Max Verstappen won the season-opening 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. (Twitter/@F1)Bahrain Grand Prix 2023, F1 Race Highlights: Defending champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull flexed their muscles at the start of the 2023 season, as the Dutchman won the season-opening race in Sakhir by over 10 seconds over his teammate Sergio Perez.
After a phenomenal week since testing his Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso followed to take a remarkable podium place – his second since 2014 – after brilliant battles with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. Alonso surged into third place after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, in an all-too-familiar circumstance, had to retire due to a power unit failure.
Race Leaderboard:
1. Max Verstappen: – (2 pit stops)
2. Sergio Perez: +11.987 (2 pit stops)
3. Fernando Alonso: +38.637 (2 pit stops)
Scroll down to catch all the highlights from the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after qualifying in pole position. (Reuters)
This was ruthless from Red Bull, and Verstappen was so dominant from start to finish that the TV directors never needed to follow him after the first 10 laps. Looked after the tyres, managed immaculately. A first win in Bahrain, a long-time coming
He will have to share the spotlight with Fernando Alonso today, who will undoubtedly be causing huge excitement among F1 fans. Made the season-opener the contest it needed to be.
Lots of hype for him and Aston Martin this year, and he lived up to it.
Huge drive, those two battles with Hamilton and Sainz were the best moves, and moments of the day.
What a moment!
Not that it was ever in doubt. Verstappen got a good start, opened up a lead and never looked back. Seriously impressive from him and Red Bull. A double world champion going on three.
Perez follows in second, but the biggest storyline is coming behind him...
Over 8 seconds ahead, Alonso is going to step up on the podium for just the second time in 9 years.
This Aston Martin is quick, and Alonso is looking refreshed, and brilliant.
No need to pay attention to the Dutchman. 10 seconds ahead, in cruise control mode. Easy wins are becoming a habit now.
Undoubtedly disappointing for Mercedes. Unable to take advantage of the pressure Sainz was under, could not make the overtake happen as he leaved DRS range.
Things are about to get worse for Ferrari and Saniz, as Hamilton is now on his feels for fourth place.
Hamilton is within DRS range, but yet to get close enough to make a move. A nervy finish for the Spaniard now.
After one Ferrari DNFs, Sainz is trying to ensure the podium, but Alonso smelled blood.
He pushed Sainz to the brink with DRS, and despite breaking late and going flat out, he handled it well enough - even though he made very slight contact - and completed the overtake.
Vintage Alonso. Simply too good of a wheel-to-wheel racer. Even at the nimble age of 41.
Started his first race with new team Alpine last on the grid, and is now in the points in 9th!
Strange race for his teammate Esteban Ocon, who retires after a string of weird penalties. A mess.
Alonso, Sainz, and Hamilton now fighting for the last podium place.
The battle of the day, surely.
Oh, not again Charles.
As if nothing has changed since last year, Charles Leclerc, who has had a very respectable race despite having a much slower car than Red Bull, will retire as his power unit seems to have failed.
Frustration for the Monegasque.
Goes around the outside, bluffs a great move before diving down the inside line, and taking the lead.
Great overtaking, and great defence. Surely there is more to come from the battle between the veterans.
Just like their first fight, 16 years ago, as teammates, a blockbuster battle between the two drivers for fifth.
Alonso has been brilliant all day, and he briefly overtook Hamilton with a gutsy dive down the inside. The Brit had a similar move up his sleeve, forcing Alonso to lock up as he fearlessly took the apex and took the inside line, and the lead.
This is, as expected, a brilliant advertisement for motor racing.
If you're just switching on, and seeing Verstappen 37 seconds ahead, the shock is understandable.
Of course it is because he is late to pit, which will come out now, but it perfectly summarises this race...
No surprises here, Verstappen flexed his muscles, and Perez laid back.
The Mexican has come into the pits.
Undercut has worked here, as Stroll comfortably overtakes Russell with DRS.
Aston Martin are beating Mercedes two for two here. Remarkable.
Undercut fears are on, as Hamilton's pit is followed immediately by Stroll. Interesting battle between fifth and eighth between Mercedes and Aston Martin.
He's consistently lapping better than Verstappen at the moment, as the Dutchman complains of degradation on his tyres.
That 13-second lead, though, seems truly unassailable.
The Red Bulls have committed to a two-stopper, starting on the softs and pitting to softs again.
Ferrari went for a long-haul strategy, pitting for hards. But Leclerc's tyres seem to have more degradation, which may well result in yet another strategic blunder for the Scuderia.
Perez, in DRS range, did an easy overtake over Leclerc, who wanted to bite back on the next turn, but went too far behind.
Leclerc had DRS on Perez soon after, but it was too late, and Perez will now be vying to open up a gap, ensuring a Red Bull one-two.
Almost within a second on Leclerc now, Perez is finding brilliant pace while Leclerc - on the hard tyres - means he has gone for the long game.
Could be set for a battle for second.
He's shortened the gap to about 2 seconds now, and every Leclerc slip up, there have been a few lock-ups in the last few laps, is being preyed on.
