Verstappen leads Red Bull to dominant 1-2 season-opener

Max Verstappen rose to a level well above his competitors in tonight’s Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Dutchman crossing the finish line 22 seconds ahead of his teammate to lead Red Bull to their first dominant victory of the 2024 season.

All 20 drivers started the Grand Prix on the soft compound tyre, an unusual similarity as the field set off to complete the 57-lap race. 

With the five lights ticking down, Pole man Max Verstappen made strides on his way down to Turn 1, immediately building an interval to the battle for P2 behind.

Although Charles Leclerc may have initially looked like a threat to the front-runner, his focus quickly shifted to his mirrors.

There was Lap 1-Sector 1 contact between Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg, with the duo making contact as they exited the first turn, prompting the first yellow flag period of the season.

Hulkenberg tagged the Aston Martin, sending the #18 spinning as he overtook him, however, not without contact of his own.

Starting from P16, Valtteri Bottas approached the top end of the field as he launched to Turn 1 with hopes of making bounds on the first lap, however, the Fin found himself tagging the Haas ahead, avoiding major damage.

Carlos Sainz dropped a position at the start, letting Sergio Perez by while the remainder of the top ten order stayed the same.

On Lap 3 of 57, George Russell relegated the front-running Ferrari, with the Monegasque locking up on many frustrating occasions in the opening soft tyre stint. 

The #16’s concerns worsened, with Perez closing in four-tenths behind by Lap 5.

In the following laps, the interval between Verstappen and Russell had grown to almost five seconds, a number that only increased as the laps ticked by.

For the second time in the race, Leclerc was demoted a position as Sergio Perez cemented his place in the top three.

Meanwhile, Sainz was informing the Ferrari pit wall that he had more pace in hand, running four-tenths behind the Perez-Leclerc battle in P5. 

Lap 9 saw another less-than-ideal moment for the Monegasque, with the #16 having his third major lockup of the race into the first turn. 

His moment seemed minor, however, when ten laps into the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first mid-race yellow flags were brought out. 

Logan Sargeant was momentarily stationary in the run-off area at Turn 4, prompting the change in conditions before he rejoined the race, albeit over a minute behind P19.

On Lap 11, Sainz finally passed his teammate after creating momentum down the main straight’s DRS zone, his sights now set on the Mercedes ahead.

The first round of pitstops kickstarted on Lap 12, with all drivers who pulled into the pits opting to run the hard compound tyre. 

Leclerc immediately overworked his tyres, locking up into Turn 10 as he hunted down Valtteri Bottas, later jumping on the radio to inform the Italian pit wall that he couldn’t “get out of front locking”. 

The new front-running Ferrari then pitted on Lap 16, rejoining the race behind his teammate on the sixteenth lap.

On Lap 17 and after the order had been jumbled by pitstops, Sainz ambitiously passed Leclerc, going on to hunt down the #63 ahead.

Out front, however, Verstappen broke his momentum, pitting in a rapid 2.9-second pitstop and rejoining still in the lead.

On the same lap, Sainz passed Russell, with the #63 managing a power unit issue.

His teammate wasn’t having a much cleaner season opener, reporting of a broken seat and cooling issues as well.

By Lap 25, Verstappen was 11 seconds ahead of his teammate who ran behind in P2.

As for the back of the order, Bottas and Pierre Gasly shared a tight battle for P17, with the alpine driver’s teammate running nine-tenths ahead.

Turn 10 continued to catch drivers out, with Hamilton carrying too much speed on entry and running wide in his bid to crawl his way up the top ten. 

Stroll was the first to complete his second stop of the Grand Prix, stopping on Lap 28.

The Canadian’s stop was smooth, unlike Bottas’ whose slow stop on Lap 32 lasted 52.4 seconds. 

Second stops continued, with Norris pulling into the pitlane Lap 34, rejoining in P8.

Hamilton undercut Piastri, passing the Aussie as he slid through the opening sequence of corners, while Leclerc stormed through the field, his trees coming to life as he passed Alonso.

After his second stop, Perez found himself 41 seconds behind his race-leading teammate, unable to make an impression on the interval separating the Red Bulls on Lap 37.

Fernando Alonso was one of the final drivers to retreat to the pitlane for a second stop, chasing down his teammate in P9.

He shortly found himself back within the points, piping Zhou Guanyu to regain his place within the points. 

The battle between the #16 and #63 continued over the coming laps, with Russell ultimately gifting fourth place to the Ferrari driver after locking up and running wide at Turn 10.

On Lap 52, early cracks started to show for RB, with the pit wall calling for their drivers to swap positions.

Yuki Tsunoda, running ahead of our Australian local, was unsatisfied with Ricciardo’s performance following his sacrifice, with the Perth-born racer failing to catch Magnussen on Lap 52.

In the closing stages, the order looked set to remain the same, with Verstappen leading over his current and former teammate, in the podium places.

As the chequered flag was waved and the fireworks were unleashed, it was no surprise to see Max Verstappen crowned the winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix, however, the interval may have come as a shock.

Verstappen crossed the line 22.457 seconds ahead of his teammate, with the interval between P2 and P3 far slimmer at just over three seconds. 

With Red Bull securing their first 1-2 finish of the season, Carlos Sainz rounded out the final podium place in a day bittersweet for the Italian outfit.

Despite Ferrari’s struggles, the team, and in fact, the entire grid will have the chance to redeem themselves in a week’s time as the F1 circus heads to Saudi Arabia next weekend.

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