Verstappen hoodoo, jinxes and an insane Ferrari record - Bahrain GP stats and facts

F1 returns this weekend as the Bahrain Grand Prix kickstarts the 2023 season.

Max Verstappen is heavy favourite after an easy championship win last year and Red Bull's strong pre-season form.

But before the track action kicks off, GPFans brings you all the stats you need to know ahead of the weekend...

Early bird

March 5 is F1's earliest start to a season since 2002.

Anniversary

This year's edition will mark the 20th race in Bahrain since its inaugural event in 2004. It will be the fifth time the circuit has held the season opener.

No driver has taken back-to-back pole positions here in the last seven years. Lewis Hamilton was the last to do so in 2015 and 2016.

Race winner's jinx

Since 2017, every driver to win the opening round of the season has gone on to finish second in the championship.

Nico Rosberg remains the last driver to win a season finale as well as the subsequent season opener in F1. He did so by winning the 2015 Abu Dhabi GP and the 2016 Australian GP.

Crucial quali

No driver has won in Bahrain when starting from lower than fifth on the grid. The top three grid slots have an 84 per cent strike rate.

Verstappen to overcome hoodoo?

Verstappen has won at 21 different circuits but never Bahrain.

His best finish at the venue is second, which the two-time champion has achieved twice [2020 and 2021].

Red Bull dry spell

Red Bull has yet to win in Bahrain since the introduction of the turbo-hybrid power units in 2014.

Sebastian Vettel won for the team in 2013.

READ MORE: Russell concedes Red Bull 'in a league of their own'

Equals

Aston Martin has the same number of podiums [in former guises] in Bahrain as Red Bull since 2014.

Historic milestone awaits

If both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finish on the podium on Sunday, Ferrari will reach 800 podiums in F1.

Bahrain brilliance

Lewis Hamilton has stood on the podium in every Bahrain race he’s appeared in since 2014.

Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium in each Bahrain Grand Prix since 2014.

The seven-time champion is also the most successful driver around this circuit with five wins.

Podium king

Another podium on Sunday would give Hamilton his 10th in a row in Bahrain, and his 12th in total.

Only his 13 podiums at Silverstone rate higher in the list of all-time number of top-threes at a single circuit.

Full house

Fernando Alonso will become the first driver to start a race in 20 F1 seasons.

Alonso will become the first driver to race with all the current V6 engine manufacturers – Ferrari (2014), Honda (2015), Renault (2018), and Mercedes (2023).

Old head and new blood

The two-time champion will become the first driver in history to race alongside a driver who was born just over a month after Alonso made his debut at the 2001 Australian GP.

Oscar Piastri is the young driver in question, hailing from the same city where the race took place, Melbourne.

American dream

Logan Sargeant will become the first American to start an F1 race since Alexander Rossi in 2015. He’ll also be the first American to be a part of a season opener since Scott Speed at the 2007 Australian GP.

No American driver has scored a Formula 1 point in the last 30 years.

If Sargeant scores in Bahrain, he’ll become the first US driver to score on debut in half a century. George Follmer was the last one to do so at the 1973 South African GP.

READ MORE: F1 is for everyone – stop gatekeeping and make room for all

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