At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel qualified third, 4 tenths of a second down on pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas. Räikkönen qualified fifth, behind Ricciardo. At the start, Vettel passed Hamilton for second and was pushing Bottas who struggled with pace and rear tyres. Vettel pitted for supersoft tyres when the safety car came out. Vettel came out in first place and started making advantage on softer tyres. Vettel pitted again and returned on soft tyres, while Hamilton took the lead on older tyres, with Bottas moving into second place. Hamilton pitted for new tyres and started chasing Vettel. He easily passed Bottas, but Vettel maintained the lead to win the Bahrain Grand Prix for the third time, with Räikkönen finishing fourth. It was Vettel's second win in first three races in the season.
