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Author: INDIAinF1 Desk
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Alonso powers Aston Martin to a podium; Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2
Max Verstappen dominated the opening round of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, cruising to victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix as Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez sealed a 1-2 finish for Red Bull and Fernando Alonso claimed his first podium as an Aston Martin driver. There was disappointment for Ferrari, though, as Charles Leclerc retired from the race with an engine issue.
At the start of the race, Verstappen got away well and took the lead. Alongside him on the front row, team-mate Pérez bogged down and the Mexican driver was swamped from row two by Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Leclerc got past into Turn 1 but Pérez resisted the assault of Sainz and settled into third place ahead of the Spanish driver and the fifth-placed Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Behind the top five, Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth but the Aston Martin pair of Alonso and Lance Stroll clashed in Turn 4. Alonso managed to hold on to seventh but Stroll dropped back to ninth behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas after getting a late-braking move wrong.
At the front, Verstappen quickly began to pull away from the field and by the start of lap 10 the world champion was a full seven seconds clear of Leclerc.
Leclerc was the first of the leaders to pit, with the Ferrari driver taking on hard compound tyres on lap 14. Sainz followed his team-mate immediately and they rejoined the race in P5 and P6 respectively.
Versatppen was called in a lap later and when he stopped for a set of soft tyres he ceded the lead to Pérez. The Mexican then made his first stop of the race on lap 17. Like his team-mate, the Mexican bolted on another set of soft tyres and as Verstappen retook the lead, Pérez slotted into third place behind Leclerc.
Pérez then began to hunt down the Ferrari ahead, and on lap 25 he closed within DRS range. He quickly went on the attack and powered past the Monegasque driver under braking into Turn 1 to take P2.
At the front, Verstappen was in cruise control and after moving to hard tyres in the final round of pit stops he emerged over 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who after his final stop, had pulled out his own 11-second gap to Leclerc.
The major battle was now between Alonso and Hamilton and on lap 39 the Spaniard made a superb move past the seven-time champion into Turn 10 to steal fifth place. The Aston Martin driver then began to chase down Sainz.
What looked like a stable podium order then changed on lap 40 when Leclerc suffered an engine issue. The Ferrari driver pulled over at the side of the track and was forced to retire, meaning that, under the Virtual Safety Car, Sainz inherited third place, just 2.5s clear of Alonso. On lap 43 that gap shrunk to under a second and three laps later, after a bruising sequence of corners, he powered past his compatriot in Turn 11.
At the front, the Red Bull pair were in complete control, exemplified by Pérez’s race engineer Hugh Bird telling his driver “there’s no pressure from behind, just stroke it home”.
And after 57 laps the defending champions did just that. Verstappen took the flag comfortably ahead of his team-mate to seal the first Bahrain GP win of his career and 12 seconds later Pérez sealed Red Bull first one-two finish at the Bahrain International circuit and his 27th career podium finish. Verstappen’s dominance was driven home by the 38.6-second advantage he had over third-placed Alonso who gave Aston Martin its first podium place since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel finished second.
Behind the top three, Sainz held onto fourth place ahead of Hamilton, while Stroll climbed back to a creditable sixth place to complete a good day for his team. Russell finished seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Bottas, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly put in a super drive from the back of the grid to take two points for ninth place. The final point on offer went to Williams’ Alex Albon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:33’56.736
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 57 1:34’08.723 11.987
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:34’35.373 38.637
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:34’44.788 48.052
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:34’47.713 50.977
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:34’51.238 54.502
7 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:34’52.609 55.873
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 57 1:35’09.383 1’12.647
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 57 1:35’10.489 1’13.753
10 Alexander Albon Williams 57 1:35’26.510 1’29.774
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 57 1:35’27.606 1’30.870
12 Logan Sargeant Williams 56 1:33’57.872 1 lap /1.136
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 56 1:34’13.493 1 lap /16.757
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 56 1:34’19.259 1 lap /22.523
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 56 1:34’35.647 1 lap /38.911
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 56 1:34’36.385 1 lap /39.649
17 Lando Norris McLaren 55 1:34’03.372 2 laps /6.636
Esteban Ocon Alpine 41 1:10’19.566 Retirement
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 39 1:04’46.118 Power Unit
Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 13 22’22.585 Retirement -
Late heart-brake for Kush Maini, after stunning debut
Sakhir, 5 March 2023: Indian racing star Kush Maini made a stunning debut in the F2 Feature Race but after a strong performance, the Bengaluru driver was forced to concede a podium place into the first corner of the last lap in the FIA Formula 2 World Championship first round here on Sunday.
The other Indian Jehan Daruvala could not get a desired result as he suffered a five-second penalty and finished 17 after running in top-10 for sometime.
Ralph Boschung secured his second podium of the weekend after winning the Sprint Race for Campos Racing. Zane Maloney pulled off a stunning drive, rising from 18th on the grid to take the final podium spot in what was an overtake-filled Feature Race in Bahrain.
AS IT HAPPENED
Pole man Pourchaire got a clean launch to retain the lead while teammate Victor Martins slipped down to fourth by Turn 1. Kush Maini got a great start and climbed to second from sixth on the grid into the first corner.
Up at Turn 4, push came to shove as Richard Verschoor was tapped into a spin as the field bunched up for the right-hander. Roman Stanek, Victor Martins and Frederik Vesti were all involved, and the trio were left out of the running as a result. Verschoor got going again but was last as the Safety Car was deployed. Oliver Bearman profited massively, avoiding the chaos and reaching fourth having been P12 on the grid.
Racing resumed on Lap 4 and Pourchaire moved clear once again ahead of Maini, Ralph Boschung and Bearman. Campos Racing opted to split its strategy with Boschung on softs and he put a move on the hard-shod Maini at Turn 1 to take second from his teammate.
The first pitstops were made on Lap 11. Arthur Leclerc pitted from 10th and was followed in by Jack Doohan and Jehan Daruvala just behind him. All three switched from the hard compound to softs and rejoined 15th, 16th and 17th following their early stops.
