Sebastian Vettel started third on the grid, but he sure delighted sports betting as he took the chequered flag come the end of an exciting night race.
It wasn’t one without drama as well as the Bahrain Grand Prix turned into a tactical battle that thrilled betting websites and online gambling fans until the final lap.
Ferrari have shown in the previous races that they are ready to end Mercedes’ F1 dominance, and they backed this intent with Vettel blazing right from the opening lap.
The German ace—knowing that he needs to go ahead early to avoid chasing in the latter stages—wasted no time and overtook Lewis Hamilton to claim second before moving up front after Mercedes pitted both of their drivers on Lap 15.
Sure enough, Mercedes didn’t go down without a fight. Not with their drivers controlling the second and third places. However, it didn’t help them that Hamilton was given a five-second penalty after deliberately slowing down in front of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo – an error he apologised for after the competition.
The Mercedes team ordered Valtteri Bottas to let Hamilton through on the last nine laps to chase Vettel, but it was all in vain as the 29-year-old Ferrari man cruised to victory with a commanding 6.6-second cushion.
“It was a great team effort today and I felt like we are quick. I tried to put Valtteri under pressure. But the early pit stop worked,” Vettel said. “Lewis obviously was a very big threat again towards the end, but the car was a dream today.”
Hamilton has to settle for a runner-up finish, while his teammate Bottas ended third in an important race for him after getting his first-ever pole position last Saturday.
On the other hand, it was a night to forget for Red Bull as they failed to get on the podium. Ricciardo finished fifth while Max Verstappen, who jumped to fourth from sixth in the first lap, crashed out after a brake failure on Lap 12.
Vettel now leads the driver standings with 68 points, seven up of Hamilton who has 61. The Constructors’ battle, meanwhile, is a tad closer with Ferrari just leading Mercedes by three points, though the two have proven that their engines are a cut above the rest.
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