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Hamilton wins Bahrain GP after latest Ferrari failure

Mar 31, 2019 | 11:22 AM

SAKHIR, Bahrain — Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton profited from Ferrari’s latest failure and won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

The race looked likely to finish a Ferrari 1-2 for Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. But Vettel cracked under the pressure of Hamilton’s attack with less than 20 laps left and span out of contention.

In a dramatic twist, race leader Leclerc’s engine started losing power with under 10 laps left, allowing Hamilton to shred a 10-second deficit and secure a 1-2 for Mercedes as Valtteri Bottas passed Leclerc with three laps to go.

A despondent Leclerc thought he was going to become the third-youngest winner of an F1 race, but instead just held on to third place on another bitterly disappointing day for Ferrari.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen placed fourth with Vettel in fifth.

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More AP F1 coverage: https://apnews.com/FormulaOne and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press