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Three months after the conquest of the third World Championship title by Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team, the Formula 1 World Championship starts again for the 2024 season with the Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2023 season was a dominant one for Red Bull, with their number one driver Max Verstappen winning 19 of 21 team’s victories over 23 races. A lot of news has animated the winter break. The previous constructors Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri have run their last race of 2023, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, under those names. The Swiss team ended their partnership both as title sponsor and technical partner, after having collaborated since the 2018 season with the homonymous Italian car manufacturer. Therefore, the old denomination of Sauber is back, and continues to be tied to title sponsors Stake and Kick, while preparing itself to become the official Audi team in 2026. The team changed their name to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. For the Faenza-based team there was instead a name change to Racing Bulls, shortened to RB, supported by title sponsors Visa and Cash App, together with a partial transfer to Milton Keynes, in the United Kingdom, for a management restructuring. The team changed their name to Visa Cash App RB F1 Team. The new team principal is Ferrari's former French engineer and sporting director, Laurent Mekies, who took the place of Franz Tost. Even US’ team Haas had a change at the helm, with the Japanese Ayao Komatsu taking Günther Steiner’s place, who had covered the role since the team’s debut in the 2016 season, at the Australian Grand Prix. The American company Cognizant is no longer sponsor of the English team Aston Martin, and this makes the Saudi oil company Aramco the de facto sole title sponsor of the team. The team changed their official name to Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team. For the first time in Formula 1 history, all the drivers taking part in the first race of the year are the same as the second part of the previous year’s season. The only change regarding the drivers under contract in early 2023 was the Australian Daniel Ricciardo as a replacement of the Dutch Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri, starting from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. The first race of the Bahrain Grand Prix took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on April 4, 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the Best Organised Grand Prix by the FIA.
In the past, the race has been the second, third, or fourth race of the Formula One calendar. However, in the 2006 season, Bahrain swapped places with the traditional opener, the Australian Grand Prix. In February 2022, it was reported that the event's contract had been extended to last until the 2036 Formula One season. One characteristic of the track is its large run-off areas, which have been criticised for not punishing drivers who stray off the track. However, they tend to prevent sand getting onto the track. The circuit is regarded as one of the safest in the world. The Spanish Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso, is the only one among all the drivers to have participated in the race’s inaugural edition, in 2004, with the former team called Renault. Alonso qualified 16th and finished 6th, earning three points. In this race, the Spaniard is taking part in the 378th start of a Grand Prix. The British Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, is the most successful at the Bahrain Grand Prix. All the victories came with the German team, in 2014, 2015, and from 2019 to 2021. Ferrari is the most winning team on the Manama circuit, with seven triumphs. The victories have been obtained with Michael Schumacher (2004), Felipe Massa (2007, 2008), Fernando Alonso (2010), Sebastian Vettel (2017, 2018) and Charles Leclerc (2022). The only other drivers who won here have been Jenson Button, with Brawn GP in 2009, Nico Rosberg with Mercedes in 2016, and Max Verstappen with Red Bull Racing in the previous edition. The pole position record is shared between Hamilton and Vettel, with three each. Vettel started from pole in 2010 and 2012 with Red Bull Racing, and in 2018 with Ferrari; Hamilton in 2015, 2016 and 2020, always with Mercedes. From the current grid, other four drivers have started from pole position: Alonso in 2005, Leclerc in 2019 and 2022, Verstappen in 2021 and 2023, and Valtteri Bottas in 2017. Five current drivers made their debut in the top category at this Grand Prix: in 2023 the Australian Oscar Piastri with McLaren and the American Logan Sargeant with Williams, in 2022 the Chinese Zhou Guanyu with the former Alfa Romeo, in 2021 the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda with the former AlphaTauri, and in 2010 the German Nico Hülkenberg with Williams. Two drivers on the grid obtained the first pole position of their career at this race: Bottas in 2017 with Mercedes, and Leclerc in 2019 with Ferrari.
The Finnish and the Monegasque obtained 20 and 23 starts from pole respectively, for both of them, all with the same team. From this Grand Prix until the start of 2025 teams are not allowed to work on the development of the car for the 2026 season, which will see important changes in technical regulations. The maximum number of components that can be used for the internal combustion engine (ICE), the MGU-H, the MGU-K and the turbocharger (TC) was reduced from four units, the maximum of the previous Championship, to three. The meeting of the F1 Commission before the start of the Championship made a step back, bringing to four the maximum number of the above-mentioned components for this year and for 2025. For the electronic control unit (CE) and for the energy recovery system (ES), the number remains unchanged to two components per season. Due to the excessive heat at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, the teams can install a scoop under the survival cell in order to cool the driver’s and cockpit’s temperature. Because of Zhou Guanyu’s crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix, additional security measures to the roll-bar have been implemented to ensure the safety of the drivers. Changes the use of the Drag Reduction System after the start or the restart in case of a safety car. Now it can be used after a lap, not two as it was until now, thanks to the successful test made last year during the Sprint races. The right of review against the decision of sports stewards during the Grands Prix is modified. Before, the teams had fourteen days to make a request. The time frame is now reduced to four days. In an attempt to stop potentially futile appeals, the Federation introduced a tax. The maximum value of fines applicable to individual drivers is raised from 250.000 euros to 1 million. In order to avoid drivers driving slowly in the out lap during qualifying, they are required not to exceed a maximum time taken to drive through a sector.
