F1 Bahrain GP: Max domination from pole to chequered flag

Defending champion Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix 22 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez. After the controversy over Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner, this was the best way for Red Bull to start the 2024 season with a P1 and P2 finish. The third position went to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who looked determined to prove a point on why he is still one of the best in the business and is someone other teams can bank on for the 2025 season.

F1 Bahrain GP: Verstappen on cruise control

Verstappen couldn’t have started his new campaign with ease as he is aiming to win his fourth consecutive world title. Whatever doubts the defending champion had over his car, the RB20, during the practice session on Thursday were all put to rest on race day as Verstappen cleanly pulled away from the rest of the pack. By lap two, the Dutchman already had a lead of over a second over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who couldn’t activate the DRS overtaking assist system. With a clear track and no one breathing down his neck, Verstappen stretched his lead to 30 seconds before he pit-stopped. After the race, Red Bull’s top boss Horner was pleased as a punch with the performance of both the race drivers and said, “It was a perfect start and a dominant race and I want to thank all the men and women at Milton Keyes who have come up with another great car.”

F1 Bahrain GP: Glitches and Issues

Starting from fifth and fourth respectively, both Perez and Sainz proved a point that they were still a force to reckon with as they weaved their way to a podium finish. The story was the opposite for Charles Leclerc, who started from second position and was quick off the mark till turn one and from then on it was all downhill for the Ferrari driver. First, he was overtaken by Mercedes’ George Russell then by Perez and his teammate Sainz. Leclerc faced brake-related issues the entire 57-lap race which hurt his chances of a podium finish. With a of grit and wit, he performed better in the second half of the race and managed to recoup the fourth position from Russell, who had to settle for fifth.

All was not rosy in the Mercedes camp as Russell faced battery issues while the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had to deal with a broken seat. Both the drivers stated that there was some engine cooling issue, hence, the overheating. Later on, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff admitted that the team got the cooling wrong apart from lots of other issues. 

Both the McLarens, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, had a reasonable outing and finished sixth and eighth respectively with Hamilton coming seventh. The Aston Martin duo — Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll rounded up the top ten.