Fifth-placed Bearman, Ayumu Iwasa and Fittipaldi responded on the following lap. The PREMA Racing driver came out alongside Leclerc, getting his elbows out to keep the Monégasque behind. Pourchaire and Maini were the next in, but Bearman and Leclerc were able to clear the Indian driver with their rubber up to temperature.
Boschung inherited the lead until Lap 14, when he was in for his mandatory pitstop. The Campos driver came out between Pourchaire and Bearman, fourth on the road. Leclerc fought back against Bearman on Lap 16, making a late dive down the inside at Turn 1 to take fifth from the Briton. Maini followed through later on the same lap with DRS at Turn 11.
At the halfway point, Pourchaire led the pack by twelve seconds from Boschung, Leclerc, Maini and Bearman. Leclerc was under pressure from Maini which told on Lap 19. The DAMS driver went deep under braking for Turn 10, giving Maini the momentum on the subsequent DRS straight to take third. Bearman and Iwasa piled on the pain, relegating Leclerc to 6th on Lap 20.
Rodin Carlin teammates Fittipaldi and Maloney went wheel-to-wheel on Lap 22. The Barbadian driver took 8th into Turn 6, setting off in pursuit of a recovering Jack Doohan ahead. It didn’t take him long to get by, surging around the outside of the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver at Turn 4 on Lap 24.
Fittipaldi was through on the next lap courtesy of a lock-up by the Australian. Up ahead, Leclerc was defending hard from Maloney, and the Rodin Carlin driver forced a lock-up from Leclerc, moving through for sixth.
Maloney was full of confidence and put a move on Iwasa at Turn 11 on Lap 26, looking comfortable on his softs as the grip levels began to fall away for others. He took fourth from Bearman on Lap 27.
Having been last on the opening lap after his spin, Verschoor moved back up into the points on Lap 29, clearing Hadjar at Turn 2. Leclerc continued his recovery after the earlier lock-up, passing Bearman with three laps to go.
Iwasa relegated the PREMA driver to 7th at Turn 1 while Verschoor snuck his way through on Fittipaldi in the same corner. The Van Amersfoort Racing man was down the inside of Bearman at Turn 8 to continue his recovery drive. Iwasa was next, through at Turn 1 on the final lap. Up ahead, Maloney caught Maini and, with DRS down the main straight, claimed P3 after starting 18th.
Bearman fought tooth and nail to keep a five-car train behind him but ultimately ran out of rubber on the final lap. A lock-up at the final corner left him off track and out of the points.
Pourchaire went untroubled to win by 19 seconds from Boschung, who claimed back-to-back podiums in Sakhir. Maloney’s heroic drive was rewarded with third.
Verschoor moved past Leclerc on the final lap to secure a P5 finish along with taking the fastest lap. Hadjar passed Iwasa at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap to take seventh. Fittipaldi and Juan Manuel Correa completed the top 10.
KEY QUOTE – Théo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix
“An amazing way to start the season by winning the first Feature Race of the year. It’s been an amazing weekend. After putting the car on pole by seven-and-a-half tenths, which was surprising but I was quick, we won the Feature Race. I have to give credit and thanks to my team, ART Grand Prix, and the Sauber Academy as well. Without them, I wouldn’t be driving. Let’s focus on the rest of the year, there’s still 13 rounds to go.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
Pourchaire takes the lead of the Drivers’ Standings on 32 points to kick off his season. Boschung is close behind in second on 28 with Maloney third following his Feature Race exploits on 15.
Campos Racing lead the way in the Teams’ Standings after a great weekend for the team. Their 42-point total is closely followed up by ART Grand Prix, second on 38 after Pourchaire’s Feature Race win.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Formula 2 heads the Jeddah for Round 2 of the 2023 season from 17-19 March. The track has undergone several changes for the latest edition. Who will master the fastest street circuit in the world?
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Indian reporter Niharika raises spotlight on Aston Martin at Bahrain FIA press meet
The following drivers attended the post-qualifying session FIA Press Conference for the Bahrain GP, the first round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. 1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), 2. Sergio Perez (Red Bulll Racing), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
At the start of the season Aston Martin has been looking good and the experienced Indian F1 reporter in Bahrain asked the three drivers present to give their views on it.
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) From the data in the last two days, where do you think Aston Martin fits in because they were already looking good FP1 to FP3? And do you see the field bunching up more after the first three tracks, which are very different in characteristics?
CL: Oh, they’ve shown a very promising race pace in FP2, but again, FP2, it’s very difficult to judge because you don’t know the fuel level they had in the car. But I think they will be strong in the race, probably quicker than what they’ve shown in qualifying, even though they were pretty close. But yeah, let’s wait and see tomorrow.
MV: Yeah, for sure, they look very competitive. And I think already not only this year but last year. Their car was maybe not that amazing but I think in race pace, they were always quite strong compared to their competitors. So they probably took that also into this year. So for sure, they will be very competitive in the race, but a bit difficult to tell. But again, like I said before, a lot of things can happen throughout the race, with certain safety car moments or whatever, you need to make the right calls at the right time as well. You don’t even need to have the fastest car then of course to win
SP: Well, they’ve been really strong, in the conditions yesterday, today so yeah, definitely expected them to be around us and obviously for tomorrow they will be a threat so it will be very close battle I think with a few cars racing each other throughout the race and you know, if there is a safety car at the right time for you, then it can change the story with this track that is pretty high deg.
Earlier TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Charles, we saw you getting out of the car and we suddenly thought, is there an issue with the Ferrari but it’s strategic?
Charles LECLERC: No, there wasn’t any issue. I think we were in a fight for pole, which was a good surprise, to be honest, because I did not expect that after testing and after the free practices that were a little bit difficult. We managed to find that pace for the quali lap, which was great. However, we need to keep in our mind that in the race run we seem to be a little bit on the back foot compared to Red Bull. And I think we are in a better place starting third with new tyres than starting first with old, or a bit further up [than third]. I don’t know if we will have gotten pole or not. But it would have been close.
Q: Now you were the pole king last year. That session, though, as we were watching the times being traded between yourselves, the Red Bull, the Aston Martin or Fernando, it seems a lot tighter. It’s certainly a lot tighter than what the pre-season testing had predicted.
