Formula 1: Will Sebastian Vettel win his third consecutive Bahrain Grand Prix?
By Asher Fair
Sebastian Vettel has won both of the last two Formula 1 races at Bahrain International Circuit. Will he make it three in a row this weekend?
Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has won both of the last two Formula 1 races at Bahrain International Circuit, meaning that he is set to go for his third consecutive victory at the track in this Sunday’s race, the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The last race at the 15-turn, 3.363-mile (5.412-kilometer) Bahrain International Circuit road course in Sakhir, Bahrain that was won by a driver other than Vettel was held in April of 2016.
This race was won by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Nico Rosberg. Vettel, meanwhile, failed to start this race as a result of the fact that his engine failed on the formation lap. He was officially scored in 21st place.
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In the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel started in third place behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in first and second place, respectively. Hamilton led nine laps of the 57-lap race while Bottas led 13.
Vettel led more laps than anybody else in the field with 35 laps led. He ended up winning the race, which featured three lead changes, by 6.660 seconds over Hamilton in second place, and he won it by 20.397 seconds over Bottas in third.
In the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel started from the pole position. He led 49 of the race’s 57 laps, but he was challenged at the end of the race by Bottas, one of the two other drivers who led at least one lap of the race.
Vettel won the race, which featured three lead changes, by just 0.699 seconds over Bottas, who was on fresher tires at the end of it, in second place. Bottas led three laps of the race while Hamilton, who finished in third a total of 6.512 seconds behind Vettel, led the other five.
Will Vettel earn his third consecutive victory at Bahrain International Circuit in this Sunday’s race, or will a drive other than Vettel win at the track for the first time since Rosberg did so in April of 2016?
In the history of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel is the most successful driver, as he has won it four times. Only one other driver, Fernando Alonso, has won it more than twice, and he won it three times. Vettel has won Bahrain International Circuit in four of the last seven seasons, and he has won four of the last six races that he has started at the track.
The fact that Vettel won this race driving for Red Bull Racing in his championship-winning 2012 and 2013 seasons before the V6 turbo hybrid era as well as in both of the last two seasons during the V6 turbo hybrid era shows that he is more than capable of earning a third straight victory at Bahrain International Circuit this weekend if Ferrari are competitive, which they certainly should be even after a disappointing Australian Grand Prix to open up the 2019 season.
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Will Sebastian Vettel earn his third consecutive Bahrain Grand Prix victory by winning this weekend’s race at Bahrain International Circuit? This race, which is the second race of the 2019 Formula 1 season, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 31, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.