Max Verstappen Moving to Mercedes, to Charles Leclerc Revealing Inferiority to Carlos Sainz: 5 Winners and Losers of the 2024 Bahrain GP

It was a great start to the 2024 season for Red Bull and Ferrari as the Bahrain Grand Prix showcased where each team stands. The early rounds of F1 are usually a lot of trial and error but it looks like these two teams got most of the things right. Mercedes was lagging with Lewis Hamilton finishing 7th, but George Russell managed to finish P5. Many events transpired during the first Bahrain GP and the aftermath of the race led to some interesting conversations.

Among all the drivers, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Bottas, and Sargeant had an outing to forget as they finished P15 to P20, respectively. But in Formula 1, irrespective of your position on the grid, there is always a chance of something going wrong. That was seen in almost all the teams in Bahrain.

Breakdown of the Bahrain Grand Prix 2024

Max Verstappen claimed victory, followed by Sergio Perez in P2 with the RB20 dominating the roads again. But shortly after that, news started popping up about Toto Wolff’s plans to bring in the Dutch driver into Mercedes. When asked about the possibility of bringing Verstappen to the Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff replied, “I think the driver will always choose the quickest car. That is fundamentally what it’s all about at the moment. Red Bull is the quickest car, so that would, in my opinion, always be the priority.”

Ralf Schumacher jumped in and stated, “There is so much turmoil at Red Bull. I could imagine Max Verstappen saying he is going to do something completely different. A team structure is very fragile. If something like that happens at Red Bull, everything falls apart very quickly.” Considering the way things have been for Red Bull, the environment is tense and things are not playing well for the team. Although Verstappen has a contract lasting till 2028, Helmut Marko has predicted that the driver might move on from the team.

Coming on to Ferrari–the team that beat their rival, Mercedes–in the first race of the season. Both Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc performed very well at the Bahrain GP. However, the French driver did face some issues with his brakes having lock-ups due to heating to over 100 degrees. The drivers successfully overtook their competition, leaving the Silver Army behind. Despite Leclerc’s technical difficulties, Sainz showed the team who was the superior driver as he claimed the ultimate spot on the podium.

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Mercedes finished in P5 and P7 with George Russell in the leading car. Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing race as it looks like he is yet not happy with the machine Mercedes is giving him. Russell started the race at P3 but lost two positions. Conversely, Hamilton gained two spots from his P9 star, only to get sandwiched by the McLarens. But while these teams led the rest, others didn’t do so well.

The bottom half at the Bahrain Grand Prix 2024

Aston Martin had a good start but failed to deliver. In an exciting moment, Lance Stroll surprised fans by making it into the top 3 for a brief period before falling off again. Fernando Alonso also took the lead and then was in P2 but could not hold his position. Nico Hülkenberg was one of the drivers who got the bad end of the Haas coming P16 while Magnussen finished P12.

The situation is looking grim for Alpine this year with Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly finishing P17 and P18 respectively. The team that was at number 6 in the Constructors’ Championship last year has had a disappointing start to the new season. Both the drivers have mentioned that the car will not be the best at the start of the season but will improve over time.

Valtteri Bottas probably had one of the worst experiences in the pit. Ironically, he is the holder of the record for the longest pitstop and it looks like those days are catching up with him. After a major issue in getting the front right tire onto the car, the Finnish driver knew it was over for him.

Back of the line was Logan Sargeant, who drifted off track. This was followed by him taking the car into the pits only to take too long and find himself a lap behind the rest. With the speed at which Max Verstappen was moving, it was difficult to be motivated after such a hit, and Sargeant never recovered from that. The season looks like it has ended before it started and Red Bulls are displaying the peak of Newey magic, which is propelling them even further than the rest.

Read More – Toto Wolff Admits Mercedes “Galaxies Away” From Max Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton Finishes 50 Seconds Behind

The Dutchman finished over 20 seconds ahead of Perez in 2nd place and is poised for another dominant season. That being said, do you think he can be defeated? If not, who would take second place in the Drivers’ Championship? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.