Sebastian Vettel won his first race of the 2012 season after holding off Kimi Räikkönen (nearly the entire race) in an amazing battle for victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Starting 11th on the grid, Räikkönen as able to not only pass the 10 cars in front of him but also put tremendous pressure on Red Bull's double world champion. It is no wonder why the fans voted Räikkönen as a clear favourite in the race. (The Finn may have stood a better chance at winning if he had passed team-mate Grosjean earlier at the end of the second stint, but team principal Eric Boullier stuck by his decision to let his drivers race.) After taking a few years off Formula One racing, many think it was his stint in Rally that kept him 'in the game'.
But it wasn't just Räikkönen that shone for Lotus, his teammate Romain Grosjean (a 2012 rookie) finished qualifying on Saturday with an impressive 7th. During the race, the young rookie did hold lead for a short time but was able to take third from all the other driver's on track (which including 4 world champions).
Rosberg found himself under investigation from the stewards after two aggressive (looking) moves, first of which he swept from one side of the track in defence of position (on Hamilton) and secondly on Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, pushing the driver on to the dirt. After the race, Rosberg was cleared of any wrongdoing in both incidents.
But the real 'let down' of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix was the McLarens. The race was a disaster for them. Hamilton had a problem with the threads on the left-rear hub on one of his pit stops and lost horrible amounts of time (similar problem to the one that afflicted Button in China). The first time he dropped from third to 10th, and from then on, he was condemned to an afternoon of chasing other drivers in the pack, wearing his front tyres out faster in result. Button was in the middle of battle for fifth place in the closing portions on the race but a left-rear puncture caused him a pit stop on the 53rd lap. Then he was in again two laps later with a very sick-sounding car to retire.
But the real 'let down' of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix was the McLarens. The race was a disaster for them. Hamilton had a problem with the threads on the left-rear hub on one of his pit stops and lost horrible amounts of time (similar problem to the one that afflicted Button in China). The first time he dropped from third to 10th, and from then on, he was condemned to an afternoon of chasing other drivers in the pack, wearing his front tyres out faster in result. Button was in the middle of battle for fifth place in the closing portions on the race but a left-rear puncture caused him a pit stop on the 53rd lap. Then he was in again two laps later with a very sick-sounding car to retire.
What really caught most fans by surprise was that Timo Glock (Marussia's final driver on track) crossed the checkered flag seconds off Button in P19. Though it may still be a while yet for any points to Marussia, the team's confidence had to have been boosted by seeing their 'sole survivor' (Charles Pic posted the first retirement with mechanical problems) on the board right after Button.
 Sebastian Vettel |  Winner |
 Kimi Räikkönen |  Second  Fan's Choice |
| Romain Grosjean |  Third |
| Mark Webber | P4 |
 Nico Rosberg | P5 |
 Paul di Resta | P6 |
 Fernando Alonso | P7 |
 Lewis Hamilton | P8 |
| Felipe Massa | P9 |
| Michael Schumacher | P10 |
| Sergio Perez | P11 |
| Nico Hülkenberg | P12 |
 Jean-Éric Vergne | P13 |
 Kamui Kobayashi | P14 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | P15 |
 Vitaly Petrov | P16 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | P17 |
| Jenson Button | P18 |
 Timo Glock | P19 |
 Pedro de la Rosa | P20 |
| Narain Karthikeyan | P21 |
 Bruno Senna |  Retired (brakes) |
| Pastor Maldonado | Retired (puncture) |
| Charles Pic | Retired (hydraulics) |
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