GP Bahrain, the starting grid

The starting grid of the Bahrain Grand Prix opens with the team that dominated last season, namely Red Bull. There Milton Keynes stables snatches the front row with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Close behind follow, just like 2022, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. "Winning will be very difficult, but we can try” ha declared yesterday Leclerc which, as also claimed by Vasseur, preferred not to do the final lap in Q3 to keep a set of soft tyres. Right choice? Only today's race will tell us.

Aston-Mercedes, what a challenge it is

So the word always goes to the track, the same one that also confirmed the great strength of the Aston Martin in yesterday's qualifying. Fernando Alonso earns the fifth position, openly challenging Mercedes. The Silverstone team knows it has good pace, assuming it will also put the Ferraris in difficulty. The two-time Spanish world champion will start with George Russell next to him. The first Mercedes takes place in sixth place, followed immediately by that of Lewis Hamilton who will start from the fourth row with Lance Stroll. The surprising ones close the top ten Alpine of Ocon, ninth, and the Haas of Hulkenberg tenth.

PHOTO SOURCE: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Twitter

McLaren doesn't work

Eleventh position for the McLaren by Lando Norris. The Woking team hasn't impressed so far and the race pace is quite frightening. It is plausible to think that Norris' race could be in defense of the two Alfa Romeos that will start close to him. In fact, Bottas will start twelfth, followed by Zhou. Fourteenth Yuki Tsunoda.

At the bottom of the grid: struggling rookies

Even if we are only at the beginning, of qualification yesterday we saw a good Williams with the fifteenth position of Albon and the sixteenth of the rookie Logan Sargeant. Of the "rookies" in Formula 1, the American is the one who places himself in the highest position, given the eighteenth position of Piastri and the nineteenth of De Vries. The Alpine of Pierre Gasly closes the ranking.

Everything is ready

With this super starting grid, all that remains is to follow the first race of the season that will start at 16.00. Have fun everyone and above all: welcome back Formula 1.