CL: Yes. I hope it will also be like that on the race runs. But yeah, it was very, very close actually. Aston Martin was really quick. Mercedes, also, was really quick at some points of the qualifying. And we are much closer than what we expected, which is looking good for the future. I think it makes Formula 1 more exciting. So I’m looking forward to the rest of the races.
Q: There’s a glint in your eye. Do you have a feeling about tomorrow?
CL: Well, again, let’s say that in the race run we seem to have a bit of a weakness for now. Having a new tyre will help us tomorrow. But I don’t know how much the picture will change with that. But it’s going in the right direction at least.
Q: Well done. Thank you, a top-three finish. We’re going to hear now from Checo Pérez. Checo, pretty tight there with Max, just a tenth between you. It’s been tight all weekend. How was your lap? Did you leave anything behind?
Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, I mean, it has been a really tight qualifying. I don’t remember such a tight qualifying battle from Q1 to Q2, you know, the competition it’s really marginal. So you cannot leave anything on the table to maximise your grid position. In the end I wasn’t totally comfortable with the balance. I believe, certainly, that you can always improve a tenth on your lap. But I think to get this start for the team is really special.
Q: You say you’re not comfortable with the balance. This is all about one-lap performance. Of course, the race tomorrow it’s about those long runs. Do you think the balance will be more suited to the race run for you?
SP: Yeah, if anything, we prepared much more to do the race. You know, we have more of a Sunday race car at the moment underneath us. We knew we had to do some compromises for quali, which we ended up doing. They were not ideal, but hopefully tomorrow it pays out and we can have a very strong race car.
Q: Well, that’s ominous for your competition to know that was a compromised qualifying car. And you’ve just put it in P2! Congratulations. Thank you. And now it’s time to hear from our pole position man. Max, congratulations, your 21st pole position on your father’s 51st birthday. So that’s a good father’s present.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah. I hope he was watching. I’m pretty sure he was watching. But yeah, I think it’s been a bit of a tough start to the weekend yesterday and today, not really finding my rhythm. But luckily, in qualifying, I think we managed to put the best pieces together. And, of course, very happy to be on pole, and for the whole team, coming off of last year and again having such a strong car with Checo up there as well. Yeah, it’s amazing. And I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
Q: Put us in the cockpit. There’s been some minor changes to the floor heights, minor changes to the construction of the Pirelli tyre. How does the car feel relative to the first evolution, year one of this regulation?
MV: Well, I think compared to last year everyone knows a bit more what they’re doing with the car. So naturally, I think you already start off better and more competitive. And then, yeah, the changes I think slowed down the car bit, but we are still going faster. So that’s of course a great thing to see. And I think again, you know, throughout the year, you will see that everyone is increasing their performance again, a lot and that’s the beautiful thing about Formula 1.
Q: Did you honestly expect it to be so tight? You know, the gap to Ferrari. Fernando Alonso was not that far away as well.
MV: I was actually positively surprised being on pole after the struggles I had in practice. So that’s positive and normally our race car is better. So let’s see.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max, this was the moment of truth and you’ve continued where you left off last year. How happy does this make you?
MV: I’m particularly happy because my whole weekend up until qualifying was very difficult. I couldn’t really find the comfortable balance I had in testing and I was just struggling a lot to just get the car together, really. I went into Q1 and everything already felt a bit better, but it was still not, let’s say, perfect. So yeah, I’m very happy then in Q3 that we could put these laps in. I still think it’s not perfect, but in a better direction. So, for sure, for the next race we will have to analyse a bit why from the test to the race weekend it’s so different for us, and also for me driving wise. But nevertheless, we are sitting here with two cars. So coming off last year I think this is again a very strong start for us. So yeah, very happy with that.
Q: How much have you had to change the car this weekend?
MV: A lot. I went left and right and back to the middle and found a bit of a compromise. So that’s a bit unusual that you make such big changes. But, like I said, luckily in qualifying that’s probably the best balance I’ve had throughout the weekend so far.
Q: Given those struggles, how good was that final lap in Q3?
MV: Yeah, the laps were good. Yeah, you come out of qualifying and you always immediately analyse your lap, right? And yeah, overall, pretty pleased.
Q: So what about the race? How confident are you feeling in the long run?
MV: That should normally be our stronger point than the one-lap pace. So hopefully we can show that again tomorrow.
Q: Checo, coming to you now. This is Red Bull’s first front row start, here in Bahrain. So a great result for the team. Anything more to come from you in qualifying on that final lap?
SP: Just like Max said, you know, the balance has been really different from testing. We’ve done plenty of kilometres here but we came to the race weekend and we found a very different balance to testing. So, we’ve been working our way through, we’ve been making massive changes from one side to the other. I think in the end, we knew we had to compromise a bit the quali-pace for tomorrow’s race. So hopefully that will pay out tomorrow. Generally, I wasn’t that comfortable with my balance in Qualifying. But I think, as I progress, I was able to learn my way around the balance I had and get a good Q3 lap in the end, but not enough to beat Max.
Q: Checo, you talk about how the balance has changed from testing to this weekend. Can you just tell us a little bit more about that? What have been the struggles exactly?
SP: Well, I wouldn’t go too much in detail. It’s just that we found quite a different car to what we had in testing and we don’t understand what’s the reason behind it: could be wind; the relative temperature; many variants that I think after the weekend, we will have a bit more of an idea. But for now, we’ve got a focus for tomorrow.
Q: Is this the same car that you had in testing? Or has it got upgrades on it?
SP: As far as I know, it’s the same.
Q: Okay, looking ahead to tomorrow. Where do you see the main challenges coming from? Do you think Charles is going to be quick? Can you challenge Max for the win?
SP: Well, the Ferraris definitely picked up throughout. I think there were sandbagging a bit through the first days of testing and in during the weekend. They’re definitely there. They’re very strong. So, I will expect them to be in the fight for tomorrow’s race. And you can already see, you know, that it is not only Red Bull and Ferrari there are plenty of other teams that have joined the competition. So, I mean, if you don’t get a perfect lap in Q2, Q1, you really have to put more tyres on, so yeah, the competition has increased certain for this season.
