After months of waiting, Formula One finally returned to action this weekend under the lights in Bahrain for the FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2023. Red Bull picked up where they left off in 2022, earning their first 1-2 finish led by defending World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen. But it was Fernando Alonso who stole the show, fighting his way to a stunning P3 with a very strong looking Aston Martin.
Max Verstappen got an excellent start from the first slot on the grid. Sergio Perez struggled at the start, allowing both Ferrari drivers to get along either side of him. Carlos Sainz had to back out on the pit exit to avoid being squeezed onto the grass by the Red Bull. Charles Leclerc was able to take P2 from Perez before the first corner.
Fernando Alonso had a solid start from his shocking P5 starting position, but Lewis Hamilton challenged the Spaniard in the first sector. The two were side-by-side down the straight between turn 3 and 4. Hamilton took the position in turn 4, while Alonso was hit hit from behind by this teammate, Lance Stroll. Stroll made the lunge from very far back, losing the position to the Mercedes of George Russell.
Early in the race, Russell felt he was quicker than his teammate. He was hinting at team order swap, as he began feeling the pressure from Alonso behind. Russell began to suffer with tyre degradation and Alonso was all over the back of the Mercedes on lap 11. After pursuing Russell for a lap, Alonso managed to get a huge run out of turn 3, getting by Russell on the exit of the corner. But Russell fought back, hanging on wheel-to-wheel around the outside of turn 4 and the subsequent corners, but he had to concede the position.
Russell pitted for a set of hard tyres at the end of the lap, with his teammate having done the same the lap prior. Russell’s stop was slow. Ferrari double stacked their drivers to exchange their soft tyres for a set of hard compound tyres. The lead Red Bull pitting the following lap, with the team choosing to take another set of soft tyres. Alonso pitted that lap as well, opting for the hard tyres.
Alonso rejoined the race narrowly ahead of Russell, with the slow stop proving to be crucial for the Mercedes driver. Ahead both of them was the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, who had stealthily made his way into a legitimate P6 with an early pit stop. Both drivers made quick work on the Alfa Romeo, but it was enough to prevent Russell from mounting any challenge on the Aston Martin.
Oscar Piastri’s Formula One debut with McLaren was cut short on lap 14. He began experiencing a gearbox issue. The team asked him to pit, thinking it was just an issue with the steering wheel. However, the team were not able to get the rookie’s car going again and was forced to retire him. The other McLaren of Lando Norris was also nursing an issue of some sort, making multiple pit stops throughout the race to have a hydraulic system pressurized.
Esteban Ocon was also having a bad day thanks to the race stewards. He was given a 5 second penalty for lining up outside of his grid box at the start of the race. The team attempted to serve the penalty in their first pit stop, but were given another 10 second penalty for incorrectly serving the penalty. He was also given an additional 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He and Norris didn’t let their misfortunes stop them from providing some entertainment for the fans, fighting over the bottom two places.
On lap 26, Perez took P2 from Leclerc. He dove up the inside of the first corner to take the position. Leclerc tried the cutback to fight back down the straight that followed, but Perez still had DRS and was able to maintain his lead over the Ferrari.
Mercedes was the first team to blink for the second round of pit stops, calling Hamilton to the pit lane to cover off the undercut threat from Alonso behind. He took another set of hard compound tyres. Stroll did the same when he pitted on the same lap to try the undercut on Russell. Russell responded the following lap and rejoined just ahead of the Aston Martin, but Stroll’s tyres were warmer and he was able to dive past the Mercedes in turn 4.
A few laps after he made his second pit stop of the race, Fernando Alonso was again putting pressure on a Mercedes. This time it was the Mercedes of his former teammate, Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard was all over the back of Hamilton and was able to make the lunge with DRS into the fourth corner, but he suffered a huge amount of oversteer and immediately lost the position to Hamilton. Alonso fought back, making a fantastic move on the inside of turn 10 to take P5.
But that quickly became P4, as Leclerc’s Ferrari came to stop on the exit of turn 13 with a mechanical issue. The virtual safety car was deployed to neutralize the race while the marshals pushed the stranded Ferrari back into the escape road. It was a quick VSC period and before long the race was back to action.
Alonso, who was easily proving to be the star of the race, was able to quickly catch up to the rear of the sole remaining Ferrari on Carlos Sainz. With ten laps remaining in the race, Alonso began his charge for the podium. He tapped the rear wheel of Sainz after getting an astronomical run out of the turn 4. Sainz made sure to cover off the inside of turn 10, but the Aston Martin had the benefit of slipstream down the long straight that followed. Alonso waited until the very last second to dart out from behind the rear wing of the Ferrari, zooming into P3.
Sainz’s pace dropped off and it appeared as though Hamilton was going to try to get by as well a few laps later. However, the Mercedes never managed to get within DRS range and dropped back a few laps later.
At the front, it was Max Verstappen who’s win was never really in doubt, as Red Bull once again prove that they are in a league of their own. This is the first time that Verstappen has ever won the season opener. His teammate Sergio Perez helped secure Red Bull’s first 1-2 finish of 2023, with many more looking to be in sight. But it was perhaps Fernando Alonso who stole the show with his first podium finish since the 2012 Qatar Grand Prix and earning the Driver of the Day.
Now that we have been given a sneak peak of what lies ahead in the 2023 Formula One season, fans will need to wait for a couple of weeks before the action returns. Next up is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the weekend of March 19.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 25 | |
| 2 | S. Perez | 18 | |
| 3 | F. Alonso | 15 | |
| 4 | C. Sainz | 12 | |
| 5 | L. Hamilton | 10 | |
| 6 | L. Stroll | 8 | |
| 7 | G. Russell | 6 | |
| 8 | V. Bottas | 4 | |
| 9 | P. Gasly | 2 | |
| 10 | A. Albon | 1 | |
| 11 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 12 | L. Sargeant | ||
| 13 | K. Magnussen | ||
| 14 | N. de Vries | ||
| 15 | N. Hulkenberg | ||
| 16 | G. Zhou | ||
| 17 | L. Norris | ||
| DNF | E. Ocon | ||
| DNF | C. Leclerc | ||
| DNF | O. Piastri | ||
