What a difference a year makes. Last season the Red Bull Racing F1 team saw both its cars retire from the season opening race in Bahrain. One year later they celebrated a 1-2 finish as Max Verstappen picked up where he left off at the end of 2022, atop the podium Sunday.
Verstappen led from pole and enjoyed a lead as high as 30 seconds before cruising over the line by 11.9 seconds over teammate Sergio Perez.
“You never really know what will happen later on in the race,” the reigning world champion said. “So very happy to finally win here in Bahrain. I think we have a good race package; we can definitely fight with this so a big thank you to the team.”
The seemingly calmness at the front of the field was overshadowed by drama behind, with Ferrari suffering a heartbreaking early retirement of Charles Leclerc.
Despite taking on a new Energy Store and Control Electronics power unit element pre-race Leclerc was able to charge to second from his third place starting spot at lights out thanks in part to the team’s decision to wave off a final qualifying run Saturday to save a set of soft tires. But on lap 41 of 57 while running third his car suddenly lost power and he rolled to a stop bringing out a virtual safety car.
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN – MARCH 05: Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari looks on after retiring from the race during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 05, 2023 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Behind, the lone remaining Ferrari wheeled by Carlos Sainz was left to try and salvage a podium. It wasn’t to be however as Ferando Alonso, in his first race for Aston Martin was able to charge by late in the going and hold on to score that team’s second ever podium. His teammate Lance Stroll meanwhile overcame a wrist injury that left his status coming into Sunday questionable to finish sixth.
“First of all congrats to Lance, my teammate,” Alonso said. “Surgery 12 days ago and now he’s fighting with everyone. Finishing on the podium, second best car in race one, it’s just unreal.”
Sainz had to settle for 4th.
“We definitely had the car to fight for the podium. I mean, honestly, the podium was there,” Leclerc said. “We had a good gap behind, I was managing the pace, everything felt good, so it is a shame. Now I just hope we can look into it, understand what went wrong and don’t have this problem anymore…”
The news wasn’t much better for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton never got near the front of the field, was passed by Alonso late in the going and finished fifth. His teammate George Russell was seventh. Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly, and Alexander Albon rounded out the top 10.
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN – MARCH 05: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin AMR23 Mercedes or during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 05, 2023 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
“I genuinely loved the racing,” Hamilton said. “I had a great start, got Fernando in Turn 4 and I was like, ‘Oh jeez, this is a great start to the race’. It felt like one of my better opening laps. Then I just was sliding around. I had so much understeer at the beginning, I took so much wing out, I couldn’t get around some of the corners, and I just couldn’t keep up with the guys ahead.
“My middle stint was good and then at the end I was so close to catching Carlos [Sainz for fourth position], but [it was] not good enough.
“We definitely can’t fight them at the moment – they were much quicker than us, as were the Astons.
“We’re the fourth fastest team now, as opposed to the third last year. We’re going backwards, [so] we really have a lot of work to do to close that gap.”
American Logan Sargeant made his F1 debut with a respectable 12th place finish. The second race of the 2023 season will be the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, March 17-19.
FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2023 – RACE RESULT
| Pos | Driver | Time/Retired | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:33:56.736 | 25 | |
| 2 | +11.987s | 18 | |
| 3 | +38.637s | 15 | |
| 4 | +48.052s | 12 | |
| 5 | +50.977s | 10 | |
| 6 | +54.502s | 8 | |
| 7 | +55.873s | 6 | |
| 8 | +72.647s | 4 | |
| 9 | +73.753s | 2 | |
| 10 | +89.774s | 1 | |
| 11 | +90.870s | 0 | |
| 12 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 13 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 14 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 15 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 16 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 17 | +2 laps | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Note – Hulkenberg received a 15-second time penalty for multiple track limit violations
Greg has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.