Reigning champion Max Verstappen cruises to Bahrain Grand Prix victory

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first of the 2023 Formula One season. He took an absolutely dominant victory for Red Bull from pole to flag, in complete control at the Sakhir circuit as he put what looks to be a fearsomely competitive championship contender car through its paces with ease. He beat his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez into second with Fernando Alonso taking a superb third for Aston Martin.

Alonso’s place confirmed the form Aston have shown all weekend and that they are now very much competing among the big three teams. Indeed they looked comfortably quicker than the Mercedes for whom Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could manage only fifth and seventh respectively as their cars struggled, as they did all weekend.

Ferrari, unable to match Red Bull for pace, also suffered a demoralising failure when Charles Leclerc had to retire with an engine problem while in third place. His teammate Carlos Sainz managed to bring his car home in fourth.

For Alonso, who drove the socks off the Aston, this was a mighty result, his first podium since Qatar in 2021 with Alpine. Moreover he delivered with the usual verve and confident, decisive overtaking that has characterised his 20-season career in F1. He was also potentially nursing a damaged car after he took a hit at the start from his teammate Lance Stroll, who finished sixth.

The win opens Verstappen’s season with the same confident and controlled statement of intent with which he closed out his dominant, championship-winning year in 2022.

He took 15 victories from 22 races on his way to the title but only after a tricky start with two mechanical failures from the opening three races. This time he is out of the blocks with alacrity, once more displaying a