16:55

Check out Sportsmail's race report below.

That's all from me - hope you enjoyed it, and catch you next time!

Chasing his third successive world championship, the Dutchman started on pole and finished 12 seconds in front . It was an ominous warning and it will take a minor miracle to stop him.

16:44

16:43

P1-5: Verstappen, Perez, Alonso, Sainz, Hamilton

P5-10: Stroll, Russell, Bottas, Gasly, Albon.

P11-15: Tsunoda, Sargeant, Magnussen, De Vries, Hulkenberg.

P16-17: Zhou, Norris.

Retired: Ocon, Leclerc, Piastri.

16:39

He continues his dominance! The world champ super dominant again. Red Bull qualify 1-2 and finish 1-2, with Sergio Perez in second.

Fernando Alonso grabs a podium spot, with third. SURELY driver of the day right there.

16:36

16:31

Fernando Alonso is loving his new car! Fair play, Aston Martin, you've done pretty well there.

Poor Charles Leclerc, though - the below pictures show his withdrawal from the race.

16:28

Obviously, Max Verstappen is gone. Perez well clear in second too. A Red Bull one-two, pretty easy.

Alonso, Sainz, Hamilton in P3-5 are all wide open, though.

16:25

Ferrari confirm it was an engine problem on Leclerc's car, by the way.

And Lando Norris is pitting for the FIFTH time.

16:23

No idea how Fernando has the headspace to be so cool after overtaking. 

Sainz is asking 'did he touch me?' but replays show they might have got incredibly close without touching. Sainz is asking his team again, clearly annoyed, but they tell him to focus on the race!

Lewis is chasing him for fourth place!

16:19

Almost a crash! There's contact! Alonso bumps Carlos Sainz as he tries to go for third!

And they're into the straight... Alonso uses DRS, gets the slipstream, and slingshots past him! Vamos Fernando! Can you hear the drums, Fernando? I CAN! KEEP DRUMMING, LAD!

Sorry for all the exclamation marks. Alonso into third. Gorgeous piece of driving.

16:12

It looks to be an electrical problem for Leclerc, whose car just runs out of power, and he has to steer it slowly to the side of the track. It's not in a dangerous place, so just a virtual safety car.

What a waste for Ferrari, whose car was plagued by random problems last season. They had P3-P4 locked down with a podium! Have to feel for Leclerc, who had driven very nicely.

Such a shame.

16:10

16:07

Oh, my goodness. 'YES! Let's go!', Alonso shouts on the radio.

The two oldest men on the grid and they're not too bad, are they, the grizzled old veterans.

The Spaniard sneaks past Lewis with a tremendous move. It's not over yet, though... Lewis is still in DRS range!

16:06

WOW! That's why Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world title winner. Alonso goes down the long home straight, gets a run on the Brit, overtakes him with DRS.

But the Brit gets back past him immediately! So clever.

It now seems like Perez in second will not be troubled too much by Leclerc in third. Ferrari, seemingly, will settle for third and fourth with Leclerc and Sainz. Top four done and dusted?

Hamilton and Alonso battling for fifth though...

16:03

Top five: Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton

Five-10: Alonso, Stroll, Russell, Bottas, Albon.

11-15: Gasly, Tsunoda, Sargeant, De Vries, Zhou.

15-20: Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Norris, Ocon, Piastri (retired).

Poor old Lando Norris has been lapped, and is running in last after McLaren problems.

16:00

Everyone has pitted twice, apart from the bottom two of Norris and Ocon (three times - for car problems and penalties respectively) and the top three of Verstappen, Perez, Alonso, who have only pitted once.

I tell a lie - Perez is in just now, putting the hard tyres on. And Alonso's in now too! Hamilton goes past the Spaniard.

15:57

30 laps in out of 57 in total. Looks like Verstappen has the No 1 spot sewn up. But the podium spots, battle for the points, and plenty of other sub-plots happening too.

Mercedes, fearing an undercut from Fernando Alonso, call Hamilton into the pits to give him fresh tyres. Hamilton isn't sure - his tyres are fine - but he goes in.

Carlos Sainz and Hamilton's team-mate Russell pit, while the top four of Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Alonso stay out for now.

