05/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Better not tell Sam Brinton, but there is no disputing that Fernando Alonso carries a lot of baggage.
Nonetheless, despite some of the various episodes in his career, not least his role in Spygate, he is a racer in the classic sense.
While some may believe that leopards can change their spots, we believe that the Spaniard still has more than a whiff of Machiavelli about him, but like most we still have a soft spot for him.
Howe great is it therefore that ahead of a season we were fearing was going to a walkover for Max Verstappen, Aston Martin might yet throw a Spaniard in the works.
Make no mistake, Alonso can mix it with the best of them, and in terms of knowing every trick in the book... he was the editor, and if you think Max can be feisty wait until you see what Fernando can do if he gets within sniffing distance of success.
Thankfully, Sergio raised his game when it mattered, and in the opening stages today he and his team will have the opportunity to set the stage for the remainder of the season. If he battles Max then we have a potential fight on our hands, especially if he gets the better of the Dutchman. However, if he rolls over...
There remains doubt over Ferrari's race pace, and the news that Charles has taken on a new energy store is an early blow to the team's reliability. As is the case at Red Bull, today presents the perfect opportunity for one or either driver to establish themselves as de facto team leader.
Behind Fernando we have the Mercedes pair, who, if nothing else, now have Toto's assurance that the German team will rethink its whole zero-sidepod concept.
However, any change is some way down the line so for now Lewis and George have to make do, and based on yesterday's evidence should still be able to battle for a decent points haul, if not a podium spot.
All things considered, yesterday's was a great performance from Lance, and though we don't for a minute believe Fernando's prophecy that he can become world champion, we do think he is capable of much more than people give him credit for.
Esteban and Nico got their seasons off to the perfect start, mainly in terms of leaving their teammates for dust, and in the German's case what better way to say "I'm back" than by securing Haas's first points of the year.
As for the rest of the midfield it is anyone's guess, though according to the experts that populate social media, McLaren, like Mercedes, needs to go back to the drawing board... and seemingly not only in terms of the car.
Having disappointed in qualifying, today offers the Alfa pair the opportunity to shine, especially on a track where the Safety Car makes a regular appearance.
As we have said before, races cannot be won at the first corner or the first lap, the same goes for championship, there is a long, long way to go, and just as FP1 and FP3 were unrepresentative, so too is the entire Bahrain weekend.
Nonetheless, it can be a good barometer and, being the opening race, also important in establishing a certain order.
A lot has been said about the three rookies, with Oscar getting a hard time of it on social media last night, but let's leave them be. The season opener is hard enough as it is, without basing a potentially great driver's career hopes on a largely unrepresentative race.
That said, much like Fernando in the Minardi many, many, many moons ago, a great guitarist doesn't need a top of the range Strat or Les Paul, if the talent is there it will shine through.
In terms of strategy the race should be a two-stop race, as was the case in previous years. On paper, the fastest strategy is to start on soft and then move onto the hard. Depending on which tyres each driver has available, there's then the option to fit either another soft or another hard for the run to the flag. Finishing on the soft is theoretically a bit faster overall.
For those wanting to use mediums, a soft-medium-soft or soft-hard-medium run plan is another possibility; but these options are slower. The fierce abrasion of the asphalt makes a one-stopper extremely difficult due to the high levels of degradation.
It's worth noting that Charles has a fresh set of softs available having opted not to make a second run in Q3. The Monegasque has said that the reason to hold back is because Ferrari believes it is on the back foot on pace compared to Red Bull.
The pitlane opens and the drivers begin to head out. Zhou leads the way, followed by de Vries, Norris and Verstappen. An early lock-up and trip over the run-off for Albon.
As the pitlane closes, last to take their place on the grid is Stroll.
Air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 33 degrees. There is a 0% chance of rain.
All are starting on softs bar Magnussen who is on hards. As expected, Leclerc is on new softs, as are Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Tsunoda, Albon, Sargeant, Piastri, de Vries and Gasly.
Magnussen is told: "Don't be surprised if you hear me talking to you on the formation lap because I am allowed to do that now."
They head off on said formation lap. All get away without any issues. However, further around lap Stroll has a lock-up.
The grid forms.
They're away! A great start from Verstappen, as Perez move across to cover Leclerc, however this allows Sainz to pull level and as a result the Mexican moves across forcing the Spaniard wide. All of which gives Leclerc a free run to the first corner as Verstappen leads.
Hamilton is on the inside of Alonso in Turn 1 but the Aston Martin driver has the edge, behind Russell and Stroll are battling.
Heading into Turn 4 Hamilton gets through on the inside of Alonso, while the Spaniard is clipped at the rear by his teammate, all of which allows Russell through also.
"I've been hit," says Alonso, unaware that it was his - destined to be world champion - teammate.
At the end of lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Bottas, Stroll and Norris.
One of the Williams has shed a piece of bodywork and as a result the yellows are momentarily waved.
Worst start was Hulkenberg who has lost four places, Bottas has gained four.
