First day back to school - Bahrain's outstanding moments
- Alice Cecchi
- Mar 6, 2023
- 4 min read
Sun's out at Bahrain's International Circuit, home of the Formula 1 circus - together with Formula 2 and Formula 3 - for the first weekend of the season. It's the first day back to school: new faces, lots of new things to get used to, a blank page to fill. We don't know much, as nobody has got out on track yet, but the most common feeling in the air is loud and clear: the stake is high. There's who must prove their worth again, who's coming back after a difficult year and wants to do better and who is new to the paddock, starting a new adventure with that same awe in their eyes as everyone has on their first day of school.
Bahrain's racetrack meets many faces for the first time, with three rookies in F1, nine in F2 and seventeen in F3, and finds again many others, between the engines revving and the smell of new fresh tires just placed inside the boxes. We get back to racing, with the same enthusiasm as always and with a lot of surprises: here are some of the outstanding moments that Bahrain won't easily be able to forget.
Formula 1 - Aston Martin with "Nando" on fire and Stroll limp but extremely fast
If one year ago someone said that in one-year time we would've seen a 41 year old driver who just switched teams, dominate the first round's free practices, threathen RedBulland Ferrari's pole position target and brought home his 99th podium, everyone would've probably just laughed. No one would've expected it, but Fernando Alonso just completed a spectacular weekend together with Aston Martin, also bringing back great memories to every Formula 1 fan with a thrilling battle with his old teammate, and rival, Lewis Hamilton.
Hats off also to his teammate who managed to qualify eighth and cross the finish line sixth after some great battles despite a broken wrist and his whole body aching - due to a bicycleincident - and little time in the car to prepare for it. For Lance Stroll this was the perfect chance to prove how fast of a driver he is, as his qualities are often overshadowed by his last name.
Aston Martin's outstanding moment however wasn't only on track: it was also at the end of the race, below the podium and in the garages, where the satisfaction of each of the team’s member was readable through their eyes, through the mechanics’ hugs, the engineers' smiles and Nando and Stroll's team radios. Motorsport is a constant challenge and Aston Martin has rarely been a winner, but Bahrain clearly was a turning page after many sacrifices, hard work and huge trust in their project.
Alonso's comeback, Stroll's tenacity and Aston Martin's rebirth: what a story.
Formula 2 & 3: Campos with Marti and Boschung, how satisfactory to win like this.
I usually prefer to talk about these two championships separately but this weekend's special mention is highly deserved by team Campos: its drivers' performance was incredible. Marti and Boschung won both sprint races and gave the Spanish team a boost of joy and energy that will be crucial for the rest of the championship.
Pepe Marti, at his second season in Formula 3, brought home his maiden win in the championship after a race that saw him battling from the start until the very end: he overtook Franco Colapinto with only a few laps to go after the second Safety car restart. Born in 2005, the Spaniard found Fernando Alonso, who has him in his A14 Management, waiting for him below the podium to congratulate him: may this win be the first of many Pepe, you definitely showed everyone how fast you are.
It took him 96 races before succeeding but Sakhir saw him finally do it: Ralph Boschung is finally a race winner after a dominating performance. His career had many ups and downs, as he was also forced to stop his 2022 season in F2 due to a neck injury, but he has always showed a lot of speed and had a team supporting him no matter what. His win was in fact dedicated to Adrian Campos, founder of the team, who always believed in his capacities until 2021, when he left us because of an illness.
Team Campos is reborn just like Aston Martin and it’s fresh and ready at the starting line, with a tied team and a lot of speed.
The season has just started and there will be lots of outstanding moments: the first page of this new chapter in motorsport was written between the sparks on the asphalt, the hugs under the podium and the hunger for victory that these drivers have. On the other hand, there are still a lot of pages to write so lowering the guard is off-limits: Formula 1 and Formula 2 will be back in Jeddah and everything could change in a heartbeat. If there's something that we'll surely find again it’s the magic that this sport emanates, which is the ink that writes every page between one corner and the other.
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