Russell gets out of the pits JUST ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll but his tyres are not yet up to speed and the Canadian overtakes him!

15:52

He's more than 13 seconds ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez in second. Too easy for Max, he's gone.

The Dutch star does say, however, 'Front left (tyre) is giving up'. Maybe something to liven up the battle for first place, hopefully.

Nico Hulkenberg bizarrely sets the fastest lap of the race despite being down in 18th! What a run from the German. He'll need a few more of those to get into the points...

15:49

Leclerc says on team radio: 'Degradation on the hard tyres better than expected'.

Hamilton is told by team radio that he's managed his tyres well, he can now have a crack at Carlos Sainz in fourth, full steam ahead. 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, Ocon now under investigation by the stewards for speeding on his way into the pit lane... to serve that penalty, for serving a penalty incorrectly. Fate is a cruel and ironic mistress.

15:46

Perez is RIGHT on Leclerc's tail. Half a second - within DRS range, maybe on one of the long straights... and he DOES! 

Perez keeps ahead as Leclerc looks to win his place back immediately. Ferrari look frustrated. Long way to go though...

Gasly pits again, potentially setting off another host of pitstops.

Ocon now have a TEN second penalty for serving his five second penalty incorrectly. Better make sure he serves this one correctly now. Not his day.

15:42

Ocon, whose penalty was confirmed as being for an incorrect placement on the grid, might have served his five-second penalty incorrectly.

THAT could be a penalty too. Loose from Alpine.

15:40

Top five at the moment: 

Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Hamilton.

Red Bulls and Ferraris looking strong, as expected, with Mercedes struggling to trouble the frontrunners.

ANOTHER fastest lap from Checo. Is this the year he challenges Verstappen?

...probably not. But still. Encouraging signs.

15:32

Perez pits, by the way.

NO! Lando is in too, with the air canister, team boss Zak Brown labelling it a pneumatic issue. What a nightmare first race for McLaren.

15:31

Oh dear, Oscar Piastri is shaking his head, and he's now out of the race. Verstappen pits, his first of the race.

Verstappen goes from soft-soft tyres, whereas everyone else is going soft to hard. He clearly wants to get a nice big lead then finish on his only set of hards.

Ocon DOES get a five-second penalty, plus his front wing is half hanging off. Not ideal.

The top 10: Perez, yet to pit, Verstappen, the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz, Hamilton, Bottas, Alonso, Russell, Stroll, Albon.

15:25

George Russell wants to pit NOW as he insists his tyres are 'gone'. But he's forced to stay out to fight off Fernando Alonso!

BRILLIANT driving from both - Alonso overtakes then fights off Russell expertly. Great work from the pair. Shows it IS possible to battle someone for a spot without necessarily smashing your car into them.

Someone inform Mr Verstappen...

Stewards have noted Esteban Ocon might not have been in the right place on the grid at the start of the race. Potential penalty incoming.

15:22

Ooh, interesting! Verstappen tells his team: 'I'm getting a bit of rear locking up on the downshift'. They tell him: 'Strat 8'. All this coded language is exciting.

Dear oh dear - McLaren's Lando Norris is forced to pit with an engine problem and drops to dead last.

15:20

Alpine's Gasly - the first race for him outside the Red Bull family - is the first in the race to pit. 

Will that lead to a raft of pitstops from mid-field competitors?

15:19

George Russell asks: 'Is Lewis managing? Because I feel like I have more pace.'

Merc bosses reply: '(He's) struggling, struggling.'

Is Russell getting impatient behind the seven-time champion?

Btw, places 11-20 are: Albon, Norris, Sargeant, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Piastri, Zhou, Gasly, de Vries, Magnussen

15:16

Verstappen now five seconds clear, 0.6seconds a lap quicker if he guns it, which he doesn't need to.

Russell is hitting fastest laps though, catching up with team-mate Hamilton immediately in front...

Checo Perez in third is chasing down Leclerc in second - but Red Bull bosses say 'chill, Sergio, tyre degradation means you'll get him eventually'.

I'm paraphrasing slightly.

15:12

Sky Sports commentators reckon we're now in the 'tyre saving' part of the race - where drivers hold off a little on the full pace possible to preserve their tyres. 

