Verstappen joins a short list of drivers to have won in eight consecutive seasons, Alonso becomes the oldest podium finisher in almost 11 years and Sargeant records the best qualifying result for an American driver since 2007. Here’s every driver’s 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in statistics!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
It was the perfect start to the season for Max Verstappen. On Saturday, Verstappen recorded his 21st pole position, overtaking Damon Hill and Valtteri Bottas for 14th in the all-time list of most Formula 1 poles. After becoming Bahrain International Circuit’s seventh repeat polesitter, Verstappen went on to win the race. His victory at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix was the 36th of his career and marked the first time he has won the season-opening event.
Verstappen’s victory at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix makes him only the 14th driver to have won in eight different Formula 1 seasons. Having won at least one race in every year since 2016, Verstappen is only the sixth driver to have won in eight consecutive seasons.
Having never previously won the Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit became the 22nd different track at which Verstappen has recorded a victory. He equalled Alain Prost for third in the all-time list of most circuits at which a driver has won.
The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix is the 20th consecutive race at which Verstappen has scored points. It’s only the ninth time in Formula 1 that a driver has scored at 20 consecutive races. Verstappen is one race away from equalling his personal best consecutive scoring streak.
Having only ever won with Red Bull, Verstappen recorded his 36th win with the team. That saw him move ahead of Ayrton Senna in the list of drivers who’ve won the most races with a single team. Senna won 35 races with McLaren during his career. Verstappen now sits fourth on this particular list.
Verstappen also equalled Senna in the list of most wins in car number 1. This was the 16th time that Verstappen took victory in car number 1, equalling Senna for third on the all-time list.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
Finishing second to Max Verstappen in both qualifying and the race, Sergio Perez brought Red Bull their first front row lock-out at the Bahrain Grand Prix and their first 1-2 finish at the venue. This was Perez’s 27th podium finish, equalling Bruce McLaren and Ralf Schumacher for 37th in the all-time list.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
Last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix winner, Charles Leclerc, was the second retirement from the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. This was Leclerc’s first retirement since the 2022 French Grand Prix, ending a streak of ten consecutive points finishes. This was Leclerc’s second retirement at Bahrain International Circuit. His only other retirement at the circuit came on the opening lap of the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Carlos Sainz made his tenth appearance at Bahrain International Circuit. Having failed to score on any of his first five appearances, he has now scored on all of his last five appearances at the track. His fourth place in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix equals his second-best result at the venue.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton made his 16th appearance at Bahrain International Circuit at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix – one short of Kimi Raikkonen’s record of 17 outings at the track. In the race in which he equalled Daniel Ricciardo as the driver to have made the most starts in a single car number, Hamilton finished in fifth place.
Hamilton’s fifth place marked the first time since 2013, when he also finished fifth, that he failed to finish on the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Nevertheless, that made 2023 the 17th consecutive season in which Hamilton has picked up a point – equalling the record set by Jenson Button in 2016.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
George Russell’s seventh place finish in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix marked the fourth time in the last five races at Bahrain International Circuit in which the driver starting sixth has finished in seventh place.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Esteban Ocon was the third and final retirement from the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. This was the first time in his career that Ocon failed to reach the chequered flag at the opening race of the year, as well as his first ever retirement at Bahrain International Circuit.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
It was a far from ideal start to Pierre Gasly’s Alpine career on Saturday when his best lap time – which was good enough only for 17th – was deleted, meaning he qualified 20th and last. It was his first back row qualification since the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
However, having started last on the grid, Gasly gained 11 positions over the course of the race to finish in ninth place. It’s the most positions that the Frenchman has ever gained in a Grand Prix. This was the first time Gasly picked up points since the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix and the first time he scored points in Bahrain since the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Scoring from 20th, Gasly is the first driver to ever score having started 20th on the grid at Bahrain International Circuit. His ninth place also equalled the best result from the grid slot in Bahrain’s history. Rubens Barrichello finished ninth having started 20th in the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix, before the finishing position provided any points.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
Lando Norris qualified in 11th place at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, ending a run of 11 consecutive Q3 appearances. On five of the last six occasions that Norris has been eliminated in Q2, he has qualified in 11th place.
Norris finished the race in 17th place, marking the first time he failed to score in a race he has finished since the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix. This was Norris’ worst result from any race he has finished in his F1 career.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
Oscar Piastri became the 14th Australian driver to race in Formula 1 and made the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix the 340th consecutive race which an Australian driver has started. Piastri qualified 18th for the race, recording McLaren’s 80th Q1 exit in Formula 1.
On Sunday, Piastri took the unwanted honour of becoming the first retirement of the 2023 Formula 1 season, retiring on Lap 14 with an electronics failure. 2023 is the first time since 2019 that a McLaren driver has been the first retirement of the season. Piastri became the first driver to retire having started 17th on the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix since Takuma Sato in 2007.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
Along with Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas equalled Daniel Ricciardo’s record for most starts with a single car number at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Bottas failed to reach Q3, marking the first time that the Finn has failed to qualify in the top ten at the Bahrain Grand Prix since his first appearance at the track in 2013. However, Bottas continued his 11-race points-scoring streak at the venue, finishing in eighth place.
Bottas became only the third driver to have scored in Bahrain on 11 occasions, as well as the fourth driver to record 11 top ten finishes at the track. This was his best Sunday result since finishing seventh at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu finished only 16th but recorded the fastest lap of the race. It was the second time in his career that Zhou has set the fastest lap. He has not benefited on either occasion points-wise, having also finished 16th when he last set the fastest lap at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
At the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to embark on his 20th Formula 1 season. With Oscar Piastri on the grid, Alonso became the first driver to race against a competitor who was born after his Formula 1 debut. Piastri was born one month after Alonso’s debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso and Aston Martin impressed in Free Practice, with this being the first time since the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix that Alonso was fastest in two practice sessions over a race weekend. Alonso qualified in fifth place for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, marking his best qualifying result in Bahrain since he qualified third for the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix.
On his Aston Martin debut, Alonso finished in third place. He became only the fifth driver in Formula 1 history to finish on the podium with five different constructors. Only Stirling Moss and John Surtees have finished on the podium with more constructors than Alonso.
The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix marked Fernando Alonso’s 99th podium finish – putting him one short of being only the sixth driver to record 100 podium finishes in Formula 1. This was his first podium finish since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix and his first podium finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix since winning the 2010 race with Ferrari.
Finishing on the podium at the age of 41 years, 7 months and 5 days, Alonso became the oldest Formula 1 podium finisher since Michael Schumacher at the 2012 European Grand Prix. Since 1960 only six drivers have finished on the podium at an older age than Alonso at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix: Maurice Trintignant, John Love, Jack Brabham, Mario Andretti, Jacques Laffite and Michael Schumacher.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Lance Stroll qualified in eighth place, making this his best ever qualifying result in Bahrain. His previous best result here was tenth, recorded at both the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Stroll finished the race in sixth place. The last time Stroll finished above sixth place was when he took a podium finish at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, held at Bahrain International Circuit. He has taken two other sixth place finishes since then.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
Kevin Magnussen qualified in 17th place, marking his fifth Q1 exit at Bahrain International Circuit. He set a new record as the driver with the most Q1 eliminations at the venue, overtaking Adrian Sutil, Marcus Ericsson and Nicholas Latifi.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
On his Haas debut, Nico Hulkenberg reached Q3 at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. His only lap time in the session was deleted, meaning he qualified tenth. It marked Hulkenberg’s first Q3 appearance since appearing with Racing Point at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020. This was Hulkenberg’s first Q3 appearance in Bahrain since the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
Both Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda lost their 100% points-scoring appearance rates in Bahrain. It leaves Paul di Resta and Stoffel Vandoorne as the only drivers to have scored on every appearance at the track.
🇳🇱 Nyck DE VRIES
With Nyck de Vries out in Q1 at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, and Yuki Tsunoda out in Q2, this was the first time since the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix that neither of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers progressed to Q3 in Bahrain. With neither Tsunoda nor Nyck de Vries scoring points, this was also the first time since the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix that the Red Bull junior team failed to score at Bahrain International Circuit.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
With 15th place in qualifying for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first time since the 2022 United States Grand Prix that Alex Albon has not qualified on the back row of the grid.
Albon finished the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix in tenth place, scoring his first point since the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix. Albon’s tenth place marked the first time that Williams scored at the Bahrain Grand Prix since 2017, when Felipe Massa finished in sixth place. 2017 was also the last time that the team picked up points at the first race of the year.
With Lance Stroll finishing sixth and Albon tenth, the duo left the race tied on 202 career points. It leaves them both tied with Daniil Kvyat – who also scored 202 career points – for fifth in the all-time list of most points without a victory.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
Logan Sargeant became the first American to start a Formula 1 race since Alexander Rossi at the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix. He became the first Williams driver to race in car number 2 since Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix.
Sargeant was eliminated in Q1 on debut. He missed out on Q1 by qualifying in 16th place, despite setting the same lap time as Lando Norris. Norris had set the lap time first, so he progressed to Q2 while the Williams driver was out in Q1.
Sargeant’s 16th place in qualifying marked the best qualifying result for an American driver in Formula 1 since Scott Speed qualified 15th at the 2007 British Grand Prix. With Sargeant finishing the race in 12th, the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first race at Bahrain International Circuit at which both Williams drivers finished in the top 12 since 2016.
