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Play on YouTubeDescription The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 5 March 2023 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the opening round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.
Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant made their Formula One Grand Prix season debuts with McLaren, AlphaTauri and Williams, respectively. Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen took pole position and won the race, ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez in what was their first 1-2 finish of the season. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in third. This was only Alonso's second podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the first of eight for the season.
Background
The event was held across the weekend of 3–5 March. It was the opening round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.
Reports Result List01 | | | | Max Verstappen | 1:33:56.736 |
02 | | | | Sergio Perez | +11.987s |
03 | | | | Fernando Alonso | +38.637s |
04 | | | | Carlos Sainz Jr | +48.052s |
05 | | | | Lewis Hamilton | +50.977s |
06 | | | | Lance Stroll | +54.502s |
07 | | | | George Russell | +55.873s |
08 | | | | Valtteri Bottas | +72.647s |
09 | | | | Pierre Gasly | +73.753s |
10 | | | | Alexander Albon | +89.774s |
11 | | | | Yuki Tsunoda | +90.870s |
12 | | | | Logan Sargeant | +1 lap |
13 | | | | Kevin Magnussen | +1 lap |
14 | | | | Nyck de Vries | +1 lap |
15 | | | | Nico Hulkenberg | +1 lap |
16 | | | | Guanyu Zhou | +1 lap |
17 | | | | Lando Norris | +2 laps |
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Result DescriptionMax Verstappen led comfortably from the start, only losing the lead briefly during the first round of pit stops. Sergio Pérez was slow away at the start and lost second place to a fast starting Charles Leclerc. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton battled on the run down to turn 4, Alonso was hit by his teammate Lance Stroll, causing both Aston Martins to lose positions. Alonso came out on top in a wheel-to-wheel battle with George Russell on lap 13, both drivers lost out in the pit stops to Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo.
Oscar Piastri retired after 13 laps in his Formula One debut with an electrical failure. Meanwhile his teammate Lando Norris also had engine issues, this time with the hydraulics, requiring six pit stops to manage the problem. Esteban Ocon picked up a five-second time penalty for lining up in his grid spot incorrectly. He did not serve the full five seconds in the pit, and was given a subsequent ten second time penalty, and then a further five second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane while serving the second penalty.
Pérez made it past Leclerc on lap 26, with Red Bull Racing the only front running team to use the soft tyre for both the first two tyre stints. After the second round of pit stops, Stroll, who was racing with a broken wrist and toe, overtook Russell as the latter came out of the pit on cold tyres, with Stroll having pitted a lap earlier. Alonso and Hamilton engaged in a battle for fifth place. Alonso overtook Hamilton into turn 4 on lap 37 before a snap of oversteer on the corner exit for Alonso allowed Hamilton back past. One lap later Alonso pulled off an overtake at turn 10.
Leclerc's race came to an end on lap 41, with his car suffering a mechanical failure while running in third, bringing out the virtual safety car. Alonso overtook Carlos Sainz Jr. using DRS on the run down to turn 11 on lap 45. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly overtook Alexander Albon for ninth place, having started from last. Zhou Guanyu pitted on the penultimate lap for soft tyres, and set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap.
Verstappen took his first win in Bahrain by almost 12 seconds ahead of teammate Pérez and gave Red Bull their first win in Bahrain since Sebastian Vettel won in 2013. Alonso finished third, his first podium since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix and Aston Martin's first since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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Ovokx says: 06 Mar 2023 19:41
Nice to see Fernando back in a podium!