Now that the Bahrain Grand Prix is in the books, the 2023 Formula 1 season is officially up and running. Behind the one-way traffic at the front of the field, as Max Verstappen picked up from where he left off last season, the overall pecking order has been refreshed.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was denied a podium owing to reliability concerns, paving the way for Fernando Alonso’s scintillating drive to third as Lawrence Stroll’s heavy investment into the Aston Martin team now shows signs of paying off. In the meantime, Mercedes appears to be a team in need of a contemplative session of skimming rocks by a lake, as its car concept has cast doubt among the ranks.
There’s also new battles emerging further down the field, with McLaren facing reliability headaches and Alpine failing to deliver on its pre-season promise. There’s lots of things that the F1 fraternity has learned from the season opener at Sakhir; as is customary, here’s 10 of them…
1. Verstappen dominance delivers hammer blow to 2023 competition
Verstappen was in a different league from the rest of the field, and hopes of a close title fight appear to be short-lived
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
All told, the ultimate 12-second gap between Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the chequered flag probably flattered the Mexican. The Dutchman barely had to climb out of second gear to put the rest of the field to the sword and, once he’d built his initial 10-second lead over Leclerc following the first round of pitstops, he could afford to cruise around like a luxury liner upon a serene ocean.
For those who hoped that the cost cap and wind tunnel variables could equalise the field, those dreams were promptly shattered. Verstappen was a league above everyone else, while Perez spent far too long on his overhaul of Leclerc to present any kind of intra-team challenge to his twice-minted championship winning team-mate.
There are small positives for those hoping for any signs of competition. Red Bull managed to keep two sets of soft tyres aside for the race, while the rest of the grid had double-dipped on the hard compound having been wary of the high degradation associated with the Bahrain circuit.
PLUS: The critical Red Bull tyre tactic Ferrari couldn’t copy in Bahrain GP
Without a battle to fight, Verstappen simply had to hit his target lap times rather than fritter away tyre life in the heat of battle. In that hypothetical instance, the soft might not have been quite so…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…