Lewis Hamilton secured victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, fronting a second consecutive 1-2 finish for Mercedes following an MGU-H failure for Charles Leclerc.
While it was Leclerc who started from pole position for Formula 1’s 999th Grand Prix, Hamilton lined up in third, with Sebastian Vettel splitting the pair by starting from second on the grid.
Getting an average getaway from pole, Vettel secured the lead into Turn 1 while Valtteri Bottas lunged up the inside of Hamilton to take third, pushing the reigning champion outside of the podium positions.
With Vettel out in front, Bottas was soon in hot pursuit, clearing Leclerc into Turn 4 to move into second place before quickly dropping back to fourth, with the Monegasque driver reclaiming second at the start of lap 2 while Hamilton followed, clearing his team-mate in Turns 5 and 6.
Displaying pace over the course of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Leclerc soon closed in on Vettel, overtaking his team-mate for the lead on lap 6 before quickly extending an advantage over the four-time champion.
After the pit phase, with Ferrari opting for the Medium tyres on both Leclerc and Vettel, Hamilton fitted a set of Softs in an attempt to close in on the leading driver, emerging in a net second place.
Struggling for pace on the softer rubber, Hamilton fell into the clutches of Vettel on lap 24, dropping to third place before pitting for the second time of the race, this time for the Medium tyres.
Covering Hamilton, Vettel took to the pit lane, rejoining ahead before the Briton launched an attack on his title rival of recent seasons, overtaking around the outside of Turn 4 to take second once again.
On the inside of the corner, Vettel spun after out of podium contention, dropping through the field like a stone before suffering from a front wing failure on the run to Turn 11, with this dropping the German racer to ninth.
With Leclerc still out in front with a 10-second advantage over Hamilton, the Monegasque racer was poised to take his maiden Formula 1 win, however, an MGU-H failure on his Ferrari removed him out of contention, with reduced power resulting in a 25km/h deficit in a straight line.
Hamilton overtook Leclerc on lap 48 of 57 before Bottas followed through on lap 54, with this dropping Leclerc to third.
The chequered flag waved under Saftey Car conditions following a double retirement for Renault in the dying stages of the race, with Hamilton standing on the top step of the podium, joined by Bottas and Leclerc who took second and third place.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took fourth at the line after starting from fifth place, having a lonely race for the Milton Keynes-based outfit while the late-race safety car removed the Dutchman from podium contention, with Verstappen pushing hard to overtake Leclerc for third.
Vettel recovered to fifth place following his spin and subsequent front wing failure to take 10 points in what was a disappointing and frustrating day of racing for Ferrari.
With both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo retiring in the dying stages as a result of poor reliability, Lando Norris delivered McLaren with sixth place, securing his maiden Formula 1 points finish after starting in ninth.
Kimi Raikkonen took seventh for Alfa Romeo while Pierre Gasly was eighth in the second Red Bull after starting in 13th, with Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez completing the top 10 for Toro Rosso and Racing Point.
Joining the two Renault drivers in retirement was Romain Grosjean who sustained damage on lap 1 after tangling with Lance Stroll while Carlos Sainz Jr failed to see the chequered flag for the second time in two races, picking up damage following contact with Verstappen.
Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race Results
1.Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 57 laps
2.Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport + 2.980s
3. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari + 6.131s
4. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda + 6.408s
5. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari + 36.068s
6. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 45.754s
7. Kimi Raikkonen ITA Alfa Romeo Racing + 47.470s
8. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda + 58.094s
9. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 62.697s
10. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team + 63.696s
11. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing + 64.599s
12. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team + 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team + 1 lap
15. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing + 1 lap
16. Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing + 2 laps
NC. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team
NC. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team
NC. Carlos Sainz ESP McLaren F1 Team
Ret. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team
Source: Motorrsport Week and Crash. Imges: Crash