After 4 laps, Verstappen leads Leclerc by 3.386s, with Perez a further 1.013s behind.
Stroll passes Bottas for 8th, the Finn attempts to retake the position but simply doesn't have the pace.
"I'm sliding more than I would like," admits Hulkenberg. Teammate Magnussen has dropped to twentieth on his hards.
Albon is eleventh, ahead of Norris and Sargeant.
Russell is 0.962s down on his Mercedes teammate, with Alonso 1.715s behind.
"I think I have a tear-off in my left sidepod," reports Tsunoda.
"Don't worry about the Astons," Bottas is told, "we need to do our race."
Perez is told that tyre degradation will soon allow his to reel in Leclerc.
"Is Lewis managing his tyres or struggling," asks Russell. "Struggling, struggling," he is told. Clearly the youngster, who subsequently runs wide in Turn 10, is getting impatient.
"Just remember to drink," Hamilton is told.
Alonso is closing in on Russell, indeed he is within DRS range, as Verstappen reports a "little bit of rear-locking" with his downshifts.
Gasly pits at the end of lap 9, emerging on hards in 20th.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Manama here.
As Alonso closes on Russell, the cameras cut to Piastri who has overtaken Hulkenberg for 13th.
Norris pits, the team appearing to do some work at the rear of the car during the stop.
At the end of lap 11 Bottas pits, as do Albon, Hulkenberg and de Vries.
Meanwhile the stewards have noted that Ocon was not in an "inaccurate grid position" at the start... 12 laps ago.
Hamilton pits at the end of lap 12, as Alonso and Stroll close on a struggling Russell.
On the run to Turn 4, Alonso and Russell are side-by-side. The Spaniard gets through, and though the Briton fights back it is to no avail.
Meanwhile Sargeant and Zhou have pitted.
Next time around Leclerc, Sainz and Russell all pit.
"I've lost the gearbox," reports Piastri who subsequently pits, having been told it's a steering wheel issue.
Verstappen pits at the end of lap 14, as does Alonso. Verstappen, sticking with softs, rejoins in 2nd and the Spaniard in 8th, ahead of Russell.
Ocon, currently 12th, gets a 5s time penalty for that "inaccurate grid position".
Piastri's race is over.
Stroll pits at the end of lap 15, the youngster rejoining in 9th as Magnussen and Ocon pit also.
Meanwhile, Russell posts a new fastest lap (37.460).
Bottas has a pair of impatient Aston Martins all over his exhaust. Alonso eventually make his way through.
At the end of lap 17, Perez pits as does Norris as McLaren's race goes from bad to worse. Perez rejoins on softs, while Albon and Sargeant are also on the red-banded rubber.
"Looks like he has some sort of electric issue," says Zak Brown of Piastri. "He had a gearbox related issue on track which I think is electronic related, we changed steering wheels but that has not done the trick so we will have to diagnose, but it appears to be electrical related. It's a pneumatic issue for Lando. We're monitoring that. We might have pit again."
Asked about the downshifts and rear-locking, Verstappen replies that it is "manageable".
Bottas is all over the rear of Stroll's car, as the stewards have noted that Ocon served his penalty incorrectly. "They are too fast on the straights," says the Finn, "I can't keep up."
After 21 laps, Verstappen leads Leclerc by 11s, with Perez 2.5s behind, 10s ahead of Sainz. Hamilton is fifth, ahead of Alonso, Russell and Stroll.
Seemingly, Alonso is still asking who hit him at the start and whether any action has been taken.
"You are quicker than everybody ahead of you up to P9," Magnussen is told, "so look after your tyres and play the long game."
At the back of the field, Ocon and Norris are battling.
Seemingly, Hulkenberg has "significant" wing damage which is costing him time.
Ocon gets another time penalty - 10s this time - for serving his 5s penalty incorrectly.
"They have more deg," says Alonso of Hamilton, "let's think how to use it, let's get closer and see what they do."
Perez makes a great move on Leclerc in Turn 1, the Ferrari driver comes back at him through Turns 2 and 3 but cannot match the Red Bull for pace.
Alonso is 1.699s down on Hamilton and closing. However, the Briton is advised that he has some of the best deg of the field and can ease up on the tyre management.
Albon, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg all pit at the end of lap 27, the German having a new nose fitted in the process.
Oh no, the stewards have noted that Ocon was speeding in the pitlane.
"My left-front is giving up a little bit," reports Verstappen.
Ocon gets a 5s penalty for speeding in the pitlane... and a further 15s for being French no doubt.
On fresh rubber and with a new nose, Hulkenberg posts a new fastest lap (36.981).
Norris makes his third stop of the afternoon.
Bottas pits at the end of lap 29, as does Magnussen, the pair rejoining in 11th and 16th respectively.
Told to "box", Hamilton insists that his tyres are "OK", nonetheless he pits, having been told that there is an "undercut threat". Stroll also stops.
At the rend of lap 31, Sainz and Russell both pit, rejoining in 5th (Sainz) and 7th, however on his 'cold' rubber the Briton is unable to hold off a charging Stroll.
