Red Bull gave the first blow in Formula 1 and Fernando Alonso entered the fight of those from above in Bahrain

The 2023 season of Formula 1 with qualification for Bahrain Grand Prixwhere the pilots of Red Bull first they touched the table: the Dutch Max Verstappen stayed with the pole position and his companion, the Mexican Sergio Czech Perezwas in second place for the first date of a championship which begins this Sunday.

After a few free practice sessions during which Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) had surprised the double world champion with the best times Verstappen brings out its hierarchy with a time of 1:29.708 which places him in front of the starting grid this Sunday with his teammate Czech Perezwho came second with a tenth.

The bone Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and of Carlos Sainz Jr. will occupy the second line in the circuit of Sakhirwhile Alonso completes the Top 5. The Monegasque driver of the Scuderia finished less than three tenths of Verstappen and the Madrid native was fourth 0.446 seconds of the best stopwatch. For his part, the Asturian has had a start to the year that looks very promising to fight in privileged positions.

The experienced Spaniard of 41 years got ahead of mercedes british george russell there Lewis Hamiltonwhich is a very positive sign for a campaign in which it does not seem that Red Bull going to have overwhelming dominance despite starting in a great way in the qualifier. Bahrain.

Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes They will fight a great battle in the race this Sunday, with favoritism for Max Verstappen who reached his 21st pole position as a pilot of the highest category and with 25 years aspires to have another triumphant season to add a new title.

The bone Ferrari They didn’t have such good feelings because the Q1 started with problems for their cars. Charles Leclerc suffered the loss of some front parts of his vehicle and, while the pilots waited in boxes so that the track is cleaned, carlos sainz He also let his team know that he had some issues but they were resolved at the time and the Spaniard even kept the Q1.

sainz ceded its management to Leclerc in stage two of qualifying but tire degradation ended up taking its toll on the men The prancing horse. Finally, in the Q3 appeared Max Verstappen seconded by Checo Perez to give the Austrian team a good start to the year in competition.

F1 CLASSIFICATION FOR BAHRAIN GP

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:29.708.

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 1:29.846.

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:30,000.

4. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari) 1:30.154.

5. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1:30.336.

6. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:30.340.

7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:30.384.

8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:30.836.

9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 1:30.984.

10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) 1:31.055.

11. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:31.381.

12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 1:31.443.

13. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) 1:31.473.

14. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) 1:32.510.

15. Alexander Albon (Williams) 1:31.652.

16. Logan Sargeant (Williams) 1:31.652.

17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:31.892.

18. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:32.101.

19. Nyck De Vries (Alpha Tauri) 1:32.121.

20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1:32.181

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