We have pick up where we left off four months ago: Max Verstappen has in fact secured the first pole position of the 2023 Formula 1 world championship. His teammate, Sergio Perez, will start alongside the world champion, making it an all-Red Bull front row. In third and fourth place we find a good Ferrari team, with Charles Leclerc just under 3 tenths behind, despite setting just one lap time in the decisive session, ahead of his teammate, Carlos Sainz. Fifth place went to an excellent Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who remained with only one set of Softs, 0.628 seconds from pole position. But what about Mercedes? George Russell finished qualifying in sixth position ahead of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, with a gap of just over 6 tenths for both W14s, also with just one run in Q3 due to a lack of tyres. Then Lance Stroll (Aston Martin / +1.128), Esteban Ocon (Alpine / +1.276) and the surprise Nico Hülkenberg for Haas.
Ferrari saves a set of Softs in qualifying with Charles Leclerc thinking about the race
“No, there was no problem with the car. We have to bear in mind that in the race we seem to be a bit behind Red Bull and we thought that tomorrow it is better to start third but with a set of new tires rather than starting first (or second) but with a used set.” – a very satisfied Charles Leclerc explained at the end of qualifying in Sakhir, after the Monegasque driver missed out on the last attempt in Q3. Ferrari is aware that Red Bull will have a great race pace on Sunday, a pace that seemed to be at least half a second faster during the simulations carried out in the second free practice session . Ferrari didn’t arrive in Bahrain to win, but with one goal to maximize the result of this race because, as Frederic Vasseur put it, “the world championship is not won in Bahrain”. A pragmatic and conservative approach, the result of a car that is not showing the same performance on the track as seen on the Maranello simulator. The front is unstable and the SF-23 is missing more or less 4 tenths in comparison to the simulator, at least in Bahrain, as reported by F1 expert Piergiuseppe Donadoni for formu1a.uno.
A good potential was extracted this weekend as compared to the pre-season testing session, with a rather positive understanding of the SF-23 carried out in Maranello in preparation for the first weekend of the 2023 Formula One season. The clear and decisive step forward by Charles Leclerc, which in any case has to be confirmed today in the race, is a direct consequence. “I didn’t expect to be so competitive after the testing session. We managed to find a good rhythm on one lap, which was fantastic.” said the Monegasque.
However, a certain realism reigns in the Ferrari team; to be Red Bull’s first pursuer, clear choices had to be made in terms of setting up the weekend. It is no coincidence that all three free practice sessions were used by the Italian team to understand and increase the pace of the SF-23 on the softer compound (C3), leaving aside the preparation for qualifying. The C3 will be a key in today’s race, alongside the harder C1 which shouldn’t create major problems for the SF-23. Just as it is no coincidence that Charles Leclerc was not allowed to fight for Pole Position to save a set of new soft tyres. “The points are scored on Sunday, you don’t win the championship with pole positions. Had we been in Monaco, we would have made another decision, however we are focusing on the race with the team that seems to have done a good job.“ – said Fred Vasseur.
The Aston Martin AMR23 is a ‘racing’ car while it suffers more in qualifying, especially against Ferrari
Although Fernando Alonso finished only fifth in qualifying on Saturday, Max Verstappen believes the Spaniard can be “very competitive” in the race. Teammate Sergio Perez also sees him as “a threat”. Most likely without being able to challenge the two Red Bull cars, the Spaniard will clearly be the main opponent of the two Red Bull drivers, as the former Ferrari man demonstrated, right from the tests and also in Friday’s FP2, that he has a very solid race pace. The AMR23, the design of many former Red Bull technicians, is in fact a car that gives its best over long distances and tire management, while in qualifying it suffers a bit more, especially against its current direct competitor, the SF-23.
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Ferrari and Aston Martin are cars with completely different characteristics. The Maranello challenger has as a strong point the performance in high-speed areas, such as the straights and fast corners thanks to an important aerodynamic efficiency. Conversely, the AMR23 has greater resistance to forward movement and gives its best in medium and above all slow speed corners, where Ferrari loses a lot due to understeer in the middle of the corner.
However, “it sounds too good to be true” replied Fernando Alonso when he was asked about his podium chances tomorrow. It seems more like a purely precautionary approach in order not to raise expectations excessively, trying to remain the outsider of this first round of the 2023 Formula One season. “Historically Aston Martin has had very good tire management. For this reason, if we have an opportunity, we will certainly take advantage of it” concluded the Spaniard.
Max Verstappen with a “compromise” set-up but with ground clearance similar to that used in the tests, according to the Anglo-Austrian team
The Dutch world champion said he breathed a sigh of relief at the end of qualifying, Which was more closely-matched than he expected after last week’s official pre-season testing session at the Bahrain International Circuit. Red Bull were aware of Scuderia Ferrari’s strength over a single lap while in the race they believe that the most competitive rival will be Fernando Alonso. “In long runs Ferrari simply has too much tire wear” – Helmut Marko said – “The biggest opponent in tomorrow’s race will most likely be Alonso”.
Red Bull had to adapt the RB19 a lot to the new track conditions, with an important job to do in terms of set-up, especially on the Dutchman’s side, which had to test “a lot” during the weekend before finding an important “compromise” and convincing pace. It was worth it because the balance in qualifying was the best of the whole weekend. Rumors had circulated in Sahkir’s paddock that the RB19s had approached this weekend using ground clearances that were much less aggressive than those used in the pre-season testing, to avoid excessive wear on the floor pad. However, the Anglo-Austrian team has firmly denied these rumors, speaking of heights “similar to those used in last week’s tests”.
Although Red Bull have already put both cars on the front row, Max Verstappen explained that Sunday should go even better, however, “a lot can happen in a race, sometimes out of our control. We have to focus on ourselves and do our best. Let’s hope nothing strange happens.” An important performance by the Anglo-Austrian team, which corresponds to the thoughts of Ferrari and what was said by Toto Wolff.
The Anglo-German team based in Brackley had an excellent qualifying session, finishing just six tenths behind Max Verstappen, if we also consider the only attempt available to the two drivers. Hamilton actually spoke of a “positive” qualifying, after the important criticisms made yesterday, because “I thought we would have gone much worse today, risking not getting into Q3”. Instead, both W14s have made important steps forward in terms of set-up. “The car felt much, much better than it did yesterday.” said the seven-time world champion. However, the W14 lacks downforce, although drag has been significantly improved, one of the main weaknesses of the 2022 car. Today the W14 lost only a tenth and a half on the straight compared to the faster RB19.
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