DRS disaster for Alonso while Vettel cruises to victory

It was a spectacular day of dicing in Bahrain on Sunday at a Grand Prix that was dominated by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who drove to his second win of the 2013 season. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso had to deal with another disappointing day, after his non-finish two races ago in Malaysia, as a mechanical problem saw him forced down the field. The Spaniard eventually crossed the line in eighth.

The race got off to a thrilling start, as pole-sitter Nico Rosberg tangled with Vettel and Alonso at the front of the pack. The Spaniard swapped position with Vettel over the first few laps, but the German managed to maintain the upper hand. The reigning world champion then set his sights on Rosberg, with the two exchanging first and second place several times.

On lap three race control enabled DRS, a system whereby the drivers can open a slat in their rear wing when sufficiently close to the car in front in certain sections of the circuit, giving them a better chance of managing an overtake. It was at that moment that Alonso’s fate was sealed, after his rear wing developed a problem and got jammed open.

Having been alerted to the issue Ferrari called their star driver into the pits, where the mechanics employed the less-than-scientific method of banging the offending part back into place. But within seconds of his stop it was clear that the problem was here to stay – with the slat jammed open once more Alonso was losing downforce in the corners, costing him precious time. Another stop was needed to close the slat, relegating Alonso to the back of the pack, and the knowledge that he would have to soldier on through the race with no DRS.

After his first scheduled pit stop on lap 15 Vettel had managed to battle his way past the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen to secure first place, where he was to remain until the checkered flag.

Further down the field there was some controversial dueling between McLaren’s new driver Sergio Pérez, of Mexico, and their veteran Briton Jenson Button, with contact between the teammates on more than one occasion and some angry remonstrating from Button over the team radio.

Alonso gritted his teeth and drove the wheels of his Ferrari, eventually settling in behind a train of cars including Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Pérez and Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber. The dying stages of the race were dominated by a three-way battle between that trio of drivers, with Hamilton and Webber doing everything they could to get past one another. The Briton emerged victorious from that spat to finish fifth, with Pérez also managing to make it past Webber to come in sixth.

Raikkonen finished second, while his teammate Romain Grosjean came in third. Paul di Resta put in a sterling performance in the Force India to come fourth. Rosberg, who had started on pole position, managed only a lowly ninth place, with Button completing the top ten.

After four races, Vettel leads the championship with 77 points, while Raikkonen is second on 67 points. Hamilton takes the third spot with 50 points, while Alonso is fourth on 47.