F1 Bahrain Grand Prix RESULT: Verstappen WINS, Leclerc, Ocon and Piastri all RETIRE, Hamilton finishes 5th – REACTION

Max stamps authority on defence

Max Verstappen has laid a marker today in his defence of his F1 world title in the 2023 campaign.

He will take some stopping in the Red Bull car this year as Ferrari showed issues in the opening race.

The gap between him and Lewis Hamilton in this race will ask real questions of whether he can even push Verstappen this year.

The stars were bright, Fernando

Fernando Alonso’s third place finish was a win itself.

Nobody before qualifying would have been placing money with bookies on an Aston Martin podium

The way the Spaniard dealt with his on track battles with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were nothing short of brilliant.

And boy did he enjoy it.

Worry for the rest of the field

As the dust settles on the Bahrain Grand Prix the reality is setting in with the drivers.

Max Verstappen is going to take some stopping this season.

He won this race at a canter, never troubled by anyone.

Bahrain applauds its three amigos

The 2023 F1 season has begun in spectacular style today.

With it being a great day for Red Bull, taking two of the three podium places.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin celebrate only their second podium finish.

Quiet day in the office for Verstappen

Max Verstappen pulls his car into its space as the race winner.

From the grid he led the race and nothing changed for the duration.

With his team taking first and second, it confirms one thing.

Red Bull…….it gives you wins.

Spark gone out of Leclerc challenge

Charles Leclerc will be bitterly disappointed having to bow out of the race today in Bahrain.

After starting third on the grid, he will have had high hopes of what he could achieve today.

The electrical problems his Ferrari was having before the race came back to haunt the Monegasque driver.

F1 season starts in style

This race did not fail to disappoint today.

So many questions needing answering going into the first race of the 2023 campaign.

Here are the all important results from Bahrain:

• 1st – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 2nd – Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
• 3rd – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 4th – Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
• 5th – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Max Verstappen wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Lap 57/57 – Verstappen wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Defending world champion Max Verstappen gets the 2023 F1 campaign off to the perfect start.

Teammate Sergio Perez finishes exactly where he started on the grid.

The big story is Fernando Alonso, who started in fifth, taking a podium finish.

Spanish eyes on Alonso as he takes Aston Martin’s second ever podium finish.

Lap 55/57 – Verstappen leads, Alonso in third

This race is now all about the battle for third.

What a great drive this has been by Verstappen also.

He has not been troubled by anyone at all today and has led from start to finish.

Machine.

Lap 53/57 – Verstappen heading for victory

Max Verstappen is looking set for the first win of the season.

He leads Perez by 10.8 seconds now.

Perez has a gap over over 24 seconds on Alonso.

More importantly for the Spaniard, he has a 7.3 second gap on Sainz in fourth.

Lap 51/57 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton in fifth

It is debatable whether Lewis Hamilton has seen Max Verstappen’s car since the grid earlier today.

No doubt he will have his reasons, usually problems with Mercedes’ ability to give him a decent car.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso is showing everyone what driving ability can do as he thrives in this new Aston Martin.

Lap 49/57 – Verstappen leads Perez

The real race now is for that final podium place.

Failing anything drastic happening to their cars, Verstappen and Perez look nailed on for the first and second spots.

Alonso meanwhile has a 3.7 second lead on Sainz.

Lando Norris comes in for his fifth stop to get that air supply topped up.

Lap 47/57 – Alonso into third place

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

The oldest driver in the F1 season, Fernando Alonso gets into the slipstream of Sainz and then uses DRS to get better pace to go passed the Ferrari.

Amazing driving, Alonso now has the chance to finish on the podium today.

Meanwhile, Verstappen is having a leisurely Sunday drive leading the race from Perez in second.

Lap 45/57 – Perez closes gap on Verstappen

Sergio Perez reduces the gap to under ten seconds on his teammate.

Fernando Alonso can taste blood now as he is only 0.3 seconds behinds Sainz.

For Sainz to keep the pace to hold him off, his tyres will not be able to see this race out.

Aston Martin has only ever had one podium finish before.

What a chance for the experienced Alonso.

Lap 43/57 – Leclerc out of race

Not the opening race of the season Charles Leclerc wanted.

Another unreliable Ferrari car costs him.

It has opened up the race for a place on the podium for somebody else now.

Red Bull will be glad that it was only a virtual safety car in place.

Leclerc off the track, virtual safety car out

Charles Leclerc experiences complete power failure.

The virtual safety car is in place.

He was having battery issues before the race and it seems the problems have back to haunt him.

Lap 41/57 – Red Bull dominate, Alonso into fifth

This is some drive by Fernando Alonso this evening.

If he can finish above the two Mercedes, it will be some achievement.

There is no love lost between the two drivers from their time together before.

Meanwhile, Verstappen is having a comfortable drive.

Lap 39/57 – Ferrari seem content with podium

It seems with hard tyres being fitted to both cars now that Ferrari have given up on catching Perez.

The most interesting battle is between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Coming into turn ten the Spaniard takes Hamilton.

This is a great watch.

Lap 37/57 – Verstappen leads, Alonso drops

Max Verstappen has a huge lead from his teammate now, some 12.2 seconds.

Leclerc and Sainz hold third and fourth.

Alonso’s pitting cost him as he drops into sixth behind Hamilton.

The Spaniard does have fresher tyres than the Englishman though.

This is turning into a great battle between the pair.

Lap 35/57 – Alonso moves into third

Fernando Alonso is one of the only drivers to have not pitted twice so far.

He is managing his tyres to try and build his lead.

Verstappen meanwhile is 14 seconds ahead of Perez as he comes into the pits and it is the hard tyre that is fitted.

Alonso finally takes his second pit of the race which sees Leclerc move back into third place.

Lap 33/57 – Verstappen leads, Alonso into fourth

Aston Martin have performed the undercut which sees Stroll get ahead of Russell coming out of the pits.

Alonso is putting in some real fast lap times but is 22 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard still needs to pit but is looking to build more of a lead to come out of them ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Lap 31/57 – Red Bull dominate pace, tyres key

The last thing Red Bull would want to see in this race is the safety car.

While they hold the front two places, tyre management is key for them now.

They need to go onto a harder tyre.

With Alonso putting pressure on Hamilton, threatening an undercut, his team tell him to pit.

Lap 29/57 – Verstappen leads from Perez

Perez is some 13.7 seconds behind his Red Bull teammate.

Leclerc needs to focus on trying to break this Red Bull dominance but sits 5.1 seconds behind.

Sainz then is a further 12.5 seconds behind.

Ocon nightmare continues

Esteban Ocon is having a race from hell today.

Starting in the wrong position on the grid, he was awarded a five second penalty.

Then, he was given a further ten second penalty for not carrying out the previous one correctly.

Now he is being investigated for speeding in the pit lane.

All of this and he sits in last position.