With the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix in the books, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has taken complete control of the season race so far. Vettel has won both races outright after this weekend’s effort in Bahrain where he somehow coaxed 39 laps out of the soft compound tires to fend off the hard-charging Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and secure the victory both in the race as well as the 2018 AutoSportsNation Formula One driver rankings.
Vettel easily wins the three top points for Bahrain but ASN – along with most everybody else – was astonished to see Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso with a Honda engine in fourth place at the end of the evening and that clearly would have been the top drive of the night had not Vettel pulled his 39-lap rabbit out of his hat. Gasly will have to settle for a well-deserved second place while ASN awards the final point of the race to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who expectedly moved up from his ninth-place starting spot [to eventually finish third] but did so with panache when he passed three cars on one turn.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award was, once again, no contest – going to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as he tried to intimidate Hamilton with overly aggressive driving on a corner in the first lap and promptly gave himself a flat tire and damaged his differential for his trouble – which led to his departure from the race a couple laps later. Verstappen has an early stranglehold on this award a mere two races into the 2018 season.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award goes to Vettel for his immediate post-race tire commentary – “Those tires were done – done! – for the last 10 laps!”
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award goes to McLaren who blamed the Honda engine for their point-scoring failings last year then just watched as Toro Rosso secured a fourth-place finish in the second race of the 2018 season with a Honda engine.
2018 ASN Formula One Driver Standings [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – six points
2] Lewis Hamilton – three
3] Pierre Gasly – two
4] Kimi Raikkonen – one
2018 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Max Verstappen – two points
2018 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton/Vettel – one point
2018 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award [after Bahrain Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton/McLaren – one point