Verstappen is more than four seconds clear, and is lapping nearly a second-a-lap quicker than his pursuers.

Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, then the two Mercedes in Hamilton and Russell, Aston Martins Alonso and Stroll, Bottas and Ocon make up the top 10.

15:09

That's from Alonso's radio. He doesn't realise 'they' was his team-mate Stroll!

Verstappen is pulling away further, out of DRS range. Race sewn up already? We all hope not.

15:07

Incredible that Alonso doesn't have a right rear puncture after colliding with new team-mate Lance Stroll.

The biggest winners from the start are Lewis Hamilton, up to fifth from seventh, and former Merc team-mate Valtteri Bottas, up to eighth from 12th.

15:05

Verstappen gets a good start, keeping the lead after the first corner, but Charles Leclerc has overtaken Sergio Perez into second! 

Two Aston Martins have touched further back, with Fernando Alonso losing a bit of bodywork. But it's a green flag, track clear, and carry on for the Spaniard.

Verstappen is already pulling away!

15:03

The 2023 campaign is underway!

Every car has red stripe tyres on - the softs - apart from Kevin Magnussen, who's on the hards.

Soft tyres are the fastest but quickest to degrade (run down). Hards are the longest lasting but the slowest.

14:58

14:52

14:48

Teaming up for American constructor Haas are veterans Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. 

The pair have a bit of history, K-Mag telling Nico to 's**k my b***s' in a famous video.

Awkward in the team paddock?

14:47

Find out with Sportsmail's report below.

By the way, the Bahraini national anthem has just finished and there was a flyover.

HENRY CLARK: Sportsmail was invited down to the Porsche Human Performance centre at Silverstone where they promised to replicate the stresses and strains of driving an F1 car.

14:44

Martin Brundle is doing his trademark ring walk! 

Ooh, they're speaking to Geri Haliwell's husband. Love it when they get the celebs involved.

14:37

The 2023 F1 season gets underway this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sportsmail have outlined the calendar, identified the changes you should look out for and analysed the teams.

14:34

Fernando Alonso raised the prospect of delivering a shock win at Formula One's opening race of the season after he set the fastest time in practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

14:18

Lewis Hamilton still has his best ability to compete for world titles ahead of the F1 opener in Bahrain on Sunday despite having suffered his worst season, insists David Coulthard.

14:10

14:07

Well, the man himself reckons his team are still the same distance from Red Bull - or even further behind.

By the sounds of it, it could be a fair old way into the season before Merc have the upgrades or the package to really challenge.

JONATHAN McEVOY: The seven-time world champion ended practice in eighth place , trailing Aston Martin's surprise pace-setter Fernando Alonso by six-tenths of a second.

13:54

Some nifty driving skills from the newbie.

Sometimes I wonder if I'd be good at professional racing or karting or something like that, then I remember I took about 20 minutes to parallel park a week ago.

Levels to this game.

Oscar Piastri has failed to get past the first stage of qualifying in his debut F1 grand prix in Bahrain, but the rookie from Melbourne has impressed fans by dodging disaster during practice.

13:42

Amazingly, the heavyweights are ALREADY ready to ditch their W14 car.

That would be a turn up. Not exactly a show of faith in how it's going to perform today against the Red Bulls...

Team principal Toto Wolff delivered the astonishing news after the Silver Arrows qualified six-tenths of a second adrift of pole-sitter Max Verstappen, 25 hours after Lewis Hamilton questioned flawed design.

13:33

Below is reigning champion Max Verstappen's take on all the pretenders to his crown.

Wonder what he says about Lewis...

JONATHAN McEVOY: Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso may have set the fastest time during practice in Bahrain on Friday and can entertain his own hopes for the opening race and the season beyond.

13:22

Max Verstappen made a strong start to his title defence as he took pole position in Bahrain ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Cahrles Leclerc qualified in third, with Lewis Hamilton down in seventh.

13:14

The first weekend of the season is in the Middle East, in Bahrain, and the lights will go out at 3pm English time.

Before then, we'll be bringing you pictures, videos, social media, news and analysis so you can catch up on everything before the race starts.

13:06

Hello! The pre-season, the testing, the speculation is finally over.

The new F1 campaign begins TODAY.

Who's looking forward to it then?