Max Verstappen starts his F1 season with a win in Bahrain

Max Verstappen made the perfect start to the 2023 F1 season on Sunday, winning the Grand Prix in Bahrain. Nyck de Vries finished his first race in the 15th position.

Verstappen started in the pole position after qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez started in second position, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari starting in third. Nyck de Vries started second from last.

Verstappen was not successful on this track last season. The reigning champion was forced to retire and watch on as Leclerc won the race.

Verstappen warned his team that his downshifts were giving some rear locking after ten laps. Shortly after, he went into the pits to rectify the issue, coming out behind Perez. Verstappen decided to stick with soft tires, which is different from the other drivers on the track, who all switched to hard tires.

Nyck de Vries was enjoying a successful first race. The 28-year-old had risen to eleventh place with a quarter of the race remaining, benefiting from two drivers retiring and Sebastian Ocon being given three penalties.

Several drivers, including Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sergeant, passed De Vries, ensuring he dropped four positions.

Verstappen won the race with a ten-second difference to the nearest challenger, Sergio Perez, who finished in second. Veteran driver Fernando Alonso finished in third.

The next F1 race is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the 19th of March.