Vettel’s Bahrain victory makes four different F1 winners in 4 races

The Formula 1 championship has been dominated by certain teams in recent years – most recently it’s been Red Bull leading the pack, but before that there was an unforgettable year for Brawn GP in 2009, as the team came seemingly from nowhere to claim the driver’s title for Jenson Button.

But 2012 is shaping up a little differently so far, with four different winners in the first four races.

Button, now driving for McLaren-Mercedes, opened the season with victory in Australia, but has since slipped to fourth in the driver’s championship with 43 points.

For Mark Webber, it’s a case of “may the fourth be with you”, as the Aussie has finished one place outside the podium positions in each of the opening four races this year; his total score of 48 puts him third, just one point behind Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s eighth-place finish in Bahrain this weekend gave his Antipodean rival the chance to gain some serious ground, following third-place spots on the podium for the Brit in the season’s previous races.

But it’s Sebastian Vettel who leads the pack as the Formula 1 tour moves to Spain for the Catalunya race on May 13th, after a messy first four races have seen him finish second, 11th, fifth and first to earn a total of 53 points so far.

A win for Fernando Alonso in Malaysia and Nico Rosberg in China means neither Hamilton nor Webber has taken the chequered flag yet this year – so will it be a case of consistency or pure grit that decides the title?