Verstappen controlled the race at the front from the start, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc grabbed second early on thanks to starting on fresh soft tyres.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez passed Leclerc to take second place on lap 26, which looked to have assured the podium order before half distance. But Leclerc’s Ferrari ground to a halt on lap 41 with an engine problem, promoting Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz to third.
But Aston Martin’s Alonso was not to be denied a podium finish after a sparkling drive and took third from Sainz with 11 laps to go.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix results
How the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen easily held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1 ahead of Leclerc, who brushed wheels with a slow-starting Perez and Sainz as they all jinked towards the inside line.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was the big winner at the start and opening corners, cleverly gaining two places to run fifth. Contact occurred at Turn 4 as Lance Stroll clumsily biffed the rear end of Aston team-mate Alonso, sending him sideways, which allowed George Russell’s Mercedes past both into sixth.
By lap 10, Verstappen led Leclerc by 6.5s, with Perez a further 1.5s back and Sainz already a distant fourth but ahead of the Mercedes and Aston pairings.
Hamilton pitted on lap 13 as Alonso attacked Russell, the Spaniard taking fifth through the Turns 4 to 6 sequence. Leclerc and Sainz stopped a lap later, as did Russell, who suffered a slow left-rear change.
Verstappen pitted on lap 15 to take more softs, allowing Perez to lead for a couple of laps. Valtteri Bottas stopped his Alfa Romeo early and undercut his way to run sixth for a while, until Alonso, Russell and Stroll battled their way past by lap 20. Perez then pitted, taking softs like Verstappen, and rejoined 3s behind Leclerc in third.
Perez chased down Leclerc and passed him for second on lap 26 at Turn 1 but was already almost 14s down on Verstappen.
In the second round of pitstops, Aston tried an undercut for Stroll, which worked out perfectly as he passed Russell for seventh at Turn 4 on his out-lap. Alonso went the other way, running long on his hard tyres, which allowed an early-stopping Hamilton to take his fifth place.
At the front, Verstappen was able to run his soft tyres longer than anyone, switching to hards on lap 36 for his final stint and cruising to his 36th F1 victory. Perez was a distant second, but well clear of Leclerc and Sainz.
The big…
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