New season, well-known winner: Max Verstappen started the new year of Formula 1 with a commanding triumph. Many fans and competitors fear great boredom in the motorsport premier class. Nevertheless, there should be enough tension in the remaining 22 races.
The Bahrain Grand Prix became a big Red Bull party in Formula 1 last weekend. World Champion Max Verstappen achieved a commanding start-finish victory in Sachir ahead of his team-mate Sergio Pérez (+11.987 seconds). Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin was third, more than 38 seconds back. The competition is therefore already sounding the alarm.
“Red Bull has the championship in the bag, I don’t think anyone will fight with them this year. I expect them to win every single race this season. That’s my bet,” Mercedes driver George Russell chose most drastic words.
Even if pure Red Bull dominance threatens at the top, Formula 1 still has plenty to offer.
Hot fight behind Red Bull
Gone are the days when Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari were circling lonely at the front of Formula 1. The big winner over the winter is Aston Martin.
Old master Fernando Alonso duped both Mercedes and Ferrari in Bahrain. Especially in the duels with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, the 41-year-old was able to rely on a powerful AMR23 – in addition to his driving class.
“Alonso reinvents the podium and makes Hamilton look old. Verstappen and Pérez play in a different league, but the protagonist is Alonso,” headlined the Spanish sports newspaper “As”.
At Mercedes and Ferrari, on the other hand, it was time to lick wounds after the opening race. While the Silver Arrows want to turn every stone after P5 and P7, those responsible in Maranello are once again puzzling over the reliability of their car after Charles Leclerc’s retirement.
Alarm bells are already ringing at McLaren. After the disappointing test drives, the next setback followed at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Rookie Oscar Piastri retired in the 16th lap due to technical problems. Lando Norris had to pit six times and finished in 17th place.
There is a huge gap between aspiration and reality. Technical director James Key identified the late change in aerodynamics philosophy as the cause of the problems.
A new package is already in sight for the team from Woking. “We’re where we are now and we’ll definitely recover from that,” a confident key was quoted as saying by “Formel1.de”.
How strong McLaren really is in Formula 1 is difficult to assess at this point in time.
Rookies want to cause a sensation
Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) are the three new young regular drivers in Formula 1. Not all rookies have been able to show their full skills in Sachir.
Finally, Piastri was unlucky due to McLaren’s technical problems. Sargeant, on the other hand, was convincing. The American delivered a solid performance. In the race, the Williams driver worked his way up from 16th to 12th place and therefore earned the sport.de grade 3.0.
De Vries, on the other hand, found it somewhat more difficult in the AlphaTauri car (sport.de grade 4.5). But the Dutchman, at 28, has enough experience. Last year, de Vries even scored two points in Monza, finishing ninth, substituting in for Alex Albon in the Williams. A lot can therefore still be expected from the former Formula 2 champion.
Nico Hulkenberg and the dream of the podium
From a German perspective, the focus in Formula 1 this year is entirely on Nico Hulkenberg. The Emmericher followed Mick Schumacher at Haas. The 35-year-old faces a hot duel with Kevin Magnussen at the US racing team.
It has now been clarified that the two veterans clashed verbally at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix. The duel for number one status in the team still promises to be exciting.
In addition, the question still haunts the paddock in Formula 1 as to whether Hülkenberg will one day make it onto the podium again.
“It’s not about whether the first podium comes, but rather when it comes,” said team boss Günther Steiner in an exclusive interview before the start of the season RTL/ntv and sport.de. The first race was disappointing with 15th place.
Jannik Kube