Verstappen’s Arabian dream, Leclerc’s nightmare at the Bahrain GP

Max Verstappen confirmed the development test forecasts in the most solemn and relaxed manner that by winning the opening GP of the 2023 season he will be the undisputed favorite in this year’s Formula 1 championship in absolute dominance.

The Dutchman was followed by Sergio Perez, who completed Red Bull’s ‘totalitarianism’, and Aston Martin’s sensational Fernando Alonso, who made two stunning passes – Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – for the podium in his first race with the Aston Martin.

Charles Leclerc tried to threaten Pérez for second place, but eventually Ferrari tire management left him in third place – before having to retire on 41 of the race’s 57 laps when his SF-23 engine lost all power. The top seven were closed by Saint and Hamilton, ahead of Lance Stroll and George Russell with the second Aston Martin and Mercedes respectively.

Verstappen started comfortably in the lead, soon disappeared into the horizon and then didn’t even have to look in his mirror. Behind him, however, Perez and Leclerc fought a very interesting strategic battle for second place.

The Monegasque overtook the Mexican at the start and stayed in front of him until the first pit stops. Ferrari called Leclerc early to intercept Perez’s undercut and then Red Bull changed the Mexican’s strategy: they put him on the soft tire which the RBR driver soon used to overtake Leclerc (who had the disadvantage of the hard track of his pit stop). ) on track to move back up to second place.

Leclerc was relegated to third place and remained so after the second pit stop – until suddenly the Ferrari SF-23’s engine lost all power and he was forced to leave it at the side of the track. It was a totally unexpected departure for Scuderia, which said of the winter that it was confident it had resolved last year’s powerplant reliability issues.

The stalled Ferrari forced organizers to implement a one-lap virtual safety car regime and this helped Alonso and Hamilton close the gap to Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, who had moved up to 3rd after Leclerc’s retirement .

Alonso had just made a stunning pass to Hamilton after an epic battle between these two F1 giants. Note that the Aston Martin Spaniard had dropped to 5th on the first lap when his counterpart Lance Stroll lost his brakes at Turn 4 and crashed into the rear right wheel of Alonso’s AMR23 – almost miraculously, without to do damage.

So after the Virtual Safety Car, Alonso used the AMR23’s proven superior tire management to – also in a brilliant way – overtake Saind – who defended hard and clear but feared that if he continued like this he would run out of tires to make it manage to finish the race.

Mercedes had to settle for Hamilton in 5th and George Russell in 7th as they confirmed they still have good tire management – but not the speed of the new W14. Between the two Brits was Lance Stroll, who confirmed this year’s unexpected big performance surprise for the Aston Martin AMR23.

Valtteri Bottas and 8th place Alfa Romeo won the battle of the mid-performing teams thanks largely to their early pit stop for the hard rubber in front of the Alpine – thanks to an impressive comeback from Pierre Gasly from the last position on the grid. Esteban Ocon, on the other hand, received three penalties totaling 20” in 10 rounds.

Alex Albon managed to get the final point for Williams and Logan Sargeant finished 12th on his debut, ahead of Haas and McLaren, who looked relatively good on one lap but were disappointing in the series. As for Oscar Piastri, he was eliminated from his particularly low-key F1 debut with an electrical problem in his McLaren MCL60.

After the first GP in 2023, the Formula One Championship will take a two-week break until its second stop of the year on March 17-19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.