The 2024 F1 season starts at the Bahrain GP, featuring major car upgrades across teams, spotlighting Red Bull and Mercedes.
The Bahrain Grand Prix inaugurates the 2024 F1 championship, with the weekend kicking off with the first practice session (FP1). We witnessed significantly modified cars across nearly all teams compared to the winter testing.
Red Bull introduced a suite of upgrades. The front wing has been re-optimized, the shape of the sidepod air intakes has changed, as have the edges of the floor, while the engine cover and its vents have also evolved.
Mercedes F1 updated its nose and changed the shape of its sidepod air intakes. The floor has been altered, as well as the engine cover, the beam wing, and the rear wing.
Ferrari brought new sidepod air intakes, designed to better complement the shape of the sidepods and the undercut of the rear section. The rear suspension and brake ducts on the SF-24 have been revised.
Teams Debut Major Upgrades for 2024
McLaren extensively revised the shape of its engine cover and sidepod air intakes, though it appears that the changes pertain more to the MCL38 itself rather than mere evolutions. The floor’s edges have also been revised, and the rear wing has been altered to suit the required drag.
Aston Martin introduced a new front wing, a new floor, elevated air intakes, a hood with a more pronounced lower part, and a revised rear suspension. Alpine brought a new front wing and a floor with revised edges.
Williams unveiled no less than 14 updates! The nose, front wing, front suspension, floor, vertical fins in front of the sidepods, engine cover, diffuser, rear suspension, and rear wing have evolved. However, as with McLaren, some updates seem to be season-wide, not just for the GP.
RB F1 introduced a brand new front and rear wing. At Stake F1, the focus of the updates was on the front suspension and cooling, while Haas revealed several changes that also appear to mark the difference between 2023 and 2024.
Soft Tires in Action
Max Verstappen immediately set the fastest time at 1’33″900, but later commented that it was “total crap, light years away” from the car’s performance in winter testing.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton quickly closed the gap, with Sergio Pérez slotting in between them. George Russell then took the lead with a 1’33″749, only to be almost immediately bested by Verstappen with a 1’33″535.
Ricciardo Leads, Soft Tires Dominate FP1
Oscar Piastri was the first to set a fast lap on soft tires, taking the lead with a 1’33″113. Lando Norris followed with a 1’32″901 on soft tires.
Yuki Tsunoda, also on soft tires, placed third before his teammate Daniel Ricciardo took the lead with a 1’32″869. Only the McLarens and RB F1s were on soft tires until Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou of Stake also switched to them, though they remained further back.
Esteban Ocon complained of a “very inconsistent” car, attributed by his engineer to the highly variable wind conditions on the track. However, the Alpine drivers ended up in 16th and 17th place, having also opted for medium tires.
The session was productive, with Verstappen voicing complaints about the effect of gear shifts on his car, a recurring theme in his radio messages from last season’s FP1.
The standings remained unchanged with Ricciardo finishing at the top of a session that offered few insights. It highlighted the closeness between RB F1 and McLaren, with Alonso posting the best time on medium tires.
As for the rest, it appears that Stake F1, Alpine, and particularly Haas are lagging, though the focus of their work remains unclear. The weekend’s crucial sessions, qualifying and the race, will take place under completely different conditions.
2024 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice Results (1)
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:32.869 | 23 |
| 02 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:32.901 | 25 |
| 03 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:33.113 | 25 |
| 04 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:33.183 | 24 |
| 05 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:33.193 | 20 |
| 06 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:33.238 | 21 |
| 07 | George Russell | Mercedes W15 | 1:33.251 | 25 |
| 08 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:33.268 | 24 |
| 09 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W15 | 1:33.302 | 22 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:33.354 | 21 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:33.385 | 26 |
| 12 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:33.416 | 24 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW46 | 1:33.583 | 17 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:33.868 | 20 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:33.923 | 16 |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes FW46 | 1:34.213 | 19 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:34.807 | 21 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:35.144 | 24 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:37.477 | 25 |
| 20 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:37.938 | 27 |
Bahrain FP1 F1 2024. Bahrain FP1 F1 2024
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