With the official kickoff of the 2024 F1 season this past weekend in Bahrain, racing fans will be looking forward to seeing some of their favorite drivers and teams compete at the highest level, pushing the limits of motorsport itself across the course of the season. Some fans walked away from Bahrain happy with how their team and driver performances went while many others will most likely be left feeling empty at the underachievement they experienced throughout the first race weekend of the 2024 F1 season.
Winners
Red Bull
The supremacy of Red Bull has transitioned seamlessly between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Opening their 2024 season with a Max Verstappen pole position in qualifying and a 1-2 in the race itself, it seems the dominance of Red Bull and the RB20 is something that won’t dissipate any time soon. Verstappen finished the race in P1 with a 22.4-second gap between him and his closest rival, his teammate Sergio Perez.
The car, designed by the exceptional Chief Technology Officer of Red Bull Racing Adrian Newey, excels in every aspect when compared to any other car on the field. With both the best vehicle and the best drivers, it will be difficult to knock Red Bull and Max Verstappen off of their throne any time in the near future.
Carlos Sainz and Ferrari
Ferrari began the 2024 campaign on solid ground. With drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing in a very commendable P3 and P4 respectively, there is a sense that good things may be coming to the Scuderia for 2024. The car seemed to compete well with the rest of the teams touted to be close to Ferrari at the beginning of the season. Teams such as McLaren and Mercedes had difficulty when battling against the Ferraris in both handling and race pace. Carlos Sainz also claimed driver of the day, enjoying a spectacular P3 finish. He certainly pushed Sergio Perez of Red Bull at the end of the race showing what could be a vulnerability in the Red Bull reign.
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin had a difficult race overall. With high expectations from owner Lawrence Stroll at the beginning of every season, finishing in 9th and 10th might be even a bit below the bare minimum for this team vying to be competing at the top. Unfortunately, another midfield car with delusionally high expectations never allows for good results.
Fernando Alonso had a difficult race after a surprising qualifying in which he finished P6, better than both McLarens and Hamilton’s Merc. Lance Stroll, however, showed real spirit in dragging his car from the depths of last place after an unfortunate crash at turn 1 into the points in a solid performance. He saved what could have been a disastrous weekend for the British racing outfit and helped them finish the race with both drivers having secured points.
Losers
Ferrari
Yes, Ferrari did have a very solid showing, finishing just about the best they could considering the blistering pace of the Red Bulls in front of them. However, this great result had problematic undertones with Leclerc trailing Sainz in a year where Ferrari have decided to let Sainz go at the end of the season.
With the shock arrival of Hamilton in 2025 and Ferrari’s devotion to the Monegasque driver over the speedy Spaniard, Ferrari have a bit of a problem on their hands. While cultivating a competitive atmosphere for their drivers, they need to ensure things don’t get out of hand. And, with Sainz showing their supposed star boy up in the first race of the season, it will be interesting to see how Ferrari handles both drivers while still getting the most out of every race weekend.
Mercedes
The Silver Arrows had a very poor race weekend all around. This was yet another year that promises from preseason seem to have already gone awry with both Hamilton and Russel struggling for pace in every part of the GP weekend. The race was particularly worrying as Russel, who began well, faded quite quickly finishing in a disappointing 5th. Hamilton did not better and seemed to have a much more difficult time getting to grips with his car, finishing in P7. Hamilton personally set his car up for the race, but it was difficult to discern its effectiveness as he struggled to make significant advances in the early laps. While he did improve as the race unfolded, it was too late for him to significantly affect his race position in a real and impactful way.
Alpine
Alpine is a prime example of how regardless of who may be driving a car, if it isn’t fast enough to compete, it won’t. They employ too very quick drivers who, at the right teams, may be competing for top places week in and week out. However, the horrendous car that they have been given to drive this year has once again stalled any progress that the French racing outfit may have hoped to make this season.
Their goal has remained the same as many other midfield teams, compete with the best, and break the boundaries of their “midfield” tag. They have expressed their want to finish inside of the top 5, maybe even pushing the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, or Ferrari for 4th in the Constructor’s Championship. This goal, however, remains a far-off delusion for a team that should be happy not to finish last every racing weekend.
Yuki Tsunoda and RB
After a bit of a dark horse performance in testing throughout the week leading up to the Bahrain GP, both RB as a team and Yuki Tsunoda failed to convert their potential into anything real on the circuit. After a decent qualifying session, placing Tsunoda 11th on the grid, and a stint inside the points for a majority of the race, the Japanese driver capitulated late on.
He had difficulty keeping his place in the points and eventually dropped to a disappointing finish of P14, even forcing a position swap as his Australian teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, was putting in better lap times towards the end of the race. On top of this, Yuki committed an embarrassing act post-race as he flew past his teammate in a dangerous maneuver in an attempt to voice his disapproval of the team’s decision to allow Ricciardo to pass him. This capped what was a disappointing and frustrating outing for both Yuki and the RB team.
The Bahrain GP, although not the most exciting of races, gave us many talking points going into this race weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It will be intriguing to see how these various teams go into the next weekend having seen the possible changes needing to be made on both the driver side and technical side of the wheel.
