F1 News – Verstappen dominates to open the 2024 season with a win

Bahrain Grand Prix – Max Verstappen continued where he left off last year, winning from pole with a sizeable gap to Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.

After what seems like no time at all, F1 is back and ready to start its longest season ever with 24 races scheduled between now and December 8th. 

Max Verstappen will start on pole with Charles Leclerc alongside him, as they did at the last race of 2023. All cars will be starting on soft tyres, the top nine and Daniel Ricciardo P14, all on slightly used or scrubbed sets with the others all on new rubber.

Race Results – 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix

As the lights went out to start the season, the top three held position, Leclerc tried for the lead as they went into T1 but Verstappen held him off. Russell remained in P3 while Sergio Perez got the best of Carlos Sainz to snatch P4 from the Ferrari racer.

There was a spin for Lance Stroll, after contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the apex of T1 as the cars all bunched up. The two dropped to the back with the Haas driver then having to pit for a new front wing.

On lap 3, just as Lando Norris took P6 from Fernando Alonso, there was a change towards the front too as Russell went around the outside of Leclerc at T4, the Ferrari driver seeming to struggle in the opening laps. Meanwhile Verstappen had pulled a couple of seconds worth of a gap and was continuing to extend it.

Lap 6 saw Alonso lose his P7 to the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri while not long after Perez made it two Red Bulls in the podium places as he sped past Leclerc in the DRS zone after another lock up for the Monegasque driver at the exit of T10.

On lap 10 Logan Sargeant stopped in the run-off at T4, the Yellow Flags came out but the Williams driver was able to get himself back circulating without much disruption.

Lap 11 saw a Ferrari on Ferrari battle through T1 and T2, sparks flying as Sainz managed to get past his teammate for P4. At the end of that lap, Russell and Leclerc headed to the pits to swap to that hard tyre. They rejoined either side of Valtteri Bottas, in P12 and P14.

Perez and Piastri stopped on lap 13, rejoining on hards in P9 and P11 with Russell ahead and Leclerc between them. Norris stopped the next time around and emerged in front of his teammate while Perez used DRS to fly past Russell.

Leclerc radioed Ferrari on lap 15, continuing to despair about front locking while Hamilton, in P10 was having battery issues. After pitting Sainz had fallen back behind Leclerc but lunged down the inside at T1 to once again take P4 from the other Ferrari.

Verstappen was the last to head to the pits, stopped at the end of lap 17 and rejoined with a five second gap to Perez. As that was happening, Sainz continued to push, setting the fastest lap as he closed up to and flew past Russell for the final podium spot.

Leclerc continued to lock up in braking zones as Ferrari came back to him to say they could see a front imbalance on the data they were getting. At Mercedes, in P4 and P8, Hamilton’s battery was alright, had just been drained and was recharging, while Russell had a power unit issue and had been told not to use the overtake button. 

A few laps later Mercedes told both their drivers to lift and coast as they were overheating in traffic, while on lap 25 Hamilton also reported that his seat was broken.

At the halfway point of the race, all cars were still running. At the front, Verstappen was 14 seconds ahead of Perez in P2 while Sainz remained around two seconds further back in P3.

On lap 32 Russell was the first of the front runners to stop, slotting new hards on and emerging in P9 as that was happening, Bottas had a nightmare stop as the new left front wheel wouldn’t tighten correctly. Eventually though Sauber sorted him out and he rejoined the race in P19.

Lap 34 had Norris and Hamilton head to the pits, they also put on new hards and rejoined in P8 and P9 just behind Russell and Alonso, the Brit getting past the Spaniard at T1.

Leclerc and Piastri stopped at the next occasion, the Ferrari remaining ahead of Norris while a slow stop for the Australian meant he emerged just ahead of Hamilton and unfortunately for him he wasn’t able to hold off the Mercedes who had gotten his tyres up to temperature.

There was no change to the top three when they pitted, Verstappen remaining in the lead ahead of Perez and Sainz. The Red Bulls both opted for the soft compound for the final twenty laps instead of hards like their rivals, Ricciardo in P15 was the only other driver on the red-ringed tyre.

On lap 46, Leclerc had been closing the gap to Russell and, after having the Monegasque had to deal with a lot of lock ups earlier, this time it was the Mercedes driver who locked up and went wide at T10 which allowed the Ferrari racer to get ahead and take P4.

Lap 52 saw RB ask for a driver swap between Yuki Tsunoda in P13 and Ricciardo in P14, the Japanese driver not sounding happy on the radio but he did eventually comply to allow his teammate, on the softs, try to pass Kevin Magnussen ahead of them.

Verstappen took the chequered flag 22 seconds ahead of Perez for a Red Bull 1-2 to start the season. Sainz took the final podium position, finishing two and a half second behind the Mexican driver. Leclerc ended the day in P4 ahead of Russell while Norris, Hamilton and Piastri followed the Mercedes driver home in P6 to P8. The final points went to the Aston Martins of Alonso and Stroll, the Canadian recovering well from his spin at the first corner.

There were no retirements in the race and the point for fastest lap went to Verstappen, who set a 1:32.608.

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