Mad Max’ huge statement in Bahrain blitz as Piastri dealt brutal blow in luckless F1 debut

Max Verstappen beamed with relief on Sunday after claiming a long-awaited season-opening win and leading Sergio Perez home in a Red Bull one-two at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The win was also his first at Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit at the 10th attempt and the 36th of his career, cementing his status as a strong favourite to secure a third consecutive drivers’ crown this year.

Red Bull had not won in Bahrain since 2013, when Sebastian Vettel triumphed on his way to his fourth drivers’ title.

“I’m very happy to finally win a race here in Bahrain,” said Verstappen, a 25-year-old Dutchman. “We have a very good race package. We can definitely fight with this car and a big ‘thank you’ to the team for such a quick race car again.”

Behind the dominant Red Bulls, two-time champion Fernando Alonso made the most of Charles Leclerc retiring his Ferrari with power failure to charge through in his Aston Martin and seize his first podium finish since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, when the Spaniard was with Ferrari.

Verstappen’s success reversed Red Bull’s misfortune in 2022 when they suffered two retirements and Ferrari came home first and second.

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen reacts as he exits his car after winning the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on March 5, 2023. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)Source: AFP

“It was a very, very good first stint where I made my gap,” said Verstappen. “From there, it was all about looking after my tyres.

“You never know what’s going to happen later on in the races so we just wanted to make sure we had the right tyres and in good condition as well.” “I had nothing to worry me, or nothing big, just little things you want to fine-tune that are easy to get on top of.

The next race is in Saudi Arabia on March 19.

“Jeddah is a very different track. Our pace will depend now race to race,” said Verstappen His team-mate was happy too.

“It’s a great start. When we look back at last year and how we started here...It’s really nice,” Perez said. “It’s a nice comeback as a team. We worked really hard over the winter so it’s great to see all the boys enjoying the first race.

“We have a strong package so it was important today to get both cars to the end.” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the team had biased their pre-race preparations towards long-run performance instead of pure speed in practice and qualifying.

“We are delighted. It was as good as it could be for us,” he said.

It was a frustrating debut for Australian Oscar Piastri who was unable to finish due to a mechanical failure.

Piastri made a strong start, making up three places, before the issue struck.

He was called into the pits on lap 15, with his team telling him they would have to change his steering wheel.

Piastri had to turn off his car for the steering wheel change but his McLaren wouldn’t restart and he was forced to retire from the race.

“I lost the gear box,” a glum Piastri was heard telling McLaren over team radio.

“The engine was completely dead,” Sky Sports commentator Ted Kravitz said.

“I guess he had to turn it off before he came into box but now he’s shaking his head and what a miserable start.

“We’re all expecting him to have a stellar Grand Prix career but this is not the first Grand Prix he wanted. He’s shaking his head.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “Looks like he has some sort of electrical issue, gearbox related issue on track, which I think was electronic related.

“We changed steering wheels but that doesn’t seem to have done the trick so we’ll have to diagnose what it is.”

The opening race of the season was an utter disaster for McLaren, with Lando Norris finishing 17th — the last of the drivers who completed the race.

Norris had mechanical issues of his own and had to do six pit stops in an attempt to fix engine problems.

Finishing order

1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1hr 33min 56.736sec,

2. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) at 11.987,

3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 38.637,

4. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 48.052,

5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 50.977,

6. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 54.502,

7. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 55.873,

8. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo) 1:12.647,

9. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:13.753,

10. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:29.774,

11. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:30.870,

12. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap,

13. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap,

14. Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1 lap,

15. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap,

16. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 1 lap,

17. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 2 laps

Best lap: Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:35.068 on 43rd lap (average: 204.940 km/h)

Did not finish: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 16th lap, Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 41st lap, Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 46th lapafp