This is a change compared to 2023, where the FIA introduced a mandatory full lap time. Any driver who does not comply with this limit is reported to the sports stewards and could be penalised. However, the Federation then decides to go back to 2023’s method to measure the maximum lap time over an entire lap. For this Grand Prix, Pirelli, the sole tyre supplier, offers the choice of the C1, C2 and C3 compounds, the hardest compounds of the range made available by the Italian company, the same choice that was made at the 2022 edition of the Grand Prix. At the same time, the Italian company revealed the choice of tyres for the next two Grands Prix, those of Saudi Arabia and Australia. From this Grand Prix, the C0 compound, introduced during the 2023 season but never used, is removed. The alternative tyre allocation tested at the 2023 Hungarian and Italian Grands Prix, where drivers were provided with 11 sets of tyres in an effort to reduce costs, will be interrupted. So, every driver and team now have 13 sets of tyres available during each race weekend. The Federation confirms the three Drag Reduction System’s zones that have been used since 2019, when they decided to increase the number of zones to three. The first is on the boxes’ straight, with the point for determining the gap between the drivers placed before turn 14; the second, introduced after, is between turns 3 and 4, with the detection point set before the first corner; the third zone is between turns 10 and 11, with the point for determining the gap between drivers placed before turn 9. In the previous edition, the DRS activation point was on the main straight, but now it has been moved ahead, 250 metres after turn 15. Compared to the 2023 edition and after what happened during last week at the pre-season tests, repair work, including filling of drains with concrete, have been done in the area around turn 11, and also around turn 7. Further welding work was also carried out in some areas around the track. The FIA establishes that, concerning the track limits, if drivers do not respect them at the entrance or the exit of turn 15, their lap time and the previous one will be invalidated by the sports stewards. Having reached the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the most anticipated protagonist is undoubtedly Max Verstappen. The reigning World Champion, wants to avoid some surprises during the first race:
"I am looking forward to the weekend ahead in Bahrain. We had a good few days of tests and learned a lot from the car. Of course, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and we still need to make sure we do everything right to have a strong first weekend. Everyone has done plenty of laps here in Bahrain, so hopefully we shouldn’t encounter too many surprises in terms of set-up direction for the week ahead. All in all, I am excited to get the season underway and start racing again".
On the other hand, it will be tough for Sergio Perez, who is aiming for a reappointment in Red Bull Racing this season, and seems not to want to start the season talking about his chances to win the World Championship. The Mexican driver just hopes to have a good experience in Bahrain:
"It’s finally time to go racing and I am really looking forward to this weekend. We had a solid week of testing, we maximised everything we possibly could and the car felt really good, I was happy with it and we feel the reliability is there. It’s always interesting to see how things change on the first weekend, going into qualifying and then raceday with a lot of new concepts on the grid, a lot of other teams look strong but it’s so hard to tell from testing. We have taken a new direction with the RB20 and I am excited to jump in the car in a competitive environment and see how we match up. I am not looking too far ahead, I want to get comfortable with the car and take things race by race, I am expecting 2024 to be a close battle between teams, which could make things fun".
And with less ambition also begins the Formula 1 World Championship for Scuderia Ferrari, which is looking more carefully at 2025, when Lewis Hamilton will link up with the Maranello team. In fact, on Friday, February 1, 2024, Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes and joining Ferrari in the 2025 season.
"No one knew, until the day of the announcement I didn't even tell my parents. I still felt motivated to race, I followed my instincts and decided to take the chance. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't tell my parents until the day of the announcement. So, no one knew".
Lewis Hamilton then added:
"I really wanted to do it for myself. Ultimately, I had to find out what would be best for me. I followed my instincts. It all happened very quickly. Basically I had known Fred (Vasseur, Ferrari principal team, ed.) for a long time. And as for me, I was excited for the new year, but without knowing what the future would hold for me and without knowing how long I would race, but knowing that I felt super motivated and excited to keep racing. In short, the opportunity came up and I said to myself, OK, I have to think about this for a minute. I didn't have much time to think, I had to follow my instincts and decided to take the chance".
But for now there is a World Championship to start with Mercedes. The last. While Charles Leclerc compares this year’s car to that of last year and everything he sees seems to be encouraging:
"I think we all want to see what the real picture is in an actual Grand Prix. We gathered plenty of information on our side and we believe we have done a good job, but we haven’t gone head to head with the others and I can’t wait to do that. Last year, the car was so inconsistent in terms of performance that we didn’t know how to deal with it. This time however, we have identified the areas where we need to improve and those where we believe we are in particularly good shape. It means that, back in the factory, they are already working on the data to decide on the direction in which to develop the package. We can therefore say we are starting from a very different and much better baseline than last year. The direction we have taken in the design of the SF-24 was already established in the final part of the 2023 season, when, from Japan onwards, we managed to make a lot of progress in terms of driveability and consistent race performance. That’s why I expect that we will start from the same sort of order we saw then and I can count on starting from a level that means we can fight for wins more often and make the most of any opportunity".
Even Carlos Sainz Jr. admits that they are starting from a more solid base than last year’s season:
"We got a good understanding of the SF-24, which seems to be an honest car. Last week, we were able to test everything we planned to do and we feel ready for this first race. That’s a big improvement on where we were at this time last year when we had a lot of doubts and questions which we struggled to answer during all of the first part of the season. Considering we’re starting from a more solid base, I think it’s logical to believe we can win more than last season. That means more podiums, but hopefully it also means we will be in the running for more wins".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, concludes:
"After the SF-24 completed over seven race distances during testing, when all teams ran their own programmes, the time has finally come for everyone to show their hand. As from Thursday’s free practice, we will begin to get an idea of the pecking order and see the results of the work we and the other teams have done. Charles and Carlos felt comfortable at the wheel of the SF-24, which is exactly what we had set out to achieve when designing it. We are up against the usual tough opponents and I want to see us adopt the same approach we had in the closing stages of last season. We must not be scared to dare if we believe a bold decision can make the difference when it comes to our performance. The car appears to be competitive, Charles and Carlos are in great shape and the mood in the team is super focused and we are determined to get a good result".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal, sees a new opportunity in this new start and admits that their simulations were accurate, so hopes that the team will get the best result:
"A new season brings new opportunities and it's exciting to be heading into a new campaign with all the drama it will inevitably bring. Each of the last two seasons, we've headed to the first race of the year on the back foot. There was inherent potential in the W13 and W14, but it often proved too difficult to unlock. They were inconsistent cars. Our main aim going into 2024 therefore was clear: create a consistent and stable base. A car that would react as we expected. One that the drivers could consistently push. And one that we can develop throughout the year, in the knowledge that we are bringing real-world performance to the track. Over these first two races, we will get a much better understanding of the job we have done. After pre-season testing though, we can draw some initial conclusions. The drivers are much happier with the overall balance. The basics are working as we expected. The correlation to our simulators looks to be accurate. This is all encouraging. It's a good foundation that we can build on. Our focus at testing was on learning about the car we have. Our attention can now turn to tuning performance for the Bahrain race weekend. Red Bull, as is to be expected, looks to be at the head of the field. The chasing pack looks tight. We will soon get an idea of where we stack up in that. And the task that is ahead of us to close the gap to the front. Wherever we net out though, the whole team is relishing the challenge ahead. There is a palpable sense of energy running through the factory and trackside. The year ahead is long. There will be many ups, along with the inevitable downs. But this is why we love racing. And now, we can't wait to get going".
