'Advantage Red Bull' for 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, claims Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg feels that Red Bull have an advantage going into the Bahrain GP, with their drivers having locked in a front-row start for the first race of the season.

The qualifying session in Bahrain turned out in favor of Red Bull, as Max Verstappen's fiery lap at the end of Q3 saw him clinch pole position. His teammate Sergio Perez qualified right behind him.

Though the Ferraris were quite close to both the Red Bulls, they still couldn't make it to the front row as they opted against putting in more laps. While this was a strategic move, Rosberg felt that the two teams were pretty close.

However, the Finn still believes RB holds the advantage since they will have a "different" race pace. Sky Sports quoted him as saying:

"Phenomenal but we didn't see the second lap from Leclerc. He was only three tenths away, so he was really close. Tomorrow is another day. With the race pace it is different, but that is advantage Red Bull."

The entire session wasn't quite dominated by the Milton Keynes-based outfit, as the first two qualifying sessions were dominated by Ferrari. However, RB looked quite strong regardless. Verstappen pushed hard on the final lap to take pole, finishing almost a second quicker than Charles Leclerc's time last season.

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Nico Rosberg feels Fernando Alonso could have been closer up front despite Red Bull's pace

Other than the top teams, there was a surprise boost in the performance from Aston Martin. The team that finished P7 in the constructor's standings last season and struggled to make their way into Q3 were amazingly fast.

Fernando Alonso, the newest addition to the team, put in a lap faster than both the Mercedes and qualified at P5. While this in itself is impressive enough, Rosberg feels that he could have been closer to the top of the grid. He said:

"The disappointment today, for me personally, was Alonso. I was just hoping he could be even closer up front."

Mercedes, who were expected to be much more competitive, weren't that impressive in the qualifying session. Rosberg mentioned this while talking about Aston Martin's improvement this season.

"Of course still brilliant for Aston Martin and him where he is but I was just hoping he would be even closer and of course, Mercedes far away."

Red Bull are expected to be very quick, and while Ferrari will be starting with fresh tires, there is still a possibility that both Leclerc and Sainz might find it hard to overtake the RB19, which has matched all the expectations.