The Bahrain tests are completed and everything seems ready for the start of the 2024 season. As usual, no team has uncovered all its cards completely. The real value of the single-seaters will begin to become clearer during free practice starting on Wednesday.
Max Verstappen will still be the man to beat, also strong with a car that is the evolution of the previous one with some philosophies pushed to the limit. The top contenders stand to be Ferrari and Mercedes.
Red Bull is tasting the limit
Red Bull has raised the bar even higher; this year’s car differs from its predecessor almost completely. The RB20, with changed side pods, has not affected the strengths of its progenitor, which still has perfect downforce and grip.
In terms of pure speed, the car continues to be the best. Not only that, but it’s still strong in terms of management of all the compounds brought by Pirelli. The two drivers have been following different programs on track, with the world champion immediately appearing to be in fine form even though he has clearly not yet taken the car to the limit.
Verstappen focused more on the long runs, where he kept a superb pace, and he was extremely consistent, with times in the 1:34 range with the medium tire and 1:35 with the hards. His personal best was 1:30.755, a time not to be overlooked since the soft tire was not used.
On the other hand, Sergio Perez seemed far from his teammate in Bahrain. His times were slightly slower than Verstappen’s and also less consistent. He also had an electrical problem during the second day of testing, but nothing that seemed to worry the team.
Ferrari, consistency is the key
Ferrari is working to be the first chaser of Red Bull and seems to have found certainties in the SF-24 compared to last year’s car, which was difficult for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to understand.
The new single-seater comes across as a car that is more predictable to set-up changes, and, above all, it seems to have a wider window of use for the two drivers. The base from which Ferrari starts this year seems better, and there are also positive margins to progress with the in-season development. That was something that last year was limited due to issues with the SF-23’s botched aerodynamic design.
Some issues during these tests came from the difficulty of getting all the compounds to work, with the C3, in particular, being the most problematic. The times of the two drivers were encouraging, especially the race pace was good, but it can certainly be improved. The best time of the three days of testing was Sainz’s 1:29.921 recorded with the softer compound (C5), while his teammate Leclerc recorded a 1:30.322. The race pace of the two drivers from the Italian team was quite good, but slightly less consistent than that of Verstappen.
Low gears for Mercedes
If Ferrari seems to have found a better square than it did the year before, Mercedes continues to have difficulties with pure speed, something the drivers complained about as early as last year.
The Silver Arrows’ race pace is still their strong point and a reason to be confident for this year. The car seems to be more balanced and there is also a big step forward in handling. The general impression, however, is that Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren seem to be very close, but their performances are clearly below the Milton Keynes team.
The times of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton give some indication of the potential of Mercedes. Russell recorded a 1:30.368 which is not far off the best time set by Sainz and Leclerc. Hamilton did not record any great lap times but focused a lot on long runs as his teammate did. The times ranged between a high 1.35 and 1.36.
The stage is set
After these three days of testing in Bahrain, the first race will be at the same venue this weekend, and it opens the new Formula 1 season. All fans hope to see more balance between the teams and to see races open to any result.
On the first race weekend, we will also better understand the real strengths of the teams when the cards are on the table. There will be no more hiding and sandbagging!