Vettel's race goes up in smoke before it even starts

Sebastian Vettel's Bahrain Grand Prix hopes ended in a cloud of smoke as his Ferrari's engine packed up on the warm-up lap.

The four-time former world champion was well placed in third on the grid to mount a serious challenge to Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on the front row.

But the German's premature exit left Kimi Raikkonen, starting from fourth, flying the Ferrari flag in this second round of the 2016 season.

Once safely back in the pits Vettel told BBC Radio 5 that his car's race-ending problem "was very sudden".

He added: "We didn't expect to have any problems. Now let's push on Kimi's car and see after the race what happened. "I think we have reason to be confident but it caught us by surprise today."

Raikkonen salvaged some pride for the Maranello outfit by recovering from a bad start to finish second, ten seconds behind Rosberg and twenty seconds ahead of Hamilton.