@Max33Verstappen cruises to comfortable #BahrainGP victory. #F1

Verstappen Bahrain GP victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen cruised to a comfortable Bahrain GP victory ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez in a Red Bull one-two as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top three after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lost a podium due to an engine problem.

 

 

When the 57-lap Bahrain GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen got a solid getaway, whilst team-mate Perez lost second place to Leclerc after suffering a slow run off the line and fell behind the Ferrari driver.

 

Any hope of a battle for the lead were dashed when Verstappen pulled clear from Leclerc by over half-a-second per tour, with Perez following Leclerc across the initial stint before they made their first of two pit-stops.

 

Leclerc was the first of the leaders to stop and swap the softs for hards on the 13^th lap, with Verstappen pitting almost 10 seconds clear to take a second set of softs after both Red Bull RB19 entries came into the Grand Prix with only one set of the C1 white side-walled harder compound.

 

Perez remained out a few laps longer before he stopped to put on the softer rubber too, which he then used to reel in Leclerc’s SF-23 racer and snatched seconds place with DRS assistance on the inside into turn one on lap 26.

 

From there, Verstappen only dealt with a minor downshift issue causing the occasional rear-locking and ran clear of team-mate Perez for a comfortable 11.987 second Bahrain GP victory after they both had completed one more stop to finally put on the set of harder tyres in what was a sensational performance from the Milton Keynes based-outfit.

 

This was made even better when Leclerc, who had fallen almost ten seconds behind Perez before making his second pit-stop for fresh harder compounds on the 33^rd tour, retired from the Grand Prix after suddenly losing drive on lap 40, with Ferrari later confirming that he had “lost the engine” on his SF-23 racer.

 

This deployed a brief virtual safety car as the Ferrari was recovered, after which Alonso pushed on and overtook fellow Spanish-compatriot Carlos Sainz to clinch his first podium for Aston Martin.

 

Alonso had earlier lost another place to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap, then lost another to the other Silver Arrow of George Russell when team-mate Lance Stroll clipped his new Aston Martin team-mate out-braking himself whilst battling Russell into turn four on lap one.

 

Alonso followed Hamilton through the early proceeding’s early tyre management phases and two stoppers for both Aston and Mercedes entries, the double world champion running long before making his second pit-stop after Mercedes had called Hamilton in early for his second stop to fend off an undercut threat from his former McLaren team-mate.

 

The two world champions engaged in an entertaining battle over what was at the time fifth place, with Alonso needing two attempts to pass Hamilton after his initial overtake at turn four when wrong after his AMR23 stepped out before he put in an impressive dive down the inside into the turns nine/ten complex to clear the Mercedes.

 

After the virtual safety car, Alonso rapidly caught Sainz, who had been running a long way off Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and was concerned about his second set of harder tyres falling off the cliff and being unable to make the finish, and also had a close-call with the SF-23 when he attempted to overtake for the first time at turn four on the 45^th tour, lightly touching the Ferrari’s right-rear with his front-left.

 

But a few moments later, Alonso’s solid pace meant he benefitted from DRS assistance down the back straight and flew by to grab third place, which he would not lose.

 

Hamilton followed close behind Sainz to the flag in fourth and fifth respectively, with Stroll beating Russell to sixth place on the classification after Aston Martin pulled off the undercut to perfection at his second pit-stop.

 

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas came home in eighth place and ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who rose from the rear of the grid to ninth, with Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon completing the top 10.

 

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished in 11^th place and in-front of Williams rookie Logan Sargeant who takes 12^th and Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who was 13^th.

 

The other AlphaTauri AT04 entry of Nyck de Vries ended the Grand Prix 14^th and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who settled for 15^th and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who placed 16^th in the classification.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris pitted five times due to a pneumatic engine issue on his MCL60 racer before he retired later on, as did Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, after he was hit with three penalties – for being out of position on his starting grid slot, Alpine working on his A523 racer on his car before he finished serving his five-second-time penalty and also for speeding in the pit-lane.

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2023 Bahrain GP – The Top Three

 

 

2023 Bahrain GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, RB19:

“You never really know what will happen later on in the race, 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.”

 

2^nd Place – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, RB19:

“Yeah, it’s a great start, when we look at last year how we started here, it’s a great comeback. I think today, that start put me out of contention for the race, but it was all about minimising the damage so second is good. I feel comfortable with the car, we have a strong package.”

 

3^rd Place – Fernando Alonso, #14, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team-Mercedes, AMR23:

“First of all congrats to Lance, my team-mate, 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.”

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Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 Race Results Classification (57 Laps)

 

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	57	1:33:56.736	25
2	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	57	+11.987s	18
3	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	57	+38.637s	15
4	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	57	+48.052s	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	57	+50.977s	10
6	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	57	+54.502s	8
7	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	57	+55.873s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	ALFA ROMEO FERRARI	57	+72.647s	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPINE RENAULT	57	+73.753s	2
10	23	Alexander Albon	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	57	+89.774s	1
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT	57	+90.870s	0
12	2	Logan Sargeant	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	56	+1 lap	0
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	56	+1 lap	0
14	21	Nyck De Vries	ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT	56	+1 lap	0
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	HAAS FERRARI	56	+1 lap	0
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	ALFA ROMEO FERRARI	56	+1 lap	0
17	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	55	+2 laps	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	41	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	39	DNF	0
NC	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	13	DNF	0

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1141/bahrain/race-result.html

 

Click here for the 2023 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.

 

Round two of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a fortnight for the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 from Friday March 17-Sunday March 19.