Max Verstappen began the new Formula 1 season where he left off the previous year with an extraordinarily comfortable victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The race finished with a Red Bull one-two and an unexpected Aston Martin podium – Fernando Alonso was gifted third place after Charles Leclerc suffered an engine failure. Meanwhile, Mercedes were some way off the podium fight with Lewis Hamilton once again left to race with a sub-par car.
With such big storylines unfolding, it's easy to miss some of the other events taking place further back in the pack. Here are some of the moments you may have missed amid all the excitement as F1 returned for a new season:
Sargeant's major misfortune
Logan Sargeant's first qualifying session in F1 came to an unfortunate end as he narrowly missed out on Q2 in Bahrain. In the decisive final moments of Q1, the 22-year-old Williams rookie looked to improve on the time set by Lando Norris to get out of the bottom five.
Sargeant set a time of 1:31:652 – exactly matching the Brit's final lap in Q1. However, despite identical lap times for the two, Norris was the one who progressed into Q2 as he was the first of the two to put that time on the board.
The American was extremely unlucky to suffered such a fate, but still managed to impress in his debut F1 weekend. He started the race 16th with all to play for and finished Sunday as the first rookie to take the chequered flag – more on that a little later.
A Stroll to success
Aston Martin are undoubtedly showing encouraging signs, with their first podium since Sebastian Vettel's Baku success in 2021. Alonso finished third in Bahrain, which stole some of the limelight away from a very impressive performance from the team's other driver
Lance Stroll finished sixth despite missing out on pre-season testing in Bahrain because of a cycling accident. He travelled to the desert with pins in his broken wrist and also a fractured toe, but still qualified eighth.
In the race, he was able to make up two more places despite a poor start – finishing ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes and might have even had his sights on Hamilton ahead. It was a very encouraging result considering there was severe doubt over his fitness for the race.
Williams' wonderful weekend
Williams finished the 2022 season at the bottom of the constructors' standings with the team showing few signs of any major improvement at the beginning of the first race weekend of this new campaign.
Alex Albon and Sargeant frequently set times at the bottom of the field in the free practice sessions, qualifying P15 and P16 for the race. However, the Williams race strategy was pivotal and, after leaving the two on the soft compound tyre, Albon was able to grab one point finishing 10th.
Despite Sargeant not finishing within the points, the American finished highest of the three rookies in the season opener. It was an uplifting for the Williams team and one which will give Sargeant plenty of confidence as he finds his feet in F1.
Zhou Guan-woo!
Even though it was the first Grand Prix weekend of the 2023 season, the fight for points was still intense – especially in the midfield. Pierre Gasly started last on his Alpine debut but did very well in the race, rising to ninth and looked set to secure the fastest lap as well.
However, as Valtteri Bottas was one place ahead, Alfa Romeo saw the extra point for that fastest lap as vital. So they sacrificed Zhou Guanyu in the late stages of the race.
As the Chinese racer sat in P12 and was unlikely to make it into the points, the team opted to pit him for a new set of softs tyres. It meant he finished 16th, but he was able to snatch the fastest lap award away from Gasly to deny Alpine that extra point.
Hulk's Haas hardship
Nico Hulkenberg's return to F1 looked promising for Haas after progressing to Q3 and qualifying 10th on the grid, despite his team-mate only managing P17.
However, in the first laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix Hulkenberg suffered contact to his front wing which ultimately ruined his race. Both Haas cars finished outside the points in P13 and P15, but team boss Guenther Steiner remains optimistic looking ahead.
He said: "The result wasn't what we expected... In the race it didn't go our way, but we learned a lot. We go to Jeddah well prepared, and we'll see what we can do there – I think points are possible."