Stroll posts a new fastest lap (36.546) as Zhou makes his second stop of the afternoon.
Leclerc pits at the end of lap 33 as Ocon serves his various penalties. Leclerc rejoins in 4th, 8.5s down on Alonso.
Perez pits at the end of lap the Mexican maintaining his second position. Alonso also pits, rejoining in 6th behind Hamilton.
Replay shows it wasn't the cleanest of stops for Perez.
Verstappen pits at the end of lap 36, rejoining still leading 24.910s later.
As he reels in Hamilton, Alonso posts a new fastest lap (36.156). He nails the Mercedes driver in Turn 1, but the Briton comes back at him and courtesy of a slippery rear end on the Aston, immediately retakes the position.
The pair continue to fight and Alonso eventually goes through on the inside in Turn 10.
Brilliant stuff.
"Yep, let's go," says the Spaniard.
"We've had two strikes," Norris is warned in terms of track limits. "We must not get a penalty for this event, will explain later."
Oh no, Leclerc is slowing.
"No, no, no... guys, no power, no power," he reports.
The VSC is deployed.
Tsunoda, Sargeant, Gasly, Magnussen and Hulkenberg all pit. Strangely, AlphaTauri opts not to pit de Vries.
The VSC is withdrawn, and after 41 laps, Verstappen leads Perez by 9.996s, with Sainz 22.3s behind, just 1.981s ahead of his countryman, a certain Mr Alonso.
Tsunoda, de Vries and Zhou in a great scrap for 11th.
On his fresh rubber, Gasly posts a new fastest lap (35.068).
Alonso is hard on the heels of Sainz.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Manama here.
"Try to protect," Sainz is told. "If I push I might not =make it to the end." Comes the response.
Alonso makes his move, they almost clash as the AMR23 is sliding, on the back straight, on the run to Turn 11, the Aston Martin driver wins the drag race.
"Yes, bye-bye," says Alonso. "He touched me," claims Sainz, who has now fallen into the clutches of Hamilton.
Unsurprisingly, Ocon has called it a day and retired.
With 10 laps remaining, it's: Verstappen, Perez (+ 10.2s), Alonso (+ 26s), Sainz (+ 3s), Hamilton (+ 0.5s), Stroll, (+ 5.5s), Russell (+ 2s), Bottas (+ 15s), Gasly (+ 8s) and Albon (+ 9s).
On lap 48, Norris makes his 4th stop of the afternoon.
"We are ok on fuel and all these things," asks Alonso, who is assured that "everything is great".
Hulkenberg gets the black and white flag for track limits misdemeanours.
Magnussen and de Vries both lock-up heading in to Turn 1 as they battle for 14th.
"This is a lovely car to drive," says Alonso, as Norris, currently 17th and last, goes quickest in S2.
Sniffing a possible point, Tsunoda is all over Albon.
Hulkenberg gets a 5s time penalty for track limit violations, as Norris is shown the black and white flag for similar naughtiness.
"Will Lance catch them," asks Alonso. Told that he won't, the Spaniard says "still amazing" referring to his teammate's injuries.
Verstappen begins the final lap, 11.8s clear of his teammate, as Norris is warned that he must not get any more warnings.
Verstappen takes the flag, getting his season off to the best possible start.
While Perez claims second, all eyes are on third man Alonso, as Zhou claims fastest lap (33.996).
Despite the fact that for Max and Red Bull this was an afternoon stroll - no pun intended - it is clear that we could be in for some entertaining afternoons in the months ahead.
Clearly it is not only Mercedes (and McLaren) that has work to do, with Ferrari starting its season in the worst possible way.
Points for Alfa Romeo, Alpine and Williams is a great way to start the year, while Haas looks capable of mixing it over the coming months.
However, the star has to be Alonso, who has claimed a fabulous podium, the Spaniard, having been something he has always asked for, the right equipment, keeping his end of the deal.
The post-race celebrations are markedly different, while at Red Bull it is polite and almost business-like, at Aston Martin it is party time.
"First of all congrats to Lance, my team mate," says Alonso, "surgery 12 days ago and now he's fighting with everyone.
"Finishing on the podium, second best car in race one, it's just unreal," he grins.
"It's a great start," says Perez, "when we look at last year how we started here, it's a great comeback.
"I think today, that start put me out of contention for the race but it was all about minimising the damage so second is good.
"I feel comfortable with the car, we have a strong package," he adds in a masterpiece of understatement.
"You never really know what will happen later on in the race," admits Verstappen, "so very happy to finally win here in Bahrain.
"I think we have a good race package, we can definitely fight with this so a big thank you to the team."
"There was not a single positive thing we can take from this race," admits Toto Wolff. "We're lacking pace. The drivers have to push and that's hurting the tyres.
"Red Bull is on another planet," he adds. "Aston Martin has the 2nd quickest car. It was a real wake-up call for us."
Somewhere, one can almost hear Christian Horner chuckling, as he says... "Well, fix the f****** car then!"
Check out our Sunday gallery from Manama here.