Max Verstappen won the first race of the season, just like last year, by dominating the Bahrain GP. The Dutchman finished the race 38 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, but Carlos Sainz reduced the gap to 25 seconds, lapping just over four-tenths slower than the triple world champion.
There wre many variables on the Red Bull side, with an important management of the race. In the first stint, Sainz had to fight with other cars and was unable to show his true pace.
Leclerc suffered the largely discussed brake problem, which cost a probable second position. Meanwhile, Mercedes lost time due to an overheating problem in the Brixworth Power Unit.
The data analysis of the Bahrain GP leaves more questions than answers across the field. In just a few days, Jeddah should provide more information on the situation.
Data analysis, Bahrain GP: Haas improves by almost three seconds, Red Bull has six-tenths of a second on its rivals
Compared to twelve months ago, the use of the ‘new’ Pirelli tyres generated about four-tenths per lap in Bahrain. Keeping this in mind, it is curious that Haas was the most improved team of the first round.
Thanks to the work done in testing by Ayao Komatsu’s team, their performance in race trim was strong.
After this, the teams who made the largest improvements were Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull.
The improvement of the personnel Milton Keynes allowed them to maintain their dominance. Saturday’s race painted a similar picture to the end of 2023.
If we want to find a difference with last year, the RB20 adapts better to the characteristics of the Bahraini track given the extreme competitiveness at low speed.
If what Ferrari and McLaren showed this weekend is true, they should make progress in Jeddah. This weekend, they should see more about their potential in 2024.
Speaking in terms of pace differentials, we can divide the race into two parts. In the first part, Verstappen pushed his car – as evidenced by his tyre degradation (although it was still minimal).
In the second half of the Grand Prix, the Dutchman was more focused on bringing the car home.
In the first two stints, Max’s gap was half a second on his teammate, six-tenths on Sainz’s Ferrari, nine-tenths on Russell and Mercedes, and even a clear second on Lando Norris’s McLaren.
These numbers will frighten his opponents, and are broadly a continuation from last year’s trend.
However, the front runners now have a far more stable platform. This should give them better prospects of mid-season development.
It is surprising that Ferrari’s main loss is in the central sector. On Friday, Leclerc was two-tenths better than the number 1 RB20.
On the other hand, Mercedes lost a lot in the most technical section of the track.
McLaren equals Ferrari in the second section thanks to a more loaded set-up but loses in the first and third due to excessive drag.
Only Sauber gained over Red Bull between Qualifying and the Race, with a C44 struggling greatly on low fuel, which puts into perspective just how dominant the RB20 is on a full tank.
Over the course of all 57 laps, with management in the last stint, the gaps decrease: Perez +0.385s, Sainz +0.449s, Hamilton +0.759s, Norris +0.813s, then a few tenths separate the Aston Martin from the trio of pursuers.
As in the tests, the AMR24 suffered with a lot of fuel, showing itself to be one of the cars that loses the most from Race Qualifying compared to Red Bull, a reverse trend compared to the beginning of last year when Alonso on Sundays often showed himself to be closer to Verstappen compared to Saturday.
The biggest surprise is, as in Qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg. With pace only a few thousandths slower than Alonso’s, he could have fought for points without his early contact.
“We don’t have the best degradation. But at least in midfield, we can fight for points,” said Ayao Komatsu.
Just behind, the Racing Bulls, Sauber, and Williams were within two-tenths of each other. They were around seven-tenths behind Aston Martin.
Finally, Alpine closes the field with a two-second per lap slower than Red Bull. This was an improvement of eight-tenths compared to 2023, according to the data.
Data Analysis, Bahrain GP: Ferrari fastest pit-stops, more to come in Jeddah
After some seasons of clear improvement starting from 2022, Ferrari was second only to Red Bull in terms of average pit-stop times last year.
This season, the Italian outfit begins with the fastest stops. Ferrari will work to change the often under narrative surrounding them.
Ferrasi set the two fastest pit stops, with an average of 2.37s in the four stops. The closest was Red Bull, at 2.57s on average, followed by Racing Bulls and then the rest.
Stake Sauber started well with Zhou, but two malfunctions in Bottas’ stops caused the Finn to lose time. Haas is also progressing from this point of view, while the unsuccessful ones are Alpine, with three pit stops over three seconds.
The Bahrain Grand Prix gave its first results on a rather particular track, made up of several long straights and low-speed corners, areas in which the Red Bull RB20.
The gap of 4/6 tenths compared to the first pursuers will certainly not be eliminated within a week.
Even in a few months, overturning this gap is unlikely. However, Jeddah could deliver different results. This high-speed track should be more suited to the Ferrari and McLaren cars.
A clean race for Charles Leclerc should also improve the Italian-based outfit.
In any case, from Friday, a more complete picture of the performance of the new cars will be available.
Despite the knowledge that beating Verstappen and Red Bull on the track will be an almost impossible challenge.
Author: Andrea Vergani
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
