Spectacular podium for Alonso in Bahrain

taketonews

  • Max Verstappen swept to claim first Grand Prix victory of the season in which Red Bull was unrivaled

  • A superb Fernando Alonso went from seventh place to third, achieving the 99th podium of his sports career

The Formula 1 a new season has started Bahrain GPthe longest in its history with 23 grand prix and has started with a new overwhelming victory for max verstappen, who has won the last two championships. The battle is exciting at a time when there are still many unknowns to clear up, but also when Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin They have dazzled by adding the 99th podium of their sports career.

max verstappen, who achieved the 21st pole of his career, has started the season as he left it in 2022: from pole position and with a dazzling victory that makes him the great favorite to defend the title. The Dutchman has endorsed that both he and Red Bullwho has added the first double of the year with the second position of Sergio Perezthey are on another level with respect to all their adversaries.

The protagonist of the day, however, has been Fernando Alonso. The Asturian, who had already generated great expectations in the weeks prior to the first race, has achieved a podium that marks him out as one of the actors of 2023. The two-time champion’s career was spectacular, from less to more and always squeezing the most out of AMR23, a car that was born to make you dream again.

The first race has shown, on the other hand, that Mercedes is still very far from Red Bull and that equality between ferrari, mercedes and now Aston Martin it is total. Hamilton and Russell they are already behind charles leclercwho was the winner of the Bahrain GP in 2022, was betrayed by the mechanics of his Ferrari when I was in third position. A problem in the battery of the electric motor forced him to leave and question the options of the Scuderia, which he saw as Carlos Sainz finished fourth unable to stop a runaway Alonso.

Alonso’s step forward

The preseason of Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin generated not only illusion but large doses of hope and optimism. It will take a few races to get the most out of the car, but the Spaniard has already shown in sakhir speed, consistency, reliability and especially take extra care with tire degradation. The AMR23 is very different from its predecessor and evolves appropriately, so that in the first Grand Prix of the season he did nothing other than corroborate the theses of the tests and place the Spaniard in the prominent positions on the grid.

Fifth in the standings, he started his 20th Formula 1 season in a position no one expected. Aston Martin, seventh last year in the constructors’ championship, has now started in an unexpected position, fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull for pole position and ahead of Mercedes. In the race all the forecasts were exceeded, since to the third place of the Asturian we must add the sixth of Lance Stroll.Fernando Alonso he lost two positions at the start, overtaking the two Mercedes after receiving a touch from behind Lance Stroll, but little by little he was recovering the time and the positions, first beating Russell and then to hamilton, with whom he had a spectacular fight, which reminded us for a couple of rounds of the ‘war’ that broke out in 2007. In the end, taking advantage of the abandonment of leclercovertook Carlos Sainz after another dizzying fight and achieved a podium as well deserved as it was unexpected.

Red Bull, on another level

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bahrain showed how Verstappen and Red Bull They are in another dimension, confirming in the race the double that they already achieved in qualifying. The champions have offered quite a display, both of pace, speed and degradation, with impeccable track management and strategy. It certainly couldn’t be better. They are at another level and the competition has to improve a lot to defeat them if there are no problems involved.

Ferrari, with degradation problems, has once again experienced reliability failures and the KO of leclerc you can bill them. Frederic Vasseur, which replaced Mattia Binotto, has not started off on the right foot and in the scuderia when things go wrong, nerves surface and the situation is difficult to manage. Mercedes has also failed at the start of the season, seeing how a team that uses its engines has exposed them and they are placed a priori as the fourth team on the grid. The redemption that was expected has not arrived and the unknowns are not cleared up.



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