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F1 is back and some teams seem to have picked up exactly where they left off in 2022, while others find themselves in unchartered territory. This year's season favorite, Red Bull, returned to the Bahrain Grand Prix and had exactly the kind of weekend that they would have hoped for after both cars locked out the front row in qualifying and went on to secure a phenomenal 1-2 finish in the season opener.
Ferrari, on the other hand, had yet another nightmare with Charles Leclerc retiring towards the end of the race thanks to an engine issue and Carlos Sainz losing out on a podium finish after failing to defend against Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion brought the race to life after charging up to third from fifth on the grid after some intense battling against his former teammate Lewis Hamilton and Spanish compatriot Sainz, taking the 99th podium of his F1 career.
While Mercedes started the season in a better place than where they were this time last year, the team had a rather underwhelming 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing fifth and seventh respectively.
McLaren and Alpine, the two teams that shared quite an intense battle last season, both had quite a tough weekend out in Bahrain this team. The French outfit had Esteban Ocon retire, although Pierre Gasly, who started from the back of the grid, finished within the top 10. McLaren failed to make it to the top 10 at all, with rookie Oscar Piastri retiring from the race early on and Lando Norris coming 17.
McLaren team boss Zak Brown explained what went wrong during the race. He said:
"Looks like he has some sort of electrical issue. He had a gearbox-related issue on track which I think was electronic. We changed steering wheels but that doesn't seem to have done the trick. We'll have to diagnose what it is, but it appears to be electrical. And Lando has pneumatic issues. We're monitoring that, but we might have to do that again. So a challenging start to the year."
Williams, on the other hand, showed quite some progress as well, with Alex Albon making it to the top 10 to bring the team their first championship point of the 2023 F1 season. It was certainly a weekend to forget for some, while other teams had plenty to celebrate.
Here are some of the best Twitter fan reactions to the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP
