Bathed in golden light, Formula 1 superstar Max Verstappen climbed out of his already world champion car after his demonstration of power at the season opener. With an unchallenged start-finish victory in Bahrain, the champion made the perfect debut for the World Cup hat-trick mission.
“It’s exactly the start to the season we wanted and needed,” the defending champion radioed as fireworks lit up the Sakhir night sky overhead.
With the success in front of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, another superlative season could have started for the Dutchman. “I’m happy to finally win here too,” said Verstappen. The last time a Red Bull had won in Bahrain was in 2013 – it was Sebastian Vettel.
“Red Bull is on another planet,” admitted Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Sky. Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said: “It was a very strong race for us. But I have to say that our opponents made it easy for us.”
Alonso in the Aston Martin in third place
Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who also benefited from a technical defect at Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, raced into third place. “What have we done here? I’m so proud of you,” Alonso called out to his team. Formula 1 returnee Nico Hülkenberg had to settle for 15th place in the Haas after starting tenth and a collision on the opening lap.
“In the first half I drove around like that, it didn’t stand a chance, lesson learned afterwards. Then we changed the front wing, we were so far back that we did the race as a test, tried a little something. I have to do it in detail now understand,” said Hulkenberg.
Even during the pre-season tests, it was indicated that Verstappen and Red Bull would start the year in a similar way to how they ended 2022. The Dutchman had won 15 of the 22 Grands Prix en route to his second title of the previous season, setting a record. After the practice days in Bahrain, the only question was how big Red Bull’s lead really was.
Verstappen sovereign at the start
So it was hardly surprising that Verstappen and teammate Perez took the front row of the grid in qualifying. The champion confidently defended his pole position at the start and irresistibly overtook his pursuers. After all, Ferrari star Leclerc was able to dupe Perez in the first few meters and drove second through the scree desert of Sakhir in the first half of the race.
Later, the Monegasque not only had to let Perez pass him again, he even had to give up on lap 41 with an engine failure. “There’s not a lot of positives on days like this. We have to look at it and understand what happened there. It’s a real shame,” Leclerc complained.
Things also went badly for comebacker Hülkenberg, who took over the cockpit from Mick Schumacher at Haas. The Rhinelander had caused a positive surprise as a tenth in qualifying. But on lap one, the 35-year-old demolished the front wing and kept falling back. He also received a 15-second penalty for exceeding the track barrier multiple times.
Alonso confirms strong training performance
Meanwhile, old master Alonso made fan hearts beat faster. The 41-year-old had already made people sit up and take notice with the much-improved Aston Martin with best times in practice. While his predecessor Vettel despaired of the weak car in the previous season and retired at the end of the year, the team now seems to have made a big leap, as fifth place on the grid proved.
The 2005 and 2006 world champion also provided good entertainment in the race with his duels with the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and later the successful hunt for compatriot Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari. Otherwise, however, the first rounds of the new season remained fairly uneventful.
36th Formula 1 race win for Verstappen
After a few laps, Verstappen had built up a solid cushion and was able to control the Grand Prix at will. At the end of the field, Hülkenberg got a new nose for his Haas and shortly afterwards reported happily: The car is now running again. But he couldn’t go far ahead.
Verstappen, on the other hand, completed the first of the 23 Grand Prix of the year without a hitch. While Vice World Champion Leclerc made his way back to the paddock on a Vespa after his retirement, the 25-year-old defending champion rolled very relaxed to his 36th Formula 1 race victory. And after the tired start in Bahrain, the question arises: who should actually stop this Verstappen in the new season?