The Mexican will be in the Ferrari rear-view mirror soon.
It's a familiar feeling for F1 fans. Verstappen has just seamlessly led from start to finish here.
A cool 10 seconds lead on Leclerc, just 20 laps in.
Nightmare F1 debut for Piastri, who is out of the race.
His teammate Lando Norris, meanwhile, has a tragic pit stop of nearly 12 seconds to go last.
And just as that was said, Alonso easily passes him to go sixth.
Bottas, notoriously, a bad defender.
He pit early, and the veteran Finnish driver is ahead of both Alonso and Russell in a legitimate sixth position.
Just very reliable, as always,
Verstappen came into the pits with an 11 second lead, he has one hand on the grand prix title, and looks set for a comfortable win.
Russell's slow stop, after being overtaken by Alonso, has led him to slip.
The others at the top, are more or less, holding their place.
Very, very impressive from Russell to fight Alonso for so long.
With DRS he got the racing line down the outside and overtook, before Russell bites back, trying to dive down the inside.
A great wheel-to-wheel battle that, but Alonso, finally, gets his position back to go 5th.
Gutsy move down the inside of Russell on the 11th lap!
Got very, very close to overtaking there, and by the 13th lap, he got even closer, tight on the line trying to overtake by breaking late. Russell with some impressive defence here.
After a terrible start, he's done very well to keep his calm and chase the Mercedes ahead of him.
On the 11th lap, Alonso comes very close with DRS, he's still behind, but looking like he will overtake any minute.
No surprises here. His lead at the top is now over 6 seconds. Dominant.
Struggling with understeer, it seems.
The Mercedes are in fifth and sixth, leading the Aston Martins right behind them. The start has cost them, and derailed the hype around Alonso.
Alfa Romeo's Valterri Bottas (remember him?) is up to ninth, and Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant in the Williams are up to 11th and 13th. They are the big gainers at the start.
Both McLarens, disappointing from testing itself, are still out of the points, and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg is down to 15th after starting 10th.
The Mexican wants his place back, and after Leclerc's fifth lap lock-up, he's been in DRS range.
Leclerc holding him off, for now.
Big lock up for the Monegasque gives Verstappen an even greater lead, it's over 4 seconds now.
As expected in Bahrain, there has been chaos at the start, but Verstappen, also as expected, is not bothered.
Impressive from Hamilton, who leapfrogs his teammate and Alonso on turn 2 despite not a great start.
Alonso later fell away to the second Mercedes fo Russell, after his teammate Stroll, in a grave error by taking the apex, crashed into him from the back. Yellow flag on lap 2 after loose debris, but a nightmare start for Alonso.
What a start from Leclerc! Saving those soft tyres seem to be the right strategy as he immediately dived down the inside of Perez, who did not get off to great start. Sainz also dived in, but Perez was able to hold him off.
Verstappen held on confidently to keep his place at the top. Leclerc second, Perez third, Sainz stays in fourth.
Get ready for a major first-lap scrap here.
Expecting Leclerc to immediately put pressure on the Red Bulls, and Alonso with a couple of dive bombs.
The 2023 F1 season is officially underway.
The first two turns are usually big overtaking zones, so expect lots of early action.
Not long left for the lights to go out, and Verstappen, as he was for much of last season, is the one to catch again.
Will the Ferraris have anything up their sleeve? Will Alonso?
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After their seven-year dominance of the sport came to an abrupt halt last year, Mercedes have been forced to admit they do not have the kind of pace to contend at the top in yet another season.
With their drivers qualifying behind Alonso, whose team is a customer of their power unit, the disappointment seems to be setting in. Lewis Hamilton, vying for a record-breaking eighth world championship, will need to make do from seventh on the grid today.
As if Formula One had gone back in time, by about a decade-and-a-half, it is Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso who is causing the most excitement in the paddock.
Alonso was top in the second free practice session on Friday and is looking very quick in a competent car. The fact that he qualified fifth, ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell of Mercedes, would be considered an absolute coup one year ago.
Can he live up to the billing and use his explosive driving style to put up a show tonight?
Testing can, generally, be misleading. Especially given the fact that the teams were only given three days ahead of a 23-race season, the longest in the sport’s history. But even the most optimistic fans cannot deny that Red Bull and Verstappen are looking ominous for the chasing pack. (READ THE SEASON PREVIEW)
After an extremely competitive first session in qualifying, by Q3 on Saturday, Red Bull laid the marker they were expected to.
Verstappen pulled two furiously quick laps, his second lapping at 1:29:708 for pole. Teammate Sergio Perez was over a tenth of a second behind to lock out the front row for Red Bull.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz followed in third and fourth respectively. Leclerc, interestingly, chose not to finish a second lap in Q3, seemingly to conserve the soft tyres he may be starting this race on.
Formula One is back. Welcome to The Indian Express' live coverage of the F1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Catch all the latest updates, snap analysis, and all the notable lap times and overtakes as the race kicks off at 8.30 PM IST.