REPORT: Dominant Verstappen sounds ominous warning in Bahrain
Matt Clayton
Sunday, 3 March 2024
Max Verstappen began 2024 the way he finished 2023, the reigning world champion untouchable in a lights-to-flag victory under lights in Bahrain to head a Red Bull Racing 1-2.
Max Verstappen began the defence of his three straight Formula 1® world championship seasons with an emphatic victory in Saturday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing driver leading every lap from pole to record an eighth straight win dating back to last season.
Pre-season testing suggested Red Bull still had a comfortable advantage over the rest of the field after winning all but one race last season, and Verstappen rammed that point home with his 55th F1® win and second in a row in Bahrain, his victory margin a whopping 22.457secs.
Advertisement
Teammate Sergio Perez recovered from a scrappy qualifying that left him in fifth place on the grid to finish second, the Mexican repelling a fast-finishing Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who rounded out the podium and was voted as Driver of the Day from the sport’s fans.
Sainz had to battle past teammate Charles Leclerc, who struggled throughout with brake temperature issues, and George Russell (Mercedes), who ran in second place for the opening stint of the race before finishing fifth.
It was a largely processional first race of the season at the same venue where pre-season testing was held a week earlier, with all 20 cars seeing the chequered flag and the top five teams from last season – Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin – locking out the 10 points-paying positions.
Aussie watch
Oscar Piastri got his second season off the mark with eighth place in Bahrain, the McLaren driver finishing in the same place that he started after a slow late-race pit stop saw him drop a spot to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on lap 36.
Piastri, who retired from his debut race at the same circuit 12 months ago, spent 45 of the 57 laps in either seventh or eighth place as both McLarens struggled with grip issues at an unusually cool and windy Sakhir circuit, and he finished seven seconds adrift of teammate Lando Norris (sixth), the pair split by Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Countryman Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th on a night where neither RB entry managed to break into the top 10, the 34-year-old just failing to overhaul Haas driver Kevin Magnussen for 12th after the team ordered Yuki Tsunoda to move aside for Ricciardo, who was on faster soft tyres for the final stint of the race.
In FIA Formula 3® action, Australia’s Christian Mansell matched his career-best result in the category when he finished second in Saturday’s 22-lap Feature race, his first weekend for the ART Grand Prix team.
The 19-year-old, who started from eighth place, stormed into podium contention within the first three laps and challenged race-leader Luke Browning (Hitech Pulse-Eight) after taking second from Frenchman Sami Meguetounif (Trident) on lap five.
Mansell drew to within 0.2secs with six laps remaining before Williams Academy junior Browning eased away to win by 1.264secs.
Second matched Mansell’s Feature race result from Belgium last year, and was his third podium in the class; 24 hours earlier, he started fifth and finished 14th in Friday’s 19-lap Sprint race.
Mansell’s compatriot, Tommy Smith, finished 28th in the Sprint and 22nd in the Feature from 27th on the grid for Van Amersfoort Racing, with the pair next set to do battle with the rest of the F3® field at Albert Park on the undercard of the Australian Grand Prix (March 21-24).
Unsung hero
Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu did the most with the least in Bahrain, the Chinese driver just missing out on the points in 11th after a bold tyre strategy call nearly paid dividends.
Zhou, who started 17th after being beaten by 0.001secs by teammate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying, made an early stop to discard his starting soft tyres and ran an alternative strategy to the majority of the field to gain track position, and spent 14 laps inside the points before being demoted to 11th by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso on lap 44.
Zhou battled on gamely to head a freight train of faster cars featuring Magnussen, Ricciardo and Tsunoda across the line to be the standout performer of the second half of the field.
Number to know
17: Verstappen’s victory was the 17th time in succession that he’s converted pole into a race win.
It was a great start to the year, couldn’t have been better. It was a lot of fun, I felt really good in the car and it’s always very special to have these kind of days, because they don’t happen that often that it just all goes perfect.
Bahrain Grand Prix: top 10
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 31mins 44.742secs
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +22.457secs
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +25.110secs
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +39.669secs
- George Russell (Mercedes) +46.788secs
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +48.458secs
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +50.324secs
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +56.082secs
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +74.887secs
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +93.216secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 26 points
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 18
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 15
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 12
- George Russell (Mercedes) 10
Constructors' championship
- Red Bull Racing (44 points)
- Ferrari (27)
- Mercedes (16)
- McLaren (12)
- Aston Martin (3)
Next race
Round 2: Saudi Arabia, Jeddah Corniche Circuit (Mar 7-9)
