Max Verstappen earns dominant Bahrain Grand Prix victory as Fernando Alonso dazzles

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix to secure a perfect start to his F1 title defence in 2023.

It was a dominant performance from the Dutch driver, who was 11 seconds clear of teammate Sergio Perez in second.

The best drive of the day arguably went to Fernando Alonso, who banked a superb third on debut for Aston Martin.

Carlos Sainz was fourth, with Lewis Hamilton making the best of a disappointing day for Mercedes in fifth.

Verstappen enjoyed a fine start, capitalising on pole position and carving out a six-second lead before the 10th lap.

Meanwhile, it was a miserable day for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, with the Monegasque driver forced to retire after 41 laps following an engine problem.

There was drama early between the two Aston Martin cars, with Lance Stroll slamming into the back of Fernando Alonso, who had created excitement about his new team’s speed.

The Spaniard, rejuvenated since his move from Alpine in the off-season, performed the most eye-catching moves of the race, picking off both Mercedes drivers George Russell and Hamilton.

The former suffered at the hands of the two-time world champion out of turn four after 13 laps, before a magical move took down Hamilton with 18 laps remaining, bumping him up to fifth.

And a stunning debut in the Aston Martin was complete when Alonso lightly touched Sainz with 12 laps remaining out of turn 4, only to complete the move out of turn 10 to seize P3.

Elsewhere, Pierre Gasly made up 11 places, starting last after a poor qualifying, ending the season-opener with the fastest lap and a points finish in ninth.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2023

1 Max VERSTAPPEN

2 Sergio PEREZ +11.987

3 Fernando ALONSO +38.637

4 Carlos SAINZ +48.052

5 Lewis HAMILTON +50.977

6 Lance STROLL +54.502

7 George RUSSELL +55.873

8 Valtteri BOTTAS +72.647

9 Pierre GASLY +73.753

10 Alexander ALBON +89.774

11 Yuki TSUNODA +90.870

12 Logan SARGEANT 1L

13 Kevin MAGNUSSEN 1L

14 Nyck DE VRIES 1L

15 Nico HULKENBERG 1L

16 GuanyuZHOU 1L

17 Lando NORRIS 2L

18 Esteban OCON - retired

19 Charles LECLERC - retired

20 Oscar PIASTRI - retired