Max Verstappen gave no hope to his rivals in Bahrain. The Dutchman controlled the opening race, and claimed a 22 second margin of victory over Sergio Perez. The 34-year-old easily claimed second place, thanks to the serious problems suffered by Leclerc and Russell.
Red Bull’s superiority forced others to fight for second position. The cooler temperatures compared to the tests significantly facilitated the use of the C3 (soft) compounds that Red Bull kept in reserve. This guaranteed even more margin in terms of strategies and use.
Despite everything, it is clear that significant development will be necessary for Red Bull to be caught.
At the moment, he still enjoys a reasonable advantage in race trim. His RB20 showed no weaknesses and finished with a similar gap to Abu Dhabi.
On average, he was more than five-tenths per lap faster than anyone else. Sergio Perez offered little resistance, though he managed to deliver a 1-2 finish for Red Bull.
Ferrari reasonable in Bahrain, but Jeddah could suit SF-24 better
In Bahrain, Red Bull’s closest challenger was confirmed to be Ferrari. Leclerc started well from the front row alongside Verstappen. However, from the first lap, he suffered major problems with brake temperatures.
“For me, this race was disappointing. I had problems with the brakes and had difficulty staying on the road, especially in turns 9 and 10.
“We could have had a good pace and been more competitive,” said Leclerc. An analysis will be conducted in Maranello to establish the nature of the problem.
This failure compromised the front axle’s balance on the #16 car. On a layout that is so intense on brakes, especially in high fuel, this was very costly.
According to the data collected, Leclerc’s performance in the first 15/20 laps was also six-tenths per lap slower than his SF-24’s potential. This was costly in terms of both track position and strategy.
“He had the problem throughout the race. We have to make sure that nothing like this happens again,” said Fred Vasseur.
“We have to have clean races.”
The Ferrari driver was only to recover some rhythm in the final stint, thanks partly to his car being lighter.
Despite a final result of P3 and P4, the Ferrari team principal is not fully satisfied with the result:
“We could have achieved more, but at least here, we have reduced the gap by 50%. In Jeddah, we are all starting from scratch on a completely different layout.”
Ferrari has already decided on a more relaxed configuration for the Arabian track. The Scuderia will bring a medium-low load rear wing specification, which is very efficient in profile.
This should allow the SF-24 to replicate some of Red Bull’s efficiency.
The SF-24 is certainly an opposite car compared to the old one, with important downforce qualities in medium-high speed corners.
These are important strengths on a high-speed circuit, where getting heat into temperatures fast is essential.
If all goes well, the SF-23’s worst race from 2023 could turn into a good opportunity on this occasion.
In the meantime, we continue to ask ourselves why Loic Serra was still wearing the Mercedes shirt in Bahrain – as opposed to starting gardening leave.
“I have no updates (on when he will arrive in Maranello). It is being discussed,” the French team principal commented with a smile.
Author: Giuliano Duchessa
Illustration: Rosario Giuliana
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