One of the biggest players this season could be the McLaren team, which has been aspiring for a return to its former glory and victory for years now. Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, does not make predictions yet but hopes to continue the trajectory taken the last season:
"The team is looking forward to going racing again. Last week we had three productive days of testing where we could work with the MCL38 to optimise performance and to let reliability issues emerge before the race weekend. We have gathered a lot of data ahead of the start of the season here in Bahrain".
He adds:
"The entire team have worked tirelessly in the off-season to build the MCL38 and get us ready for the first race here in Bahrain. We have a long season of 24 races ahead of us, and our aim is to continue building on the upwards trajectory we established last season. Both Lando and Oscar have been working closely with their engineering teams over the last few months, and they come into this season prepared and ready to give their all. As always, we're grateful for the support we receive from our fans and commercial partners. It never goes unnoticed, thank you for your support once again. We're not in a position to make any predictions on our competitiveness as testing is difficult to read, but we're committed to delivering our best performance in every aspect of our operations and we're excited to go racing again".
Lando Norris is happy to be on track again, especially after the good end of the season he and his team had last year:
"It's finally here, our first race of the season! I'm looking forward to starting my sixth season in Formula 1 and with the team. We ended last season on a high, so hopefully we keep the momentum. It felt great to be back behind the wheel of an F1 car last week. Testing of the MCL38 went well, which is a good way to go into the race weekend. We learned a lot but there's always more to get used to in a new car. A huge thanks goes to the team for their hard work in bringing the MCL38 to track. Let's go".
Oscar Piastri is of the same mind:
"I'm excited to start my second season in Formula 1. It's great to be back in the car, and the MCL38 feels good. It was great to get substantial time in the car last week during testing. We learned a lot about the car, but this is when we really find out how we stack up against the competition. The team has done a fantastic job over the winter, and we're all really happy to be back racing. It should be a fun season ahead".
Until the sexual scandal involving Christian Horner, it seemed to be the quietest of pre-season winters for Red Bull Racing. The reigning World Champion team, boasting a huge performance advantage maintained throughout the past season, as well as a new RB20 that appears revolutionary in its technical solutions, must now face not only the on-track activity but also the media issue involving its long-standing team principal. It all begins on the morning of Friday, February 5, 2024, when the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf publishes the rumour that Christian Horner is under internal investigation for inappropriate behavior towards an employee within the company. There are no major details, but the matter appears serious and delicate from the outset, especially since the journalist behind the article is Erik Van Haren, known for his close ties to the Verstappen family and therefore considered reliable regarding internal affairs at Red Bull Racing. While the team remains silent on the issue, the Austrian branch of the company confirms the existence of the investigation against Horner. Red Bull Austria announces that the matter is being handled by an independent lawyer, specialising in the field, tasked with gathering testimonies from the parties involved and reaching a conclusion as soon as possible.
"After becoming aware of the recent accusations, we have initiated an independent investigation. The investigation is already underway and is being conducted by an external legal expert. We take these matters extremely seriously, and the investigation will be completed as soon as possible. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time".
Christian Horner does not publicly intervene, merely denying the accusations with a single sentence:
"I completely deny these allegations".
Even Geri Halliwell, a globally renowned pop star and former member of the Spice Girls and Horner's wife, though not issuing any statement, stands with her husband. Meanwhile, the investigation continues. Friday, February 9, 2024, is the day set for Christian Horner's hearing with the independent lawyer engaged by Red Bull to clarify the matter. According to rumours, the meeting lasted eight hours and took place in London rather than Milton Keynes, as initially planned, to avoid prying eyes. Some reports suggest that Adrian Newey, deeply respected and a friend of Christian Horner, was also questioned as someone informed about the facts. Days pass quickly, but the decision on Horner's future does not arrive. Initially, it seemed that the investigation would be concluded before the presentation of the new car, scheduled for Thursday, February 15, 2024. However, the waiting times are longer, and the team principal is therefore regularly present at the RB20 launch show. There is also room for some questions about the incident, which Horner adeptly addresses with the help of Red Bull's press office, which prohibits delving too deeply into the details:
"Undoubtedly, there has been a distraction. But the team is very united, and everyone is focused on the season. Everything proceeded as normal; the support to the team is fantastic".
Max Verstappen also seems to agree:
"I don't know who likes to write these kinds of things, but for me and Christian, it's business as usual".
Meanwhile, numerous rumours circulate. Some write that Red Bull offered Horner the opportunity to resign before the accusations surfaced last winter. De Telegraaf provides further details on the matter, explicitly stating that the inappropriate behaviour mentioned is sexually transgressive behavior, and there are some text messages supporting the claims of the accusing employee. Moreover, the Dutch newspaper also claims that Horner's lawyers offered around 760.000 euros to the employee before February 5, 2024, to settle the accusations and prevent the news from leaking to the press. Horner continues to deny the accusations, confirms that he was regularly at the pit wall during the Bahrain tests (February 21-23, 2024), and sues De Telegraaf. The issue is serious enough that even Liberty Media expresses the hope for a swift resolution to the scandal.
"We have noted that Red Bull has initiated an independent investigation into the internal allegations at Red Bull Racing. We hope that the matter will be clarified as soon as possible after a fair and thorough process. Formula 1 will not make further comments at this time".
Ford also weighs in, having invested heavily in a commercial and technological agreement with Red Bull starting from 2026. Mark Rushbrook, Ford's director of motorsport, says:
"As a family-owned company and a group that holds high standards of integrity and fairness in behaviour, we expect the same from our partners. It seems to us, and we have been told, that Red Bull is treating the situation very seriously. And certainly, they are concerned about their brand image".
The issue reaches a conclusion on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix: Christian Horner is cleared of the accusations and remains in his position, remaining the longest-serving team principal currently in Formula 1. Nevertheless, at 6:19 p.m. on Thursday, February 29, 2024, around eighty files (photos, screenshots) are sent to journalists and representatives of Formula 1, containing sexually explicit conversations between Horner and the Red Bull employee accusing him of harassment.
