Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in dominant Bahrain opener

World champion Max Verstappen claimed his maiden season opening victory and first at the Sakhir circuit on Sunday, when he led home teammate Sergio Perez in a dominant Red Bull one-two at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The defending double world champion led from start to finish, bar the pit stops, to establish himself as a strong favourite for a third consecutive drivers’ crown this year. 

Behind the two Red Bulls, two-time champion Fernando Alonso continued to make light of his 41 years by storming his way to a rousing third place for Aston Martin in his first appearance with the team since succeeding the retired four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

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It was his record-increasing 356th race in Formula One in a career that started 22 years earlier, to the weekend, in Melbourne at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who he passed in a late scrap for a podium finish, finished fourth in the second Ferrari ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Lance Stroll, racing in the second Aston Martin just weeks after cracking both wrists and breaking a toe in a pre-season cycling accident.

George Russell took seventh for Mercedes ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, who had started last, and Alex Albon who claimed a point for Williams finishing 10th.

Charles Leclerc, who won the race in 2022, failed to finish after engine failure on his Ferrari on the 41st lap.

What we needed

“Thank you, guys,” said 25-year-old Verstappen. “It’s exactly the start we needed. I had a good start and first stint and then had a gap and just looked after the tyres.”

Verstappen made a clean, quick start to pull clear as Leclerc passed Perez for second while, behind them, Stroll hit his Aston Martin teammate Alonso, under braking at turn four.

Both Mercedes had good starts and passed Alonso, Hamilton climbing to fifth ahead of Russell in pursuit of Sainz as Verstappen opened up a commanding lead. By lap five, he was four seconds clear as Leclerc kept Perez at bay. 

Gasly began the pit stops on lap 10, switching his Alpine from softs to hards, followed quickly by Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda with tyre degradation taking early effect.

Hamilton pitted from fifth on lap 13, prompting a classic scrap as Alonso battled past Russell to regain his original grid slot and climb to third when both Ferraris pitted. Russell followed.

Verstappen came in a lap later, switching to more softs and handing the lead to Perez, while luckless Australian rookie Oscar Piastri’s McLaren debut ended early with electrical problems.

The champion re-joined in second place and regained his lead on lap 18 when Perez pitted, elevating Leclerc to second until the Mexican passed him into Turn One on lap 26.

Hamilton pitted again on lap 31, for more hards, followed by Sainz and Russell, as the leaders prepared for their final stint while, at the back, a beleaguered Esteban Ocon of Alpine, hit with three time penalties for minor infringements, stopped again.

No power

Perez and Verstappen then completed their second stops, the Dutchman re-joining with a 12-second lead.

Leclerc’s Ferrari lost power on the straight. He parked it safely, prompting a brief virtual safety car intervention, with 15 laps remaining, handing Red Bull the prospect of a cosy one-two, 23 seconds clear of third-placed Sainz in the second Ferrari. 

All this left the two Spaniards scrapping for third, the old master squeezing through on lap 45 after the pair appeared to touch in a frantic and dramatic tussle ahead of the watching fifth man Hamilton.

‘He is my hero’

Speaking after the race, Alonso heaped further praise on his Canadian teammate, even enquiring during the race to is engineer about his progress through the field.

“He’s my hero! If you had seen his hand and his feet, you think he cannot race. He is phenomenal and it’s inspiring to see his determination and motivation. He deserves a good podium very soon,” Alonso said.

“He’s my hero! If you had seen his hand and his feet, you think he cannot race. He is phenomenal and it’s inspiring to see his determination and motivation. He deserves a good podium very soon.”

‘Defeated’ arrows

The mood was less cheery on the other side of the pit line though, with Mercedes driver Russell expressing dismay that Red Bull’s performance had already provided an indication of what the championship could look like for the rest of the year.

“They have this championship sewn up. I don’t think anybody is going to be fighting with them this year. They should win every race is my bet with the performance they’ve got,” the BBC quoted him as saying after the race.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has meanwhile described the race for the three-pointed start “one of their worst days” after the Russel and Hamilton’s fifth and seventh place finishes.

“We are lacking pace front, right, and centre. The Aston Martins are very fast and the Red Bull is just on a different planet. It hurts that they are so far ahead. It reminds me of our best years where we put one second on everyone else. That is the benchmark,” the Austrian said.

“We need to put one foot in front of the other to come back, but nobody in this team will throw in the towel. We need to dig deep, deeper than we ever have done before. And we can do that.”

Saudi next

The championship now takes its customary two-week break before returning on 19 March, in Jeddah, for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. For the full calendar, visit formula1.com.