Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix Prediction: LET THE SHOW BEGIN

The new season of the Formula 1 World Championship begins, and it will be the 75th season of the most prestigious motoring competition in the world. It should be a record-long championship with as many as 24 races, and for the sixth time in F1 history, the first race is held at the Bahrain International Circuit. What is specific about the start of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship season is the fact that the first race is run on a Saturday, and not, as is always the practice, on a Sunday. The reason lies in the fact that Ramadan, the holy month in Islam, begins on Sunday, March 10, and on that weekend the second race of the season takes place - the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Therefore, the street race in Jeddah was moved to Saturday, and FIA rules dictate that there must be at least seven days between the two races, so the first race of the championship is held on Saturday, at the circuit in Bahrain.

It will be the jubilee 20th edition of the Bahrain Grand Prix, although 20 races have already been held at this circuit. In that pandemic year, we also had an extra race here. The Formula 1 race was held in Bahrain for the first time in 2004, and Michael Schumacher in Ferrari went down in history as the first winner. Interestingly, one corner on the circuit is named after the legendary German driver and the first winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix, namely turn number 1. The mounted horses have the most victories in Bahrain, as many as seven, while Mercedes has so far collected one less. Of the drivers, Lewis Hamilton won five times, Sebastian Vettel four times, and Fernando Alonso three times. Hamilton and Vettel are tied for the number of best starting positions, each with three pole positions. Two years ago, Charles Leclerc in Ferrari won the season opener, and last year, with his first victory in Bahrain, Max Verstappen successfully started his record season in a Red Bull car.

There are no driver changes, but that's why there were name changes for the two teams - Alfa Romeo became Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber after ending Sauber's sponsorship deal with the Italian manufacturer, and AlphaTauri became Visa Cash App RB F1 Team as part of the third identity change in their history since 2006. As for the name of the chassis, the only change in the nomenclature is present for the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team whose chassis is called VCARB 01 (last year's AlphaTauri was called AT04). There are no big changes in the names of power units either - all manufacturers increased the number in the name by one, but Ferrari's power unit has a unique numbering system, so the change is somewhat different.

Although Red Bull did not dominate the training sessions, it was clear from the first day that the new RB20 looks fantastic, especially in the hands of Verstappen, and the comments of the drivers and the team are related to this, saying that they are satisfied and that they have made the expected step forward. It was no easy task after an almost perfect season in 2023 and the dominant Red Bull RB19, but the team led by Adrian Newey managed to find new technical solutions that should keep them ahead of their rivals who have corrected numerous shortcomings from last season. Ferrari averaged the fastest car in qualifying last year, but their competitiveness would drop dramatically in the race due to high tire consumption, and on tracks that generally didn't suit their SF-23 that well. The new SF-24 was able to reduce that gap in performance over a single lap and a series of laps with more fuel in the race and became a car that was more predictable to drive, with less variable lap and leg balance on the same set of tires. That should put Ferrari in the position of Red Bull's biggest challenger, and behind them is a close fight between McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin, where all three teams will compete for the podium in certain races.

OUR PREDICTION: Sergio Perez podium finish