In Pictures: Bahrain 2023
FINALLY, the 2023 Formula 1 season has started! This was the Bahrain Grand Prix…
FRIDAY
FP1
It seemed everyone was anxious to get back on track as there was a large que of cars waiting for the green light. A few minutes into the session almost everyone was on track, not only doing their respective installation laps but proper timed laps as well.
Early on, it was Fernando Alonso setting the fastest lap for Aston Martin, followed by both Red Bulls. Nevertheless, the suspected order was quickly reversed as Sergio Perez went fastest, and into the 1:34s.
With the first 30 minutes gone, everyone had set a timed lap, except Lance Stroll as his Aston Martin ran into problems with the ignition system.
And in the end, it was Sergio Perez’s 1:32.758 lap the one on top of the charts for FP1. He was followed by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and Max Verstappen in the other RB19.
FP2
Free Practice 2 was a more representative session as it was just about the same as Qualifying would be on Saturday, and the race on Sunday.
And as day turned into night, the BIC (Bahrain International Circuit) lit up, drivers got into their respective cars, and everything was set for a thrilling practice.
After the first fifteen minutes were gone, it was Charles Leclerc the fastest, followed by teammate Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. After thirty minutes, it was the man with the broken wrists, Lance Stroll setting the fastest lap in his Aston Martin. A few seconds later, Nico Hulkenberg placed his Haas on top, then Checo Perez did it, then it was Fernando Alonso. Talk about Qualifying simulations!
After some very exciting moments, most teams turned their attention into long runs to gather data for the race, and by the end of the session, it was Alonso’s 1:30.907 the fastest time, followed by Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, and Hulkenberg in the Haas the Top-Five.
SATURDAY
INTERESTING FACT: On March 4, 2001, Fernando Alonso made his debut in Formula 1. He drove the Minardi PS01 to twelve place at the Australian Grand Prix… Oscar Piastri hadn’t been born yet…
FP3
It was hot in the desert for the final practice in preparation for the Grand Prix. Interestingly and contrary to what had happened the day before, there was no que of cars wanting to come out. After the first couple of minutes have gone, it was only Lando Norris’ McLaren on track, a few minutes later, Nico Hulkenberg came out in the Haas.
Twenty minutes into the session and only 11 cars have done some laps. By half-time, everyone had posted timed laps, with Alonso the fastest in the Aston Martin, followed by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari. Interestingly, the top fifteen cars were within a second…
Could the hype train be real? As Fernando Alonso tops the charts yet again. His 1:32.340 was the fastest of FP3, just 0.005 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen and 0.106 of Checo Perez.
QUALIFYING
Q1
The red lights are out, the green lights are on for the first qualifying in 2023.
First cars came out but a couple of carbon fiber pieces from Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari were on track, so the first red flag of the session came out while the Marshalls cleaned the debris.
At exactly 8:12 PM Local Time, Q1 was restarted. And after some exciting laps, and only 1.1 seconds separating the entire field, out were Logan Sargeant, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Oscar Piastri, and Nick De Vries. Carlos Sainz was fastest for Ferrari.
Q2
Because of the red flag in Q1, Q2 started three minutes later than scheduled. And after another set of very exciting last laps thanks to track evolution, some surprising results as Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, and Alex Albon were unable to get into Q3. Charles Leclerc was the fastest.
Q3
And then there were ten. The final shoot-out for the first Pole Position of the year started with both Ferrari, both Red Bulls, and Stroll’s Aston Martin coming out as soon as the green light came on.
Surprisingly, Leclerc did not come out for the final dash, the only one not on track. But then, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg went into the pits not setting a new time.
In the end, it was a Front Row lockout for Red Bull with Max Verstappen getting the first Pole of the season. Perez finished second. Followed by Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Ocon and Hulkenberg.
INTERESTING FACT: Fernando Alonso’s P5 on the grid matches the best qualifying position for Aston Martin since their return. Sebastian Vettel qualified 5th at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, their previous best qualifying goes back to the 1959 British Grand Prix when Roy Salvadori qualified P2 for Aston Martin, their best-ever starting position.
SUNDAY
The Pre-Race show started with the official drivers’ family photo, followed by the usual track ride around the track to display them, the drivers, to the fans in the stands. And as the Sun went down, attention was drawn to the cars and final preparations for the installation laps and taking their respective places on the grid.
RACE
The race started with Max Verstappen leading comfortably, his teammate though did not fair that well. Sergio Perez was slow away at the start and lost second place to a fast-starting Charles Leclerc and had to defend rather aggressively against Carlos Sainz as well.
Behind them, Fernando Alonso and seven-times World Champion Lewis Hamilton battled on the run down to turn 4, however, Alonso was hit by his teammate Lance Stroll, causing both Aston Martins to lose positions.
Later, Alonso came out on top in a wheel-to-wheel battle with George Russell on lap 13, however both drivers lost out in the pit stops to Valtteri Bottas' Alfa Romeo who was now fifth.
McLaren rookie driver Oscar Piastri retired 13 laps into his Formula One debut with an electrical failure. Meanwhile his teammate Lando Norris also had engine issues, but this time with the hydraulics, requiring five pit stops to manage the problem.
Another truly unlucky driver was Esteban Ocon, who had a nightmare start to his season, picking up a five-second penalty for lining up in his grid spot incorrectly. However, he did not serve the full five seconds in the pits, and was given a subsequent ten-second penalty, and then a further five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Meanwhile, upfront, Pérez made it past Leclerc on lap 26, with the Red Bull's the only front running team to use the soft tire for the first two tire stints.
After the second round of pitstops, Stroll, who was racing with a broken wrist and toe, overtook Russell as the latter came out of the pits on cold tires, 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 but a snap of oversteer on the corner exit for Alonso allowed Hamilton to recover the place. One lap later Alonso pulled off an unlikely overtake at turn 10, passing Hamilton and pulling away at a fast rate.
Leclerc's race came to an end on lap 39, his car suffering a mechanical failure, bringing out the first VSC (virtual safety car) of the season. Alonso overtook Sainz Jr. using DRS on the run down to turn 11 on lap 45. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly having started from last in his Alpine overtook Alex Albon in the Williams for ninth place.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu pitted on the penultimate lap for soft tires and set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. Making it the second-fastest lap of Zhou Guanyu's Formula One career.
And after 57 laps, it was Max Verstappen who took the checkered flag, winning by almost twelve seconds from his teammate Pérez. It was Verstappen's second win in succession, and Pérez highest finish since the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.
An extraordinary Fernando Alonso took the final podium spot, his first podium since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, and Aston Martin's first podium since Sebastian Vettel finished second at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Williams’ Logan Sargeant was the highest finisher of the rookie drivers, finishing twelfth.
The race marked Red Bull's first win in Bahrain since 2013 and Verstappen's first win at the track. It was also Red Bull's first win at a season opener since the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.
41 years old Fernando Alonso on his 99th podium in Formula 1 was voted Driver of the Day by the fans at F1.com.