Ferrari knew how to fight, but not win. There are three different teams in the top 3 of the F1 standings
Dmitry Zakharchenko March 1, 2024, 20:25 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Verstappen won pole position in the first stage of the 2024 season, but it wasn’t as easy for Max.
After the pre-season tests, literally all the experts agreed that Red Bull would once again be practically unmatchable by its rivals, however, in free practice prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the current champions were never the fastest. Instead, the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers replaced each other in first position, and hope arose in the paddock that this time it would not be as easy for Max Verstappen as last season.
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P1: Disaster for Alpin
The first segment finally confirmed Alpin’s failure. During the tests there was talk of the problems of the new French car, but reality exceeded expectations: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly occupied the last two places in the classification. Esteban was the faster of the two Frenchmen, but Gasly, who did not have a warm-up lap, did not improve in the second sector and lost a tenth and a half compared to his teammate.
Logan Sargent sat in front of the Alpine runners. The American, who can no longer be called a newcomer, again lost badly to Alex Albon: he was almost 0.4 seconds faster and qualified in Q2 from ninth place. Finally, the Kick-Sauber drivers took 16th and 17th places. Thus, Valtteri Bottas was just over a tenth behind Magnussen’s fifteenth place, and Guanyu Zhou, like Gasly, lost in the second sector and was left behind his partner.
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P2: Tsunoda lost 0.007 seconds
The second segment featured a closer fight: the fate of the ticket to the final was decided in seven thousandths of a second! This is exactly the difference between Oscar Piastri, who closed the top 10, and Yuki Tsunoda, who ranked 11th. Lance Stroll ranked 12th; In the context of Alonso’s fourth time and 0.4 seconds behind Fernando, the Canadian’s result seems very, very mediocre.
Alexander Albon qualified in 13th place, leaving behind two more losers of the session. Thus, Daniel Ricciardo lost to Tsunoda and was only in 14th place, and Kevin Magnussen was in 15th place. The Dane’s teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, advanced to Q3 from fifth place, showing that Haas’ speed is good. But Magnussen could not fulfill his potential and was almost 0.7 seconds slower than the German.
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Q3: Ferrari vs Red Bull
With the start of the final segment, Ferrari showed that it really has the potential to fight with Red Bull: Leclerc was just 0.06 seconds behind Verstappen in the first attempt. George Russell was also surprised: if Mercedes was not very impressive in Q1 and Q2, now the Briton was only 0.18 seconds slower than Max, leaving Sainz, Norris and Pérez behind. All three, however, started Q3 with worn tires.
Fernando Alonso chose to limit himself to one attempt on a clean track and also performed an excellent lap: the Spaniard lost 0.12 seconds compared to Verstappen, ahead of Russell. It is true that the Aston Martin leader then returned to the pits, while his rivals still had one more attempt left. The McLaren drivers were the first to overtake them, but the Woking cars still do not have enough pace to fight for the top five.
In the end, Mercedes also failed to shine: Russell lost a little in the first sector and only recovered third position, ahead of Alonso, and Hamilton was only eighth. In the end, the only ones who could challenge Verstappen were the Ferrari drivers, but both were unable to improve in the final sector and only finished second and fourth, with pole for the defending champion.
Verstappen will share the front row with Leclerc in Saturday’s race. Sainz will start fourth, next to Russell, while Pérez only occupies fifth position. Alonso completed the top 6 in his only attempt, ahead of Norris and Piastri, while the slowest in Q3 were Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg.
The Bahrain Grand Prix starts on Saturday, March 2 at 18:00 Moscow time.
