F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Red Bull dominate and Alonso scores podium

Formula 1 made a return this weekend in the Bahrain desert as the 2023 season got underway. The race did not cause too much drama but provided some exciting moments as Max Verstappen took victory.

Up and down the paddock there was expectation that Red Bull would remain the team to beat after their dominating 2022 season. The Milton Keynes team won 17 out of 22 races last year with Verstappen winning the championship with ease.

What was not expected was the shear dominance of Red Bull heading into this season after the complications with the cost cap and reduced wind tunnel time. They unbelievably destroyed everyone this weekend in Bahrain.

Max Verstappen led the field away and never lost the lead after securing pole from teammate Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Saturday. He went on to cruise to victory by 11 seconds from his teammate and 38 seconds from the next car.

There will be critics of those who thrive on entertainment in the sport. Red Bull look unbeatable already, and are 1 second clear per lap of the next best car. The RB19 could be the greatest car to grace the sport already with the significant gap it has. Without mistakes and reliability it is difficult to see a different winner from Red Bull this year, and that is credit to Adrian Newey and those at the team.

Aston Martin were heading into this season with high ambitions. After hiring ex-Red Bull aerodynamics genius Dan Fallows, and hiring 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso, the Silverstone-based team were hoping to make a step above the midfield and to launch a challenge at the frontrunners of Ferrari and Mercedes.

It was an amazing performance by Fernando Alonso in Bahrain. He had a difficult start where he Stroll, Alonso’s teammate accidentally punted after an attempt on a move on Russell. He lost positions to both Mercedes drivers which required him to battle through them.

Alonso drove superbly and patiently. Russell was easily picked off, but Hamilton and Sainz would not make it easy. The dive down the inside of Hamilton in a corner where lockups are easy was astonishing. It will certainly be in contention for overtake of the season.

The Sainz overtake was superb as he positioned the Ferrari to have a lack of traction out of the same corner he overtook Hamilton. By dummying his compatriot, he had to defend and it allowed the grippier, quicker Aston Martin to overtake him. A stunning performance to reach the podium. It will be interesting to see how the team develop this ‘amazing’ car, which was branded by Alonso.

The other headline will be towards Ferrari. That Leclerc DNF will be an early disaster. He is now inevitably facing engine penalties later on in the season. A sad debut for Fred Vasseur who will look to improve his team.

Mercedes will be disappointed with how far off they are, but they once again seem the masters of maximising the points available. 5th and 7th was about as good as it was going to get for Mercedes who finished about 50 seconds off of Red Bull. A painful realisation for Toto Wolff.

The two other teams who faced disaster was McLaren and Alpine. McLaren had retirements with both cars, both on reliability. This feels like it will be a horrific year for the Papaya. Ocon seemed to have about 4 different penalties yesterday, all avoidable. An embarrassing day for them despite Gasly finishing in the points.

Williams will be the most delighted of those near the back though. Albon finished in 10th and picked up a sole point, and Sargeant had a superb debut. It finally looks to be getting better for them and James Vowles will be ecstatic with their performance, and the package looks solid.

A final credit to Lance Stroll, who was superb following injuries on both wrists and a broken toe. He fought bravely and finished in a particularly impressive position. This could be a strong year for the Canadian.

Next race is Saudi Arabia in a fortnight, an exciting racetrack. Hopefully the field is slightly closer and the racing is more exciting, but Red Bull will brand that weekend as ‘perfect’.