Vettel’s lie, Bottas disappointed, Hamilton happy: the top 3 statements in Bahrain!
Sebastian Vettel recounted on the podium how his second victory of 2018 was built. Also find the reactions of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, second and third at the end of this Bahrain Grand Prix.
New race and new successful bet for Sebastian Vettel. Two weeks after the VSC move, the German clinched victory by staying on track until the end after his stop on the 19th lap. The German thus completed 38 laps on soft tires.
But it was a close call, the four-time world champion having seen Bottas closing in his rearview mirrors, particularly two laps from the finish when the latter could activate his DRS. On the podium at Sakhir, the day’s winner also spared a thought for the mechanic struck down by Räikkönen’s car, who was taken to the medical center with a tibia-fibula fracture.
First: Sebastian Vettel
« I called my radio 10 laps from the end to say that I had the situation under control. It was a lie! I wasn’t handling anything. »
« When I was given the update on the gap with Valtteri, I thought there was no way to stay ahead. I was doing the calculations in my head and thought he was going to catch me. The two Mercedes were strong at the end of the first stint. There was a chess game that set in with them. So I drove as cleanly as possible, taking great care with my braking. It worked, but just barely. »
« On the other hand, I am sad for our injured mechanic. I send him all my best wishes for recovery. I know our guys, I know they will take good care of him. So it’s a mix of emotions tonight. »
Relentless pressure from Bottas, but Vettel prevailed 💪
A perfect 50 points for the @ScuderiaFerrari man after two rounds#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Jl0oNDTjuQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) 8 avril 2018
Second: Valtteri Bottas
The Finn made up for his bad Australian weekend. However, he will regret not having more laps to snatch victory from Vettel.
I knew I was going to have a chance at the end of the race. I optimized every corner of every lap to catch up. Being second with such a narrow margin is inevitably disappointing. I’ll try to do even better next time!
Third: Lewis Hamilton
Ninth on the grid, third at the finish: the reigning world champion limited the damage. However, he found himself quite alone aboard his W08…
« I am really happy. Starting ninth and finishing third is not bad at all. Congratulations to Sebastian and especially to Valtteri. He did an exceptional job this weekend. »
There were frustrating moments during the race because I encountered radio problems with my team. It was difficult, especially as I needed them to know exactly what I had to do without killing my tires. Not having this feedback was really infuriating!
