Max Verstappen and Red Bull started their journey in the Formula 1 World Championship this season the same way they ended the previous one: with a sweeping victory. The current champion has won four of the last five Grands Prix of the past year, a streak that beautifully illustrated his superiority and that of his team, who were able to celebrate the Alirón at Suzuka with four dates to go. If we consider the forms of the first stop on this calendar, with the previous information left by the winter tests, the prospects that this year 2023 anticipates are very similar to those we had then. In Bahrain, where Red Bull struck fear into the rest of the grid less than 15 days ago, Verstappen mounted a military march to win the first race of the year. Checo Pérez, the best consort Mad Max has ever had, signed the first double of the power structure while Fernando Alonso returned to the podium two years later (Qatar 2021) in his debut with Aston Martin. As they say joy goes to the neighborhood, the Silverstone team’s rush coincided with the withdrawal of Ferrari, who appeared with a song in his teeth with third-place Charles Leclerc when the Monegasque car ran dry (lap 42 ). Result of a defect in the propellant. Carlos Sainz, fourth, managed to keep Lewis Hamilton (fifth) in check and avoid an even bigger disaster. But if anyone dazzled with their own light, it was Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin’s improvement this winter picked up even more at Sakhir, where Alonso recovered from a poor start that saw him lose two positions. The brawls with Hamilton and Sainz, well, at eye level, were particularly striking. The tussle with the Brits (laps 37 and 38) was reminiscent of days gone by when the two coincided in that explosive 2007 at McLaren. With Sainz, the fight lasted a little less because “Il Cavallino Rampante” was already very close when the Oviedo arrived like a miura to his colleague. “It’s a fantastic car to drive,” said the 41-year-old two-time world champion (2005 and 2006) as he was already driving alone and simply discounting the corners.
For a long time, the speed on the long laps was directly linked to the aging of the tires. Now you can drive a real bullet, like the Ferrari, thanks to the muscle that hides its engine, which, if the car does not spoil the tires, will make it impossible to achieve the goals set and will force the strategists to seek alternative routes try to put this handicap into perspective. None of this bothers Red Bull, because their RB19 has it all. It doesn’t run as fast as the red car on the straight, nor does it get as much out of it as the Aston Martin on the first acceleration section. But in the world there is no more balanced prototype than the red buffalo.
Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin during the race. Giuseppe Cacace (AFP)
The Bahrain test served to accept most of the clues left by the pre-season as good. In addition to the superiority of the squad from Milton Keynes (Great Britain), the lack of success of Mercedes was also confirmed, the great dismantling that Ferrari is inflicting on the connections. And above all, the brutal acceleration of Aston Martin. Thanks to the capital injection from Lawrence Stroll, its largest shareholder, and the incorporations it has made in the technical department, the green team has performed a triple somersault with a pirouette. When we consider the limitations currently affecting Mercedes and Ferrari and the stability the AMR23 has shown every time it has taken to the track, it is not unreasonable to think that the green car is the second most competitive at the moment. a sensation doubly supported in Bahrain. Not only because of the photo of Alonso on the podium, but also because of the sixth place achieved by Lance Stroll, his neighbor, 12 days after passing through the hands of the Catalan doctor Xavier Mir, who repaired the damage done the doll will thrown from his bike.
With the greed still moving Alonso – his last podium was signed with Alpine in November 2021 at Losail – and the upside that the fact that he emerges from the catacombs gives Aston Martin – more hours in the wind tunnel – it is difficult to establish the point that a project that has broken all schemas can achieve.
Start of the Bahrain GP race this Sunday. Ali Haider (EFE)
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