F1 standings 2017: Sebastian Vettel overtakes Lewis Hamilton in Drivers Championship

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari now tops the Formula One Drivers Championship standings, winning his second race of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Vettel qualified in second but took first place in the Australian Grand Prix, while Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes went from pole to first place in the Chinese Grand Prix. That led both drivers to a tie going into Bahrain, while Mercedes held a one-point lead in the Constructors Championship.

Vettel went from third in qualifying to first in the race after a safety car and pit stops changed things up a bit, but before that, was keeping pace with both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.

Bottas qualified in first for the race, but he finished in third and will occupy that spot in the standings after Max Verstappen of Red Bull, in third place prior to that, dropped after exiting the race early and earning no points.

With five cars out of the race in the first 15 laps, only a handful of drivers were left out of the points in the end. Fernando Alonso of McLaren wasn’t able to pick up any points and on Lap 27 was passed from far, far behind by Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso.

“Three hundred meters behind me, and they overtake me on the straight,” Alonso said coming over team radio. “I’ve never raced with less power in my life.”

Alonso was his usual self on team radio, berating his team for a bad car. When team members suggested a strategy change and asked Alonso how his tires were feeling, Alonso responded by saying, “do what you want.” Alonso was eventually forced to retire on Lap 56 of the race with an engine issue, though at that point he was already out of the points.

The only car that didn’t make it to the starting line was the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne. The rough, rough season for McLaren and its Honda engine continued as Vandoorne’s car had an issue, and he will go down as a did-not start.

As far as retirements go, Kevin Magnussen of Haas was the first casualty after Vandoorne, having to pull off in Lap 10 with an engine issue. Then it was Max Verstappen, who suffered a sudden brake issue not long after Magnussen had to stop.

The first big collision of the race came shortly after that, when Carlos Sainz took out Lance Stroll and himself coming out of the pits, prompting the safety car. The next retirement didn’t come until the gearbox of Marcus Ericsson went out on Lap 52, ending his race.

Below are the Drivers Standings and Constructors Standings for the 2017 Formula 1 season: