2023 Bahrain Grand Prix

2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 1 of 22 [a] in the 2023 Formula One World Championship Next race  →
Layout of the Bahrain International Circuit
Race details [2] [3]
Date	5 March 2023
Official name	Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.412 km (3.363 miles)
Distance	57 laps, 308.238 km (190.253 miles)
Weather	Clear
Attendance	99,500 [4]
Pole position
Driver	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Time	1:29.708
Fastest lap
Driver	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
Time	1:33.996 on lap 56
Podium
First	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Second	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Third	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 5 March 2023 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. ^[2] It was the opening round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen took pole position and won the race, ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez in what was their first 1-2 finish of the season. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in third. This was only Alonso's second podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the first of eight for the season. ^[5] The race also saw the debut of 3 new drivers in Formula One: Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant.

Background

The event was held across the weekend of 3–5 March. It was the opening round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship. ^[2]

Entrants

See also: 2023 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. ^[6]

Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant made their Formula One Grand Prix season debuts with McLaren, AlphaTauri and Williams, respectively, although De Vries made his Formula One Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix for Williams. This race also marked the return of Nico Hülkenberg, who last raced in the final race of the 2019 season, this time, Hülkenberg returned to drive for Haas. ^[7]

Tyre choices

Further information: Formula One tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event. ^[8]

Track changes

The third DRS activation point was moved 80 metres (260 ft) farther ahead, being positioned 250 metres (820 ft) after turn 15. ^[9]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 4 March 2023 at 18:00 local time (UTC+3). ^[10]

Qualifying report

At the beginning of Q1, a piece of the front wheel brow of Charles Leclerc's car fell off during a lock-up at turn one, causing the session to be red flagged. ^[11] At the end of Q1 Lando Norris and Logan Sargeant set the same exact time to place fifteenth and sixteenth, but Norris was moved through to Q2, having completed his lap before Sargeant. ^[11] During Q2, Alexander Albon went off track at the turn 5/6/7 esses, preventing him from setting a time. ^[11] After the first runs of Q3, Charles Leclerc was seen getting out of his Ferrari, sparking reliability concerns for the Monagasque's car, but he later revealed that the team made the decision to save a set of tires for the race. ^[11] Ultimately, Max Verstappen took pole position by nearly two tenths of a second, with a time of 1:29.708. ^[11]

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:31.295	1:30.503	1:29.708	1
2	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:31.479	1:30.746	1:29.846	2
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.094	1:30.282	1:30.000	3
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:30.993	1:30.515	1:30.154	4
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:31.158	1:30.645	1:30.336	5
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.057	1:30.507	1:30.340	6
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.543	1:30.513	1:30.384	7
8	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:31.184	1:31.127	1:30.836	8
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1:31.508	1:30.914	1:30.984	9
10	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1:31.204	1:30.809	No time	10
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.652 1	1:31.381	N/A	11
12	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:31.504	1:31.443	N/A	12
13	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:31.615	1:31.473	N/A	13
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1:31.400	1:32.510	N/A	14
15	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.461	No time	N/A	15
16	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.652 1	N/A	N/A	16
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:31.892	N/A	N/A	17
18	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.101	N/A	N/A	18
19	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1:32.121	N/A	N/A	19
20	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:32.181	N/A	N/A	20
107% time: 1:37.362
Source: [12] [13]

Notes

• ^1 – Lando Norris and Logan Sargeant set identical lap times in Q1. Norris advanced to Q2 as he set his time earlier. ^{[12] [14]}

Race

The race was held on 5 March 2023 at 18:00 local time (UTC+3). ^[10]

Race report

Max Verstappen led comfortably from the start, only losing the lead briefly during the first round of pit stops. Sergio Pérez was slow away at the start and lost second place to a fast starting Charles Leclerc. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton battled on the run down to turn 4, Alonso was hit by his teammate Lance Stroll, causing both Aston Martins to lose positions. Alonso came out on top in a wheel-to-wheel battle with George Russell on lap 13, both drivers lost out in the pit stops to Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo. ^[15]

Oscar Piastri retired after 13 laps in his Formula One debut with an electrical failure. Meanwhile his teammate Lando Norris also had engine issues, this time with the hydraulics, requiring six pit stops to manage the problem. Esteban Ocon picked up a five-second time penalty for lining up in his grid spot incorrectly. He did not serve the full five seconds in the pit, and was given a subsequent ten second time penalty, and then a further five second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane while serving the second penalty. ^[15]

