The first race of the season has now come and gone, and things seem to be continuing from the end of 2023, with another dominant performance from reigning champion, Max Verstappen, who finished over twenty seconds ahead of his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. And, with Verstappen's "race story" being described as from first to first, can we really be surprised at how disgruntled some fans seem to be, despite the joy of hearing Crofty's catchphrase of "Switcharoo" and seeing the cars spark in the night sky?
This year's Bahrain GP was most definitely not one of the most exciting races we've seen in recent F1 history. With no safety car and lack of retirements, it was probably one opening race we may forget by next weekend. Regardless, there was some action to keep us fans on our toes. I mean, what's a race without a first lap incident? Thank Nico Hulkenburg for that one, as he ran into the back of Lance Stroll, damaging his own (HUL) front wing and sending Stroll into an early race spin. And, what about the fantastic overtaking from Carlos Sainz on his Ferrari teammate - Charles Leclerc? With a point to prove this season, he's had an amazing start, with a 3rd place finish and the first Driver of the Day in 2024. Ok, Leclerc did have problems with problematic front axles causing the Monegasque to frequently lock up and find himself fall from second to fourth by the chequered flag. But in no means should this be a reason for people to disregard Sainz's achievements thus far.
Issues seemed to be plaguing, not just Leclerc, but several drivers up and down the field. Mercedes in particular quickly became a talking point throughout the race, with battery issues, leaking fluids and a broken seat, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell weren't having the best time out on track. And, neither were the Williams of Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon, with the former momentarily stopping out on track and the latter having issues with an overheating car and dash graphics. As for Aston Martin, their 2023 pace seemed to have vanished. Where last year they were stood on the podium, in 2024 it was a struggle to stay in the points.
One of the more "stranger" aspects of the race was RB's team orders. Honestly, calm down guys, it's the first race of the season and you're battling for thirteenth. With Daniel Ricciardo on soft tyres and Yuki Tsunoda, infront, on hards, strategic team orders were understandable. The timing of them, however, was not, with Tsunoda in a battle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and leader, Max Verstappen, ready to lap them. Of course, in true Tsunoda style, he wasn't having any of it, but alas, had to give in and let Ricciardo pass. With the prospect of a seat being available at the sister team of Red Bull in the near future, could things become extremely interesting at RB? Oh, and they have a very good livery. Very nostalgic.
A more entertaining aspect of the race were the pitstops. Especially as the undercut proves to be a force to be reckoned with in Bahrain. Put it this way, if you can't overtake, just pit. That's what Leclerc did in order to get his position back from Sainz - before the Spaniard took it back, once again. And then, there were the more "slower" pitstops. An unfortunate moment for Valtteri Bottas almost saw a repeat of his 2021 Monaco GP pitstop. Luckily for him, this one lasted about 40 hours less. If you know, you know. If you don't, Google is your friend.
So, what are the main talking points to come from the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix? Well, Verstappen looks as if he will emulate last season. A prospect that doesn't bode too well for the popularity of the motorsport series. The pecking order remains pretty much standard in this era of regulations and Alpine seem to be the team where things are going wrong. Really wrong. Especially as two key figures within the team resigned in the hours following their disaster of a race.
But hey. This might not have been the season opener that we all dreamed off, either way, the action will back in just a few days time and we can put this race comfortably behind us. Can anyone make an attempt to stop Verstappen in Saudi Arabia? We'll see.
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