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F1 race results: Max Verstappen wins 2023 Bahrain GP, Alonso stars

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, leading a Red Bull 1-2 ahead of a sensational Fernando Alonso.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, the rest of the field at the start

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, the rest of the field at the start

Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Verstappen controlled the race at the front from the start, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc grabbed second early on thanks to starting on fresh soft tyres.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez passed Leclerc to take second place on lap 26, which looked to have assured the podium order before half distance. But Leclerc’s Ferrari ground to a halt on lap 41 with an engine problem, promoting Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz to third.

But Aston Martin’s Alonso was not to be denied a podium finish after a sparkling drive and took third from Sainz with 11 laps to go.

2023 Bahrain Grand Prix results

Cla Driver Laps Gap Interval Pits Points
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen 57     2 25
2 Mexico Sergio Perez 57 11.987 11.987 2 18
3 Spain Fernando Alonso 57 38.637 26.650 2 15
4 Spain Carlos Sainz 57 48.052 9.415 2 12
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 57 50.977 2.925 2 10
6 Canada Lance Stroll 57 54.502 3.525 2 8
7 United Kingdom George Russell 57 55.873 1.371 2 6
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas 57 1'12.647 16.774 2 4
9 France Pierre Gasly 57 1'13.753 1.106 3 2
10 Thailand Alex Albon 57 1'29.774 16.021 3 1
11 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 57 1'30.870 1.096 3  
12 United States Logan Sargeant 56     3  
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 56     3  
14 Netherlands Nyck de Vries 56     2  
15 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 56     3  
16 China Zhou Guanyu 56     3  
17 United Kingdom Lando Norris 55     6  
  France Esteban Ocon 41     4  
  Monaco Charles Leclerc 39     2  
  Australia Oscar Piastri 13     1  
 

How the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded

Verstappen easily held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1 ahead of Leclerc, who brushed wheels with a slow-starting Perez and Sainz as they all jinked towards the inside line.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was the big winner at the start and opening corners, cleverly gaining two places to run fifth. Contact occurred at Turn 4 as Lance Stroll clumsily biffed the rear end of Aston team-mate Alonso, sending him sideways, which allowed George Russell’s Mercedes past both into sixth.

By lap 10, Verstappen led Leclerc by 6.5s, with Perez a further 1.5s back and Sainz already a distant fourth but ahead of the Mercedes and Aston pairings.

Hamilton pitted on lap 13 as Alonso attacked Russell, the Spaniard taking fifth through the Turns 4 to 6 sequence. Leclerc and Sainz stopped a lap later, as did Russell, who suffered a slow left-rear change.

Verstappen pitted on lap 15 to take more softs, allowing Perez to lead for a couple of laps. Valtteri Bottas stopped his Alfa Romeo early and undercut his way to run sixth for a while, until Alonso, Russell and Stroll battled their way past by lap 20. Perez then pitted, taking softs like Verstappen, and rejoined 3s behind Leclerc in third.

Perez chased down Leclerc and passed him for second on lap 26 at Turn 1 but was already almost 14s down on Verstappen.

In the second round of pitstops, Aston tried an undercut for Stroll, which worked out perfectly as he passed Russell for seventh at Turn 4 on his out-lap. Alonso went the other way, running long on his hard tyres, which allowed an early-stopping Hamilton to take his fifth place.

At the front, Verstappen was able to run his soft tyres longer than anyone, switching to hards on lap 36 for his final stint and cruising to his 36th F1 victory. Perez was a distant second, but well clear of Leclerc and Sainz.

The big battle was for fifth between Hamilton and Alonso, who switched places at Turn 4 on lap 37 after the Spaniard suffered a big slide. Two laps later, Alonso shocked Hamilton with an unexpected lunge at Turn 10 that gained him fifth spot.

That became fourth when Leclerc’s Ferrari ground to a halt on lap 41, costing him third place and causing a brief virtual safety car. Alonso now set his sights on the podium, quickly carving into Sainz’s 3s advantage, and zoomed past him at Turn 11 after an entertaining wheel-to-wheel fight.

Sainz held off Hamilton for fourth in the closing stages, ahead of Stroll, Russell, Bottas, Pierre Gasly (from the back of the grid in his Alpine) and the Williams of Alex Albon, who just held off Yuki Tsuoda (AlphaTauri) at the finish.

Elsewhere, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon had a race from hell, getting a 5s penalty for not lining up in his grid slot correctly and needing a new front wing after damaging an endplate. The FIA decreed that he didn’t serve that penalty correctly and gave him another 10s one for his next pitstop, and then yet another 5s one for speeding in the pitlane, and he later retired.

McLaren suffered a disastrous race, with Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut ending with an electronic gearbox failure and Lando Norris hit by a pneumatic issue with his Mercedes engine that required repeated pitstops to recharge the system and he finished last.

2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 China Zhou Guanyu 56 1'33.996     207.276
2 France Pierre Gasly 42 1'35.068 1.072 1.072 204.939
3 United Kingdom Lando Norris 50 1'35.822 1.826 0.754 203.327
4 United States Logan Sargeant 42 1'36.037 2.041 0.215 202.871
5 Spain Fernando Alonso 36 1'36.156 2.160 0.119 202.620
6 Netherlands Max Verstappen 44 1'36.236 2.240 0.080 202.452
7 Mexico Sergio Perez 37 1'36.344 2.348 0.108 202.225
8 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 42 1'36.471 2.475 0.127 201.959
9 Canada Lance Stroll 32 1'36.546 2.550 0.075 201.802
10 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 36 1'36.546 2.550 0.000 201.802
11 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 42 1'36.616 2.620 0.070 201.656
12 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 42 1'36.637 2.641 0.021 201.612
13 France Esteban Ocon 34 1'36.797 2.801 0.160 201.278
14 Spain Carlos Sainz 37 1'37.130 3.134 0.333 200.588
15 Thailand Alex Albon 43 1'37.144 3.148 0.014 200.559
16 Monaco Charles Leclerc 37 1'37.170 3.174 0.026 200.506
17 United Kingdom George Russell 42 1'37.221 3.225 0.051 200.401
18 Finland Valtteri Bottas 31 1'37.379 3.383 0.158 200.075
19 Netherlands Nyck de Vries 30 1'37.709 3.713 0.330 199.400
20 Australia Oscar Piastri 3 1'40.691 6.695 2.982 193.494

2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen S 17 S 22 H 21                
2 Mexico Sergio Perez S 20 S 19 H 23                
3 Spain Fernando Alonso S 17 H 20 H 23                
4 Spain Carlos Sainz S 16 H 18 H 26                
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton S 15 H 18 H 27                
6 Canada Lance Stroll S 18 H 15 H 27                
7 United Kingdom George Russell S 16 H 18 H 26                
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas S 11 H 18 H 28                
9 France Pierre Gasly S 9 H 16 H 15 S 17            
10 Thailand Alex Albon S 11 S 15 H 14 S 0            
11 Japan Yuki Tsunoda S 10 H 16 H 14 S 20            
12 United States Logan Sargeant S 12 S 18 H 10 S 16            
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen H 15 H 14 S 11 S 16            
14 Netherlands Nyck de Vries S 11 H 16 H 29                
15 Germany Nico Hulkenberg S 14 H 15 H 14 S 19            
16 China Zhou Guanyu S 12 H 20 S 25 S 5            
17 United Kingdom Lando Norris S 10 H 7 S 13 M 10 H 10 S 11 S 7
  France Esteban Ocon S 15 H 3 H 20 H 9            
  Monaco Charles Leclerc S 13 H 20 H 6                
  Australia Oscar Piastri S 13                        

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