Pérez made it past Leclerc on lap 26, with Red Bull Racing the only front running team to use the soft tyre for both the first two tyre stints. After the second round of pit stops, Stroll, who was racing with a broken wrist and toe, overtook Russell as the latter came out of the pit on cold tyres, with Stroll having pitted a lap earlier. Alonso and Hamilton engaged in a battle for fifth place. Alonso overtook Hamilton into turn 4 on lap 37 before a snap of oversteer on the corner exit for Alonso allowed Hamilton back past. One lap later Alonso pulled off an overtake at turn 10. ^[15]

Leclerc's race came to an end on lap 41, with his car suffering a mechanical failure while running in third, bringing out the virtual safety car. Alonso overtook Carlos Sainz Jr. using DRS on the run down to turn 11 on lap 45. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly overtook Alexander Albon for ninth place, having started from last. Zhou Guanyu pitted on the penultimate lap for soft tyres, and set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. ^[15]

Verstappen took his first win in Bahrain by almost 12 seconds ahead of teammate Pérez and gave Red Bull their first win in Bahrain since Sebastian Vettel won in 2013. Alonso finished third, his first podium since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix and Aston Martin's first since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. ^{[16] [17]}

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	57	1:33:56.736	1	25
2	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	57	+11.987	2	18
3	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	57	+38.637	5	15
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	57	+48.052	4	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+50.977	7	10
6	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	57	+54.502	8	8
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	57	+55.873	6	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	57	+1:12.647	12	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	57	+1:13.753	20	2
10	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	57	+1:29.774	15	1
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	57	+1:30.870	14
12	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	56	+1 lap	16
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	56	+1 lap	17
14	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	56	+1 lap	19
15	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	56	+1 lap 1	10
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	56	+1 lap	13
17	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+2 laps	11
Ret	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	41	Withdrew	9
Ret	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	39	Engine	3
Ret	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	13	Electrical	18
Fastest lap: Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) – 1:33.996 (lap 56)
Source: [13] [16] [18] [19]

Notes

• ^1 – Nico Hülkenberg received a 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty. ^[16]

Championship standings after the race

For full season standings, see 2023 Formula One World Championship § Results and standings.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Max Verstappen 25 2 Sergio Pérez 18 3 Fernando Alonso 15 4 Carlos Sainz Jr. 12 5 Lewis Hamilton 10 Source: [20]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 43 2 Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 23 3 Mercedes 16 4 Ferrari 12 5 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 4 Source: [20]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2023 Sakhir Formula 2 round
• 2023 Sakhir Formula 3 round

Notes

1. At the time of the event Formula One planned to hold twenty-three Grands Prix. ^[1]

References

1. "Formula 1 update on the 2023 calendar". Formula 1. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
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4. "Record Attendance at Sold Out 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix". f1destinations.com. 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
5. "'I thought the podium was gone' – Fernando Alonso on his thrilling final-lap battle with Sergio Perez". Formula 1. 5 November 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
6. "2023 Bahrain Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
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8. "2023 Tyre Compound Choices – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia". Pirelli. 15 February 2023. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
9. Wood, Ida (1 March 2023). "Bahrain's main DRS zone shortened for 2023 grand prix". Racefans.net. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
10. "Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024". Formula1.com. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
11. "Verstappen beats Perez to pole for 2023 opener in Bahrain GP qualifying thriller". Formula 1. 4 March 2023. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
12. "Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 – Qualifying". Formula 1. 4 March 2023. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
13. "Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 – Starting Grid". Formula 1. 4 March 2023. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
14. Cooper, Adam (9 March 2023). "Sargeant didn't want to be "too greedy" on Bahrain F1 debut". Autosport.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
15. "2023 Bahrain Grand Prix race report and highlights: Verstappen leads 1-2 in Bahrain season opener as Leclerc retires and Alonso takes final podium place in style". Formula 1. 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
16. "Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 – Race Result". Formula 1. 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
17. "FACTS AND STATS: Red Bull end a long wait for success in Bahrain – as does Alonso". Formula 1. 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
18. "Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 – Fastest Laps". Formula 1. 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
19. "Bahrain 2023". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
20. "Bahrain 2023 – Championship". Stats F1. 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.

External links

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