
Max Verstappen claimed an eighth consecutive victory celebrating at the opening race of the new 2024 Formula 1 season in Bahrain after dominating from pole position ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez while Carlos Sainz completed the podium for Ferrari.
Verstappen had no problems defending the lead at the start of the race and building a convincing advantage, staying on the track longer than all his rivals and finally setting the fastest lap, which in addition to leading all laps of the race brought him a ‘grand slam’, the fifth in his career.
Perez had a slightly more difficult task from the fifth starting position, but he overtook Sainz and later Russell at the start to complete Red Bull’s 1-2 victory, just like last year on this track.
The race did not offer too many strategic variations as all 20 drivers started on soft and avoided medium since it is not much faster than hard, but therefore it was much less durable, just like last year.
The Red Bull drivers were the only ones among the leaders who had a new set of softs at their disposal, but they did not decide to start on them, but saved them for the third, last part of the race.
Sainz had a solid race for Ferrari after telling the team on the radio in the first stint that he was faster than Leclerc, and later overtook him twice on track. Later, he managed to overtake Russell in Mercedes, who lost a duel with Leclerc in the late stages of the race.
Leclerc finished fourth after struggling with front-wheel lock-up in the first third of the race, while Russell dropped to fifth after a promising start in second place to finish less than two seconds ahead of Norris in the McLaren.
Hamilton gained two positions from the start by overtaking Alonso and later Piastri, with Piastri and Alonso finishing eighth and ninth while Stroll took the final point.
With this outcome, the first five teams from last season’s standings occupied all ten positions in the points-winner circle, and the best driver of the other teams was Zhou in Sauber.
All drivers finished the race, with Sargeant finishing last for Williams after losing a lot of time in an early exit.
The next race will be held in Saudi Arabia in a week, and will also be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
BAHRAIN GP RESULTS
1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 57 | 1:00’44.742 | |
2 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 57 | 1:32’07.199 | 22.457 |
3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 57 | 1:32’09.852 | 25.110 |
4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | 1:32’24.411 | 39.669 |
5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | 1:32’31.530 | 46.788 |
6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 57 | 1:32’33.200 | 48.458 |
7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | 1:32’35.066 | 50.324 |
8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 57 | 1:32’40.824 | 56.082 |
9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 57 | 1:32’59.629 | 1:14.887 |
10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 56 | – | 1 krug |
11 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber/Ferrari | 56 | – | 1 krug |
12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 56 | – | 1 krug |
13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB/Honda RBPT | 56 | – | 1 krug |
14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB/Honda RBPT | 56 | – | 1 krug |
15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 56 | – | 1 krug |
16 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 56 | – | 1 krug |
17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 56 | – | 1 krug |
18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 56 | – | 1 krug |
19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber/Ferrari | 56 | – | 1 krug |
20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 55 | – | 2 krug |
Fastest lap: Max Verstappen – 1:32.608 (lap 39)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 1/24 RACES
1 | Max Verstappen | 26 |
2 | Sergio Pérez | 18 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 15 |
4 | Charles Leclerc | 12 |
5 | George Russell | 10 |
6 | Lando Norris | 8 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | 6 |
8 | Oscar Piastri | 4 |
9 | Fernando Alonso | 2 |
10 | Lance Stroll | 1 |
11 | Zhou Guanyu | 0 |
12 | Kevin Magnussen | 0 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | 0 |
14 | Yuki Tsunoda | 0 |
15 | Alexander Albon | 0 |
16 | Nico Hülkenberg | 0 |
17 | Esteban Ocon | 0 |
18 | Pierre Gasly | 0 |
19 | Valtteri Bottas | 0 |
20 | Logan Sargeant | 0 |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1 | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 44 | 44 |
2 | Ferrari | 27 | 27 |
3 | Mercedes | 16 | 16 |
4 | McLaren/Mercedes | 12 | 12 |
5 | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 3 | 3 |
6 | Sauber/Ferrari | 0 | – |
7 | Haas/Ferrari | 0 | – |
8 | RB/Honda RBPT | 0 | – |
9 | Williams/Mercedes | 0 | – |
10 | Alpine/Renault | 0 |