Q: Charles, coming to you, Checo says you’ve been sandbagging until now. Is that the case?
CL: I don’t know. Definitely not as much as…
MV: Maybe you found a sandbag in the car?
CL: I didn’t find it myself. And I’m not aware of it. I mean, we found a lot of performance in Qualifying. But I mean, ‘a lot of performance’, we were in the fight, which is something that I probably did not expect. So, it’s a good surprise. To tell you where we found the performance, I’m not really sure, so we need to look into that. Because as much as we need to understand the bad days, I think we also need to understand the good days. That’s how we will improve but good that it’s like that. But we also need to be realistic. I mean, those guys, and also Aston Martin, seems to be really, really quick in the race. Which is why I think, we made that choice in Q3 to be willing to lose one or two positions at the start, but having new tyres to put all the chances on our side, which I’m sure is the right choice. But let’s see tomorrow.
Q: Look, if you had another go in Q3, do you think pole position would have been possible?
CL: I mean, I hate saying yes, it will have been or… I mean, it’s difficult to say but for sure, seeing the margin on the first set, I knew there was a bit of time to find. So, it will have been close.
Q: Just looking ahead to tomorrow, the long run pace of the car versus Red Bull. How do you see it?
CL: They are quick, they are really quick. Hopefully we have another good surprise tomorrow. Of course, for now, we don’t know in which conditions they were running in FP2 when they were doing the race simulations. Looking at FP2, they are very quick.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Charles. We saw that a small part of your car fell down on Q1. Do you think you missed some performance without it?
CL: I don’t think so. I haven’t seen the team but I was told on the radio that it was all fine.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Another question to Charles on the same topic, please. What was the part that fell off? And what did they feel like when you braked for Turn One because we saw you locking up? Was it a result of that?
CL: The part I honestly don’t know. Because I haven’t seen any images of it whatsoever.
MV: It was the sandbag.
CL: Yeah, probably! But the lock-up I think was just me being too optimistic in braking for Turn One. I don’t think it’s… I mean, I didn’t feel anything particularly weird.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, you said in the TV interview before coming here that it was a positive surprise to get pole. What’s your reasoning behind that? Were you surprised because the other teams were so close? And it was a tough fight? Or was it more of a surprise that you got the most out of the car given the balance issues you discussed?
MV: Yeah, I mean, after testing I was very happy and then then I jumped in the car in FP1 and it was a big shock. I just couldn’t get the balance right through all the practice sessions. And that’s why I think what we achieved in qualifying was very good. I mean, qualifying to race is anyway a different car in terms of how it behaves, but you still want to be quick over one lap and that was a big struggle for me. Yeah, we just need to analyse everything what got onto the car for the race weekend, even if it’s the same part but new, just to check everything for next weekend again.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question first part for you Charles: would you be happy with P3 tomorrow? And for the Red Bull drivers, who do you think is your main competitor in the race?
CL: No, I think we are only happy if we win. But again, realistically, they seem to be very, very quick. So I think in those weekends where we are a little bit underneath, that’s exactly those weekend that we need to maximise and, and try to get what we can in terms of points. So yeah, if a win is possible tomorrow, I will go for it. If not, we’ll try and get the maximum points.
MV: They are all very close to us. Of course, we have shown really good race pace but we still need to show that tomorrow, and a lot of things can happen also during a race, which sometimes is not in your control. So yeah, we just, of course, need to focus on ourselves and try to do the best we can. And hopefully no crazy things will happen.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Max but the other two can add if the if they want to. Are you surprised that the field as a whole seems to be much closer this year? The gap between you and Nick in P19 in Q1 was only 1.1s Are you surprised by that? And secondly, is it extra proof that the direction that F1 went in really pays off now?
MV: Not really a surprise. If you look at most of the cars, they all copied each other so everyone is getting smarter over the years anyway, with the same regulations. And if you see that one car, particularly, is doing quite well over a year, you’ll try to copy some things and that’s why of course, naturally everyone is getting closer and in general, of course, understanding the car bit better.
SP: Yeah, certainly the competition is a lot closer now. You can see it straight from Q1. You cannot do a mistake, even if you are in a top car. So yeah, that’s nice in a way. And it will only get closer as the season progresses. So we welcome the competition.
CL: Yeah, for the field closer, I will probably wait and see tomorrow so in the race pace, but in qualifying for sure, it seems that we are all closer, which I think is great. It’s more exciting and qualifying sessions like Q1 and Q2, which for us, for the top teams, whenever we had that big margin we could do a little bit of whatever we want. Now it seems to be a bit more on the limit so it’s nice.
Q: Checo, you know, a lot of a lot of the people in that team very well. You’ve been having a few chats? Got inside information?
SP: Yeah, they’re very good on tyres. I know John is really good guy, and they’re very good. They generally have been really strong. I think that’s one of the strongest points of them. They rely a lot on that. The way they operate when I was there, it was always biased to the race weekend so I think tomorrow we can expect a very strong Aston Martin.
Q: (Jeremy Satis – AutoHebdo) Charles, obviously race pace was a bit of a weakness compared to Ferrari last year for you. Are you optimistic that you made a step forward on this?
CL: Again, the goal is to always try and improve. I think we improved our process of… throughout the race trying to take care more of these tyres but if I look in FP2 we are still quite a bit slower than Red Bull in terms of pace and tyre degradation. So we still need to see tomorrow and see where we are exactly but if we focus on ourselves, yes, I feel like we have done a step forward but I’m not sure it’s enough.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) First to Charles and then to the two Red Bull drivers: Charles, can you please just explain what do you expect to gain by using that extra set of softs at the start tomorrow? Is it really going to be a big benefit does the team feel and again the Red Bull drivers, do you feel that potentially could be a threat at the start of the race tomorrow?
CL: Well, a bit more grip but yeah, I don’t know if it will be a game changer.
MV: Everyone said we don’t need an out lap so it should be okay.
