The last champion Verstappen opened the season in Formula 1

Team Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished first at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first leg of the season in the Formula 1 World Championship.

The first match of the 2023 season, held on the 5.4-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit in the Sahir region, was played over 57 laps.

The champion of the last two years, Verstappen, who started the race from the front row and kept his place, increased the gap between his opponents with the correct pit stop and tire choice throughout the fight. The Dutch driver won the first race of the season with a time of 1:33:56.736.

Verstappen’s teammate, Mexico’s Sergio Perez, took the podium 11.987 seconds off the lead, and Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who had a successful run with his new Aston Martin team, finished third, 38.637 seconds off the lead.

LECLERC CANNOT SEE THE FLAG TO CHECK CHECKERS

In the race in which Ferrari’s Monaco driver Charles Leclerc had to abandon his car on lap 41 due to a power unit problem while in third place, his teammate Carlos Sainz took fourth British Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took sixth place. .

The second race of the season, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will take place on March 19.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, the top 5 places in the driver and team standings were as follows:

PILOTS

• 1. Max Verstappen (Holland): 25 points
• 2. Sergio Perez (Mexico): 18
• 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain): 15
• 4. Carlos Sainz (Spain): 12
• 5. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain): 10

EQUIPMENT

• 1. Red Bull: 43
• 2. Aston Martin: 23
• 3.Mercedes: 16
• 4. Ferrari: : 12
• 5. Alfa Romeo: 4 (AA)