Max Verstappen is picking up right where he left off.
The defending back-to-back Formula 1 champion got off to a dominant start to the 2023 season, bringing home the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sergio Pérez finished in second place, while Fernando Alonso took the final spot on the podium in third in his Aston Martin debut.
Verstappen won an F1 record 15 races in 2022, putting up a jaw-dropping 454 points and winning his second championship.
Bahrain had never been kind to Verstappen in the past, as he posted more races with retirements (three) than podiums (two) at the track. This is Verstappen’s first win in Bahrain and his first in a season opener.
After qualifying at the top of the field, Verstappen said he was happy with the result given the struggles in the past.
“Particularly happy, because my whole weekend up until qualifying was very difficult,” Verstappen said. “I couldn’t really find the comfortable balance I had in testing, and I was just struggling a lot to just get the car together, really. I went into qualifying and everything already felt a bit better but it was still not, let’s say, perfect.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ferrari got off to a nightmare start with Charles Leclerc suffering an engine failure, ultimately finishing 19th. Leclerc was one of three cars to get a DNF, joining Esteban Ocon (18th) and Oscar Piastri (20th). Ocon had a dreadful first race, racking up penalty after penalty before eventually bowing out initially due to a starting infringement.
Lewis Hamilton got off to a solid start to his season with a fifth-place finish as he looks to rebound from a frustrating 2022. Hamilton finished a career-worst sixth in the standings last year amid the consistent struggles of Mercedes. George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, finished in seventh place.
McLaren also had a miserable afternoon, with Lando Norris coming in 17th place and Piastri bringing up the rear of the field. Norris’ five pitstops due to reliability issues highlighted McLaren’s struggles further.
Source: Bleacher Report