Q: (Claire Cottingham – Racefans.net) There’s going to be a change to the qualifying format later this year, going to be tested at two races beginning at Imola in which you have to use hard tyres in Q1, medium tyres in Q2 and soft tyres in Q3. What differences if any will this make to how you approach the qualifying sessions? And would it have made much difference if that format had been in place today? Can I just get your thoughts on that?
MV: I hope it’s not going to be cold in Imola, otherwise it’s going to be quite tricky but yeah, it’s the same for everyone but I don’t think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying. I don’t really see the benefit of it. It’s better if we make sure that all the cars are close to each other and more competitive instead of spicing things up in that way, which I think is probably for the show.
SP: Yeah, just think it’s for the show. I think we don’t need that when you see the qualifying we had today, how close everything was. We do not really need to change anything. But we’ll see, we’ll see once we try it but I don’t think there’s a need to change something that is working well.
CL: Yeah, I don’t feel there was a need for change for that but let’s try and see.
Ends
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Max Verstappen on pole as Red Bull lockout front row: F1 season opener
Defending FIA Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took his first pole of 2023 with the quickest time in Qualifying for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez took second place to as Red Bull locked out the front row. Charles Leclerc took third place, though the Ferrari driver missed the final run of Q3 as he opted to save a set of tyres for the race.
At the start of Q1, Leclerc was one of the first to kick off a flying lap but as the Ferrari driver began his lap a piece of his right wheel brow broke off and then, as he locked up into Turn 1, a second element flew off the underside of his car.
With debris on the racing line, the session was red-flagged with four minutes on the clock.
Following an eight-minute delay, the session resumed and the Red Bulls were quickly on track, along with the rest of the field. Verstappen climbed to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.295, but the Dutchman was almost immediately eclipsed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and then by Leclerc. It was the Ferrari star’s team-mate Carlos Sainz who staked the biggest claim to top spot in the opening runs with the Ferrari driver taking P1 with a lap of 1:30.993.
In the final runs of the opening segment Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and William’s Alex Albon all jumped into the top 10 but despite their advances, Sainz took top spot from Russell and Leclerc.
There was no place in Q2, though, for Williams’ Logan Sargeant. The Williams rookie was eliminated in P16 ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who had his final time deleted for track limits in Turn 15.
In the opening runs of Q2, Verstappen took control, with the Dutchman taking P1 with a lap of 1:30.503, 0243s ahead of Pérez who slotted into P2. Verstappen’s lap left him 0.398s clear of third-placed Hamilton, with his Mercedes team-mate George Russell in fourth place ahead of Alonso and the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc.
Red Bull opted to keep its drivers in the garage for the final runs of Q2 and when the final times arrived, it was Leclerc who took top spot with a time of 1:30.282. Verstappen’s opening time was good enough to hold on to second place, while Russell took third ahead of Hamilton, Sainz and Alonso. That left Pérez with seventh place and the Q3 order was rounded out by Hulkenberg, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Stroll. Out went McLaren’s Lando Norris in P11, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunodo and 15th-placed Albion.
Verstappen again set the pace in the opening runs of the final segment. The Dutchman went purple in the first and final sectors to set a P1 time of 1:29.897, with Leclerc second on 1:30.000. Pérez slotted into third place, 0.234 off his team-mate, while Alonso took fourth place ahead of Russell.
Leclerc oddly opted to sit out the final runs, choosing instead to save a set of tyres for the race start, and that left the door open for Verstappen to stretch away from the field. The Dutchman obliged and thanks to a strong middle sector he found almost two tenths of a second to claim pole with a lap of 1:29.708. Pérez also found time to leapfrog Leclerc and take P2 to lock out the front row for tomorrow’s race.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:29.708
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:29.846 0.138
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.000 0.292
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.154 0.446
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:30.336 0.628
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.340 0.632
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.384 0.676
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:30.836 1.128
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:30.984 1.276
10 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:31.055 1.347
11 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.381 1.673
12 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:31.443 1.73
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:31.473 1.765
14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:32.51a0 2.802
15 Alexander Albon Williams – –
16 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:31.652 1.944
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.892 2.184
18 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32.101 2.393
19 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:32.121 2.413
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.181 2.473 -
Jehan Daruvala heads in another F2 season with high hopes, qualifies P11
Mumbai, 3 March 2023: Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala heads into this weekend’s Bahrain Formula 2 season-opener with high hopes as a last-ditch effort in his endeavours to enter F1. However, his opening day of the season saw him qualify in P11.
The other Indian racer in the F1, Kush Maini qualified P6 today.
Returning to the track where he scored his first-ever F2 win, the 24-year-old, who will race for reigning champions MP Motorsport this season, will be looking for a change in fortunes. He raced to victory in 2020 around the venue’s outer loop layout having already taken a third-place finish around the more traditional 5.4-km long configuration a week earlier.
Jehan followed that up with two second places in 2021 and last year. Heading into this weekend, he has his sights firmly set on extending that podium streak to kick off a campaign Jehan hopes will see him become the first Indian to win the F2 title.
Jehan said, “I can’t wait to go racing again. I enjoyed the break but now, batteries recharged, I am really excited about starting this new journey with MP Motorsport. We go into the weekend on the back of a strong, productive three days of testing. I’m feeling comfortable in the car, our long run pace looks good, which is always crucial around a track like Bahrain and I love racing around here. It’s a layout that suits my driving style and I’m optimistic we can come away with another strong result this weekend.”
Jehan DARUVALA, of MP Motorsport file photo of pre-season test at Sakhir. Photo by Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency Jehan has established himself as a front-runner in Formula 2 with a haul of four wins and 15 podiums over three seasons in the series. He is also eligible for a Formula One superlicence having successfully completed three F1 test sessions with former champions McLaren.
The 24-year-old is also a Formula E reserve for Indian manufacturer Mahindra Racing, a role he will combine with his F2 campaign.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, MP Motorsport last year became only the second team in Formula 2 history to achieve the title double. The outfit chalked up five races wins with championship winner Felipe Drugovich and also scored seven further podiums.
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Sergio Perez quickest in FP1: F1 Season Opener
Bahrain, 3 March 2023: Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez went quickest in first practice for the opening race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix, beating Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by almost half a second. Defending champion Max Verstappen finished in third place in the other Red Bull car.
