MADRID, 5 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) has climbed to the podium this Sunday in the Bahrain Grand Prix race, the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Cup, after finishing third in a round in which the Red Bulls have confirmed his domain, with the Dutchman Max Verstappen as the first winner of the year and the Mexican Sergio Pérez as second, while Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished fourth.
In his first race with Aston Martin, the Asturian has more than met expectations and has confirmed that this year he does have a car to be able to fight in the championship. Thus, he conquers his first podium since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, number 99 of his sports career.
The current world champion, Verstappen, took a new victory in the midst of the overwhelming dominance of the cars of the energy brand, with ‘Checo’ Pérez finishing in second position. Meanwhile, Sainz, who gave up his podium position to the Asturian with ten laps to go, finished fourth, while his teammate, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, was unable to finish the race due to a breakdown in his car.
With sunset falling over the Sakhir circuit, the lights went out and Verstappen managed to defend his pole position on Saturday. Meanwhile, Leclerc won the game over ‘Checo’ Pérez to place second, with Sainz maintaining fourth position.
Alonso, for his part, endured in the first two corners – where he was hit in the rear by his teammate Lance Stroll – the push of the two Mercedes, which overtook him shortly after to drop him to seventh place.
Only two laps needed ‘Mad Max’ to lead the Monegasque by two seconds, by four and a half on lap 8, while the positions stabilized and Leclerc kept Pérez at bay with a DRS hit. The degradation of the white tire also began to become evident.
It was from turn 12 when the hornet’s nest began to move and the stops began to follow one another. Red Bull, after the very quick pit stop, opted to put another set of soft tires to try to finish the race on the hard compound.
On the track, Alonso managed to overtake George Russell and was fifth with the stop of the other car of the ‘silver arrows’, that of Lewis Hamilton, and in the pits the first of the cars, the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) withdrew. due to a mechanical problem.
“We are happy with the management you are doing with the tires”, they communicated to the Spaniard from the Aston Martin garage. Instead, Ferrari and Mercedes began to pay for the downgrade. On lap 28, Leclerc succumbed to the attack of ‘Checo’ Pérez, and only one lap later it was Hamilton who entered the pits to protect himself from Alonso’s ‘undercut’. However, after several good position defenses, the seven-time champion succumbed to the attack of the two-time champion on lap 38.
Only a little later, on lap 41, everything was blown up when Charles Leclerc’s car stopped in the middle of the track due to a lack of power, causing the virtual safety car to appear. Sainz momentarily rose to podium positions, but Alonso already had the knife between his teeth.
The degradation once again played for the ‘Scuderia’, and the Spaniard did not miss the opportunity, which came with just ten laps to go. After a battle of several laps, Alonso was positioned third, and Sainz was left at the mercy of a hungry Hamilton, who finally failed to pass him.
Verstappen, without opposition, saw the checkered flag to become the first World Cup leader, where he aspires to defend his scepter. Pérez and Alonso completed the podium, with Sainz and Hamilton in the ‘Top 5’.