Three days of F1 pre-season testing held at Bahrain’s Sakhir International Circuit are done. The efforts of Formula 1 teams established during the winter break to ascend toward the top of the grid will be visible next week once the Formula 1 season kicks off under the Arabic sunset.
Pre-season testing allowed the teams to understand whether they had progressed or regressed during the winter. However, it is important to stress that F1 teams ran different programs with variable fuel loads for three days. Therefore, the quickness of the laps does not necessarily represent the true position of the 2024 grid.
Drain covers steal the show
Certainly, one of the more memorable stories of Sakhir’s 2024 tests was the weakness of drain covers at the entry of the long left-hander, turn 11. Thursday’s and Friday’s morning sessions had to be stopped until the issue was cleared.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez fell into the trap of Turn 11. The Monégasque’s SF-24 suffered floor damage, which was fixed during a longer red flag on Thursday. On Friday, Perez’s contact with the loose drain cover ultimately led to a total scrap of a lunch break. Morning and afternoon sessions of the final day were merged into one continuous testing round.
As a result of the carbon-copy bizarre incidents, the organizers of the Bahrain GP have stated that all drain covers will be cemented by the start of the first Grand Prix weekend of the year. The decision itself makes sense considering teams were cut short by a valuable 1 to 2 hours of testing in the already scarce nature of contemporary pre-season testing.
No surprises at the top
Traditionally, Ferrari turns up the engine slightly more than other teams during pre-season tests. The Scuderia topped the time sheets on Thursday’s and Friday’s sessions, with both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Leclerc bringing their 2024 contender to the top of the live timings.
Ferrari’s protégé Charles Leclerc was relatively more delighted with the SF-24, as it behaved without any unpleasant surprises. Comments regarding the latest red car without excessive optimism and the somewhat realistic approach show two features. Firstly, Red Bull’s position is still intact and secondly, Ferrari is focused on developing a car for 2026 regulations, led by the dream team of Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc.
Red Bull again seems to be the team to beat. The Milton-Keynes-based outfit was on the rails all three days, except for Wednesday’s morning session. During the latter, the immaturity of the RB20, the setup, and an immensely green track imbalanced the atmosphere in the constructor’s champions’ garage for a brief interval.
Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen finalized day one with the fastest lap. Pérez could not repeat a similar outcome as his teammate with the best time, finishing in second position.
The notion that Red Bull is still the best team on the grid is seen as consensus. Fernando Alonso’s comment about 19 drivers already being out of title contention sparked both laughter and disheartening effects regarding the 2024 season.
For instance, the Dutchman was flying on the Hard compound of tires in comparison to Leclerc, Norris, and Sainz’s times generally set up on Medium compound. Verstappen was consistently achieving times spanning between low 1:36s and low 1:35s.
Mercedes looks to be an enigma on whether they will be closer to Red Bull and Ferrari or the rest of the grid. The loss of the seven-time world champion and – potentially – a decent amount of the crew has shaken up the future of the Silver Arrows.
However, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell shared thoughts that the W15 is on a good track, but more work is needed if the German manufacturer wants to challenge top teams.
Uncertainty in the midfield
Most of the teams have taken inspiration from Red Bull’s RB19 concept for the 2024 season. Hence, Mclaren, Aston Martin, RB F1 Team, Sauber, and Haas’s statements about improvement in many areas of the car are no surprise.
RB F1 Team particularly “stirred up the spirits” with their great showing in the 3-day practice in the heart of the desert. This comes after the former AlphaTauri/Toro Rosso team agreed to even stronger ties with the Red Bull. To be even more precise, the RB F1 Team is taking car parts of Red Bull’s RB19 – following what the regulations allow -.
Williams has decided for a radical turn in car the car’s philosophy by developing a challenger that would suit better in slower and medium-speed corners. Throughout the V6 era, Williams commonly developed a rocket ship engine for a car suited for tracks with longer straights where the strength of the power unit plays a great deal of success.
So far, the historic team has had a fairly dramatic start into the 2024 season, with Alexander Albon causing a red flag due to fuel pump issues. His teammate Logan Sargeant spun in a spectacular fashion approaching the mythical turn 10.
It surely is an unclear picture, and understanding whether a particular midfield outfit belongs to a higher or lower part of the standings is not easy. Teams have run different sets of programs on different fuel loads and engine modes, therefore, it is hard to predict where each squad stands until a few rounds into the season.
Out of all the teams, Haas may have looked like the weakest link, even though it has shown remarkable reliability by completing more laps than any other outfit.
| Haas | 441 |
| Ferrari | 416 |
| Red Bull | 391 |
| Sauber | 379 |
| Aston Martin | 379 |
| RB F1 Team | 367 |
| Mercedes | 361 |
| Alpine | 334 |
| McLaren | 328 |
| Williams | 299 |
It is also worth noting that the class of 2024 Formula 1 cars have surpassed their predecessors in terms of quickest lap times. Sainz’s lap time of 1:29.921 was four-tenths quicker than Sergio Pérez’s from 2023 testings.
Another interesting point to add is that the 10th quickest time of Lewis Hamilton is just +0.030 seconds slower than the 5th classified from 2023, Carlos Sainz.
| Driver | Team | Test Day | Lap Time | Tyre |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | Day Two | 1:29.921 | C4 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Day Three | 1:30.322 | C4 |
| George Russell | Mercedes | Day Three | 1:30.368 | C4 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | Day Three | 1:30.647 | C4 |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull | Day Two | 1:30.679 | C3 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Day Three | 1:30.755 | C3 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | RB F1 Team | Day Three | 1:30.775 | C4 |
| Alexander Albon | Williams | Day Three | 1:30.984 | C4 |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Day Three | 1:31.030 | C3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Day Two | 1:31.066 | C3 |
As the pre-season session closed down its curtains, fans, and teams are eagerly preparing for the next week and the official start of the Formula 1 season with a slightly changed format. Race weekend will be spread from Thursday and will conclude with a 57 laps race on Saturday, March 2.
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