Pérez staked his claim to P1 early in the session, posting a time of 1:35.069 before Alonso bypassed that as Verstappen joined the fray with a third-place time almost four tenths shy of his team-mate’s.
Alonso held sway for the first 10 minutes of running before Pérez once again moved ahead with a lap of 1:34.343.
But as the session headed for its half way point, the Mexican driver bolted on a set of soft tyres and posted a lap of 1:32.758 to put some distance between himself and his rivals. Verstappen followed soon after, but the defending champion was only to get to a time just over six tenths off the pace set by Pérez.
McLaren’s Lando Norris then moved to third place on soft tyres, though the Briton was 1.4s down on Pérez’s benchmark, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made his way to fourth place.
Both were demoted, though, when Alonso moved to soft tyres and he set a time of 1:33.196 to take P3 0.438s off Pérez.
With Leclerc fifth, sixth place went to Lance Stroll who was at the wheel of the Aston Martin AMR23 for the first time after suffering hand injuries in a pre-season bicycle accident. The Canadian worked his way into the session slowly but eventually made his way to 1:34.298 a tenth of a second ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Zhou Guanyu was eighth quickest for Alfa Romeo with team-mate Valtteri Bottas just behind.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10 order with team-mate George Russell in P11 though either attempted a soft tyre run in the session
New-season rookie Oscar Piastri was 12th for McLaren ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, while F1 returnee Nico Hülkenberg was 14th for Haas. Esteban Ocon took 15th place of Alpine ahead of full-season rookie Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly finished in P17 ahead of new Williams recruit Logan Sargeant, who beat team-mate Alex Albon. The timesheet was propped up by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.758 21 210.043
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:33.196 0.438 22 209.056
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:33.375 0.617 21 208.655
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:34.165 1.407 21 206.904
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.257 1.499 17 206.702
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:34.298 1.540 17 206.613
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:34.402 1.644 20 206.385
8 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.575 1.817 18 206.007
9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.689 1.931 20 205.759
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.917 2.159 13 205.265
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:34.966 2.208 20 205.159
12 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:34.997 2.239 24 205.092
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1:35.015 2.257 20 205.053
14 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:35.043 2.285 22 204.993
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:35.105 2.347 20 204.859
16 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1:35.402 2.644 25 204.222
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:35.455 2.697 22 204.108
18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:35.749 2.991 24 203.482
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:36.018 3.260 15 202.911
20 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:36.072 3.314 21 202.797 -
Ashish finishes despite fumes in fuel tank and an airbag pop-out!
Qsar Al Sarab (Abu Dhabi), 27 Feb 2023: Pune mariner Ashish Raorane, the lone Indian rider at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge overcame all odds in the first stage to post a creditable time of 1hour, 17min, 44seconds for the 404 km stage of the day between Al Dhannah city and Qasr Al Sarab in the Liwa desert that also included a first liaison of 59 km here on Monday.
The Indian finished Stage 1 in a hard-fought 10th place in his Rally2 class and was 23rd Overall after starting from P24 despite all the hiccups on Day 1 as he completed 242 km of timed run. Meanwhile, the Hero MotoSports Rally team Ross Branch finished overall fourth, a mere three seconds behind Toby Price. Branch finished third but after the route openers bonuses were added, he dropped to fourth.
Starting 24th, Ashish, the fifth Dakar athlete from India, began the day well but after about 100km suffered a jolt when he lost his front petrol tank. due to a broken fuel hose and was forced to slow down with a view to complete the remaining distance of about 140km of competitive run. But at the 192km-mark, the Indian faced another bombarding shock of a hard landing that opened up his airbags. Undaunted, the rally-raid athlete supported by Rynox gears, Dosmoto design, Gaerne and Lazyass Bikers continued his Day 1 sojourn and completed the Stage 1 of 242 km that was timed between Ghiyathi, which included some steep drops amidst the vast and daunting dunes, and the finish was judged near Tal Mor’eb. Later, he had to do a 103-km liaison, to joine the bivouac in the middle of the dunes.
“The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is living up to its name from the word go. The 242km of sand and dunes with some really hard to spot drop-offs saw many riders run out of fuel. The fuel-range anxiety was real today. After I lost my front fuel tank at around 204-km mark, I eased up and made the 192-km refueling mark on fumes in the rear fuel tank. Also the air bag getting deployed during the hard landing was a shocker which I was not expecting. Overall, it was a great physically demanding day on the bike,” said Ashish Raorane, the fifth Indian who gained the Dakar experience. He will be qualifying for the Dakar 2024 with this ADDC.
Tomorrow, the Stage distance would be 257 km and the transport section would be about 108 km.
Ashish Raorane Parters: Spares & Accessories partner: MotoUsher (Insta – @motousher)
Technical partner: Slipstream Performance (Insta – @slipstreamperformance)Key points of the Rally:
· The winners of the prologue in the car and motorbike categories successfully navigated the first stage of the ADDC, held on a never-seen-before course, and stayed in control of the race following the opener.
· Toyota dominated the car stage, with Nasser Al Attiyah preceding Yazeed Al Rajhi and Henk Lategan. Meanwhile, at BRX, Sébastien Loeb failed to finish the special due to a mechanical and Guerlain Chicherit withdrew from the race after falling ill in the dunes.
· Just like yesterday, Pablo Quintanilla prevailed over Adrien Van Beveren in the motorbike stage. The two Honda riders continue to top the leader board, with Toby Price third overall.
