Sebastian Vettel wins 2012 Bahrain GP

Sebastian Vettel has returned Red Bull to winning form by taking a start to finish victory today in Bahrain. It’s the fourth race of the year and Vettel is the fourth man, from the fourth team, to win a race in the 2012 F1 season.

Either way a new driver/team combo was going to be seen with a sterling effort from the Lotus F1 Team seeing Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean fill the minor placings.

Last week it was Mercedes power behind all three podium winners, this week Renault powered the first four places.

Mark Webber proved mister consistency by finishing his fourth race in fourth place. He spent most the race in clean air, unable to make any ground to Grosjean but comfortably ahead of the drivers behind him.

Daniel Ricciardo’s excellent qualifying position quickly evaporated thanks to a poor start and he was soon down in P17, behind his Toro Rosso teammate, after starting from P6. In the end he finished the race in P15.

2012 Bahrain Grand Prix final placings

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 57 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) +3.3
3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) +10.1
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) +38.7
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG) +55.4
6. Paul di Resta (Force India) +57.5
7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +57.8
8. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) +58.9
9. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +64.9
10. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG) +71.4
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber) +72.7
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) +76.5
13. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) +90.3
14. Jean-Eric Verge (Toro Rosso) +93.7
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) +1 lap
16. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) +1 lap
17. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) +1 lap
18. Jenson Button (McLaren) +2 laps
19. Timo Glock (Marussia) +2 laps
20. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) +2 laps
21. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) +3 laps

Retirements

Bruno Senna (Williams), lap 24
Pastor Maldonado (Williams), lap 11
Charles Pic (Marussia), lap 1

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1:36.379 (lap 41)

2012 World Championship (Drivers top 10) – Round 4

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) – 53
2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – 49
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) – 48
4. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 43
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 43
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG) – 35
7. Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus-Renault) – 34
8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) – 23
9. Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) – 22
10. Paul di Resta (Force India) – 15

2012 World Championship (Constructors) – Round 4

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 101
2. McLaren-Mercedes – 92
3. Lotus-Renault – 57
4. Ferrari – 45
5. Mercedes – 37
6. Sauber-Ferrari – 31
7. Williams-Renault – 18
8. Force India-Mercedes – 17
9. STR-Ferrari – 6