Vettel holds off late Hamilton charge to win Bahrain GP

SAKHIR, Bahrain - Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel held off a tremendous late charge from Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton to win the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday and take the overall lead in the Formula One title race.

Hamilton was catching Vettel on every lap but ultimately ran out of time and finished about seven seconds behind.

Vettel and Hamilton were level with a win each heading into this race, but Vettel's second victory of the season and 44th of his career puts him in command.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished third after starting from pole position for the first time in his career. It was his 11th podium. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth.

Bottas made a clean start but Hamilton was beaten for pace by Vettel, who overtook him heading into the first corner.

Hamilton's hopes were also hit when he was given a five-second time penalty early into the race for driving too slowly in the pit lane and holding up Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who was fifth.