Despite these unfortunate situations, on Thursday, February 29, the wind on track makes the performance of the first practice session insignificant. The best time, higher than that of 2023, is of Daniel Ricciardo, with the two McLarens behind. The British team was the only one, among those predicted to be more competitive on the eve, to run on softs. The RB’s competitiveness is confirmed by Yuki Tsunoda’s fourth time. The best on mediums is Fernando Alonso, fifth, also faster than Max Verstappen, sixth, at 369 tenths from Ricciardo’s time. The second session, in the evening, with similar conditions to those of the race, sees Mercedes’ monopoly, with the first two positions of the ranking. Lewis Hamilton defeated his teammate George Russell for 206 tenths. Alonso is third, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr.; Leclerc is further behind (P9), penalised by a mistake in the first fast attempt, and slightly hampered in the second. McLaren obtained contrasting results, with Piastri P5 and Lando Norris last, also penalised by some problems in the faster laps on mediums. In the race simulation, on mediums, Verstappen was the most consistent, while Ferrari and Mercedes, not far, demonstrated the need for a cooling lap, after an intensive use of soft tyres. The race simulation seems to exclude the use of medium tyres. If anyone was wondering whether the rumors concerning Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner might be disturbing the reigning World Champion, they surely received a negative answer at the end of practice. Max Verstappen thinks about qualifying, as he wants to fight for pole:
"The practice sessions today were not perfect but we weren’t too far off. The long runs were quite decent, and I think we can always do a little better on those laps. There were a few small balance issues that we will work on but I am quite happy with everything with the car overall. Today was just about trying to find that sweet spot and getting the perfect balance in the car. Performing well in qualifying is important, so we will make sure the car is in good shape ahead of tomorrow. I’m not too worried about the gap to P1 and we aren’t looking too much at the others and are just focusing on ourselves at the moment. It’s going to be very close in qualifying but we will try and work a bit more and fight for pole tomorrow".
Sergio Pérez too has a positive view of this first day back on track:
"I think these sessions were key and very interesting, we have plenty to explore on the car that we didn’t have the chance to during testing, so we are exploring it now with the mechanical balance here and there. The good thing is that whatever we do on performance seems to help the long runs. We just have one aim, which is to make a more balanced car and that will make things better for the race and qualifying. Today was as expected. We heard a lot of people saying that we were a second ahead after testing, which made me smile because I knew things would be a lot closer. It is looking very competitive across the grid, and it is going to be tight on Friday night in quali".
Carlos Sainz Jr. admits that they are where they expected to be even with the lows and highs shown during practice:
"It was a trickier practice day compared to testing with lower temps and higher winds, which made it more difficult to be consistent on track. We obviously don’t know the run plan of the others, but in terms of competitiveness it looks like we’re more or less where we expected to be. Apart from that, I feel we have had a good Thursday, completing all our program and tyre testing. Now it’s time to analyse the data and get ready for tomorrow’s quali. I look forward to it, it looks like it’s going to be tight".
Charles Leclerc had no big surprises too:
"First day done. Not much to say, as it’s very difficult to read our competitiveness for now but there were no big surprises. It was good to be back in the car alongside all the other drivers to kick off the season. Now we have quite a lot of work to do, especially in terms of balance. Let's see where we stand tomorrow".
Last year Mercedes certainly did not shine during the course of the season. But now Lewis Hamilton is more optimistic than last year:
"It was very windy in FP1, and the track was very different compared to the tests. We didn't know exactly where we would stack up against everyone else, but we had a positive FP2 session. The car was feeling good, but we can't get ahead of ourselves. We know there is more to extract, and our long run pace isn't in the fight with the Red Bulls. Overall though, I'm feeling much happier with the car than last year. We've made some good improvements and it feels much more like a race car. It's a really good platform for us to build from. We just need to keep our heads down and keep chasing".
George Russell looks at his opponents:
"We're not going to get carried away after one day of practice. Our qualifying pace did look strong. We made some changes from the tests and the improvement exceeded our expectations. But ultimately our long run pace is where it counts. Verstappen looked comfortably quickest, and it was very tight with the Ferraris, the McLarens, and the Aston Martins. So we've likely got a real fight on our hands there. Nevertheless, we're pleased with how our day has gone; the car is performing well. We will sit down and understand where the main improvements came from and try to sustain that. We want to be fighting for good positions on Saturday night".
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, explains how they were concerned after the tests, but now today’s performance has encouraged them:
"Following the tests we were most concerned about our single lap pace. We had both drivers in the simulator before returning here. From the running today, it looks like we have improved. We're certainly not getting carried away, as there is plenty of scope within power unit modes and fuel loads for several cars to find a chunk of time before tomorrow. It's encouraging though that the picture we had last week seems to have improved. The long run data also looks close. Verstappen is still comfortably in front, as we saw last week, but behind him it's going to be a tight battle for the remaining podium spots. We know we've got plenty to fine tune on the balance. It's still early days with the W15, and we're learning how to get lap-time out of it with each run, but it's already feeling very different to the last two years that we have been here".
McLaren certainly starts the season better than it did the previous year. And this is a good sign given that in 2023, with an excellent recovery, the team had managed to achieve a fourth place finish. With such a bright start, one wonders what the British team can do. Lando Norris is optimistic:
"It's been a reasonable day. I'm happy with how Thursday went overall. We made some progress with the car, there are still plenty of things to improve on, but we improved the balance and I got more comfortable, which is a good thing. I didn't do a great job in putting a lap together, so it wasn't a very representative day on the timesheets, but overall, a good first day and a good start to the weekend".
Oscar Piastri defines this as a solid day:
"It was a good session. I felt like we were pretty competitive in both low and high fuel running. It'll be interesting to see what we're like tomorrow, but I think it was a pretty solid day overall. I was happy with my driving, and we got some good information out of the session. It will be interesting to see what the grid is like when all the sandbags are gone, but I think we're about where we expected to be and we're in a good place going into tomorrow".
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, concludes:
"Overall, a productive first day of practice. We had no major issues and we got through our test program. Even though we've had three days of testing, there is always a lot to finalise when it comes to the race weekend, and today we worked on setup. It was also important to develop our understanding of the tyres in conditions that were colder in comparison to the test. Oscar had a good session both on new tyres and long runs, while Lando couldn't complete his single timed lap on the Soft, which meant his position in the classification was not very meaningful. But we're happy with the information we've acquired, and we seem to be in a decent position to score points. We'll try to maximise our package tomorrow and put ourselves in the best position for the rest of the weekend".
