Lewis Hamilton was thanking his lucky stars after capitalising on heartbreak for Charles Leclerc to claim victory in Bahrain.
The Monegasque had recovered excellently from a slow start and was in a commanding position to claim his first Formula 1 win.
But a loss of ERS allowed the world champion to come through and take his first win of 2019.
Teammate Valtteri Bottas also came through to complete another 1-2 for Mercedes, as a late Safety Car saved Leclerc the first podium in third.
At the start, a bad getaway from pole allowed Vettel into the lead at Turn 1 with a fast-starting Bottas also moving ahead into Turn 4.
Leclerc would hold off an attack from Hamilton, however, and would reclaim second as Bottas ran wide at Turn 1 on the second lap.
Once clear, Leclerc set about closing back in on Vettel and produced a nice move on his teammate at Turn 1 and would establish a three-second margin.
Behind, Lance Stroll and Romain Grosjean would pit for repairs at the end of the opening lap after the Haas turned in on the Racing Point at Turn 2.
Max Verstappen would be fortunate to avoid a penalty as he and Carlos Sainz collided at Turn 4, with the resultant front wing damage dropping the Spaniard out of contention.
The Dutchman would look forward by pitting first of the leaders and briefly undercutting Bottas for fourth until the Mercedes responded at Turn 4 to retake the place.
Leclerc and Hamilton would pit simultaneously with the Briton staying on the soft tyre as those around switched to the medium.
That would be the wrong decision however as Vettel, who fell behind after stopping a lap later, would pass the world champion into Turn 4.
Hamilton would attempt the undercut again on the four-time world champion but would be unsuccessful as the Ferrari remained ahead, with Leclerc making his second stop a lap later.
Once on the medium tyres though, the Mercedes would be much happier and Lewis quickly caught Vettel for second
Having held off one attack, Hamilton tried for the second time around the outside at Turn 4 and would be successful as Sebastian then spun on exit, just as he did on several occasions last year
Vibrations from the flat-spotted tyres would also cause his front wing to fail on the back straight, eventually pitting and falling back down the order to ninth.
On the soft tyres, Vettel would make short work of the midfield cars and was back upto fifth where he would eventually finish.
It was at this point that trouble struck Leclerc as the ERS fails on his engine, leaving the Ferrari a sitting duck on the straights for Hamilton to catch and pass for the lead.
Bottas followed suit, after making up between five and seven seconds each lap, and it appeared Verstappen would finish the podium until late drama struck Renault.
Within seconds of each other, both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo suffered engine failures and would both park up on the outside of Turn 1.
That led to a Safety Car which would remain out until the chequered flag neutralising the field and securing the final result.
Behind the top five, Lando Norris would be the big beneficiary of Renault’s demise, claiming P6 in the McLaren.
Kimi Raikkonen was his ever-consistent self in seventh ahead of Pierre Gasly, who again struggled to come through the midfield in the Red Bull.
Alex Albon scored his first F1 points in ninth, with Sergio Perez completing the top 10 for Racing Point.
Full results from Sunday’s incredible race in Bahrain can be seen below:
