2023 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix

Alpha Tauri 2023 F1 car in pre-season testing at Bahrain.jpg

Who will win in Bahrain this weekend?

  • Max Verstappen

    Votes: 307 54.6%
  • Sergio Perez

    Votes: 25 4.4%
  • Charles Leclerc

    Votes: 56 10.0%
  • Carlos Sainz

    Votes: 4 0.7%
  • George Russell

    Votes: 9 1.6%
  • Lewis Hamilton

    Votes: 33 5.9%
  • Esteban Ocon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pierre Gasly

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lando Norris

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • Oscar Piastri

    Votes: 3 0.5%
  • Valterri Bottas

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • Zhou Guanyu

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • Fernando Alonso

    Votes: 97 17.3%
  • Lance Stroll

    Votes: 3 0.5%
  • Kevin Magnussen

    Votes: 3 0.5%
  • Nico Hulkenberg

    Votes: 3 0.5%
  • Yuki Tsunoda

    Votes: 4 0.7%
  • Nyck Devries

    Votes: 3 0.5%
  • Alex Albon

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • Logan Sargeant

    Votes: 6 1.1%

  • Total voters
    562
Winter is over and Formula 1 is back. This weekend, the 2023 F1 season kicks off with the Bahrain Grand Prix. Plenty of stories headline this first race of the year, so here's all you need to know going into the weekend.

Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool

The winter break has come to an end. Pre-season testing is complete. The teams, drivers and cars are all ready. It's time for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Opening the season this weekend, the event is nothing if not full of unknowns while several stories will see their first chapters write themselves.

Located near the city of Sakhir, the Bahrain International Circuit will play host to the first race of the F1 season. The Grand Prix layout, identical to that used in pre-season testing just one week ago is a 5.4-kilometre track comprised of 15 corners, most of which involve heavy braking zones. In fact, this circuit is very much a stop-start experience with its many long straights and slow-speed hairpins.

Last year, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc battled it out for the win before the Red Bull's engine ground to a halt. This year however, reliability is looking much better for both teams, so here's hoping for a race-long spectacle.

Winter form going into Race 1​

One week before this first race of the season, the F1 paddock arrived in Bahrain for pre-season testing. With every team running different strategies, fuel loads and tyres throughout the 3-day event, it's almost impossible to work out which times are relatable. But they do give a vague form of which car looks strong.


Among the surprises emerging from testing is Aston Martin's pace. The Silverstone-based team has perhaps experienced the strongest improvement from last year. With Fernando Alonso now behind the wheel, the AMR-23 looks to have the legs on even the Mercedes. Not only is the British Racing Green machine fast, it seems strong on long runs with minimal tyre degradation. As many have been saying, expect The Stroll-Alonso duo to contend in this first race.

On the other end of the spectrum, McLaren has certainly had a difficult winter. After fighting to fix issues with its car last year, the Papaya outfit is seemingly struggling with its car once again. Throughout testing, the drivers were complaining about inconsistent balance and a lack of confidence. If you've ever tried racing a twitchy F1 car in simracing, you'll know that isn't a fun experience.

This lack of consistency and pace has dropped McLaren into an ever more fierce midfield rivalry. Behind the top two of Red Bull and Ferrari sit a second group of Mercedes and Aston Martin. But behind these secluded groups lies a pack of cars which all seem to have relatively similar pace. Even the Williams which struggled last year seems to have found enough pace to re-join the battle. Throughout the year and depending on tracks, this pack of six teams will surely shuffle its order making for unpredictable and exciting racing all year-long.

Rookies with something to prove in F1 2023​

At an individual driver's level, the 2023 Formula 1 season provides plenty of interesting stories. From young drivers looking to show they're worthy to older, returning drivers making sure they still have what it takes.


Three rookies are joining the grid this year and must prove their worth. Logan Sargeant having finished the 2022 F2 season in just fourth place will be at the top of that list. However, with the known quantity of Alex Albon alongside him, he might have the toughest job of them all. Akin to what George Russell did in his Williams days, Sargeant must out drive the FW45 to show he can help the team on its quest up the order.

Nyck Devries is an odd example of a Formula 1 rookie. He won the 2019 F2 championship before moving off to endurance racing, later claiming the Formula E title in 2021. Now, he has finally bagged himself a seat at the ripe age of 28 and can't be seen to falter up against his teammate. Yuki Tsunoda, despite showing glimmers of excellence at times, has remained rather anonymous throughout his two-year F1 career. As a result, FIA World Championship winning Devries can't fall behind his Japanese stablemate if he is to stay in the sport for long.

The last of the rookies for this year is Oscar Piastri. The young Australian sparked major controversy before even reaching the heights of Formula 1 last year. Originally within the Alpine Academy, he signed for McLaren in a move many saw as a stab in the back to the French squad. Now in his first season, he must show to his British team that he was worth the hassle and bad press. However, he is up against Lando Norris, the driver many see as the next big thing.

Inter-team rivalries throughout the 2023 season​

It seems McLaren's pairing is in a lose-lose scenario at this point. If Norris outdoes his younger, fresh-faced rookie teammate, attention will draw around Ricciardo's replacement wondering if it was the right move. Whereas if Piastri comes out of the gates running and exceeds Lando's capabilities, the Brit will lose much of his stock. Furthermore, he is tied to the team until the end of 2025. If he is to be beaten by Piastri for the next three seasons, not even the lower teams will have him.


Another driver line-up in a career-deciding battle this year is the Alpine duo of Ocon and Gasly. If rumours are to be believed, the two French hot shots have a not-so friendly past which is sure to raise its head at some point this year. The conflict will only become stronger when both drivers realise they are contending for the team's lead driver role. With Alonso now leaving, Esteban Ocon will firmly believe himself to be the top dog. But looking to exert his dominance after a rough 2022 season, Pierre Gasly will be anxious to challenge his countryman.

What to expect for the Bahrain Grand Prix​

With a harsh track surface and many hard braking areas, Bahrain consistently offers a wide range of pitstop strategies that mix up the racing. Last year, race winner Charles Leclerc as well as his second place teammate, Carlos Sainz took the chequered flag after stopping three times for tyres. This is great for fans that cry out in despair when races like Monaco or Abu Dhabi go the distance with a single stop in the middle.

As well as providing a different style of race when it comes to the tyre strategy, Bahrain's long straights typically make for great overtaking opportunities. In fact, back-to-back straights like the first sector mean drivers get a second go at completing an overtake or find themselves being re-passed within the space of a few corners. This is what made the 2022 event so entertaining to watch as the Red Bull-Ferrari battle heated to boiling point right from race 1.

Since last year's event, the FIA has made modifications to the length and power of DRS, so the immense runs of yesteryear should no longer be an issue. Instead, cars will close up enough to make a lunge on the brakes. If anything, we should therefore see more wheel-to-wheel battles similar to last year's race-lead fight. That certainly is an exciting prospect.

The Bahrain Grand Prix weekend kicks off on Friday, March 3 with Free Practice. Competitive running will get under way with Qualifying on Saturday at 4pm CET. The race itself starts at 4pm CET on Sunday. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
About author
Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

Comments

My favorite driver's favorite driver is DOTD!

Ocon doesn't even need teammates to make a mess, just his team

Ferrari, plz don't make it a meme season again.....

Merc'll be in it later this season as long as it doesn't go south for them

Williams better than expected

Bottas seems to grab points under the radar

Alpine seems to have gone downhill instead of a hillclimb

Hulk does a Mag and loses parts + track limits

Norris not under pressure.....

Stroll: "look mom, no hands!"
 
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The problem with Mercedes goes back to the end of last year. Red Bull was coasting and Ferrari had detuned their engines to survive the last quarter of the season. This allowed the Merc boys to THINK they had cured all the issues with the W13.... so for some unknown reason they decided to stick with a refined slightly updated version of the same concept with the W14. This will cost them most of the season ....AGAIN.
 
What a race by Fernando! You can just hear the giddy excitement he had the entire race. It's about time someone put that man behind a proper race car. A true gentlemen and race scholar. Look forward to more of it.

Poor LeClerc... he deserves better then Ferrari IMO. What a basket of bones... I appreciated LeClerc's self awareness with parking and maintaining composure about it. That had to be tough to swallow, but he didn't ruin other races with a safety car.

McClaren, I don't even know what to say. As to Verstappen, he's my favorite and has been since he started racing. Not much to contend with this race. Nobody is even close to competing with that pace and consistency. We'll see what uncontrolled elements wrench it in future races?

FIA, lets do something about the ridiculous tear offs. Why are drivers even allowed to dispose of them outside the vehicle? Absolutely shameful that **** is flying all over the track and potentially ruining people's races and or data collection. That is not what fans pay to see.
 
Mercedes will not be in contention because
  1. All of the true talent has left and they are developing a car and talent at the same time
  2. Hamilton no longer has the will to actually mix it up. Way too cautious and non-aggressive
  3. George is good. A young Hamilton he isn't.
  4. It ain't the side pods. Or lack of.
 
Mercedes will not be in contention because
  1. All of the true talent has left and they are developing a car and talent at the same time
  2. Hamilton no longer has the will to actually mix it up. Way too cautious and non-aggressive
  3. George is good. A young Hamilton he isn't.
  4. It ain't the side pods. Or lack of.
Well if they would stop hampering Russell to try to get Hamilton an eight title (Toto's words, not mine) maybe they would fare better...
 
The Indycar race was a lot more fun. Some real fights at the front. Grosjean almost got his first win but a mistake from Scott McLaughlin put both of them out of the race. Marcus Ericsson won a real thriller.
 
The Indycar race was a lot more fun. Some real fights at the front. Grosjean almost got his first win but a mistake from Scott McLaughlin put both of them out of the race. Marcus Ericsson won a real thriller.
Was it? I saw a lot of amateurism in that race, from drivers to crews. I like indycar racing, but after races like these i always get the feeling it looks more like i am watching a feeder series rather than top professionalism.

But i will give indycar one thing, at least it doesnt have the horrid DRS.
 
Was it? I saw a lot of amateurism in that race, from drivers to crews. I like indycar racing, but after races like these i always get the feeling it looks more like i am watching a feeder series rather than top professionalism.

But i will give indycar one thing, at least it doesnt have the horrid DRS.
It was definitely more fun. It was not a great display of professionalism. St. Petes race rarely is.
 
Was it? I saw a lot of amateurism in that race, from drivers to crews. I like indycar racing, but after races like these i always get the feeling it looks more like i am watching a feeder series rather than top professionalism.

But i will give indycar one thing, at least it doesnt have the horrid DRS.
One might call that amateurism, I call it less scripted and micromanaged than F1, where drivers seemed to be completely dependant on their race engineer to tell them what to do. You're right: no DRS in Indycar, but they have push-to-pass, which is a lot more interesting, because it adds an element of strategy. I really wish F1 would drop DRS for push to pass.

Street races like St Pete are always more hectic than road courses. The proximity of the walls and the tires barriers usually cause huge pileups. The worst track for that is Nashville. But if you watch Indy at Road America or Mid-Ohio, you'll see that this "amateurish" feel you got today is noticeably absent.

That said, amateurism or not, it still was a lot more exciting (to me anyway) than to see Red Bull win without any opposition whatsoever. The only exciting bit today was Alonso against Russell.
 
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Was it? I saw a lot of amateurism in that race, from drivers to crews. I like indycar racing, but after races like these i always get the feeling it looks more like i am watching a feeder series rather than top professionalism.

But i will give indycar one thing, at least it doesnt have the horrid DRS.
Looked to me like a lot of the crashes were just what happens when you put a bunch of cars on the same part of a narrow track at once, with a big sod off tyre barrier where the run off would otherwise be. I don't think it reflected poorly on the quality of the drivers aside from that one guy who did a Rosset during the start crash (Pedersen).

I can't believe Ericsson shot O'Ward's engine with an invisible gun :D
 

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