24 in 2024, it’s expected to be a record-breaking season for F1. With, among other things, the return of China after a four-season absence due to the coronavirus pandemic and Imola being reinstated following the devastating flooding of the Emilia Romagna region of Italy in 2023. As such, the bumper schedule will mean the 75th season started the earliest it has done this side of the millennium. And that at a familiar track, Bahrain.
Owing to the observation of Ramadan, the Bahrain GP and the following round at Saudi Arabia in a week’s time will see a revised schedule running from Thursday to Saturday. It was business as usual at the front with Max Verstappen taking a lights to flag victory, but this was an unusual race as it marked the first time all cars finished a season opener. Find out who else made a name for themselves under the lights in Sakhir:
Top of the class:
Red Bull
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st (+FL)
Sergio Pérez – Qualifying: 5th | Race: 2nd
Whilst off track his team are mired in controversy surrounding the conduct of Team Principal Christian Horner, Max did what he does best which is dominating F1 races.
A healthy two-tenths was his margin over the chasing pack in qualifying, in the race that averaged out at double that, as he cantered to a 22-second race victory from teammate Sergio Pérez on Saturday. As he also collected the fastest lap, he turned this weekend into his 10th Grand Slam.
The other side of the garage fared pretty well too, Perez’s Friday wasn’t much to shout about but some excellent overtaking on Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and George Russell (Mercedes) in the race sealed a second consecutive 1-2 in Bahrain for Red Bull. It was also Perez’s best result since the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, but he’ll need to get much closer over the rest of the season.
Admittedly, the zero-sidepod concept that flopped with Mercedes didn’t look hugely promising for Red Bull in Free Practice, but after the race, the results look rather ominous for the rest of the grid.
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 3rd
The whirlwind winter saw Sainz lose his Ferrari seat for 2025 to a certain Lewis Hamilton in an eerily similar vein to how the Spaniard joined Ferrari for 2021 ahead of the 2020 season.
Carlos arrived in the paddock knowing he had nothing to lose, which seemed to make him determined to prove himself, as he came away from Bahrain with a podium. Not only finishing higher than he did 12 months ago, but overtaking teammate Charles Leclerc twice on his way to the chequered flag.
Carlos’ drive certainly wasn’t a bad way to remind the grid that you’re available for a drive in 2025, and receiving the driver of the day award will be a well-needed boost for his confidence and the rest of this season.
It will be interesting to see how the Ferrari dynamic unfolds in 2024. Qualifying still favours Leclerc, and the Monegasque was suffering from brake issues throughout the race, but race day has largely favoured Sainz since the summer break of last season and I don’t see that changing soon.
Lance Stroll – Qualifying: 12th | Race: 10th
Friday’s Q2 exit seems a distant memory after Stroll took a solitary point in Saturday’s race. However, the Canadian had to overcome a huge setback to achieve this result.
A fast start to the race was nullified after getting tagged into a half spin at turn 1 by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg. Stroll dropped back to 19th but he worked his way back up the field with some excellent tyre management combined with a decent pit strategy to come home less than 20 seconds behind teammate Fernando Alonso.
It may not match the herculean effort of P5 with two broken wrists in 2023, but Stroll should be pleased with the result as it is clear Aston Martin are not in a position to repeat their excellent form which they had at the start of last season.
Honourable mention goes to George Russell, Mercedes looked in better shape than they did this time twelve months ago. And George held on well to the podium places before dropping back due to cooling issues. Nonetheless, it looked like the consistent Russell of 2022 was back as he outqualified and raced Lewis Hamilton on his way to a solid P5 finish.
The struggle bus:
Alpine
Esteban Ocon – Qualifying: 19th | Race: 17th
Pierre Gasly – Qualifying: 20th | Race: 18th
Insert the “our expectations were low for you but holy f***” meme summarises the French outfit’s weekend. They were downbeat after a difficult preseason test describing the car as overweight and aerodynamically inefficient. These comments don’t fill you with great hope for a new season and the results speak for themselves.
The team scored their worst-ever qualifying result as both Esteban and Pierre would occupy the back row of the grid. 20th was where Gasly qualified last season but at least he scored some points, this time they weren’t even close.
The pink (and carbon) panthers trundled home 17th and 18th, only progressing because of issues to cars behind. To make matters worse key personnel have already resigned with head of aero Dirk de Beer and Technical Director Matt Harman leaving the team hours after the race.
If we’re trying to find silver linings they were only a second from P1 in the first segment of qualifying, so even small upgrades could see them recover multiple positions up the grid. Still, when you’re on a downward spiral in F1, it’s just so difficult to recover.
VCARB
Daniel Ricciardo – Qualifying: 14th | Race: 13th
Yuki Tsunoda – Qualifying: 11th | Race: 14th
I want to put this team on this list all season purely for their diabolical name change that was dragged out over much of the winter break. Flipflopping from Scuderia AlphaTauri to Visa CashApp Racing Bulls or RB depending on who you’d ask. Horrible rebrand aside, the team did not cover themselves in glory in Bahrain.
Poor strategy, team orders fighting over *checks notes* 12th place and nearly coming to blows on the cool-down lap certainly aren’t great for team harmony, especially with home races for both drivers coming up shortly.
For me, the team orders are the most aggravating, taking so long to swap was bad enough but when they are not even fighting to get to the points, didn’t achieve the aim of overtaking the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and wouldn’t swap back at the end, it makes very little sense.
To add to this disappointment, the team has had some significant development aid from sister team Red Bull yet it appears they find themselves no closer to the top 5 teams in the Championship.
Nico Hülkenberg – Qualifying: 10th | Race: 16th
It’s a shame to add Nico to this list due to his brilliant qualifying on Friday but for a second season in a row, he had first-lap contact that ruined his race.
In 2023 it was with Ocon at turn 4 resulting in front wing damage, this time the German hit the rear of Lance Stroll into turn 1 and caused the Canadian to have a half-spin whilst Nico required a front wing replacement this year.
The Stewards ruled it as a lap 1 incident, but Hülkenberg suffered the biggest drop between grid position and race result. Considering the decent race pace both he and KMAG displayed, he really should have taken home a point or two.
Dishonourable mention goes to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, another terrible name aside, the mark against their name is actually for their comedic pitstop for Valtteri Bottas. This consigned the Finn to finish 19th after a whopping 55 seconds stationary. It must have brought back some unpleasant flashbacks for Bottas after that Monaco disaster back when he drove for Mercedes in 2021.
One down, 23 to go and it’s safe to say fan morale is not exactly high after a rather lacklustre affair in Bahrain, here’s hoping you’ll join us again after an action-packed race full of drama and overtakes from the rather infamous Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia. Lights out at 5 pm on Saturday 9th March UK time.