Fernando Alonso looks ahead at qualifying, as they have now learnt more about the new car:
"We focused on our program today and are happy with the work we've done. We used Medium tyres during FP1 and then focused our attention more towards the Softs in FP2. We learnt more about the car whilst making some positive setup changes that we're happy with. It's important not to read too much into the timesheets at this stage because of a number of different factors and variables, but I’m feeling positive and looking forward to the first qualifying of the season".
The start of the season for Alpine certainly does not reflect expectations: the cars are currently the slowest of the entire group of participants. Esteban Ocon thinks the car is better in cooler conditions and he is ok with that, due to the time of qualifying and the race:
"It was a productive day of practice where we ran through different programs and learnt more about the car. The morning session was particularly difficult with the windy conditions, but the car felt much better in FP2. We seem to be better in the evening in cooler conditions compared to the morning session. That's something to be positive about, as they're the conditions we'll be qualifying in tomorrow and racing in on Saturday. We look more competitive in the long runs, but we need to find more pace over a single lap to put us in a better position for qualifying. We will analyse the data overnight and work hard to unlock some performance, especially in qualifying".
Pierre Gasly is of the same mind:
"We're back on track for the first practice of the season. We tried some things on the car throughout the day, which resulted in some positive learnings. The car was certainly trickier in the first session under the hot and gusty conditions. We reverted some things and I had a better feeling in the car in the evening session. We know the performance is not quite where we want it to be but we're continuing to understand more and more each time we're on track. Patience is required and we'll try to make the best with the package we have in our hands right now. The team and I are working hard to keep finding performance. We'll see what we can do tomorrow and on Saturday and I'm ready to keep pushing".
Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer, analyses what happened during FP1 and FP2:
"A very interesting day, because we got our first indications of the hierarchy down the pit lane, even if one has to take into account the usual unknown factors such as how much fuel the cars had on board and how the power unit was used. We saw the teams make almost identical choices in terms of tyre usage, with a preference for the C2 in the first session and the C3 in the second, when track conditions were similar to those we can expect for the race, while the two sets of C1 have been saved for the rest of the weekend. The long runs in FP2 were almost all done on the C3 and demonstrated that even the softest compound could be competitive over a long stint. As for the C2, we already saw in testing that the difference in performance compared to the C1 is not so big, but the hardest compound guarantees better consistency and is therefore the preferred choice for the race".
At the end of FP2, Finnish Sauber driver, Valtteri Bottas, is summoned by the stewards for leaving the pit lane with a red light, just before the session’s start. Bottas receives a reprimand, the first of the season. Before the third free practice session on Friday, on Lando Norris’ car the second energy recovery system and electronic control unit is installed. The Brit is not penalised on the starting grid as the new components installed are among those usable in the maximum number established by technical regulations. It is time for the first qualifying of 2024 in the evening and Carlos Sainz Jr. sets the first time on mediums; his teammate Leclerc, gets near but does not manage to defeat him. Alexander Albon is the first to go under one minute and 31 seconds. A little later, the first place is taken by Nico Hülkenberg (1'30"623). After Norris managed to beat the Haas driver’s time, it is Verstappen’s turn to go first, with a 1'30"031. When the Ferraris go out on track with soft compounds, Sainz Jr. takes the limit to 1'29"909, while Leclerc is fourth. At the end of the session all the drivers are back on track to improve their times, except for Sainz Jr.. the eliminated are Bottas, Zhou, Sargeant, Ocon and Gasly. The start of Q2 sees Hülkenberg closing in a 1'30"997, and Kevin Magnussen stopping himself 0"173 from his teammate. Oscar Piastri runs in 1'30"624, but is immediately defeated by Norris with a 1'29"941. Stroll is third, while Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo are not able to beat Hülkenberg’s performance; the stewards cancel Magnussen’s time due to track limits. Alonso and Sainz Jr. are respectively second and third, but both defeated by Leclerc, second behind Norris. It is Verstappen’s turn and he sets a 1'29"374, taking the limit down; Sergio Pérez, the other Red Bull Racing driver, is second.
Hülkenberg and Albon get into the top ten, and the latter is then beaten by Lance Stroll. Ricciardo is P10, before Sainz Jr. gets the second place, just 0”199 from Verstappen. Tsunoda takes P8 again, and Alonso is third. Charles Leclerc sets the best time of Q2; both the Mercedes cars get into the top ten. The drivers eliminated are Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Ricciardo and Magnussen. Even during Q3 the first to set a time is Hülkenberg; then Norris takes the command, followed by Russell and Verstappen (1'29"421). Pérez is P4. Sainz Jr. gets P3, less than two tenths from the Dutch; Leclerc does better, just 59 thousandths from the best time. Alonso, who just has a new train of softs, goes out when the track is empty, makes the best partial in the second section of the track, and closes third. Piastri improves, with the seventh time, like Norris, P6. Hülkenberg improves his performance but remains tenth. Verstappen, meanwhile, finds Piastri’s slipstream as Sainz Jr. takes Hülkenberg’s one. Russell is third, while Lewis Hamilton is P8. Verstappen closes with a 1'29"179, 228 thousandths faster than Leclerc. Sainz Jr. gets P4 again, while Pérez is fifth. Two times have been cancelled from the stewards for track limits during qualifying: those of Pierre Gasly (at turn 13) and Kevin Magnussen (at turn 7). George Russell is not penalised by the stewards for not having complied with the instructions laid down by Race Direction. The Mercedes’ Brit has exceeded the time limit of one minute and 54 seconds between the second line of the safety car and the first of it, during the sixth lap of Q1. The Red Bull Racing team seems truly unstoppable. After dominating the 2023 Championship, it starts the 2024 season as well as it could. Max Verstappen, first poleman of the year, is very satisfied with this result, also because of the struggles they had during the previous days:
"It feels good to be back on pole today! Testing was really good and then this weekend was a bit more tricky for us; it was difficult to get the balance of the car right due to the tricky conditions with the wind being quite strong. Heading into qualifying, no one knew where we all stood and it was very tight, but this is exciting for the sport. We made some good improvements on the car and also improved performance from FP3 to qualifying and in Q3 we had a little bit more grip. Ultimately, I am pleased with the performance of the car and was happy to be back competing again today. Looking at tomorrow, I have a good feeling and am confident ahead of the race. We know it is about looking after the tyres in the best way possible as anything can happen in the race. We have a good race car and hopefully we can show the same performance as we did today".
