Motor Sports

Max Verstappen wins the Bahrain Grand Prix as Alonso impresses

by
Dan Chemjor
March 6, 2023

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday with ease
The top row was sealed out during qualifying by the defending champion and his teammate Sergio Perez
Fernando Alonso delivered a fantastic third place for Aston Martin

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday with ease.

The top row was sealed out during qualifying by the defending champion and his teammate Sergio Perez, which helped make the race into a procession for Verstappen.

Fernando Alonso, who had been promising in practice with his Aston Martin competed for the last podium spot in an exciting drive.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had a fantastic start from third on the starting grid, taking advantage of the slight fresher tyres due to completing one fewer hot lap during qualifying.

Unfortunately, it was insufficient to overtake Verstappen, and it soon became clear that, barring any problems with his vehicle, the Dutchman would win the race.

Leclerc and Ferrari’s issues

Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari car.|PHOTO: F1|

Leclerc would experience an abrupt lack of power through Turn 12, and after trundling into Turn 13, he would be forced to park the poorly performing SF-23 along the side of the track down the back straight.

He was racing third in the race, behind Red Bull’s dominant winner Max Verstappen and Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, when an apparent technical fault cropped up.

It’s interesting to note that Ferrari updated the Energy Storage on Leclerc’s SF-23 prior to the race; the team later confirmed that the issue was with the power unit, which effectively ended Leclerc’s race.

A virtual safety car was used to cover the incident, which did Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz no favours because he was later unable to defend the final podium slot from Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, who got the Silverstone team’s season off to a strong start.

Oscar Piastri’s nightmare debut

Oscar Piastri had to retire in his debut race.|PHOTO: Getty Images|

Whatever Oscar Piastri had envisioned for his perfect debut Formula 1 race weekend, the events that took place in Bahrain were undoubtedly the complete opposite.

Due to McLaren’s decision to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo a year early in favour of hiring Piastri, the Australian entered Formula 1 with a lot of burdens on his shoulders.

Piastri is one of the most exciting rookies in recent Formula 1 history thanks to his stellar performance in the junior series, but he will be hoping that what happened in Bahrain is in no way an indication of what is to come.

His debut Grand Prix was also anything but smooth, with Piastri having problems in the opening third of the race that McLaren intended to remedy with a new steering wheel at his pit stop.

They tried that, but Piastri’s race was over after the engine cut while he was in the pit lane. McLaren duly confirmed that Piastri’s race was over due to an electronic issue.

Alonso’s impressive drive

Fernando Alonso.|PHOTO: F1|

After starting sixth in the early going, Alonso put up a standout effort that featured two rather fantastic overtaking manoeuvres to move up to third behind Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez.

The highlight of the Bahrain Grand Prix was Alonso and his Aston Martin team’s amazing ascent to the top.

Related TopicsBahrain Grand Prix Featured Fernando Alonso Formula 1 Max Verstappen Motor Sports

Dan Chemjor

I am an ardent sports enthusiast interested in writing about football, motorsport and athletics.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Latest Sports News Africa | Latest Sports Results

Motor Sports

Max Verstappen wins the Bahrain Grand Prix as Alonso impresses

Leclerc and Ferrari’s issues

Oscar Piastri’s nightmare debut

Alonso’s impressive drive

Leave a Reply
Cancel reply

Leave a Reply

More in Motor Sports

Lewis Hamilton will race into his 40s, not retiring soon

Chinese Grand Prix: What to expect this race weekend

8 engineering aspects explaining what makes the RB20 so fast

History in the making as Kigali hosts 2024 FIA Prize Giving Gala

Football

Tennis

Football

Athletics

Latest Sports News Africa | Latest Sports Results

Motor Sports

Max Verstappen wins the Bahrain Grand Prix as Alonso impresses

Leclerc and Ferrari’s issues

Oscar Piastri’s nightmare debut

Alonso’s impressive drive

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Leave a Reply

More in Motor Sports

Lewis Hamilton will race into his 40s, not retiring soon

Chinese Grand Prix: What to expect this race weekend

8 engineering aspects explaining what makes the RB20 so fast

History in the making as Kigali hosts 2024 FIA Prize Giving Gala

Football

Tennis

Football

Athletics

Leave a Reply
Cancel reply