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Yes, Max Verstappen dominated the race, taking pole position, leading every lap, and taking fastest lap for another grand chelam, but there were still signs of a competitive season ahead thanks to Ferrari.
The Scuderia’s true form was perhaps masked by the braking issues Charles Leclerc experienced, but Carlos Sainz proved a strong contender for Sergio Perez in second.
There is no doubt the SF-24 was no match for the RB20 in Bahrain, but it is closer between the two of the front.
Speaking post-race, Verstappen explained that he felt especially hooked up in the race in a way that he hadn’t all weekend.
It’s a comment that offers hope. Bahrain is a circuit where Red Bull Racing typically excels, and Verstappen having an especially good day at the wheel drove into the distance.
In qualifying, Ferrari was faster. Charles Leclerc recorded the fastest time in the session, albeit in Qualifying 2 rather than Qualifying 3 when it really mattered.
So there’s single lap form there, and an improved Ferrari over a race distance. So what happens at venues where the Red Bull Racing is less suited? And when Verstappen isn’t at his devastating best?
“There is a bit of a mixed feeling for sure after the race, for sure,” said Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur.
“The positive is that we were able to do the pole position yesterday – we did the fastest lap of the session.
“And we thought that we compressed 50 percent of the gap with Red Bull in the race compared to one year ago.”
Ferrari expected Red Bull Racing to opt for a final stint on the soft tyres after the squad saved a set of the red-walled rubber in qualifying, and therefore adopted a strategy designed to put pressure on Perez, in particular.
With a set of hard tyres for Sainz, the intent was to use the undercut to force Perez into the pits earlier than intended, extending his final stint and leaving him exposed in the final laps.
Another lap or two, and perhaps that would have netted results for the Scuderia, but that it was in the hunt for the second step of the podium is a positive start.
At Mercedes, there’s some head scratching after cooling issues impacted the squad’s performance – Toto Wolff claiming as much as half a second a lap.
That seems optimistic, but even half of that would have seen George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on about the same pace as Sainz and Perez.
Exactly what happened wasn’t clear. The team didn’t close off its cooling, and a similar issue was seen at Williams with Alex Albon.
So points in the opening race is perhaps a good result in the context, but it wasn’t a full-fat effort from Mercedes.
However, take that issue away and the pecking order at the very front is what we expected: Red Bull Racing out front ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes.
McLaren was next best. Given what we now know of Mercedes’ race, any comparisons to the Silver Arrows probably needs to wait until Jeddah or beyond.
But, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were in the points on a track that has traditionally never suited the Woking operation.
There’s still understeer in low-speed corners in particular but to leave Bahrain with 16 points is a significant improvement on a year ago, when it was last in the constructors’ championship after the opening round.
It wasn’t a perfect race, though. Team boss Andrea Stella confessed to a strategic blunder on the team’s part that cost Piastri seventh when Mercedes undercut the Australian at the final round of stops.
But on balance, perhaps that’s a more accurate result anyway given the relative performance Hamilton should have had in the W15.
McLaren remains optimistic, and with good reason, but there’s still work to do.
Aston Martin had a tale of two, with Lance Stroll pitched into a spin at the opening corner by Nico Hulkenberg, and Fernando Alonso enjoying a comparatively straightforward race.
Stroll’s drive, aside from that of race-winner Verstappen, was perhaps the most impressive in the field.
Last by the end of the opening lap, Aston Martin adopted an aggressive strategy allowed the Canadian to progress through the field to net a points paying result.
“Brilliant, brilliant recovery,” team boss Mike Krack said.
“Through the traffic you are not great on the tyres and all that, but he really managed it well, stayed patient where he needed to be, and then finishing in the points.
“It was a great run.”
Points was the expectation for the team heading into the race, so it was really a case of delivering to expectations. However, with the added context of Stroll’s recovery, Aston Martin can be pleased to head to Jeddah next weekend with three points to its name.
There is a suggestion that the car’s race pace is not as strong as it’s single lap speed. Whether that’s inherent in the car or a result of set-up choices in Bahrain is one the team will be looking into over the coming races.
The other interesting development from Bahrain was the spat between Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.
Both drivers are eyeing a move to Red Bull Racing for 2025 and are therefore determined to beat their RB team-mate.
However, while F1 is seen as a sport for the individual, the team element is more important – especially in the midfield.
Prize money is paid out on the constructors’ championship position, so while drivers may be nonplussed by finishing 10th or 11th, that additional point can have a significant impact at the end of the year.
That is why teams work to maximise their chances, and why RB asked Tsunoda to move aside. Ricciardo was on a better strategy and while he didn’t ultimately make progress, he was the team’s best chance should there have been a late-race Safety Car or such.
As a result, working to put him in the best position to capitalise on that is a no-brainer.
Tsunoda was a negative impact on that plan. His attitude at the time, on the cool down lap, and to the media was unbecoming.
Splitting Tsunoda and Ricciardo in terms of strategy made some sense – qualifying where it did, there was little risk in speculating, at least with Ricciardo.
A more conservative strategy was adopted for Tsunoda, which was reasonable given he was on the fringes of points after qualifying 11th.
But Ricciardo needed to roll the dice a little more. It didn’t work, but he’d have been rapid in the final laps had there been an interruption.
The difference was RB covering its bases, but in doing so has perhaps invertedly kicked off an internal rivalry in the opening race of the longest F1 season in history.
It highlights the tensions there, as both he and Ricciardo arguably drive for their F1 futures.
Next the sport heads to Saudi Arabia, an unpopular event among the travelling circus due to concerns ranginer from the danger of the highspeed street circuit to the sportswashing of its human rights abuses.