Sergio Pérez made the top 10 with ease and will start P5:
"My lap wasn’t as clean as it could have been into turn one and that means two or three places when everything is so tight up there. It was tricky, we were learning throughout qualifying, it was the first time we had run such a light car. We didn’t get the maximum because we lost a set of soft tyres for Q3 on an aborted lap in Q2, that was a negative but a positive is that the car was performing well in qualifying. We have some work to do but what matters is tomorrow, and we are on the right side of the grid so we should be able to have a strong start. A lot of teams saved the hard tyre but we saved those softs and that means we will be on different strategies out there. The target tomorrow will be to make progress and end on the podium, things are really close and it is going to be a nice battle ahead".
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s CEO and Team Principal, is very satisfied with the result achieved and hopes the best for tomorrow’s race:
"It was a great lap from Max, the circuit was getting cooler, so it was getting a little tricker. He didn’t think it was enough to take pole but thankfully it was and he put it together very well. It was very tight behind him, I have been saying the regulations are going to make the field closer and the start of this year is starting to show that, which makes things exciting for everyone. It should be an interesting race tomorrow, this grid is so tight, there was only a tenth and a half between third and seventh so I am not concerned about Checo starting from P5. It’s a long race and I am confident he will be in a good place to compete for the podium".
Charles Leclerc was on used tyres in Q3 and, despite setting a very good time in Q2, he did not manage to replicate it:
"It was a good qualifying after what has been quite a tricky weekend. We tried a few things in the free practice sessions and I found the sweet spot in qualifying. We went out on a set of used tyres at first in Q3 which compromised our rhythm a bit, before switching to a new set but overall, it feels like we are in a better place than we were at the start of last year. We have to wait and see where we stand in terms of race pace and Red Bull still seem to be a step ahead of the rest of the pack. I'll take any opportunity we have".
Carlos Sainz Jr. could not get to the front row:
"It was a super tight session and all in all it hasn’t been a bad first qualifying for the season. In Q3 we were not able to really put everything together, but we are in a decent spot for tomorrow’s race in P4. After testing we are confident that we have improved our race pace compared to the beginning of last year, so I’m looking forward to finally going at it tomorrow and finding out where we are on pace. Let’s kick-off the season with a good one".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, expected to get pole, but is overall satisfied with the car’s performance:
"We were P1 in Q1 and Q2 so it would lead you to expect we could do a P1 in Q3, but it did not go that well, as we did not manage to put everything together on the last lap. But generally, our performance was encouraging as we were on the pace through all the sessions. That was only the first step of the weekend, now we will see tomorrow what the situation is in the long run. As we’ve been saying since the beginning of the weekend, it’s very difficult to read the winter tests and we are still completely in the dark about fuel levels. From what we have seen so far, it’s possible that this year Red Bull will not have the kind of comfort zone they had last year and maybe more teams could put them under pressure when they have to make decisions relating to strategy or even set-up. Looking ahead to the race we will focus first on ourselves: we want to verify if the car is more consistent in terms of tyre degradation, which seems to be the case, and then we will see what we can bring home. The first target is not to leave any points on the table".
George Russell is very happy with his car and managed to get the third position, so his 2024 starts with a perfect qualifying placement:
"Everybody at the factory has done a great job to give Lewis and I a car that we are much happier with. It's a base that we can build upon. We've still got some catching up to do to be at the very front, but starting P3 for tomorrow's race is a good place to be. It's clear how tight it is between a number of teams, including ourselves, Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin. It is exciting knowing that if you put the whole lap together and find a tenth or two, that will add up to several positions on the grid. Since the tests, the whole team has been working incredibly hard to fine-tune the set-up and make improvements. We've clearly made a big step forward in our single lap pace. Hopefully we haven't compromised our race pace, but we will see tomorrow. I think we're likely to be in a close fight for the podium positions behind Verstappen".
Different experience for Lewis Hamilton. He had to use a second set of tyres from Q2 there and did not manage to get a good position:
"I struggled throughout qualifying as we have in the past couple of years. The car is feeling really great, but I just went a little bit in a direction to help my race pace. I wasn't feeling as comfortable with that yesterday so that was the focus. I've definitely sacrificed more single-lap performance than I hoped to but I hope that pays off tomorrow. It's a lot of work to do to get past a lot of quick cars that are starting ahead of me, but I'm sure it'll be fun. George's position and the pace he showed today really highlights, and is a real testament to the team. It shows just how hard everyone has worked over the winter. It's amazing for us to have a car that we can fight with. It reignites the fire and the flame within us drivers. For me today, Bono and everyone else did a great job".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO, says that the car’s performance was a bit better on Thursday due to some setup changes, but hopes that on Saturday everything will be fine:
"Yesterday we looked slightly better than today on our single lap performance. We intentionally tried to set the car up for tomorrow's race though, so we hope we're in more of a sweet spot for the Grand Prix tomorrow. The set-up changes we made certainly contributed to the drop in our performance today. At the start of qualifying, we wondered if we had sacrificed too much for tomorrow but in the end, it wasn't too bad. P3 is a good place to start but we were still three tenths off pole position. Behind Verstappen, the gaps are so close with several other teams. Just a couple of tenths makes such a big difference. It's about the absolute tiny margins and if you find even small gains, then you are right in the game. We hope that tomorrow will be a little bit better but we are still learning so much about this car".
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, admits that the lack of single lap pace was due to some changes made overnight to the cars, but expects that to put them into place a better place for the race:
"It's been much harder to get the lap-time out of the car today than yesterday. We made some changes overnight to try and improve the long run and that has likely cost us some single lap pace. It was very encouraging for the team to see George put it in P3 at the first race though. Lewis didn't have a clean run through the sessions and he'll no doubt be frustrated by that as he'd looked to be very quick yesterday. Nevertheless, we expect him to have strong pace in the race tomorrow and he's no doubt relieved to see that the W15 has way more potential than the two cars that came before it. We're looking forward to tomorrow. It's a race where you can overtake, so good race pace is really important. More than anything though, it will be interesting to see how the car performs and where everyone falls out in terms of pace".
