship.

“It was an incredible race, and at some point, we had a decent gap and we had a great start, which was crucial,” commented Vettel. “And we pulled away from the pack, which turned out to be a great advantage. A difficult race, but things started to work, and I can say big thanks to the whole team.”

Vettel began well right from the start, and in his typical fashion, rocketed off way into the lead, while Heikki Kovalainen encountered a puncture on his left rear tire that made the Finn dive into the pits for a new piece of rubber and return to the race moments later. But while Kovalainen had his problem in the back of the grid, up front and with more positive results, Grosjean managed to both pass Mark Webber and Hamilton by lap six and take second place. By lap 18, Vettel held a 5.2 second lead over the Frenchman.

A few laps later, China Grand Prix winner Nico Rosberg attempted to block his position on Hamilton, pushing the Englishman too far to the right and into the sand, something the German did again, this time with Fernando Alonso that got the Spaniard extremely upset. At this time of press, the stewards will investigate to see if any penalties will be enforced to the German in future races.

By lap 31, Raikkonen was beginning to find his rhythm and being the faster of the two teammates, easily passed Grosjean and trailed Vettel by 1.7 seconds. But the Finn began to get closer and closer to Vettel, almost passing him from the outside laps later. But Vettel held his ground, and the challenge was finally called off when both racers pitted, giving Grosjean only a temporary lead for one lap before Vettel regained it once more with a dozen laps to go. Raikkonen managed to get closer by just over two seconds, but it was not enough and Vettel became the first driver since Felipe Massa in 2007 to win the race and pole position in the same race.

Some cars pulled over immediately after crossing the finish line, which included Vettel, Rosberg, and Massa, who were all worried about their post-race tire wear. Jenson Button retired with one lap to go as well as Bruno Senna, who joined Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado with a double Williams’s retirement in the race.

Raikkonen received his first podium since 2009, while Grosjean was the first Frenchman who placed in the top three since Jean Alesi, who took the same position in Spa Franchochamps in 1998. Webber took fourth, which gave the Renault engine company the top four finishing positions in this race. Rosberg was in fifth, while Paul Di Resta finished in sixth, his best placing of his young career. Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa took eighth and ninth, respectively, while Michael Schumacher, who started the race from 21 st , took the last point in tenth.

For Vettel, a sign of relief briefly, but there is still according to the World Champion, a lot of work has to be done.

“It is a very close season, all cars are very tight to one another, we started the season saying that the McLaren has the best car, and we see that Sunday can be a great picture, and we still have one of the strongest packages, and you need to get everything right.” he said.

The F1 grid now will take a break before testing in Mugello, Italy during the week of May 1-3 and then returning to their first race of the season in Europe in Barcelona, Spain on May 13th.

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