SAKHIR, Bahrain, April 15 (UPI) -- Felipe Massa held off circuit rookie Lewis Hamilton to claim Sunday's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix by 2.3 seconds.
It was the first Grand Prix win of the season and third of his career for Massa. Hamilton's strong finish put him in a tie with two-time driving champion Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen for first in the season standings with 22 points three races into the season. Massa is in fourth with 17.
Raikkonen finished third Sunday while Nick Heidfled was fourth and Alonso fifth.
Massa led most of the race at the Bahrain International Circuit and was ahead by about 10 seconds when he made his final pit stop with 17 laps to race. Hamilton closed to within six seconds with nine laps left and narrowed that to less than four seconds heading into the final four laps.
But Massa held position and, while Hamilton was only 2.3 seconds behind he was never in a place to make a passing attempt and Massa took the victory.
The Grand Prix circuit next heads to Spain for a May 13 race at Barcelona.
