Dominant start by Verstappen
Max Verstappen absolutely dominated the season opener in Bahrain as he looks for three consecutive World Championships. The Dutch driver finished just under 12 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez whilst Fernando Alonso brought home a brilliant podium in his first race for Aston Martin.
The Biggest Talking Points
A big talking point from this race was just how dominant Red Bull were. Max Verstappen entered the first corner in the lead and no one saw him again whilst Sergio Perez was soon able to drop Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc once he passed the Monegasque. Oscar Piastri was forced to retire early on whilst the other McLaren of Lando Norris also had a big problem which forced Lando to pit about 5 times. Esteban Ocon kept getting penalties for all sorts of different things whilst Aston Martin were in a battle with Mercedes. Lance Stroll undercut George Russell whilst Fernando Alonso pulled off a brilliant overtake on Lewis Hamilton for P5. However, the biggest moment in the race came on Lap 39 as Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from a podium position due to a mechanical issue. This promoted his teammate Carlos Sainz up into third place, but he couldn’t keep fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso behind as the Aston Martin showcased its really impressive speed.
The Standout Drives in the Race
Quite amazingly, I’ve given out six 10’s! The first one is obviously Max Verstappen who absolutely blitzed the field. I’m a Max fan, but I really don’t want to see this again. I’ve then given Fernando Alonso a 10, what an amazing start to his newest chapter in Formula 1 and I’ve also given a 10 to his teammate Lance Stroll. I might be slightly biased here, but considering he’s suffering from broken wrists and when you factor in him not taking part in Pre-Season Testing last week, this arguably has to be one of Lance Stroll’s greatest-ever drives. I’ve then given one out to Valtteri Bottas who came home in a brilliant P8 for Alfa Romeo whilst Pierre Gasly when from 20th to 9th in what can only be described as an excellent first race for Pierre at Alpine. The final man I gave a 10 to is Alex Albon as he managed to score points in a Williams, which given where they were last season and even in Pre-Season testing, is quite incredible. I also thought Checo Perez did a good job for Red Bull and I was very impressed with both Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant.
Drivers who had a Horror Race
I’ve only given one driver a rating of 1 in the season opener at Bahrain and that driver is Esteban Ocon. Esteban received so many penalties today, some weren’t his fault whilst others were just stupid mistakes on his part. It’s fair to say that this was the worst possible start for Esteban Ocon in 2023. I also thought that both McLaren drivers had an awful race, but I haven’t given either man a 1 as I don’t really think it was their fault. It was also a really poor race from Nico Hulkenberg who dropped well down the field whilst Zhou Guanyu ended up finishing right at the back of the field for some reason.
Overall Race Results and my Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10
Sergio Perez: 9
Fernando Alonso: 10
Carlos Sainz: 6
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Lance Stroll: 10
George Russell: 5
Valtteri Bottas: 10
Pierre Gasly: 10
Alex Albon: 10
Yuki Tsunoda: 9
Logan Sargeant: 8
Kevin Magnussen: 6
Nyck de Vries: 5
Nico Hulkenberg: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 3
Lando Norris: 2
Esteban Ocon: 1 (DNF)
Charles Leclerc: 8 (DNF)
Oscar Piastri: 2 (DNF)
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