Politically charged 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix was action packed on Sunday. Nico Rosberg started on pole with a great and surprising qualifying result. RedBull of Sebastian Vettel and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonzo were just behind. What ensued was one of the hottest contested and exciting races of the year.
Nico Rosberg had a good launch and was moved over to protect his inside line for turn-1 where Vettel tried to sneak through for the lead. This move allowed Fernando Alonzo to take outside line and nearly pass them both. Alonzo settled into second after first corner and tried to attack Rosberg for the lead. Vettel did not relax and made a masterful pass on the Ferrari a few turns later. Rosberg held on to the lead by the tips of his finger nails, but the RedBull finally made the pass and gradually disappeared into the lead.
Ferraris were looking to have a great showing and Felipe Massa had his sights on the podium. It was not to be. Massa damaged his front wing in the chaotic shuffle on the first lap. He later had other damage and a puncture. He finally limped the car into 15th place at the end. Alonso looked very strong in the first two laps, but then was struck by a failed DRS system on the rear wing. Ferrari’s drag reduction system element was getting stuck in an open position and he had to make two unscheduled pit stops for the mechanics to manually close the wing. His DRS system was inoperable after that. Nonetheless, he was duking it out in the middle of the pack and brought the car into 8th place.
Racing action never stopped. Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso were locked into close wheel to wheel battle to the very last corner, all fighting for 5th place. Webber was leading this train performance of his RedBull deteriorated and began falling down the order. Hamilton had a tough day, but persevered in the end. Perez established himself as a force to be reckoned with throughout the race. He fought tooth and nail with defensive maneuvers, bold passing, and a lot of risk taking. It paid off with a 6th place finish.
In the end, Vettel took a commanding win while the two Lotuses of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were second and third respectively. What a great showing for the Lotus team. Kimi, a man of few words, seemed happy with the result after poor qualifying. Romain was a happy camper as well.
2013 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix Results (Top 10):
| Sebastian Vettel | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | +9.1 |
| Romain Grosjean | +19.5 |
| Paul di Resta | +21.7 |
| Lewis Hamilton | +35.2 |
| Sergio Perez | +35.9 |
| Marc Webber | +37.2 |
| Fernando Alonzo | +37.5 |
| Nico Rosberg | +41.1 |
| Jenson Button | +46.6 |
2013 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying (Top 10):
| Nico Rosberg | 1.32.320 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 1.32.584 |
| Fernando Alonzo | 1.32.667 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1.32.762 |
| Mark Webber | 1.33.078 |
| Felipe Massa | 1.33.207 |
| Paul di Resta | 1.33.235 |
| Adrian Sutil | 1.33.246 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1.33.327 |
| Jenson Button | no time in Q3 |
Take a look at Nathan and Roman taking a 2014 Grand Cherokee SRT around Circuit Of the Americas Formula 1 track:
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, software engineer, writer, and reporter. He has been writing and reporting at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or scouring the internet and other media for various automotive, mechanical, and computer related information.
