Vettel enjoys Bahrain victory

Sebastian Vettel
23 April 2012

Sebastian Vettel admitted he was "extremely happy" after becoming the fourth different winner of a grand prix this year by taking the chequered flag in Bahrain.

Vettel conceded to enduring "a difficult race", in particular given his fuel situation towards the end. There was a time when he came under pressure from Kimi Raikkonen but he kept the Finn at bay to leave Lotus in second and third as Romain Grosjean stood on the podium for the first time in his career.

The Red Bull driver was relieved "the strategy worked", adding: "As I said yesterday, a tremendous thank you to the boys who have done a great job to get the car to my liking. It all came together for the first time this weekend. All in all I'm extremely happy."

It was a race many felt should never have taken place, given the unrest in the Gulf island in the build-up and the escalation in demonstrations that have occurred this week. In the end it passed peacefully, despite rumours opposition party al-Wefaq had tickets and had planned a protest inside the track.

Reigning champion Vettel's victory, which has lifted him four points clear of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, was relatively straightforward after starting from pole for the 31st time.

"It was an incredible race. Extremely tough," added Vettel. "We will have a good time now and then push harder so that we are there again in the next race.

"But it's a very tight season, cars are very close to each other and small things can make a huge difference on a Sunday."

Achieving his best result since winning in Belgium in 2009, Raikkonen said: "We've both gained podiums and the team deserve what we achieved.

"It's a positive result for the team and an important step."

Celebrating his first podium in F1, Grosjean said: "I'm very proud of the team. We've shown our car is very competitive, in what has so far been a very tight season. Overall we can be very happy with what we've done."

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