The Bahrain Grand Prix was held on Sunday, March 5 at the Sahkir International Circuit. The drivers and teams met to compete in the first race of the season, which will last until November. Dramas, duels and withdrawals, the race had some surprises in store for us.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, held on Sunday, lived up to all its promises. Red Bull Racing, the favorite team for the new 2023 Formula 1 season, scored its first victory with a one-two finish. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who started first and second respectively in qualifying, finished in the same positions. Red Bull was the undisputed leader this weekend, taking the lead in both the drivers’ and constructors’ standings.
MAXXX WINNNSSS! 🏆 CHECO FINISHESSS P2!!! 🏆 #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/n7Hh3NoObm
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 5, 2023
On the other hand, the Ferrari team, which was also highly anticipated, disappointed and scored few points. The Monegasque Charles Leclerc held third position until lap 40, before encountering a technical problem and being forced to withdraw from the race. Inheriting his place, his teammate Carlos Sainz could not resist the attacks of Fernando Alonso, who was in great shape. For their part, Mercedes, who were announced to be below their rivals Red Bull and Ferrari, posted a rather satisfactory result. Faced with Ferrari and Aston Martin cars in good form, the German team climbed to third place in the constructors’ championship, with Lewis Hamilton in fifth place and George Russell in seventh.
Success for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso
For its part, the British team Aston Martin announced that it had worked well over the winter and built an efficient car. In Bahrain, however, the cars marked with the winged logo had a complicated start. The Mercedes were faster at the start, while Lance Stroll collided with his teammate Fernando Alonso on the first lap. But at the wheel of his Aston Martin AMR23, the two-time Spanish world champion quickly set the pace to catch up with his rivals. First he played with Russel, then he had an exciting battle with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Finally, he took the lead over Carlos Sainz, who was struggling, and took advantage of Leclerc’s retirement to reach the third place of the podium. Alonso was named driver of the day with 53.3% of the vote, while Lance Stroll came in sixth.
Black day for McLaren and Ocon
McLaren had a big disappointment. Oscar Piastri‘s first race in F1 ended in retirement after a gearbox problem. His teammate, Lando Norris, had a dull race, with a very early and long second stop.
For its part, the French team Alpine was attracting attention and expectations were high after finishing fourth in the championship last year. The team is composed of a duo of Made In France drivers, since the signing of Antoine Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon. But the dream turned into a nightmare. At the start of the Grand Prix, Ocon was penalized five seconds for poor grid placement. He did not execute his penalty correctly and inherited a second penalty, this time of ten seconds. The Frenchman, who is not used to making mistakes, was also penalised for speeding in the pit lane by another five seconds. With such a delay, he finally decided to retire. His teammate Antoine Gasly, who started last on the grid after qualifying, saved his honor and took ninth place against Alexander Albon. A day of contrasts in the Alpine clan.
The Bahrain Grand Prix standings :
Drivers’ Championship
- Max Verstappen, 25 points
- Sergio Perez, 18 points
- Fernando Alonso, 15 points
- Carlos Sainz, 12 points
- Lewis Hamilton, 10 points
- Lance Stroll, 8 points
- Georges Russel, 6 points
- Valtteri Bottas, 4 points
- Pierre Gasly, 2 points
- Alexander Albon, 1 point
- Yuki Tsunoda, 0 point
- Logan Sargeant, 0 point
- Kevin Magnussen, 0 point
- Nick de Vries, 0 point
- Nico Hülkenberg, 0 point
- Guayun Zhou, 0 point
- Lando Norris, 0 point
- Esteban Ocon, 0 point
- Charles Leclerc, 0 point
- Oscar Piastri, 0 point
Constructors’ Championship
- Red Bull, 43 points
- Aston Martin, 23 points
- Mercedes, 16 points
- Ferrari, 12 points
- Alfa Romeo, 4 points
- Alpine, 2 points
- Williams, 1 points
- Alpha Tauri, 0 point
- Haas, 0 point
- McLaren, 0 point
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Featured photo : © Press
