Max Verstappen has opened the new Formula 1 year in the style of his inimitable 2022 world championship season. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver celebrated a commanding success and finally ended his dry spell on the desert circuit at the tenth attempt. Fernando Alonso was responsible for the spectacle under the floodlights at Verstappen’s 36th Formula 1 victory. The successor to the retired Sebastian Vettel drove the vastly improved Aston Martin with spectacular overtaking maneuvers against Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in third place. Second place went to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was eliminated due to a defect – so the Scuderia is back in trouble. Nico Hülkenberg, who inherited Mick Schumacher at Haas, was unable to repeat his strong qualifying with tenth place. The driver from Emmerich also lost speed due to an early contact and finished the race in 15th place, far outside of the points. Mercedes had to settle for fifth and seventh place thanks to Hamilton and his British compatriot George Russell – it was no longer a big surprise after the impressions of qualifying and the harsh words of team boss Toto Wolff.
On Saturday evening, he said that a fundamental change in the vehicle concept had to be considered. “Last year we started six tenths down and now we are again,” said Wolff. Immediately before the race he said: “It’s all about making the best of it now. The car is what it is, we have to develop it further in the factory.” At the command post, Wolff stood alongside his new reserve driver, Schumacher. Both had to watch as Verstappen circled lonely at the front, Alonso did magic and the Silver Arrows, who were hard to beat between 2014 and 2021, could never hope for the podium.
He wanted to “survive, but lose nothing,” said Hülkenberg at Sky before his first race as a regular driver since December 1, 2019. That didn’t work, the 35-year-old also lost because of contact with the Alpine of Frenchman Esteban Ocon in the first Lap four position and found himself in 14th place after the first lap of the track.
At the very front, Verstappen successfully defended first place at the start. Behind them, Leclerc fought his way past Perez in second place, Lance Stroll almost cleared his teammate Alonso in turn one. When the race seemed to be taking an orderly course, Leclerc’s Ferrari rolled out in third place. “No Power”, the Monegasque radioed to the pits and stood frustrated next to his red racing car for a long time after getting out. “There aren’t many positives on days like this,” he explained afterwards: “Probably qualifying wasn’t bad, and the first stint was good too. But apart from that, it was a shame.” Verstappen won for the first time at the season opener. However, that was not a good omen recently: Since 2017, the driver who won the first race of the season has “only” finished second in the world championship.