Melee in the desert

Team OD Updated: May 09, 2013, 04:15 PM IST

Four different winners in four races. That's how interesting the 2012 Formula One season is so far. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel of the Red Bull Racing Team secured his first win this season at the Bahrain Grand Prix that was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The Bahrain GP was organised amongst strong speculations that the race would be cancelled yet again due to the unrest in the country, but the organisers were confident, and pulled it off without any problems throughout the weekend. Vettel grabbed pole on Saturday without much trouble, even as the Sahara Force India team stirred up a controversy, with both SFI drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg sitting out in FP2 and FP3.

But Vettel's first win this season was not a walk in the park for the consecutive two-time world champion. He had Formula One returnee Kimi Raikkonen of Team Lotus hot on his heels through most of the race, but Vettel managed to stay ahead of Kimi, ensuring the Finn had to be contend with second place. Kimi, along with teammate Romain Grosjean successfully kept the rest of the pack behind, and the three finished in that order, the third place finish being Grosjean's first-ever podium finish. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber finished fourth in his Renault-powered Red Bull Racing RB8, making for a one-two-three-four finish for Renault.

The promising Nico Rosberg had a bad start, and moved back to ninth place in the first lap itself, but soon made his way up to fifth place. En route he managed to grab the attention of the race stewards, getting into a tussle with Lewis Hamilton, with the stewards deciding to take a look at the incident after the race. With only five laps to go, Rosberg managed to pass a confident-looking Paul di Resta, who put in a fantastic drive for the Sahara Force India team. Rosberg eventually crossed the finish line in fifth place. Di Resta was able to bring his car home in sixth place, scoring crucial point for Sahara Force India, even as his teammate Hulkenberg made it across the finish line in twelfth place.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso had a good start and moved up to fifth in the initial stages of the race, but lacked the pace to hold his position. He eventually ended the race in seventh, behind di Resta. Lewis Hamilton had a forgettable outing, with the first and second pit stops robbing him a lot of precious time courtesy an issue with his left rear wheel nut. He took the chequered flag in eighth place. Felipe Massa finished a creditable ninth place, even as Michael Schumacher, who started the race in 22^nd place, used his expertise to round up the top ten.