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Formula 1
Bahrain GP
F1 Bahrain GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix
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After the three-day pre-season test at the same track last week, the 2023 F1 season begins this weekend.
Max Verstappen starts on pole as Red Bull locked out the front row in qualifying with Sergio Perez slotting into second.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lines up in third ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz with Fernando Alonso, who topped practice, in fifth for his new team Aston Martin ahead of both Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
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Pit stop
Verstappen comes in to stop from the lead, and takes a second set of soft tyres to break with the prevailing trend. Alonso comes in to box too, taking hard tyres for this next stint.
Mechanical problem
"I've lost the gearbox," Piastri reports. He's told to pit and McLaren swap his steering wheel over, but disaster for the F1 debutant because his engine is off and it looks like his race is over!
Pit stop
Leclerc pits, and collects the hard tyres. Sainz manages to come in on the same lap, and also grabs the white-walled compound. Russell follows suit, and is a little slow away.
Pit stop
Hamilton pits from fifth place as he was flagging on his softs, as Alonso gives it good guns on Russell. The Spaniard gets the inside line for Turn 4, they stay side by side, but Alonso gets it through Turn 6!
Ocon has been noted by the FIA stewards for a wrong grid position.
Pit stop
Hulkenberg, de Vries, Albon and Bottas all pit at the end of lap 11 and all take on the hards.
Alonso is stalking Russell for seventh place, as the Mercedes driver reports his "tyres are gone".
Pit stop
Next time around Norris and Tsunoda pit together from the midfield fight, while out on the track Piastri dives by Hulkenberg at Turn 1 to move up to 13th.
"Downshifts are giving me a bit of rear locking," reports Verstappen. Not that this is hurting his pace, he's seven seconds clear now. "Go back to Strat 8," the Dutchman is told, as Red Bull tries to cure the locking.
Pit stop
Gasly is the first race pitstopper of 2023, swapping softs for hards, and is going for an undercut.
"We are going Plan A," Leclerc is told, as he's 6s behind Verstappen at this point. Ferrari saved a set of tyres for the race as Leclerc didn't do a second run in qualifying yesterday.
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Russell bowled a wide in Turn 10 there. "Is Lewis managing or is he just slow," Russell asks, perhaps angling for a swap of places. "He's struggling," comes the reply from new race engineer Marcus Dudley.
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"I think I have a tear off in my left sidepod," Tsunoda, in 14th, reports to his team.
Leclerc has picked up the pace but can't quite address the arrears to Verstappen at this stage, which sits at 4.7s at the start of the seventh lap. Perez is 0.7s behind him, while Sainz has dropped off the back of the Red Bull.
Magnussen, the only starter on the hard tyres, has dropped to the rear of the field and is two seconds back on de Vries. The Dane will be playing the long game tonight.
The FIA stewards noted the Stroll and Alonso bump from the opening lap but have decided not to investigate the incident.
Lap 5, and Verstappen's 3.4s ahead of Leclerc, who has a big lock-up at the start of the next lap. That might give Perez a bit of an incentive in the coming laps, as he gets to within a second of the Ferrari.
Stroll gets by Bottas into Turns 1-2 to take eighth place, while further back Sargeant is battling with Norris for 12th.
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"I've been hit at Turn 4, they cannot do that," Alonso said over team radio. He probably didn't know that they was his new team-mate! Welcome to Aston Martin!
Replays confirm Stroll definitely gave Alonso a bang from behind under braking into Turn 4, but somehow they've both avoided any serious damage.
Verstappen's got a 1m37.974s on the last lap to break the DRS gap to Leclerc, it's 1.9s as it stands at the start of lap 3.
Bottas has made a mega start gaining four places on the opening lap to move up to eighth, while team-mate Zhou has had the opposite fortune and lost four spots. Hulkenberg also a big loser at the start, dropping four spots and is down to 14th.
Both Mercedes have got into the top six after that Alonso/Stroll near miss, Hamilton ahead of Russell at the end of the first lap.
The two Aston Martins have come so close to a major clash at Turn 4 on the opening lap! It looks like they've got away with it but Alonso is down to seventh and Stroll is ninth.
Lights out
And the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix is go! Verstappen starts well, as Perez gets crowded out and Leclerc gets the move done into Turn 1!
Green flag
The formation lap is underway - and it's the last chance for the drivers to prepare their tyres for the start of the grand prix.
Breaking news
Tyre news - everyone begins on softs, except from Magnussen, who kicks off this evening's race on the hard tyre.
Five minute warning! Are you excited? We are.
Risk of rain? It's...0%.
Sun
Air temperature is around 28 degrees C out there, although that'll drop as the sun slides behind the curtain. Track temperature is a moderate 32 degrees.
Drivers have got their cool vests on - as in, they've got ice packs in them. In terms of sartorial elegance, they're not that cool...
Just under 30 minutes to go now, as the drivers conduct their final bathroom breaks ahead of their preparations on the grid. Kevin Magnussen was spotted having a quick bite to eat before logging on for the night shift.
Breaking news
Elsewhere on the grid, Alex Albon has a new front wing flap adjuster after his broke during qualifying yesterday. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/albon-f1-front-wing-failure-robbed-me-of-bahrain-q3-chance/10440009/
Some news: Charles Leclerc will take a new energy store (ie. battery) - there will be no penalty as it's the second unit within his season allowance of two.
We're on for 57 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit and we're hoping the new season can kick off with a thriller. Ferrari and potentially Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso could be in the fight against the Red Bulls.
Breaking news
We've just under an hour until the race kicks off, so there's plenty of time for you to settle in and get ready for all the fun. Once the sun sets over Bahrain, 20 cars will hurtle down into Turn 1 and hopefully make it through in one piece.
Good afternoon, and welcome to our Autosport Live feed for the Bahrain Grand Prix! As always, we'll be bringing you all of the updates as they happen as the 2023 F1 season kicks off right here.
By: Autosport Staff
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