Max Verstappen had a dominant start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, completely dominating the Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen secured pole position in qualifying, narrowly beating Ferrari and Charles Leclerc in a fierce battle. From the start of the race, Verstappen maintained his lead and never let it slip throughout the 57 laps. He managed to delay his first pit stop, thanks to the significant advantage he had built in the early laps. Verstappen continued to increase his lead, showing great comfort and speed in his Red Bull RB20 car. In the end, he won the race with a margin of 22.4 seconds, securing the bonus point for the fastest lap and extending his winning streak to eight consecutive races.
Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, couldn’t challenge Verstappen for the win but did an excellent job securing second place for Red Bull. Starting from fifth on the grid, Perez overtook Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc early in the race. Leclerc, in particular, struggled with his Ferrari SF-24, especially during braking. After the initial pit stops, Perez executed a perfect overtake on George Russell, positioning himself in second place behind Verstappen. Perez managed to open a gap to Russell, who had overtaken Leclerc earlier in the race but couldn’t hold his position. Russell dropped back and was overtaken by Sainz, finishing in fourth place.
Sainz, who had already made an impressive overtake on Leclerc, hoped to challenge Perez for second place. However, Perez’s use of soft tires in the final stretch of the race allowed him to extend his lead and comfortably secure second place. Sainz settled for a solid third place, ahead of Leclerc, who pressured Russell and forced him to make a mistake, allowing Leclerc to move up to fourth place.
Russell, despite facing engine overheating issues, managed to finish in fifth place. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton struggled to make progress in the race. Hamilton, starting from a disappointing ninth position in qualifying, faced difficulties throughout the race, even suggesting that his seat was malfunctioning. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri lost eighth place to Hamilton after momentarily losing control at turn 1 during his final pit stop.
Fernando Alonso, who qualified in a surprising sixth place for Aston Martin, couldn’t maintain his pace in the race and finished ninth, over 20 seconds behind Piastri. His teammate, Lance Stroll, completed the top 10 after a solid recovery, despite being spun around by Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas at turn 1 of the first lap. The incident was deemed unworthy of further action by the stewards.
Outside the points zone, there was tension within the Red Bull team when Yuki Tsunoda was instructed to let his teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass in the final laps, much to Tsunoda’s frustration. However, Ricciardo failed to overtake Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on the last lap.
