In previous years Mercedes has let its drivers race, confident in the knowledge it was unchallenged for either championship, but the emergence of Ferrari this year has complicated matters - Vettel's win in Bahrain helped put Ferrari in the lead of both championships.
Hamilton apologised to Mercedes for damaging his own chances by earning a five-second penalty for deliberately slowing Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo as they pitted for fresh tyres under a safety auto early in the race.
The Finnish driver secured his maiden Formula 1 pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix but on race pace and strategy he reached the chequered flag in third place behind victor Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
In an effort to avoid waiting for too long, Hamilton slowed ahead of the pit entry and blocked Daniel Ricciardo, for which he was subsequently handed a five-second penalty. An early pit stop saw Vettel drop down the field but then Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen crashed on lap 12, due to suspected brake failure.
"I was pretty calm". I don't know what to say, but that's not why we exist. I thought he might be at risk of a penalty. "I'm not going to tell him my secrets, but I would have done it differently".
"It's the second time I've double stacked and lost out", Hamilton said.
Having had to play second fiddle to Mercedes over the past three years, Ferrari now appear serious challengers for the title, with Sebastian Vettel winning the opening Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne. However, Vettel was able to overtake Hamilton before the first turn and held strong.
Kimi Raikkonen just missed the podium again, coming in fourth place. When I woke up and was waiting for the race my target was the win.
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"That first stint was looking really competitive. He had a better chance than I to battle for the win, because I was struggling with the pace".
"I was at the end of that train, I could see everyone else, they were sliding around".
"I was expecting a lot more personally".
The following lap saw Williams' Lance Stroll being hit by Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz from the side, which brought out the safety vehicle.
"The effect was basically just felt like a big overheating, it felt like on marbles the rear tyres. I plan to bring it back up at the next one".
"We'd like to give equal opportunity at the start of the race, I think we owe it to them".
Williams driver Felipe Massa finished an impressive sixth, followed by Sergio Perez in the Force India, Romain Grosjean for Haas, Nico Hulkenberg scoring Renault's first points of the year, and Esteban Ocon rounding out the top 10.
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