Photo by Martí Sierra on Unsplash

Track Data:

• First Grand Prix: 2004
• Number of Laps: 57
• Race Distance: 308.238 km
• DRS Zones: 3 

Red Bulls Domination: 

Pre-season testing highlighted the incredible speed of the RedBull down a mainstraight. However, it did not show that upon the first race of the season, Max Verstappen would lead the race by a whopping 22 seconds. With Red Bull dominating at such speeds, many fans feel that his next championship victory is around the corner. 

Red Bull Team Leader, Christian Horner comments:

 “Well look, it’s a great start. It’s a one-off, it’s one circuit, it’s one surface, it’s a very cool temperature. Next week, street track, much higher temperature. We are going to have to see three, four, five races before you see a true pattern … What we saw in testing is that the field has converged. So you can’t base too much on this one race.”

Reliability – Ferrari and Mercedes: 

Ferrari and Mercedes have been household names for the duration of their respective motorsport careers due to their unbeatable speed and iconic presence. However, the first race of the season reiterated the gap between the strength, power and speed in the Red Bull versus the other top teams. Ferrari and Mercedes, within the 2023 season and so far in 2024, are experiencing reliability issues. The cars have been able  to make good lap times during Free Practice and Qualifying, but have not provenprovenle to bring it home on race day. 

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s golden boy, struggled with tyre degradation, brake issues and multiple lock-ups throughout the race. However, his teammate, Carlos Sainz, who has been left with no seat for the next season, thrived in the race. Sainz battled not only other teams but his teammate in a thrilling race. His precision and desire to prove himself led to him achieving  a 3rd place podium finish. 
Comparatively, Lewis Hamilton, the 7 time world champion, whose decision to leave Mercedes and move to Ferrari shocked the world, also suffered with drivability issues throughout this race. His teammate George Russell started the race P2 but ended the race P5. Both cars experienced overheating. With Hamilton’s seat breaking mid-race and being unable to cool the cars down for maximum performance, many Mercedes fans are feeling disheartened and can’t wait for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to see if this issue will last all season or if it can be resolved. 

Mercedes Team Leader – Totto Wolff comments: 

“[we were] far off. I mean, Max was in a different galaxy. We need to look at ourselves, why we lost so much performance on the harder tyre. We got the cooling level wrong, and therefore you have to lift and coast … with the performance of the tyres, it was a bit of a vicious circle.

“We didn’t have the pace, weirdly … I think it’s weird, we had some pace in the car, but on the hard tyre today we didn’t. I think there were many mistakes we’ve done, but we’re learning. We have a brand-new car and we’ve seen glimpses of performance … I’m really keen to look at the data, and see what we can do in Saudi.”

The Rest of the Grid:

Alpine: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished the race in P17 and P18 in the race after a slow Qualifying session. Alpine is making large technical changes to the car after an extremely disappointing race in Bahrain – with the Technical Director and Head of Aerodynamics both resigning, it is clear that Alpine are trying to find new strategies to get the car back to fighting position.

McLaren: McLaren have been consistently proving themselves as part of the top teams in Formula 1. With a much improved car seen in the 2023 season, fans were expecting McLaren to be fighting with Mercedes and Ferrari instead of the midfield – and they did exactly that.  Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished the race P6 and P8 after a grilling battle with Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. 

Aston Martin: Aston Martin saw both drivers finish in the points, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finishing P9 and P10 respectively. However, after seeing multiple podiums in the 2023 season, the team and the fans were expecting more of a fight. Stroll fell from P12 to P20 at the start of the race following a collision with Niko Hulkenberg, and spent the majority of his race recovering. 

Haas: After firing Gunether, many speculated what would occur at Haas under new management. Kevin Magnessun and Niko Hulkeberg finished the race P12 and P16 respectively. With Hulkenberg commenting that he was ‘frustrated and disappointed’, Magessun was ‘kind of pleased’ due to an improvement in the overall car itself. 

Williams: Williams saw high Power Unit temperatures which made fighting the Haas’s difficult; “Albono frequently forced to pull off of the racing line in an attempt to cool his car.” The cars ended the race with Alex Albon finishing P15 and Logan Sargeant in P20. 

RB: Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 Team, known for the interesting choice in team name, experienced teammate clashes this weekend. Daniel Riccardo and Yuki Tsunoda were left heated after a team decision to switch the drivers on the track, with Tsuonda not complying and questioning the decision while on track. Many are interested in how this battle between teammates will conclude.
Stake: Kick Sauber, with their drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu delivered a strong race; “We delivered a very consistent race today, and we demonstrated to be the sixth team in the championship in race conditions. This result must give our team confidence and encourage us: it is possible to take further steps and improve our performance. In particular, making progress in our single-lap performance, even before Jeddah, would give us a stronger chance to fight for the points.”

Concluding Points: 

The Bahrain Grand Prix, first race of the 2024 season, was a interesting race, giving fans a preview of each teams improvements. Verstappens 22 second lead has left fans concerned about the competitiveness of the sport but the Saudia Arabian Grand Prix, with its warm track conditions, will be informative, letting us all know how each team will fare in the change of condition.