Race Recap: Vettel Shows Resurgence

Bahrain again proved why it gives fans some of the most exciting and boring racing of the season. Though there were some exciting passes and battles, it is still very much another cookie cutter Tilke track with long straights ending in tight hairpins. It provided us the same strategy and battles that we witnessed already this season in China, and which we will witness over and over again this season. Fortunately all of the action in Bahrain occurred on track and not off with no hint of protest or disturbance of the race.

Vettel celebrates his victory with Raikkonen
Photo by Reuters

For the first time since 2003 we have four different winners of the first four grand prix. Fans could only hope that we get another battle like the 2010 championship fight, especially here in the United States with our Grand Prix being the penultimate race. It was a dominant drive by Sebastian Vettel which truly started with Q3 and just extended into the race on Sunday. Though Grosjean and then Raikkonen challenged him until the final stint Vettel never seemed phased and held his cool to claim the first win of the season. 

Mark Webber drove a quiet race and brought his Red Bull home in its usual fourth place this season. Rosberg followed up his win with a very respectable fifth place finish, though it was not a spectacular run by any means. The only points scoring driver to stick with a two-stop strategy, Paul di Resta, pulled home the Force India in sixth place which is a great finish for that team. Ferrari had both drivers in the points for the first time this season. Michael Schumacher earned another point for himself this season, though one can not underestimate the twelve positions he had to make up during the race to gain that tenth place.

Now for the Winners, Losers and a Look Ahead

Winners: Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus. While Vettel and Red Bull stole the show during qualifying, it was the outstanding performance by Raikkonen and his Lotus teammate Grosjean which gave the best performance during the race. The extremely tight battle between Raikkonen and Vettel proved the some of the best racing so far this season. The advantage of fresh option tires for the race provided just the push that Raikkonen needed to get through the field early and allow their three-stop strategy to work. A double podium for Lotus is an absolutely fantastic finish for them and clearly places them into the top teams this season.

Losers: Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren pit crew. For the third race of the season Hamilton was cost points not through poor driving but mistakes by his crew. Here in Bahrain over 17 seconds were lost in the pits, a loss which could have cost him up to xx points. Though Button had no issues pitting today, one could wonder just what is going on with Hamilton's car. McLaren have plenty of time to straighten out their issues before Spain but if they want to keep pace with Red Bull and now Lotus they will need to step up their game.

Look Ahead: Spanish Grand Prix. The teams will get to return home again and with a three week gap until Spain all will have ample chances to improve their cars. McLaren has some ground to make up to Red Bull in race pace and I'd expect them to fully rectify their pit issues during the break. Lotus have given themselves quite a bit to build on heading into the European leg of the calendar and I'd expect that Kimi Raikkonen could become the fifth different winner in as many races; the first time since 1983 that has happened. Ferrari and Mercedes both need to make strides or else they will be left behind by the top three and caught by the likes of Sauber and Williams.

Next week I'll take a look at the progression of the Circuit of the Americas as well as a bit of coverage of the WTCC races in Slovakia and Hungary in the next two weekends.