In fact, the Monegasque had to brake to avoid colliding with the Dutchman, which caused drivers like Pérez and especially Fernando Alonso to have to brake and give up their efforts to advance positions. It happened to the Asturian, who could no longer overtake Sainz and that he was relegated to a fight against the McLarens that he would lose a few laps later.
Sainz, the only one to spot the Red Bulls
The two-time world champion in 2005 and 2006 ran out of DRS in the third lap and the British Lando Norris (McLaren), who started seventh, took advantage of it to overtake Alonso in that third lap, an overtake that was repeated three laps later by the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and in the tenth lap, by the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
Alonso no longer moved from that ninth position. Despite the good performance on one lap, the Aston Martin showed that they do not have the race pace to be able to compete against the Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren… and much less with Red Bull, the main protagonist of this Saturday, even though they preferred to go ‘covered up’ throughout the weekend.
And the only one who could face the Austrian team was the Madrid team Carlos Sainz. He was the only one to clock 1.36 for several consecutive lapsthe time that Pérez copied lap by lap, and was able to follow in the wake of the Mexican’s RB20, although it was not enough to be able to aspire to a second place that he could see lap by lap at about three seconds, but for which he needed a little more of rhythm.
He did give the Spaniard from Madrid the opportunity to surpass his teammate, the Monegasque Leclerc, first and the British George Russell (Mercedes) later, in a race that Sainz seemed to come out angry knowing that, whatever he does, it will be his last season at Ferrari.
A continuation of 2023 for Verstappen
The one that no one could follow, not even Pérez, was the three-time world champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman seemed to enter cruising speed and did not have any errors, neither strategic nor driving, nor in his two pit stops. As if it were 2023, everything seemed to smile for the Dutchman, who added his 55th victory in the Formula One.
Also read: Everything you need to know for the start of F1
The anthem of the Netherlands, to which the grid has become accustomed in recent years, was played again in Bahrain and it seems that the new RB20, with a concept so innovative and different from last year, has not displeased it at all to ‘Mad Max’, yes He already achieved 19 victories in the 22 races last season, now he wants to go directly for 24.
His insulting superiority – he left Pérez more than 22 seconds behind – was already demonstrated by the fact that at the start he used a used set of soft tires, but even then Leclerc or Russell could have overtaken him. Also later, when after entering the pits he was still more than six seconds ahead of the second when everyone else had used a new tire.
And also when it started to roll 1 minute and 35 seconds, while the others, at most, aspired to lap the more than five kilometers of the Sakhir circuit in 1 minute and 36 seconds.
The fight for the last places was more lively. The Alpine pace did not improve much, but at least they avoided being in last position, reserved for the American Logan Sargeant (Williams), who went off the track and threatened to cause a virtual safety car, although he finally returned to the Sakhir track.
The Canadian had worse luck Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), who after a very good start in which he placed tenth, received a blow from the German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) behind, which forced him to lose time and sink in the classification in the first laps, although his constant and regular pace allowed him to finish tenth, just behind Alonso.
2024-03-03 05:51:12
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