Having had to play second fiddle to Mercedes over the past three years, Ferrari now appear serious challengers for the title, with Sebastian Vettel winning the opening Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne. Hamilton lost a position to Vettel at the start, but his race really started to unravel when he received a five-second penalty for holding up Daniel Ricciardo in the pit lane under the Safety Car.
The two teams had been very evenly matched in race pace but Ferrari's aggressive pit strategy gave Vettel the advantage, and when Hamilton pitted under the safety auto he was too slow into the pit entry and took a five-second penalty. "We still got good points and we still have this great fight as Sebastian did a great job".
Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas finished third in his Mercedes, on a day when the Finn struggled for race pace and team-mate Hamilton thrived.
Both Mercedes drivers used the safety vehicle incident to pit for new tires, but Hamilton held up Ricciardo.
Checkout what Lewis Hamilton did to get a five second penalty that probably cost him the race.
Bottas was first told to move aside for Hamilton on lap 25 as Vettel built a six-second lead and again with 10 laps remaining.
"Then the safety auto came out, we put the softs on and that tyre was just not happening for us today". The Italian team now holds a three-point lead in constructors' championship, but Vettel has a seven-point lead in drivers' championship.
"A odd race for me missing so much pace".
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Bottas now sits third in the F1 world drivers' championship but already 30 points off of leader Vettel after three races. "My last lap was a good one, good enough for pole today, so that's good".
Most of the drivers made a minimum of three stops in 2016 but, in a very short space of time this time around, they only headed into the pits twice.
"It was a really great team effort today".
Sakhir, Bahrain - 16/04/17 - Mercedes Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland drives during the race.
After the race, Hamilton apologised to the team for the incident and in his post-race media debrief revealed his frustration at the way the Bahrain weekend unfolded. Personally, it is tough for me, but that's life. Eighth, ninth and tenth spots went to Haas' Romain Grosjean, Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Force India's Esteban Ocon, respectively.
Ferrari have bounced back this season from a winless 2016 to have arguably the fastest race auto this season following a major change in regulations.
"Stint one, we can explain the performance with the tyre pressures being just way too high", Bottas said.
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