FIA: AL ATTIYAH LAYS DOWN A MARKER
Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) was probably braced for a fierce competition with his main rivals for the championship. The overall leader, Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme), ground down to a standstill with coolant hose issues a mere 39 kilometres into the race. His subsequent withdrawal from the race spells the end of his ADDC title challenge and echoed his nightmare from last year, when he also had to throw in the towel on day one. However, this time round, his Qatari rival was not kind enough to follow him down the boulevard of broken dreams! Instead, Guerlain Chicherit, the other Prodrive entrant, who had been close behind the factory Hilux at the first checkpoint, also ran into serious trouble. The Frenchman had to stop several times following a bout of “sea sickness”… in a sea of dunes. In the end, he decided to quit the race despite finishing the stage in third place overall. Toyota scored a clean sweep, with the three Hilux drivers, Nasser Al Attiyah, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Henk Lategan, hogging the top 3 in the stage and the general standings. In the T3 category, Seth Quintero (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA) outgunned his teammate Austin Jones. The world championship leader produced a gutsy ride to take the runner-up’s spot. Although there were valuable points on the line, the American rushed to the aid of his teammate Cristina Gutiérrez (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) without thinking twice after she ran out of fuel. Mattias Ekström, who held second place in the category for much of the stage, shared the Spaniard’s fate. Meanwhile, Rokas Baciuška (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) grabbed the T4 stage. Pau Navarro (FN Speed), who came in just over 5 minutes behind the stage winner and provisional leader, is shaping up to be his arch-rival in this round.
FIM: HONDA TIGHTEN THEIR GRIP
Pablo Quintanilla and his teammate Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), the fastest men in yesterday’s prologue, were untouchable again today. The Chilean bagged the special with two minutes to spare over the Frenchman, with Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) in third place at 3′14″ down. Another Honda rider, “Nacho” Cornejo, posted the fourth fastest time at 4′16″. Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came in fifth at 4′37″. In the general standings following stage 1, adding the times in today’s special to those in the prologue, which were multiplied by a coefficient of 8 in accordance with the championship rules, Quintanilla is 2′16″ ahead of “VBA” and 5′17″ clear of Price. Branch is fourth, a meagre 3 seconds behind the factory KTM rider. In the Rally2 competition, Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) took over the reins of the race from Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Diverse Racing), 5 minutes back today. The Pole is still within 2 minutes of the Italian in the rankings. Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) is third in the provisional W2RC standings at 8′35″. Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM Racing) also ran out of petrol before the refuelling station and is now fourth, 35 minutes behind the leader. Abdulaziz Ahli hit the ground running in the quad race, putting over twenty minutes into Rodolfo Guillioli in both the stage and the overall. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Laisvydas Kancius is almost 45 minutes down on the Emirati after screeching to a halt.
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Ashish Raorane, lone Indian to start 24th on his #34 KTM 450 Factory Rally replica
Abu Dhabi, 26 Feb 2023: Ashish Raorane, the Indian Rally-Raid cross country rider will be the lone Indian on a KTM 450 Factory Rally replica with number #43 and will start 24th after doing well in the Prologue as 46 riders compete for the rally. The Indian will be in the Rally2 class (R2 category P9) in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
“New colors for 2023! A massive thank you to all the partners for joining us on this journey! Back on the international stage after 2 years, as the 2021-22 was full of up and downs but we keep the dream alive. The dunes are where I need to improve, so no better challenge than the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. I feel nervous and excited. Bring it…”, said Rane, a day before the prologue on his social media handles.
Hero MotoSports
Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, will be competing in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with all their riders, Joaquim Rodriques, Ross Branch, Franco Caimi and Sebastian Buhler.
In the prologue, Buhler did well and will be starting 8th on his #14 bike, Hero 450 Rally, for Hero MotoSports Team Rally, followed by Ross Branch in his #16 bike in 9th and J Rod in 11th, with his favoured 27-number Hero 450 Rally. Caimi is immediately behind him in 12th on his #33 bike.
The Hero team completed its Dakar 2023 campaign with a stellar result as three of its team riders crossed the final finish line. The Indian manufacturer scripted history once again in this edition of the rally. With a top-10 overall finish, two stage wins, and a stage podium, this is the Team’s best-ever performance at the Dakar.
Sebastian Buhler, the youngest team rider of the team, who returned to racing after almost a year of recovery from injury, delivered an excellent performance. In his 3rd Dakar with Hero MotoSports, the young German claimed his first ever Stage Podium, finishing 2nd in Stage 2. Buhler also lost a few hours in Stage 4 along with Ross due to loss of fuel. However, consistently improving his performance, he finished Dakar 2023 in the 14th overall position in the Rally GP class.
Key points:
· The 7-km long prologue at the gates of the city of Al Dhannah which took place today allowed the ten quickest drivers and riders the opportunity to choose their starting order for stage 1 tomorrow.
· In the car category, Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) achieved the best time ahead of Guerlain Chicherit (GCK Motorsports) and Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme).
· In the bike race, Monster Energy Honda riders Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien Van Beveren prevailed ahead of Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
FIM: HONDA’S STARS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES
Pablo Quintanilla, who won the ADDC in 2018 and finished 3rd last year, was victorious today with a time of 5’00’’, ahead of his team-mate Adrien Van Beveren (2’’ behind) and Toby Price (5’’ behind). It was a poor start for Skyler Howes (Husqvarna Factory Racing), who could only manage a 10th placed finish. As a result, the American, 3rd on the Dakar, was the last to be able to choose his starting position. In the Rally2 class, Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM Racing) beat Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Diverse Racing). Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) got off to a bad start with a 2-minute penalty after missing a way point. In the Quad race, Abdulaziz Ahli tasted victory ahead of Rodolfo Guillioli. Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School) also received a 2-minute penalty for a missed way point and finds himself in last place in his category.
On completion of the stage 1 starting order choice ceremony, the day’s quickest riders gathered as far as possible from having to open the way on the special. Quintanilla will start 11th, “VBA” 10th and Price 9th. Mohammed Al Balooshi, the last rider in the RallyGP class to finish, will open the special, followed by Skyler Howes and “Nacho” Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda). From the start of the special up to the finishing line, bonuses will be awarded to the first three riders, under the new regulations introduced in 2023 which aim to reward the efforts of the openers.
FIA: AL ATTIYAH TAKES THE UPPER HAND
Three times ADDC winner Nasser Al Attiyah set the tone by triumphing with a time of 4’45’’ on the prologue. Guerlain Chicherit posted the 2nd best time, 4’’ ahead of the other Prodrive Hunter driven by Sébastien Loeb, who was in turn 10’’ behind the Qatari’s time.
