Martin Brandl on the results of the first race of the season

Former Formula 1 driver, Sky Sport F1 commentator Martin Brundle summed up the Bahrain Grand Prix…

Formula 1 is back, congratulations to Red Bull and Max Verstappen for a great start to the season as they defend their title. For the first time since Abu Dhabi’13, Red Bull drivers took the first two places at the start and finish. This is the first time this has happened since the start of the hybrid turbo era in 2014, which is surprising given their dominance last year.

After discussions with a number of key employees after the race, it became clear that not everything was easy for Red Bull either. In a closed park Max and Sergio got new oil lines and as the race progressed the team fixed critical transmission issues on both cars.

At the same time, Verstappen could easily break away from rivals for another ten seconds if necessary. Or more.

The team limited the engine speed to save the energy of the high power mode for another day. He would have easily won the race regardless of the opponent’s strategy. Be that as it may, they did what other teams couldn’t by going the distance on an effective combination of soft and hard tyres.

Cars Mercedes and Aston Martin struggled throughout the race to overtake Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. But at the finish Hamilton was 50 seconds behind Max and George Russell lost even further. The six-tenths of the lap they were behind in qualifying turned into a second on the lap of the race, which is shocking.

George said after the race that he believes Red Bull will win all the remaining races. Perhaps this is an emotional response after the finish, but based on the evidence we’ve seen, it can’t be ruled out. A great car stays that way at Monza and Monaco, in the calm and confident hands of Verstappen, it can do it.

The penalty given to Red Bull for breaching budget constraints doesn’t matter too much if you have a great car to begin with. Theoretically, it could hurt if the team was busy solving problems and playing catch-up, but there’s no such thing.

Ferrari had a sad weekend. Charles Leclerc retired due to power plant problems while running third. Before the race, his car was replaced with an energy storage device, only two of which can be used during the season.

Ferrari says the lack of speed in the race is due to the settings, but it is strange that after three days of testing in Bahrain and three days of Grand Prix the settings were not optimal.

Carlos Sainz had some problems this weekend and will try to rectify the situation next week in Saudi Arabia. Now Ferrari seems to be Red Bull’s closest rival.

Aston Martin charged with their energy. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll looked worthy and put up a great fight. Without them the race would be boring.

Fernando performed at his most absurd, aggressive, unstoppable and, thanks to his determination, climbed to the third step of the podium. The rubber on his car somehow held up.

Fernando demonstrated his skills by overtaking Lewis and Sainz’s Ferrari. Whichever way they went, he broke through from the other side with such skill and confidence that it was very pleasant to watch.

What Lance went through to get on the grid, let alone finish in front of one of the Mercedes cars, was an extraordinary achievement that bordered on the unbelievable. I don’t want to sound negative about his past performance, but I think he’s gone up significantly this weekend thanks to his determination to get behind the wheel despite broken wrists and toes that saw him miss pre-season testing. I like this kind of attitude.

When he was firmly ahead of George I assumed that at some point he would simply run out of power, but he held on confidently to sixth.

Don’t think it could have turned out any different when the two Aston Martins collided at Turn 4 on the first lap. This could easily have ended with a flat right rear tire from Fernando and a broken front fender from Lance. How it didn’t pierce the sidewall of the wheel I don’t know. But Fernando got out of the car and said, “Lance, you are my hero.” Luckily he didn’t have to use any other words. It was funny to hear Alonso on the radio during the race demanding to know if whoever collided with him had been penalized.

Aston Martin has good prospects – a fast car is fast everywhere. A Ferrari may be faster than an Aston Martin and a Mercedes on the same lap, but that doesn’t matter much over the course of the race.

A low championship finish last year means Aston Martin has more time in the wind tunnel than their main rivals. The car is already perfectly fine, but if they know where to go, they could become Red Bull’s main rivals by the middle of the season.

That is painful for Mercedes, as the Aston Martin has the same power source, gearbox and rear suspension. They use the same wind tunnel. Red Bull says the switch of employees to Aston Martin means rivals are following their design philosophy closely. But that’s the nature of Formula 1.

In 2022, Mercedes went the wrong way and refused to turn back. Even Lewis and Toto were open about their disappointment, although they usually praise the Brackley and Brixworth teams. There must be a very tense atmosphere in the team.

They don’t want to hear about the concept of minimal side pontoons anymore, but the team says that to change the concept they will have to take a step back first. George Russell has already said he is ready to endure this pain for the long haul.

Last season they had a hard time getting the car to win at the end of the season, but I don’t see them being motivated for another year like this. After the switch to hybrid turbo engines, they had the most powerful power plant dominating the rest, but now that is not the case.

When the opportunity arose to improve the power plants, they passed it up. They lost important people – Andy Cowell, James Vowles and others, and James Ellison is doing something completely different now. The remaining talent pool is huge, but unformed.

Before changing the philosophy and architecture of a Formula 1 car, you need to understand what you want and where you’re going, which is especially difficult with a tight calendar of 23 grands prix on a budget.

It’s been a sad weekend for McLaren. The new car showed no speed or reliability. Lando Norris finished last and Oscar Piastri retired in his debut Grand Prix.

Lando was brave, but after the race he told me that problems with a pressure leak in the engine’s pneumatic system, which forced him to make six pit stops, started on the first lap.

I suspect McLaren just wanted to run the car for a long distance to see if anything broke.

Esteban Ocon set a new record with three penalties in one race. It was an unforgettable experience for him and for Alpine.

Logan Serjeant was impressive, finishing 12th in his debut Grand Prix, just 10 seconds behind Williams teammate Alex Albon. The Williams drivers avoided incident, did a great job and rewarded their new team boss, James Vowles.

Ahead of the race in Saudi Arabia, where a different track configuration could change the balance of power. I hope this will help the opponents impose a fight on Red Bull, which we all look forward to.