Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Bahrain International Circuit.
Driver performance summary
| Driver | Q stage | Q position | Q gap to team mate | GP grid position | GP result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Q3 | 1 | -0.138s | 1 | 1 |
| Sergio Perez | Q3 | 2 | +0.138s | 2 | 2 |
| Charles Leclerc | Q3 | 3 | -0.154s | 3 | Not classified |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Q3 | 4 | +0.154s | 4 | 4 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Q3 | 7 | +0.044s | 7 | 5 |
| George Russell | Q3 | 6 | -0.044s | 6 | 7 |
| Esteban Ocon | Q2 | 9 | -0.673s | 9 | Not classified |
| Pierre Gasly | Q1 | 20 | +0.673s | 20 | 9 |
| Lando Norris | Q2 | 11 | -0.449s | 11 | 17 |
| Oscar Piastri | Q1 | 18 | +0.449s | 18 | Not classified |
| Valtteri Bottas | Q2 | 12 | -0.030s | 12 | 8 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Q2 | 13 | +0.030s | 13 | 16 |
| Lance Stroll | Q3 | 8 | +0.500s | 8 | 6 |
| Fernando Alonso | Q3 | 5 | -0.500s | 5 | 3 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Q1 | 17 | +0.688s | 17 | 13 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Q2 | 10 | -0.688s | 10 | 15 |
| Nyck de Vries | Q1 | 19 | +0.721s | 19 | 14 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Q1 | 14 | -0.721s | 14 | 11 |
| Alexander Albon | Q1 | 15 | -0.191s | 15 | 10 |
| Logan Sargeant | Q1 | 16 | +0.191s | 16 | 12 |
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Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?
Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?
Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.
Vote for the best driver of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend
- No opinion (1%)
- Logan Sargeant (3%)
- Alexander Albon (3%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (1%)
- Nyck de Vries (0%)
- Kevin Magnussen (1%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (71%)
- Lance Stroll (5%)
- Guanyu Zhou (0%)
- Valtteri Bottas (1%)
- Oscar Piastri (1%)
- Lando Norris (1%)
- Pierre Gasly (3%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (3%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Max Verstappen (8%)
Total Voters: 146
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
- FIA no longer applying its limit on F1 cars ‘porpoising’
- Why F1’s 2023 tyres are requiring drivers to change their management style
- The familiar and unfamiliar problems holding McLaren back at the start of 2023
- ‘Not like a rookie’: How McLaren glimpsed Piastri’s potential in curtailed debut
- “I’m a shouty guy”: Tsunoda told to rein in “emotional” radio chatter
Debates and polls
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- Did the stewards give Verstappen the correct penalties for latest Norris incidents?
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- Is Mohammed Ben Sulayem doing a good job for F1 as FIA president?
Jere (@jerejj)
6th March 2023, 20:49
DOTW: VER
DOTD: ALO with honorable mentions to VER, STR, BOT, GAS, ALB, & SAR.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th March 2023, 7:33
Yeah, that seems very reasonable @jerejj.
Alonso possibly slightly underperformed in qualifying. But on sunday he really made the best of everything. Stroll did well to secure p6 with the issues he must have been dealing with. Gasly did a great job of bringing home a solid points finish from where he started. Bottas was a surprise to me, altough maybe it shouldn’t have been (he’s shown some of this last year as well) and both Williams drivers did a great job as well.
SAR really did a surprisingly good job all weekend.
MacLeod (@macleod)
7th March 2023, 8:37
I can agree with that statement!
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
6th March 2023, 21:11
And the winner of the Fernando Alonso of the week award is…..
Dave The Drummer (@davethedrummer)
7th March 2023, 10:38
:D :D
David BR (@david-br)
6th March 2023, 22:11
Ocon, battled against all the odds and unlucky to retire.
Okay, joking, Alonso obviously.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th March 2023, 7:34
:-)
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
7th March 2023, 0:44
No surprise Fernando is currently the only one in this and it’s not even close.
bogaaaa (@nosehair)
7th March 2023, 0:56
Oscar ,for sitting out 2022 ,the pressure of the teams rangle in 22 and his good race start before the car broke…l look forward to watching him get better in 23
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th March 2023, 2:15
75% alonso, wow!
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
7th March 2023, 4:16
Lance. Racing with broken wrist and toe.
frood19 (@frood19)
7th March 2023, 6:25
Even without those impediments, it was one of his best weekends. Still gonna be Alonso for this race but Stroll may have finally come of age.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th March 2023, 7:35
He really did a good job this weekend. I really hope he can build on this especially since his broken bones will heal (i do think we saw about 3 moments where he was probably struggling with the discomfort).
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
9th March 2023, 12:13
I did do a very decent race, but and for me a big BUT he was sooooo lucky not not make it a double DNF for AM when colliding with Alonso on lap 1
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
9th March 2023, 12:15
Sorry, of course the starting “I” should be “He”
HK (@me4me)
7th March 2023, 5:57
Verstappen.
Turned the weekend around to take pole and win dominantly. Nobody even remembers the friday struggles.
Fernando didn’t put together a steller qualifying lap. Also at times he looked to be over-driving, almost losing control twice in turn 4. Definitely top3 though.
Todfod (@todfod)
7th March 2023, 8:00
Alonso this weekend. Looked strong during all the FP sessions and qualifying. I don’t think the Aston has the one lap pace to match Ferrari yet, so I think he maximised his quali result. Was the DOTD on Sunday by putting in some mega overtaking in a calculated climb through the order.
Honourable mentions to Max, Albon and Gasly as well.
MichaelN
7th March 2023, 11:00
Stroll, at least in the context of the whole Bahrain visit. As the only driver without any winter testing, he was very close to a very high benchmark.
ErwinUDB (@euitdebos)
7th March 2023, 12:27
I actually voted for Lando Norris. Even though he may have received new tyres each time he pitted, check his lap times. everyone agreed the McLaren wasn’t a good car, but he showed in Q and R that he put everything into it.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
7th March 2023, 17:36
I voted for Max. He won the race in a very dominant fashion. Yes, Lance showed courage and tenacity driving with broken bones in his hand and foot, yes, Fernando did a great job taking Aston Martin’s first podium, but the driver who did a flawless job to finish first well ahead of everyone else was Max.
melanos
8th March 2023, 1:58
I’d say Max spent most of the race writing home and taking selfies. Not that his drive wasn’t good, mind you. But he went totally unchallenged. Little glory on that.
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
8th March 2023, 7:16
Just for a bit of fun I’d have liked to have seen StingRay Robb included on the list to see he received any votes even though he was thousands of miles away and without a superlicence.
I did go for the old fella though. Sentiment over reality I guess.