Max Verstappen had a commanding start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, completely dominating the Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen secured pole position in qualifying, narrowly beating out Ferrari and Charles Leclerc in a close battle. From the start of the grand prix, Verstappen maintained his lead and never let it go throughout the 57-lap race. He was able to delay his first pitstop, thanks to the significant lead he had built in the opening laps. Verstappen continued to increase his lead, showing great comfort and speed in his Red Bull RB20 car. Ultimately, he won the race by a margin of 22.4 seconds, securing the fastest lap bonus point and extending his winning streak to eight consecutive races.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez couldn’t challenge Verstappen for the win, but he did an excellent job of securing a Red Bull 1-2 finish. Starting from fifth on the grid, Perez overtook Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc early on in the race. Leclerc, in particular, struggled with his Ferrari SF-24, especially during braking. After the first pitstops, Perez managed to execute a perfect overtaking maneuver on George Russell, positioning himself in second place behind Verstappen. Perez was able to create a gap between himself and Russell, who had passed Leclerc earlier in the race but couldn’t maintain his position. Russell fell back and was overtaken by Sainz, settling for fourth place.
Sainz, who had already made an impressive overtaking move on Leclerc, hoped to challenge Perez for second place. However, Perez’s use of soft tires in the final stint allowed him to extend his advantage and secure second place comfortably. Sainz settled for a solid third place, ahead of Leclerc, who put pressure on Russell and forced him into a mistake, allowing Leclerc to move into fourth place.
Russell, despite experiencing engine overheating issues, managed to finish in fifth place. Lando Norris in the lead McLaren and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes 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 a momentary loss of control out of Turn 1 during his final pitstop.
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 drive, despite being spun by Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas at Turn 1 on the first lap. The incident was deemed not worthy of further action by the stewards.
Outside the points, there was tension within the Red Bull team as Yuki Tsunoda was instructed to let teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass in the closing laps, much to Tsunoda’s frustration. However, Ricciardo was unable to make a move on Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on the final lap.