The past 7 days, the stake in Formula 1 was obviously the first Grand Prix of the season. Thus, after 3 days of testing on the same Bahrain circuit, the Formula 1 cars took off for the first race of the season.
Motors Inside retains several points.
The Red Bull supremacy
Max Verstappen finishes the race, without pushing, with a 40-second lead over his teammate, who takes second place. Red Bull thus secures a 1-2 finish in the first race of the season and seems to have a slight edge to compete for victory in every race this 2023 season.
4 teams are now able to climb the podiums
In addition to Ferrari and Mercedes, like last year, Aston Martin has significantly narrowed the gap in terms of performance. Thus, the team based in Silverstone even made it to the podium this weekend in Bahrain, with a highly energized Fernando Alonso. It will be crucial to closely monitor the evolution of the Aston Martin AMR23, which is still in the early stages of development.
Ferrari still broken down, Mercedes beaten by a customer team
Ferrari and Mercedes are in a battle with Aston Martin, but the Scuderia Ferrari seems to have not solved its reliability issues that plagued them last year. Charles Leclerc, who had a guaranteed podium position, had to retire due to an engine problem in the middle of the Grand Prix. Sainz, struggling with his tires, couldn’t resist Fernando Alonso and lost the podium to Aston Martin.
For its part, Mercedes is also struggling. The team is unable to use the car without prematurely wearing out its tires and is therefore far from Aston Martin’s performance on a race stint.
Alpine falls short of expectations
Alpine hadn’t really shown high performance during the winter tests, but the French team found themselves even more challenged during the Grand Prix. Gasly failed to qualify and started last, although he finished the race in the points. As for Ocon, who qualified 9th, he received several penalties and ultimately retired 15 laps before the end.
Williams scores its first point
Williams, who finished last in the constructors’ standings last year, achieved the feat of scoring their first point in the very first race of the season. This hadn’t happened since 2011 with Felipe Massa.
Find the result of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix and the standings after this first race of the F1 season.
