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Verstappen untouchable in Bahrain Grand Prix and Alonso gets P3
Max Verstappen has won the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix and therefore starts his hunt for a third consecutive World Championship on the front foot. The Dutchman was untouchable in Bahrain and leaves lingering thoughts on whether or not he can go and win all 23 Grands Prix in the season. His teammate Sergio Perez had a harder race due to a poor start, but in the end comfortably took P2. Fernando Alonso rounded out the top three.
The last seven winners of the Bahrain Grand Prix have finished second in the Formula 1 World Championship, but all indications suggest that streak will come to an end in 2023. Red Bull's day got better as their closest challenger in qualifying was forced to retire on lap 41. Charles Leclerc lost all power and walks away from Bahrain pointless, like Verstappen did 12 months ago.
When this era of F1 started in 2022, we were expecting more inter-generational battles between Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen. That doesn't seem consistently likely for at least another 12 months but Hamilton is renewing his old rivarly with Alonso. Mercedes and Aston Martin look very evenly matched. The two-time World Champion got the better of Hamilton in the first round by finishing on the podium.
Alonso moved on from his old rival, to his fellow countryman Carlos Sainz. The strength of the Aston Martin in the slow speed corners due to the downforce really helped Alonso as he made the move to the podium in the technical sector two. His teammate, who Alonso collided with on lap one, finished in P6 proving Aston Martin are the real deal. Both Mercedes drivers finished in the middle of the top ten. Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon rounded out the top ten.
McLaren had a nightmare afternoon. Oscar Piastri retired on his debut race and Lando Norris had to nurse a major problem that required multiple pitstops.
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Verstappen from pole
Pre-season testing and Friday practice indicated that Fernando Alonso could be the Dutchman's biggest challenger for pole position. Ferrari returned to the forefront when everything was turned up for qualifying, but they couldn't do enough to get onto the front row. This was locked out by Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Ferrari took the second row, and then Alonso found his place in P5. Mercedes took the next two positions on the grid. All drivers started on the softs except Kevin Magnussen on the hard tyres.
Sergio Perez had a terrible getaway off the line which gave both Ferrari drivers the chance to attack. Perez remained agressive going into turn one and managed to save P3. The Aston Martin relationship between Lance Stroll and Alonso didn't get off to the best start as the Canadian touched at turn four. Alonso was lucky to avoid a puncture. By lap four, Verstappen had a three second advantage over Leclerc.
On lap nine, Russell asked his team whether Hamilton was struggling or managing to assess whether they would consider switching the order. Mercedes confirmed that Hamilton was struggling in P5. Around the same time, Verstappen complained of some minor rear locking in relation to gear shift. Hamilton pitted for hard tyres but that didn't mean Russell comfortably had P5. The Brit lost out in a battle to Alonso that really proved Aston Martin can challenge their engine team.
Into the pits
Ferrari trusted the system on lap 14 by double stacking Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen covered it off on lap 15 and held a comfortable gap to the Ferrari drivers. Alonso also pitted on this lap whilst Perez and Stroll enterained a longer first stint. He pitted for soft tyres on lap 18. Oscar Piastri's first race for 16 months ended on lap 16 when McLaren retired him due to a suspected electrical fault. He sat in the pitlane for a couple of laps whilst they changed the steering wheel and tried various resets.
With the two-step softer tyre and DRS, Perez made the move on Leclerc and immediatly made gains. With Leclerc going to hard tyres again, it was as if Ferrari had accepted third-place. That was until lap 41 when Leclerc stopped out on the circuit.
