5 Key takeaways from the 2023 Bahrain GP
- mallikarull
- Mar 8, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 2, 2023
The 2023 season kickstarted in Bahrain with Max Verstappen cruising his way to victory.
Red Bull took the lead in the championship with a 1-2 finish, and former world champion Fernando Alonso made his comeback to the podium in P3.
Here are my five takeaways from round one…
Red Bull’s pace is unmatched
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen crossed the line to finish first, his teammate Sergio Perez crossing line to finish in P2. The Red Bull team continuing to show their dominance, starting the season right where they left it in 2022.
Many had wondered how the cost cap penalty would affect the team, after having a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing time over 12 months – if Bahrain has shown us anything, it’s that the penalty hasn’t hurt Red Bull yet. Verstappen held a 40 second gap between himself and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who finished in P3.
In a post-race interview Horner commented on the penalty, “it’s something you have to view over a 12-month period, because it’s not just this year’s car, its next year’s car”.
Aston Martin challenge the big 3
New excitement over the 2023 Aston Martin challenger began to rise over the 2023 Bahrain testing – the team did not disappoint, both drivers put on an impressive drive throughout the weekend. Fernando Alonso crossed the line to finish in P3 on his debut for Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll finishing in P6 between the Mercedes.
Aston Martin showed real promise throughout the weekend, both cars having strong pace. Fernando Alonso was very pleased with the car during the race, telling the team “lovely car to driver” over the radio.
Fernando optimistic about the future of the team this season, saying “if we are strong in the next two races, i think we will have a very good 2023”.
Ferrari and Mercedes have their work cut out
Ferrari left Saturdays qualifying confident with the car after finishing Q3 in the battle for pole position against the Red Bulls. Ultimately the team chose to pull out of the battle in favour of new tyres for Sunday’s race – Charles Leclerc settling for P3 for Sunday’s race. Ferrari faced trouble over Sunday’s race, with Leclerc having to DNF after facing engine issues, this created big concerns after the reliability issues in 2022. Carlos Sainz was the only Ferrari to take the chequered flag, finishing in fourth after the Ferrari was unable to hold back the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes showed a lack of pace over the weekend, the car struggling to find pace in qualifying and in Sundays Race. The gap between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who finished in P5, being around 50 seconds – George Russel finishing much further behind. Team Principle, Toto Wolff showed clear disappointment in post-race interviews.
“I think we’ve almost doubled, if not tripled our gap to Red Bull”.
The midfield is tight.
One of the highlights of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix has to have been the battle in the midfield.
The Williams of Alex Albon battled to the chequered fag with the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda for the final spot in the points.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou stole the point for the fastest lap from Pierre Gasly in the Alpine – Alfa Romeo made sure rivals Alpine didn’t take the extra point in the championship, as Zhou steals the fastest lap, but didn’t receive the benefits of the extra point as he finished in 16th.
The gap in the midfield remained fairly close, unlike last season where McLaren and Alpine pulled away from the midfield as they battled it out for fourth in the constructor’s championship.
Williams deserve a round of applause
An impressive weekend for the Williams team from Saturdays qualifying all the way up to Sunday’s race. Alex Albon put his Williams in Q2 in Saturdays qualifying, but feeling confident that he could’ve got into Q3. Rookie Logan Sargeant just missing out on Q2, but managing to match the lap time of McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Through Sunday’s race Albon battled it out with Tsunoda for the final points position, while Sargeant finished highest out of all 3 rookies.
Both Williams demonstrating good pace in Sunday’s race, and showing real promise for the upcoming season, with Albon saying that the car felt quick and smooth during the race.
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