Max Verstappen won in Bahrain for the first time in his Formula One career after cruising to his first win in the first race of the season, completing a Red Bull lockout.
The reigning constructor’s champions started the new season in the best fashion possible with Verstappen and Sergio Perez finishing first and second in a race where they were rarely tested as they started the race in the top two and finished in the same positions.
But Red Bull are not the only team celebrating tonight as the 41-year-old completed the podium for Aston Martin as their pre-race ambitions came to fruition.
On the flip side, Ferrari endured a frustrating evening as Charles Leclerc suffered a suspected engine failure just as it looked like he was going to cruise to a third-place finish, with Carlos Sainz unable to defend against the pacey Alonso and finishing fourth.
But it was a disastrous start to the 2023 season for Mclaren, with Oscar Piastri retiring early on and Lando Norris in and out of the pits all evening with a hydraulic issue.
We take a look at how each team and driver performed in the season opener.
Mclaren – 2/10
How much of it do you put down to bad luck, or is it bad preparation and planning?
It could not have gone much worse for Mclaren in the opening race of the season. Rookie Piastri Formula One debut was cut dramatically short after suffering a gearbox issue that meant his steering wheel had to be replaced, but Mclaren later revealed it was an electronic issue that force him to retire.
For Norris, he may as well have retired the car. He was pitted with a hydraulic issue early in the race which they attempted to fix, but he subsequently had to pit every ten laps or so to refill his hydraulics. The one shining light for Mclaren and Norris is that when he was on track he was showing some good pace.
A race to forget for Zak Brown and Mclaren
Lando Norris – 3/10
Oscar Piastri – 2/10
Haas – 3/10
A race that held a lot of promise for Haas, in the end, will feel like a big disappointment, which is a familiar feeling if you are a Haas fan.
Nico Hulkenberg started the race at P10 after a brilliant qualifying performance saw him get through into Q3, but after taking considerable damage in the first lap of the race Hulkenberg dropped down the pecking order and finished in 15th place, with a 15-second time penalty after multiple track limits.
Kevin Magnussen put in a decent race moving up three positions mostly thanks to retirements, but Haas will be hoping they can move forward from this weekend and challenge for points.
Nico Hulkenberg – 3/10
Kevin Magnussen – 4/10
AlphaTauri – 5/10
The Italian team put in a steady race performance but perhaps could have had both cars a little higher if they had got their race strategy a little tidier.
Under the virtual safety car, they only pitted Yuki Tsunoda and not Nyck De Vries, with the latter left struggling for pace on older tyres.
But Tsunoda and De Vries did both move up from their qualifying position of 14th and 19th respectively to 11thand 14th.
I fear that this is the sort of level AlphaTauri will be at for most of the season.
Yuki Tsunoda - 6/10
Nyck De Vries - 5/10
Williams Racing – 8/10
A really good race weekend for Williams who have earned a point in the first race of the season. Many had feared for Williams after testing but they look like they have a really good, balanced car.
Logan Sargeant was unfortunate to not start the race higher after missing out on Q2 yesterday, although he finished at the exact same time as Norris, Norris finished first. But he drove well on race day making his way through the midfield and finishing in 12th.
Whereas Alex Albon managed to get his first point of the season putting his Williams among the points and getting his first of the season.
A good start for Willaims, exceeding expectations.
Alex Albon – 8/10
Logan Sargeant – 7/10
Alpine – 5/10
A mixed bag today for the French team. On one hand, Pierre Gasly put in a brilliant drive to finish amongst the points on his first drive for Alpine after his switch from AlphaTauri, but on the other hand, it was a disaster for Esteban Ocon.
Ocon’s race was littered with penalties right from the off, with the Frenchman given a penalty for being too far forward in his grid at the start. While serving this penalty the mechanics started working on the car too early which gave him a further ten-second penalty, and to add salt to the wounds he was given an extra five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
In the end, Alpine called it a day and retired the car.
Pierre Gasly – 8/10
Esteban Ocon – 1/10
Alfa Romeo – 7/10
It was a good weekend for Alfa Romeo who had Valterri Bottas among the points finishing eight and earning himself and the team four points in the first race of the season.
Zhou Guanyu did not have an equally successful weekend, finishing 16th only ahead of pit-stricken Norris. But Guanyu did achieve the fastest lap on the last lap of the race after pitting for softs.
Valterri Bottas – 8/10
Zhou Guanyu – 4/10
Ferrari – 6/10
A disappointing end to the race weekend for Ferrari after they held so much promise going into race day.
It looked like Leclerc and Sainz were going to finish third and fourth but an engine issue for the Monegasque put an end to those hopes.
Ferrari fans and more importantly Sainz and Leclerc will be hoping they are not plagued with the same reliability issues that they had to suffer for large parts of last season.
Leclerc did drive well up until his engine issue but never seemed to match the pace of the Red Bull’s and look like challenging them.
Charles Leclerc – 6/10
Carlos Sainz – 7/10
Mercedes – 7/10
The Silver Arrows are some distance off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull, but they come out of this weekend in a better position than it looked like they were going to be in after testing and practice.
Lewis Hamilton battled hard with Fernando Alonso but did not manage to defend him, he also almost snuck into fourth place ahead of Sainz, but the Spaniard got his elbows out and kept the seven-time world champion behind him.
George Russel put in an average drive, he battled with Lance Stroll but the Canadian in a quicker card managed to pick his way through.
Mercedes will be hoping they can step up to another level in the coming races.
Lewis Hamilton – 7/10
George Russell – 6/10
Aston Martin – 9/10
Flashback to Aston Martin’s abysmal start to the 2022 season at Bahrain last year, if you had been told that Aston Martin would be on the podium and second in the constructor championship heading into the second race, you would have laughed.
There was a lot of talk about Alonso coming into this race weekend and he lived up to expectations putting his Aston Martin on the podium, the Spaniard was on the team radio saying ‘this is a lovely car to drive’.
What a drive from stroll considering he has screws in his hands and a broken toe. The Canadian soldiered through all 57 laps and other than a small kiss on the rear of his teammate's car, he drove a pretty faultless race. It is exciting to see where he is when his bones are fully repaired.
Fernando Alonso – 9/10
Lance Stroll – 9/10
Red Bull – 10/10
Christian Horner will be delighted with that race result for Red Bull. It could not have gone any better.
Verstappen strolled to an emphatic victory and by the fourth lap, he was already five seconds clear of the rest of the pack.
Perez proved to be a good wingman for the Dutchman as he came home in second to complete a Red Bull one-two.
They kept their strategy tidy as always, with most of their mechanics sitting with their feet up enjoying the race.
If Red Bull continue this dominance, it is a frightening prospect for the rest of the grid.
Max Verstappen – 10/10
Sergio Perez – 9/10
Formula One travels across Saudi Arabia to Jeddah for the next race on March 19, with practice starting on March 17.