After a February full of car launches, testing and other pre-season shenanigans, the new Formula One season was finally underway this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Following on from their dominant showing during the pre-season testing, Max Verstappen and Red Bull picked up where they signed off last season, claiming a dominant race victory, with Perez following his teammate to make it a 1-2 for the Milton Keynes based team.
The real showstoppers of the weekend, however, turned out to be Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso, who took the chequered flag in P3, comfortably clear of the rest. Here are some of the key takeaways from the race weekend which gave us some indications on how the rest of the 2023 F1 season might turn out.
1. Aston Martin’s Giant Leap from Midfield
Four years on from Lawrence Stroll’s acquisition of the Aston Martin F1 Team (Sahara Force India F1 Team back then), his relentless drive to bring success to the team seems to be finally paying off as the team secured P3 and P6, through Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll respectively. After some eye-catching results during the pre-season test, Aston Martin turned up to the race weekend with what was comfortably the third best car on the grid, with Alonso even outperforming one of the Ferraris enroute his podium finish.
The Aston Martin proved itself to be a very stable and grippy car, putting itself ahead of the Mercedes on one-lap pace, while its strong race pace coupled with low tire degradation helped Alonso challenge and eventually clear the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz as well. It remains to be seen how well the car performs at tracks different to this one, however, for now, the team deserves huge praise for having made such a remarkable leap from the midfield towards the top of the pack.
2. Is This Already Verstappen’s Title to Lose?
After coasting through the three days of winter testing, everyone wondered whether Red Bull and Verstappen had sailed beyond everyone’s reach. The practice sessions throughout the weekend, however, painted a very different picture as the team struggled a touch, trying to find the perfect balance for the car.
Come qualifying and race day, those concerns were absolutely quashed as Verstappen and Perez locked out the front row for the start and comfortably ended the race in the same positions. It was every bit a dominant drive from the Dutchman, finishing 12 seconds clear of his teammate and 38 seconds clear from the first non-Red Bull driver. If he keeps up this frightening pace, it might as well be title number three heading towards Verstappen’s trophy cabinet as no other driver or car looked likely to give him a run for his money.
3. Torrid Outings for McLaren and Alpine
Two teams who fought throughout 2022 for the “best of the rest” tag, Alpine and McLaren, endured miserable results at the season opener. After being tipped to bridge the gap between the midfield and the top teams, both seemed to have taken a step backwards over the winter. Boasting of drivers of some stupendous pedigrees, both teams failed to make an impression over the testing period, subsequently carrying that form into the race.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri showed pretty decent race pace at times, however, reliability issues forced Piastri into a retirement, and hampered Norris from finishing higher up than P17, the last classified position. Alpine, on the other hand, had a slightly better outing as Gasly finished P9, taking home a couple points, after a late pit stop under the virtual safety car.
His compatriot and teammate, had an absolute shocker as he found himself on the end of multiple penalties throughout the race, compounded by his eventual retirement on lap 41. It’s back to the drawing board for both these teams, and they will be keen to eradicate these issues before the next race.
Next up, is round 2 of the Formula One season, as the paddock sets camp on the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in two weeks’ time. With Red Bull looking imperious and Aston Martin on the rise, can anyone challenge the narrative thus far? Only time will tell.