Bahrain 2022 | Drama for Verstappen and Red Bull, Ferrari celebrates

The Bahrain Grand Prix will again be the first race of the season in 2023. In 2022, the race was won by Charles Leclerc, while the weekend ended in a dissapointment for Red Bull Racing. Here is a recap of that weekend.

The first test in Bahrain

At the start of a new season with completely new regulations, everyone was looking forward to the first Grand Prix in 2022. The race was held at the Bahrain International Circuit, and as in 2023, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing came out on top. The winter test proved to be a good indicator, as these teams indeed proved the strongest in qualifying.

Pole went to Leclerc, resulting in a burst of joy in the Italians' garage. Reigning champion Max Verstappen had to settle for second place. The difference was minimal. Indeed, Leclerc was only 0.123s faster than the Dutchman. Carlos Sainz took third place, Perez was fourth.

The race became a spectacle. Leclerc and Verstappen drove away from Sainz and Perez. Leclerc seemed to have the best of it, and he just seemed to be driving away. Just after the pitstops, Verstappen was able to go on the attack, but on several occasions it just did not work out. At start/finish, Verstappen passed Leclerc, but on the second straight Leclerc came back with the help of DRS.

Drama for Red Bull

After the last lot of pit stops, the race seemed to be in lockstep. Leclerc had created a gap to Verstappen. Further back Sainz and Perez also had to settle for their places. The race became wide open again when Pierre Gasly retired with an engine problem. Behind the safety car, everything came back together and that's when it became clear that something was wrong with the Red Bulls.

Things first went wrong for Verstappen. He lacked power and that got worse by the lap. He was then overtaken by half the field, after which he had to enter the pits and end his race. Not much later, things also went wrong for Perez. A lap before the end, the Mexican spun as his car stalled. A dramatic start to the season for the Austrian racing stable.

At Ferrari, it was big celebration. After years of misery, the drought seemed to be over with the 1-2 in Bahrain. Lewis Hamilton, who had been totally uncompetitive with Mercedes, still finished on the podium despite their problems. The returning Kevin Magnussen also picked up points (10) and Guanyu Zhou scored a point on his debut.