The wait is over. The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship has raised the curtain this Thursday at the Sakhir circuit, with the first round of free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which Daniel Ricciardo has led (Visa Cash App RB) with a time of 1:32.869. Although the session times are not representative, they have allowed us to begin to compare the performance of the different cars according to the tires used. Free Practice 2, at night and with equal track conditions compared to Saturday’s race, will begin to outline the true situation of the favorites.
Being a morning test, only some drivers have chosen to use the softer Pirelli compound to make their fastest lap. Among them, the two cars from Faenza, a Red Bull subsidiary, with Ricciardo first and Tsunoda fourth and the two McLarens of Norris and Piastri interspersed between them.
Alonso has started its 21st season in the Formula 1 with maximum motivation and was fifth, three tenths away, the fastest with medium rubber, followed by three-time champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Mercedes George Russell. Ferrari has ‘hid’, with Leclerc in eighth position and Carlos Sainz in eleventh, half a second behind.
Fernando confirmed in the preseason, held a week ago in this same setting, that the new Aston Martin car represents a “step forward”, but with the doubt of whether the improvements introduced by the technical team of Dan Fallows They will be enough to overcome the exceptional start of the AMR23 last season. The objective, in any case, is to optimize development to reach the end of the course in conditions to fight for everything and, if possible, surpass the eight podiums and fourth place in the World Championship that they achieved last year.
While the Spaniard has asked to change the front configuration of his AMR24 to address the final minutes, Carlos Sainz He also did not use soft tires and dedicated the session to getting used to the new SF-24. A car that, as seen in the tests, improves in all areas compared to its predecessor. Starting this afternoon and above all, in the classification scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, we will see if those from Maranello can stand up to Mercedes and even Red Bull.
2024-02-29 13:23:42
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