F1 2018: 5 craziest moments of The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix

#5 Vettel's Marathon Gameplan

Vettel jumping for joy after holding off Valtteri Bottas in Bahrain

Alongside Hamilton, we also saw Sebastian Vettel have his grit and skill as a driver tested here in Bahrain. Losing the opportunity to execute a two-stop strategy due to the unfortunate mishap in the pits, Sebastian Vettel was forced to drag soft tires to the end of the race.

With an expected running life of 40 laps, Vettel had to hang on delicately and manage the tires to an agonizing 50+ lap stint. With an unrelenting Bottas on his tail, Vettel had to dance around Sakhir like a ballerina, if he wanted to survive the race with his wheels intact.

Having to manage fuel and recovered energy immaculately, Vettel managed to keep Bottas out of DRS distance until the last 2 laps, from where it was nothing but instinct that got him through.

Mirroring their duel in Russia last year but with the roles reversed, Bottas got within an inch of overtaking Vettel. In the end, however, the spoils went to the German champion, keeping himself ahead until the end of the race, exclaiming that "those tires were done" after he made it past the finishing line!