Red Bull took a double victory in the first race of the F1 season in Bahrain. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was last in the previous 19th.
Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen just like last year, drove to victory in the Bahrain race that opened the Formula 1 season. The Dutch Red Bull driver hit Sakhir’s teammate on the track by Sergio Perez by more than 22 seconds. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third.
Verstappen, 26, who started the race from the pole position, ran away from the start, and the overwhelming victory was never threatened. He also drove the fastest lap of the race.
Perez, who started from the fifth grid, picked up the Ferrari in front of him during the first laps Charles Leclerc that of Sainz. On the 14th lap, the Mexican overtook the Mercedes of George Russell coming in second.
Sainz passed Leclerc twice at the beginning of the race, and about ten laps before the finish, the Spaniard, who drove an aggressive race, got on the podium by also passing Russell. Leclerc ended up fourth ahead of Russell.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas got a good start from the 16th grid, but the Finn had to pocket Haas in the opening corner Nico Hülkenberg’s hit ahead of Aston Martin To Lance Stroll. Bottas fell to 18th place, and finally the race went to a pit stop on the 32nd lap, when there were nut problems when changing the left front tire and the stop lasted more than 52 seconds. In the end, Bottas was second to last at the finish line, i.e. 19th.
– Not a very good start to the season. There was a lot of bad weather from the first corner. It lost a couple of places, but the biggest thing was the pit stop. 52 seconds is a bit long for this sport, Bottas complained on the Viaplay broadcast.
Bottas was satisfied with the race pace, which was better than the qualifying ride.
– The teammate was eleventh, and it was a fundamentally strong race from him. The car clearly has more speed in the race than in one lap. As long as we can get more rides in qualifying and thereby better starting positions, fighting for the points is possible.
The race continued where it left off last season. 2023 saw a historically superior season from Red Bull and Verstappen. Red Bull won 21 of the season’s 22 races. Verstappen, who took the previous three World Championship titles, had 19 victories, and in total he now has 55.
The Horner commotion didn’t stir Red Bull’s nerves
Red Bull’s team manager has spoken during the race by Christian Horner situation. The British boss in his fifties was suspected of improper behavior, but no evidence was found and he was allowed to keep his job. Dutch media De Telegraaf reported earlierthat inappropriate behavior would be about the sexually tinged messages sent by Horner.
The Dutch newspaper also reported that Horner would have tried to offer the woman around 700,000 euros so that she would not take the matter forward.
WhatsApp messages allegedly related to the case were also leaked to the media this week via an anonymous email account. However, they have not been verified as genuine.
Verstappen stated after qualifyingthat it is not up to him to assess the situation.
– He has been a great boss. He’s here to work for us, admittedly maybe a little distracted, but we’re just focused on our performance here.
The season with a record 24 races continues right next weekend in Saudi Arabia.