Max Verstappen started his title defence in perfect fashion as the reigning champion dominated the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix from start to finish.
After being passed at the start by Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez retook second from the Ferrari shortly after his first pit stop to hand Red Bull a 1-2 finish to open the campaign.
READ MORE: F1 2023 Bahrain GP – Race Report
Leclerc’s later retirement with a suspected engine failure from a comfortable third opened the door for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin to claim the final podium place.
The Spaniard made two sensational moves on Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton to collect the second podium since his comeback to Formula 1 in 2021.
George Russell and Lance Stroll also made it into the top 10, along with Valtteri Bottas in eighth place for Alfa Romeo.
Pierre Gasly recovered from a dreadful qualifying that left him at the back of the grid to finish ninth, with Alex Albon completing the points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Gap | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Max Verstappen | Red Bull | |||
| 2 |
|
Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 11.987 | ||
| 3 |
|
Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 38.637 | ||
| 4 |
|
Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 48.052 | ||
| 5 |
|
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 50.977 | ||
| 6 |
|
Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 54.502 | ||
| 7 |
|
George Russell | Mercedes | 55.873 | ||
| 8 |
|
Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 72.647 | ||
| 9 |
|
Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 73.753 | ||
| 10 |
|
Alex Albon | Williams | 89.774 | ||
| 11 |
|
Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 90.870 | ||
| 12 |
|
Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1 Lap | ||
| 13 |
|
Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 Lap | ||
| 14 |
|
Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | 1 Lap | ||
| 15 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1 Lap | ||
| 16 |
|
Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1 Lap | ||
| 17 |
|
Lando Norris | McLaren | 2 Laps | ||
| 18 |
|
Esteban Ocon | Alpine | DNF | ||
| 19 |
|
Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | DNF | ||
| 20 |
|
Oscar Piastri | McLaren | DNF |