Lando Norris was near Verstappen’s time despite being on used tyres, but in Q3 could not extract the pace:
"The car felt great all through qualifying and there's a lot of potential. I didn't get the best lap in at the end, but it's a long race and there are plenty of overtaking opportunities. We'll see what we can do going forward".
Same story for Oscar Piastri, who is however happy for the improvement done since last year:
"P8. A significant improvement on last year. I struggled with the balance all session and felt a fair way off compared to yesterday. It came together a bit more on the last lap in Q3, but it was a bit tricky. However, going into tomorrow, I think we can be in the mix. The grid is quite tight and there isn't much of a gap, so it won't be easy, but we'll see what we can do".
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, is satisfied with the car’s performance. They have a solid base so they can hope to have a good race:
"Overall, we can be quite pleased with the performance of the car. We are the most improved team on the grid compared to this time last year and we were in the mix in qualifying for the top positions on the grid. At the same time, there's a little bit of a bitter taste that we didn't fully capitalise on the pace of the car. Lando, in Q3, had issues in turn one on both attempts, and felt he could be starting higher, but he looked very strong in sectors two and three, which is encouraging for the race. Oscar did a very good job of steadily finding pace through the sessions. After Q1, he felt the car was a little unpredictable, but he and his engineers did well to stay calm, make the right adjustments and, ultimately, deliver a strong result. We have a solid base from which to score good points, and we're looking forward to tomorrow's race".
Aston Martin does not seem to have the same competitiveness it had at the beginning of the 2023 season. However, Fernando Alonso made it to Q3 and secured the sixth place:
"It was a nice surprise tonight in qualifying to finish sixth and a very good way to start the new season. We were cautious heading into the session, but we found ourselves competitive and in the end we were only a tenth away from the Ferraris in Q3. The car felt more connected this weekend and our fine tuning was a real positive. I think it will be very close tomorrow in the race and the fine margins between us all means how we manage everything will be key. Let's see what we can do, but I'm confident heading into the race".
On Saturday, everyone is ready for the long awaited first race of the 2024 season. All the drivers are on soft tyres. Verstappen, the poleman of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, at the start immediately manages to maintain the lead over Leclerc, Russell, Pérez and Sainz Jr. on lap 3, Charles Leclerc gives the position to Russell, while Lando Norris steals P6 from Alonso. After two laps, the other McLaren driver, Piastri, also overtakes the Spaniard. Leclerc seems to be in trouble too, so much so that he is overtaken by Pérez, on lap 7. Three laps later, Lewis Hamilton is eighth, after Alonso passed him. On lap 11, Carlos Sainz Jr. manages to overtake his teammate Leclerc while, from the following lap, all the teams start the pit-stops in order to change the tyres. Russell and Leclerc swap for hards. On lap 14, Pérez, now on hards, as Piastri and Hamilton, steals Russell’s position. On lap 15, Sainz Jr. pits, while Fernando Alonso waits until the next lap. After the stop, Leclerc is again ahead of Sainz Jr. who, however, immediately passes him. The Ferrari Spaniard manages then to overtake Russell too. Verstappen pits on lap 18. The Red Bull Racing driver is the leader of the race, after the pit, with 5.6s over Pérez, 8.6s over Sainz Jr., 10.2s over Russell and 11.8s over Leclerc. George Russell is the first among the top drivers to pit again on lap 33. The Mercedes Brit, who emerged behind Alonso, manages to easily overtake the Aston Martin. After the pit, Sergio Pérez is back on track slightly ahead of Sainz Jr., who however does not manage to reduce the gap from the Mexican. Leclerc records the fastest lap on lap 36. Verstappen waits until lap 38 to swap his tyres and goes for softs, as did his teammate Pérez. On the following lap, the Dutch manages to get a faster lap than Leclerc’s, with a margin of a second and a half. The last driver to pit is Alonso who due to this long stint and the tyres’ bad conditions, goes out from the points. Thanks to a mistake by Russell, Leclerc gets P4. Verstappen wins the Grand Prix, getting the Gran Chelem, the first of 2024, in a race without DNFs. Pérez completes the 1-2 of Red Bull Racing. Despite the case concerning the allegations against Christian Horner, the Red Bull Racing team managed to hold its nerves, and achieved an extraordinary result. The World Champion started from pole and was the leader from the first second to the last:
"It was a special one today. These kinds of days don't happen that often where the car feels spot on, including the balance and feeling of the car and everything went really well. The start was good and then we also looked after the car really well, so it was an enjoyable race for me. We managed to find a good rhythm and pace on this track and the wind strength and direction helped me extract a bit more from the car. This is one of our strongest tracks and looking at Jeddah we know that the track there is very different, with a lot of high speed corners and less degradation. I am hoping we can bring the same performance next week: it's going to be a challenge but I am looking forward to it. We have to thank everyone at the factory who has contributed to a great start of the year. It is always a big challenge to build a new car and follow up such an unbelievable season, but I'm excited to kick things off this season with a win".
Sergio Pérez made it a 1-2 for the team in a dream start to the season for the RB team:
"It was a really strong race from the team, it's a great start to the season, you can't get better than a one-two to start a year which looks like it'll be a really tight battle. I overtook Carlos at the start and from there we were able to chip away at things. There are a few issues that we need to iron out but it is just important to keep the momentum with us now. From my side it is good to now have a full race distance behind us because there will be a lot of learning to do on how we manage tyres, how we push and then we can go from there. We had a good pace, but I think it is going to be track dependent. I just want to keep improving because the season is long".
Surely one could not ask for more from Scuderia Ferrari, which with Carlos Sainz Jr. achieved the best possible result. First podium for the Spanish driver, who was quick and drove a very good race:
"It’s a solid start to the season and very good points for the team. I felt really good in the car all race long, being able to control the pace and doing good overtakes. I tried everything to manage the tyres on the last stint to try and attack Checo at the end of the race, but they are still faster than us. However, I think we have a very good baseline to work on and we need to keep pushing to close the gap. On to Jeddah".
