Vettel on cruise control

Sebastian Vettel summed up perfectly his 28th victory in Formula One by describing it as "flawless, seamless" and "pretty dominant".

It was all too easy for Vettel in the Bahrain Grand Prix as the reigning three-time champion took the chequered flag for the second successive occasion at this race. Once Vettel passed polesitter Nico Rosberg on the third lap as the Mercedes driver had done all he could in holding onto his advantage from the start, there was only going to be one winner.

"I knew it was crucial straight away after the start to get into the lead if I could and then go from there," said Vettel. "The pace was phenomenal - we surely did not expect that - the car was very quick and it just started to get better and better towards the end when it was quite controlled."

He went on: "It was really a beautiful race, flawless, seamless, where you could push every single lap. We took care of the tyres, so overall I'm very happy, and we're in a good position in the championship."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was equally effusive about what was an emphatic performance from Vettel, whilst all behind him were scrapping furiously over the remaining places.

Horner said: "It was an absolutely impeccable drive from Sebastian.

"He executed two brilliant overtakes, one on Fernando (Alonso) and the other on Nico, after which he dominated the race until the finish and managed his tyres brilliantly.

"The strategy worked perfectly with the tyres that we conserved in qualifying, which ended with a dominant win on a three-stop strategy."