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![]() ![]() Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain Race Distance: 57 laps, 308.238 km Bahrain International Circuit is a wonderful, yet somewhat sterile track designed by Hermann Tilke, the premier F1 course designer. Located in the sands of Bahrain's desert, special sprayed on adhesive along the track's race surface helps to keep the dust down. The track layout is a familiar blend of long straights and complex slow corners. Watch for passing in turns 1 and 4. After a 1 year hiatus, the 2012 return to Bahrain gave Vettel his 1st win of the season, fighting off the hard charging pair of Lotus cars driven by Raikkonen and Grosjean who place 2nd and 3rd. With Medium and Hard tires to choose from, qualifying wasn't as crazy as the previous round, though Massa elects to run Q3 on the Hard tire, knowing several cars ahead have grid-spot penalties. Nabbing his 2nd career pole is Rosberg who puts in a lap ahead of qualifier supreme Vettel. Alonso takes the 3rd spot on the grid. Hamilton and Webber set the 4th and 5th fastest times, but will drop back on the grid due to penalties. The top 10 in Bahrain: ROS VET ALO HAM* WEB* MAS DIR SUT RAI BUT *HAM is +5 for gearbox *WEB is +3 for collision in last race Rosberg's pole position is short lived as Vettel fights off a challenge from the Ferraris behind then takes the lead. From there Vettel's pace was unmatched allowing him to run off to a dominating win. Behind him however was a terrific race. With Alonso having DRS malfunctions and Massa suffering front wing damage, the Ferraris dropped back through the field. Raikkonen's great driving and tire management allows him to move from mid-pack into 2nd place. di Resta also charges to the top for Force India into 3rd, but is unable to hold of the Lotus of Grosjean who's pace is revitalized after a chassis change for this race. Hamilton beats Perez to 5th place.
Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain ![]() ![]() |