The Bahrain Grand Prix was the event that began the 2024 Formula 1 season and with it the real performance of the cars could be seen. and its pilots; There was nothing out of the ordinary from recent years in terms of the performance and relevance of Red Bull Racing on the part of Max Verstappen and Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, who achieved 1-2.
And they are very attentive to this from the Mercedes box: “We lack rhythm and Verstappen is in another galaxy. “There are many things to learn,” expressed Toto Wolff to summarize the first grand prix of the season where his main driver Lewis Hamilton did not have the best race or the most pleasant start in this regard.
Mercedes could not comply
While George Russell had to settle for fifth place in the final classification after the two Ferraris, Lewis Hamilton simply had a harder time. The seven-time champion came in seventh place, this being his worst start since 2014.
Hamilton didn’t have exactly an easy pole position, the race wasn’t especially easy either because he was in need. driving on the Sakhir route with a broken seat.
“I was braking in the first corner and the seat moved, and the right side came off, I felt something creak. I have moved on the seat. He was going with his ass in the air,” she revealed between laughs that hid the disagreement and discomfort that he will apparently have to deal with in his last season at the helm of Mercedes.
“I moved on the seat, I was with my ass in the air,” were the most raw, real and direct words from the English pilot.. “For a moment I ran out of battery, so on the straights I was losing speed, I lost a lot compared to the McLarens, I was fixing that for a few laps, and that took me about ten laps, I lost a lot of seconds because of that. “There is probably some disappointment within the team.”
“We suffered in the car today, I gave everything, but there wasn’t much performance compared to many of the rivals,” Hamilton added.
Russell, the other Mercedes, also had no rhythm to face Carlos Sainz from Ferrari who was the driver of the day and proved to be up for great things this 2024 season.
Alonso and Aston Martin without success in the first test
Outside of Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, the great rivalry of the Bahrain Grand Prix occurred between the Mercedes, Leclerc and Mclaren teams.. And a big absentee who generated great expectations and could not fulfill in the first test were those of Aston Martin, who did not appear at all, even though Alonso arrived in ninth place in classification. Piastri and Norris passed him without problems and Hamilton did not have any major difficulties when the time came to pass him.
For the moment, clear improvement is expected in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this coming weekendwhere both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll seek to improve their ninth and tenth places achieved in Bahrain.
Finally, this is how Formula 1 started with a solitary leader, Max Verstappen, looking to become world champion again. A total of 23 races remain, enough time for the improvement of Aston Martin, Mercedes and the rest of the teams that want to hit the table hard and dethrone both Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.
Keep reading:
Carlos Sainz without filters against Ferrari “I will look for a place where I am loved and valued”
Helmut Marko on the career of “Checo” Pérez: “Not having been destroyed by Max is a great achievement”
Christian Horner was satisfied with the performance of “Checo” Pérez in the Bahrain GP