Alonso brings excitement in fight to podium as Verstappen wins Bahrain GP

F1

A crushing 1-2 finish by Red Bull saw Max Verstappen take a commanding victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, as Fernando Alonso scrapped to a place on the F1 podium

Fernando Alonso celebrates finishing on podium at 2023 Bahrain GP

Eric Alonso/Getty Images

Author

Dominic Tobin

Red Bull showed off formidable form in the opening race of the 2023 season, as Max Verstappen swept to victory unchallenged in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He was followed home by team-mate Sergio Perez 10sec behind, the rest of the field almost 40sec further back.

But the dominance at the front was followed by a gripping series of battles for the final podium place, each involving Alonso who fought back from seventh, having been overtaken by Lewis Hamilton at the start and made contact with his team-mate.

The Spaniard had passed both Mercedes after exciting wheel-to-wheel fights and was closing in on Carlos Sainz in fourth when Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari gave up from a comfortable third place.

Fernando Alonso fights Carlos Sainz in 2023 Bahrain GP

Alonso on the attack against struggling Sainz

Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

The battle was now on for a podium and Alonso was in relentless mood as he attacked Sainz, at one point — according to Sainz — tapping the Ferrari as his car squirmed under power, exiting a corner.

Struggling to preserve his tyres, and against the remarkable Aston Martin’s performance, Sainz had to concede as Alonso pulled alongside taking the inside of Turn 11.

“Amazing for the team,” said Alonso. “It was a great weekend. What Aston did over the winter to have the second-best car in race one is unreal.”

He lamented the poor start that cost him the chance of attacking Sainz from lap one, but added: “It felt more exciting — and more adrenaline for sure.”

Fernando Alonso battles with George Russell

Early battle with Russell lasted for several laps

Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

Red Bull locked out the front row of the grid in an ominous sign that the team was once again in title-winning form, but Leclerc had forfeited a final qualifying run to save a fresh set of soft tyres for the start and he deployed them with immediate effect from third on the grid, passing Sergio Perez and slotting in behind the Red Bulls.

Alonso was going in the other direction, being passed by Lewis Hamilton on the first lap and attempting to cut back across a corner. Team-mate Lance Stroll was approaching fast and aiming deeper. The two Astons made slight contact without significant damage, but the jolt cost Alonso a further place to Russell.

Despite Alonso’s best efforts to pass Russell in a series of attempts, that order remained until just before the first set of pitstops. Russell, complaining of worn tyres, was finally ground down by Alonso who made his move on the main straight, pulling to the outside and then cutting back across Turn 1.

It gave him a run on the Mercedes as they hit the straight after Turn 3 and they ran side-by-side — Alonso taking the inside of Turn 4. But Russell wasn’t done and powered around the outside, his nose just ahead as they hit the esses. That was the limit of his defence, as the track switched back and Alonso pulled ahead.

Most drivers swapped soft for hard tyres in the pits but Red Bull stuck with the soft compound and — after a long first stint — Perez used the extra grip to pass Leclerc for second.

Further back, the race was going from bad to worse for McLaren. An electrical issue caused gearbox problems with Oscar Piastri and his car died when the team tried to swap his steering wheel in the pits.

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Meanwhile Lando Norris’s car had a pneumatic problem that required repeated top-ups of air in the pits, leaving him welded to the bottom of the running order.

Esteban Ocon racked up three time penalties after starting the race too far ahead of his pitbox. His team started working on the car while he was serving the first 5sec penalty, incurring another 10sec punishment, and he was also caught speeding in the pitlane, adding another 5sec.

By this point, Alonso had his sights set on Hamilton in fifth place, moving close enough to the Mercedes that Hamilton pitted early to avoid an undercut.

It merely delayed the inevitable: the Mercedes-powered Aston Martin on fresher tyres had the legs on the factory car that Mercedes has admitted needs a redesign.

Alonso pulled up close on the main straight at the start of lap 37 and took a tight line into Turn 1, sticking behind the Mercedes into the DRS zone after Turn 3.

He made his move, squeezing into the narrow channel of track between Hamilton and the kerb to seize the inside line into Turn 4. But with his momentum and a tight defensive line into the corner, the Aston suddenly oversteered, forcing Alonso to correct and giving Hamilton a run back to fifth.

A lap later, Alonso once again kept a tight line behind Hamilton as the track swung left for Turn 9. Hamilton drifted wide and the Aston Martin driver swooped up the inside in the heavy braking zone to Turn 10. The move was sealed, with Carlos Sainz in fourth only 2.5sec up the road.

Fernando Alonso ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Alonso passes Hamilton for fifth

Xavi Bonilla/DPPI

Just two laps later, that became a podium opportunity with Leclerc’s retirement.

Once again, opting to pinch tightly into Turn 4, he got the power down early but the car drifted towards the Ferrari and the pair met with a bump of wheels. Alonso maintained the pressure through the esses and, with superior grip, simply held on for the next DRS zone and breezed past. “YES — bye bye,” radioed Alonso.

He finished the race as Red Bull’s closest challenger — albeit at a distance that will keep rivals awake at night.

Check back later for the full Bahrain Grand Prix race report

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