Charles Leclerc had a braking issue, but at the end managed to get a good fourth place:
"It was a disappointing race from my side. There was an issue with the brakes, so I struggled to stay on track, especially in turns 9 and 10. We would have had the pace in the car to put up a good fight so I can’t wait to get back in the car in Jeddah".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, was hoping for better results, but knows they have to work on the car’s pace:
"We were hoping for a better result but we had a brake issue during the race with Charles, so all in all we maximised the result on track today. Carlos had a good race with a very smart comeback after not getting a perfect start and he was able to fight with Pérez until the final stages. We knew we would have been on the Hard tyre and Checo would have been on Softs and our aim was to put the Red Bull under pressure, which we did towards the end but it was not enough. Charles struggled for the entire race with the brakes and because of that in the first stint flat-spotted his tyres so we had to pit him earlier than planned. We will have to investigate why the brakes were not at the correct temperature. This weekend, our flying lap performance matched our expectations, but we have a clear step to make in terms of our race pace as we were not in the fight with Red Bull. That said I consider today’s race a good baseline as we were able to close the gap considerably compared to last year. We will continue with our development and I’m confident we will be able to take the fight to them more often".
George Russell passed Leclerc in the opening laps, but then both Pérez and Sainz Jr. overtook him. He had problems with managing overheating and at the end it was Leclerc himself to steal his fourth position:
"It was a strange day today. Both Lewis and I faced a similar issue. The power unit was overheating from very early on, so we were managing that throughout. It was a shame as we made a really good start. I managed to make a good overtake on Leclerc for second but very quickly, I had warnings on my steering wheel. To manage the overheating, we were losing tenths-of-a-second per lap, and it was very difficult to hold off anyone behind me. It's a shame that we didn't get to show any real potential of the car. Thankfully, it's not an issue we need to be concerned about. We got the cooling configuration wrong. We just need to understand why, and make sure we don't do that again. It was simply an incorrect decision; we've got plenty of margin to cool the power unit more. I think without the issue we would have been in the fight for P3. It's only the first race of the season so let's see what we can do next week".
Lewis Hamilton did not make progress from his starting position:
"It was a tough race today. For sure there is some disappointment within the team as we hoped that it would be a better evening. We were close with several other cars and the degradation was high. The issues we faced obviously cost us some pace so that was frustrating. Ultimately if I had qualified better, naturally I would have been a good couple of places ahead as my last stint was good. Today was about discovery and we found out a lot about the car. There's plenty of areas we can improve on and I'm sure we will as a team".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO, explains the car’s issues which led to this result. Surely they could have done better:
"We got the cooling level wrong today and that cost us. To manage the issue, we had to do a lot more lift and coast and you then lose performance with the tyres. It's a vicious circle. We need to look at what we did wrong as we gave the drivers a car that was not competitive enough today. I'm keen to look at the data to make sure we don't face similar issues in Saudi Arabia. At the end of the day though, we have a brand-new car, and we are learning about it. We have seen the glimpses of performance here in Bahrain, but we couldn't materialise that today. We will make sure we build on our learnings and come back stronger".
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director, talks about the challenges they have to face in view of the next Championship’s appointment:
"The race proved an underwhelming and frustrating experience today. We were beset with overheating issues early on that we were forced to manage throughout the vast majority of the Grand Prix. The extra lift and coast the drivers were forced to do as a result of this also caused them to lose tyre temperature. They did their best to cope, with George trying valiantly to defend from those behind and Lewis chasing those ahead. Ultimately, P5 and P7 was likely the best we could do with the issues we were facing. It was disappointing that we underperformed today. We will go away and review what we could have done differently. We will also look at our overall set-up as it was clear that neither driver was as happy with the balance of the car as they were over the rest of the weekend. These are all challenges of a new car and we're looking forward to coming back stronger in Jeddah next week".
Fernando Alonso seemed to have opted for a one-stop strategy, but then he made a very late stop for hards and did not manage to climb the ranking:
"I'm happy I scored some points in the race today and it was probably where we expected to finish. It ended up being a bit of a quiet race for us with a gap ahead and behind us. We thought we would stay out longer on both stints and hope there was an advantage to gain from a Safety Car, but it wasn't to be. I think we have some analysis to do on our one lap pace against our race performance. I'm feeling confident that we can improve as the season progresses and let's see if we can be a bit stronger in Saudi Arabia next week".
Lando Norris thinks that his McLaren had a good pace, and the result is the best they could have hoped for this race:
"It was a tough race, but I think we still had a good race with good pace, and it was a definite improvement on last year, so I think we can be happy as a team. I think the wind hurt us a bit today. It changed a lot from the last few days, and it felt a lot worse in some corners, but we gained some positions, and it was the best we could have hoped for today. A good start to the year".
Oscar Piastri says this was a good race:
"So, a P8 to start the year. I personally felt like it was a good race for myself, and I think the race pace we had seemed ok. A few things to improve, but not a bad first race for us, especially when you look at where we were this time last year. I'm excited to see what the next few tracks have in store for us, and looking forward to seeing what we can do in the races to come".
Everyone is satisfied at McLaren, as Andrea Stella, Team Principal points out. However, the papaya team have some homework to do to understand where their pace was at the start of the race:
"It's good to begin the season with a strong performance here in Bahrain. We've been reliable, we were quick enough to fight the Mercedes today, and this allowed us to score good points at a track we know isn't the best for the characteristics of our car. I would like to praise the work of the McLaren team. They've consolidated the progress that we made last year and delivered an MCL38 which is a reliable and performing car. It's a good foundation for the further upgrades we plan to introduce as soon as possible. Oscar and Lando drove very well and consistently this evening. They made no mistakes in tricky conditions, particularly on the Hard tyres, and got our team off to a good start to 2024".
The 2024 season begins with Red Bull’s 114th race victory, and Verstappen’s eighth consecutive one. For the second-placed Sergio Pérez, this is the best result since the P2 he got at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari appear to be the second force at the moment, with Carlos Sainz starting the year with a P3 and Charles Leclerc who could easily get some podiums at the next races. Bad weekend however for Apine: the car is overweight and complex to understand, and in addition on Monday, March 3rd, the Technical Director Matt Harman and chief aerodynamicist Dirk de Beer left the French team. The circus will now move to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, second appointment of the Championship, which will take place from March 7-9, 2024. Will the teams confirm the results obtained in Bahrain?