Overwhelming superiority
Red Bull dominated the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix. The overwhelming power of the Milton Keynes team at the Sakhir circuit went far beyond the one-two finish and the huge cap of 38 seconds ahead of Aston Martin, 48 over Ferrari and 51 over Mercedes. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were the only ones among the four top teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes) to use the soft compound also for the second stint of the race, while the rivals had to take choose the hard compound due to the high degradation.
Reduced power in the final stages on the finish
Furthermore, according to what was reported by the German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport, after the second pit stop in the last ten laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were informed by their team that the engine power would be reduced given the gaps behind, a move aimed both at preserving the engine but also to avoid gaps of over one second per lap to its direct opponents. The news reported by the German media is supported by the team radio messages, given that Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase ‘begged’ the Dutchman for several laps until he obtained the ‘strat-5’ setting and a pace of 1’37″0 while Max Verstappen continued to lap on 1’36″5.
However, the Bahrain Grand Prix also raised some concerns for the team led by Christian Horner. In fact, Max Verstappen reported some malfunctioning of the clutch when downshifting, an issue that led to mini-locking of the rear axle. The clutch has therefore overheated too much, and it will be a factor to be taken into consideration for Red Bull which already a year ago in Hungary had to solve problems of this nature in the race through adjustments to the steering wheel recommended by the pit wall to Max Verstappen in order to avoid a retirement that would have prevented the Dutchman from taking one of the best victories in his Formula 1 career.
Jeddah on the horizon
One year ago Max Verstappen won at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia after retiring in Bahrain by exploiting Red Bull’s superior top speed against a Ferrari that chose an overly conservative set-up in terms of downforce fearing tire degradation which was not so big in the race. In two weeks the situation should reverse and Red Bull will have to see if the clear superiority in Bahrain will be the same in Saudi Arabia. Judging by Ferrari’s straight-line speed yesterday, on paper the Maranello team should be closer to Red Bull in the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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