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing), thanks to a finish one second behind the Frenchman, is also in the reckoning. In the T3 category, team-mates Seth Quintero and Mitch Guthrie Jr (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA) completed the prologue in that order and within the same second, in front of Cristina Guttiérez (Red Bull Can-Am Factory), herself just 1 second behind the two men! Mattias Ekström (South Racing Can-Am) and Austin Jones (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA), the winner on the Dakar, did not get off to the best start, finishing in 8th and 9th place respectively. In the T4 race, the prologue was won by Rokas Baciuška (Red Bull Can-Am Factory), world champion in the category.
For the start tomorrow, Nasser Al Attiyah has chosen to begin in 10th, Guerlain Chicherit 9th, Sébastien Loeb 8th and Yazeed Al Rajhi 7th. Cristina Guttiérez will be faced with the task of opening the way on tomorrow’s special, in front of Mitch Guthrie and Martin Prokop (Orlen Benzina Team).
TOMORROW’S PROGRAMME*
· The Al Dhannah to Qsar Al Sarab stage
· Total distance: 404 km
· A+B link routes: 162 km
· Special: 242 km (start: Ghiyathi / finishing line: near to Tal Mor’eb)
· Starting times for the special:
– First FIM competitor: 08.00
– First FIA competitor: 09.40
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Perez quickest on Day 3: F1 testing comes to a close
Sakhir (Bahrain), 25 Feb 2023: Sergio Pérez set the fastest time of the three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain with the Mexican racer beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by more than three tenths of a second as Valtteri Bottas took third spot for Alfa Romeo ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
As his defending champion team-mate Max Verstappen had done on the opening day of testing, Pérez spent the full day at the wheel of the RB19 and in hot temperatures the Red Bull driver, like many others, spent the morning session focusing on longer runs.
As the heat eased through the afternoon, however, drivers began to bolt on softer compound tyres as they explored the performance potential of their new cars with just over a week to go until the opening race of the season.
Hamilton took top spot in the afternoon with a lap of 1:30.781, with the seven-time champion using the softer C5 compound tyres to set a time that pushed him ahead of the morning’s quickest driver Charles Leclerc. Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz got to within two hundredths of his team-mate to sit third.
After spending the day on the C3 compound, Pérez then went a step softer and on the C4 tyres powered to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:30.616 on the slower C4 tyres. Hamilton improved but he still sat 0.048s behind the Red Bull.
And then, in the final hour, Pérez put clear water between himself and his rivals with a lap of 1:30.305 on C4s to boost his lead to 0.359s. That looked like being the final order but late in the session Bottas put in a good C5 lap of 1:30.82 to steal third from Leclerc, with Sainz in fifth.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished a creditable sixth with a C4 time of 1:31.261, two tenths off Sainz and 0.956s off the pace set by Pérez. Tsunoda’s lap pushed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen out to seventh place ahead of Mercedes’ morning runner George Russell.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Drugovich took ninth and tenth places respectively as the Silverstone team enjoyed a positive end to their test phase. Lando Norris finished 11th for McLaren, though the Briton completed just 35 laps across the day, with his best time being set on C3 tyres.
Pierre Gasly was 13th for Alpine ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th ahead of McLaren’s morning runner Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries propped up the timesheet.
2023 Formula 1 Pre-season Test – Bahrain, Day 3
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Red Bull 133 1:30.305
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 65 1:30.664 0.359
3 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 131 1:30.827 0.522
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 67 1:31.024 0.719
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 76 1:31.036 0.731
6 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 79 1:31.261 0.956
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 95 1:31.381 1.076
8 George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 83 1:31.442 1.137
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes 80 1:31.450 1.145
10 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin Mercedes 77 1:32.075 1.770
11 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 37 1:32.160 1.855
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 56 1:32.762 2.457
13 Alex Albon Williams Mercedes 136 1:32.793 2.488
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 76 1:33.257 2.952
15 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 77 1:33.329 3.024
16 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 44 1:33.655 3.350
17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri Red Bull 87 1:38.244 7.939 -
Tidemand back with MRF Tyres in a bid to defend ERC title
Pontus Tidemand will return to the red and white colours of MRF Tyres as he embarks upon an FIA European Rally Championship assault in 2023.
Bengaluru, 24 Feb 2023: Tidemand’s collaboration with the Indian brand, MRF Tyres, has a successful history, dating back to 2015 when the Swede campaigned a Škoda Fabia S2000 in the Asia Pacific Rally Cup. He dominated the championship, winning five of the six rounds to claim the title.
Since then, Tidemand has continued to make a name for himself, claiming the 2017 WRC2 crown before going on to steer a Fiesta World Rally Car for M-Sport Ford on several WRC events in 2019. He has been less active during recent seasons, with his efforts focused on national rallies in his home country, reported FIAERC on Thursday in its news bulletin.
But now, the 32-year-old is hoping to recapture that success as he prepares for his first assault on the ERC with the MRF Dealer Team, piloting a GN Motorsport prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2. In the co-driver’s seat will be Julia Thulin, who guided Robert Virves to last year’s FIA Junior WRC title.
“It’s exciting to be back with MRF Tyres,” Tidemand told FIAERC.com. “We have some really great memories together from 2015 and I can’t wait to get going.
“The dream is still there. When you have been out [from this level of competition] for a little bit, it gives you a chance to re-evaluate everything you’ve been doing and look at what is right and what is not right. I’m really looking forward to coming back to the bigger events again.”
Fierce competition is expected at the season-opening Rally Serras de Fafe next month (10 – 12 March), with the likes of Erik Cais, Craig Breen and Georg Linnamäe all confirmed – plus Tidemand’s rally-winning colleagues Efrén Llarena and Mārtiņš Sesks.
“I’ve been reading all about it,” Tidemand laughed, referencing the ultra-competitive field he’s about to face. “We are going straight into the heat! I mean, the competition is going to be as good as WRC2, or maybe even better than WRC2.
“For Fafe, we will go there and try to do a good result. It’s the first rally of the season, so I think it’s important that we have a nice clean rally and secure some good points. That’s the main target, I think.”
