Vettel wins as RenaultSport secures 1-2-3 in Bahrain
Sebastien Vettel claimed his maiden victory of the Formula One (F1) season in Bahrain in what proved to be RenaultSport's most successful Grand Prix of 2012 so far.
The reigning champion had not managed to win in Australia, Malaysia or China but now tops the drivers' standings after leading for the majority of the race in Bahrain.
Vettel, who is attempting to win a third successive title in the RenaultSport-powered Red Bull, has now leapfrogged McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton after the British driver finished off the podium for the first time this year.
The Grand Prix was something of a triumph for RenaultSport as the top four finishers all rely on the firm's RS27 engine for power.
Indeed, Vettel took the chequered flag and was followed by Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus-Renault, Romain Grosjean also in the Lotus-Renault and Mark Webber, who finished fourth for the fourth race in a row in the other Red Bull car.
Vettel was thrilled to have put a first win on the board and revealed his delight at having won what he described as "an incredible but extremely tough race".
"Sometimes we had a decent gap but still even from the start we had a very good start, which was crucial," he said.
"I was able to pull away immediately and pull away from the pack. That turned out to be a big advantage because we always had to go on a used set of tyres as we used nearly all of them yesterday in qualifying."
Raikkonen's second place was his first podium finish since rejoining the sport and the Finn said but for one wrong decision he may have been standing at the top of the podium.
"I got one chance on Sebastian but I chose the wrong side under braking, so that was it really. In the end I didn’t have any other chances to try. It's disappointing to finish second but after the last race we have to take it and be pretty happy," he added.
Posted by Craig Salter