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Polesitter Verstappen appeared unimpeachable at the Sakhir circuit as he pulled out of DRS range of the chasing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by the end of the opening lap.
Despite his 2022 chief championship rival starting with fresher tyres, Verstappen then stretched his soft Pirellis a lap longer than Leclerc and managed a rear axle locking issue when downshifting.
Once Leclerc retired with a Ferrari engine failure on lap 39, Verstappen could cruise to an 11.9s victory over team-mate Sergio Perez, while podium finisher Fernando Alonso was a further 26.6s adrift.
With Mercedes driver George Russell ‘betting’ that Red Bull would every single race in 2023, Verstappen has rebuffed suggestions of a whitewash and instead predicts a far more hotly contested round awaits in Saudi Arabia on 19 March.
The two-time champion said: “Saudi is quite a different track to this one. You have a lot more like straights, fast corners, and a lot less degradation.
“And I think here [in Bahrain] we were particularly good on the deg. So, I do expect in terms of race pace, …