2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 21 April 2013 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Contested over 57 laps, it was the fourth round of the 2013 season, and the ninth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been held as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The controversial race went ahead despite ongoing protests which had been taking place since the cancellation of the 2011 event.

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg started the race from pole. Sebastian Vettel won the race, with Lotus F1 drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean completing the podium, meaning that the top 3 finishers were identical to the 2012 event in the same order.

This was also the last Bahrain Grand Prix to take place during the daytime, as the event switched to a night race from the 2014 race onwards.

Tyre supplier Pirelli had originally planned to bring their hard and soft compounds of tyre to the race, to be designated as the prime and the option respectively. However, the teams experienced problems with the soft compound at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the tyres degrading after just seven laps, which prompted Pirelli to alter their allocation for the Bahrain Grand Prix, changing the options from the soft compound to the medium. Before the race, a minute of silence was held as a mark of respect for those who had lost their lives in the Boston Marathon bombings six days earlier.

This race also marked the 200th Grand Prix for Mark Webber.

In the context of the 2011 Bahraini uprising, public protests also occurred over the 2013 staging of the race, after the 2011 event was cancelled and the 2012 event went ahead despite efforts by demonstrators to disrupt the race. According to Reuters, the race went ahead "largely unhindered" by the protests. Reflecting on the changes in the government strategy compared to 2012, they concluded that the public relations battle over this year's race had produced a stalemate, reflecting the situation in the opposition movement generally.

At the start, Nico Rosberg maintained the lead of the race, followed by Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Paul di Resta and Felipe Massa. Vettel was able to pass Alonso already during the first lap, and Rosberg on the third, thus taking the lead. Alonso engaged, in turn, in a long duel with Rosberg, before passing him on lap 5. After a lap, the German was also overtaken by di Resta. Around the same time, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Éric Vergne and Giedo van der Garde were involved in a collision.

Fernando Alonso was forced to pit on lap seven to fix the DRS, which remained open on his car: he returned to the track seventeenth. The Spaniard tried to use the device again, which blocked again, forcing him to stop again one lap later.