Post test ranking as I see it

 

01 - Red Bull - comfortably ahead. Improved performance in slow corners should help on street tracks. Verstappen for the title, Perez in a fight with Ferrari and Mercedes

02 - Ferrari - Strong one lap pace, but race distances may be tougher. Better than Merc overall.

03 - Mercedes - Car looks more stable than previous ones. Will outperform ferrari at some tracks

04 - McLaren - May be able to challenge for a win on some days if luck goes their way.

05 - Aston Martin - Potential podiums occasionally. For Alonso at least

06 - RB - In a group on their own

07 - Williams - Seems to have made another leap. Sargeant will make it look worse than it is. Reliability?

08 - Alpine - In a fight with Williams and Sauber

09 - Sauber - Might be better than Alpine or Williams. Tough call between the three

10 - Haas - clearly going to start on the back foot. Poor car, ordinary drivers.

Second day of testing and we're already talking about drain covers again lol.

Ferarri vs Drain Covers, the most thrilling battle of the last 6 months

 

 

 

and probably the rest of the year

Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner has been cleared of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague following an internal investigation.

 

Allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour had been made against the 50-year-old.

 

"Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial," said a spokesperson.

Conveniently closed one day before the season starts. Even if he was guilty of anything Red Bull would never ever have the balls to sack him.

Regardless of whether he did or didn’t do something surely there will be people who won’t let it go now? (He’ll always be guilty in their minds…)

Bahrain First Practice:

 

1) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB 1:32.869

2) Lando Norris (GB) McLaren +0.032

3) Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren +0.244

4) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) RB +0.314

5) Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin +0.324

6) Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull +0.369

7) George Russell (GB) Mercedes +0.382

8) Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari +0.399

9) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes +0.433

10) Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Sauber +0.485

11) Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ferrari +0.516

12) Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull +0.544

13) Alex Albon (THA) Williams +0.714

14) Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin +0.999

15) Zhou Guanyu (CHN) Sauber +1.054

16) Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams +1.344

17) Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine +1.938

18) Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine +2.275

19) Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas +4.608

20) Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Haas +5.069

Alledged screenshots of Horner's messages have been leaked to many in the F1 community via an anonymous source.

Haven't seen them all but what I've seen appears flirtacious (and you decide yourself if that's inappropriate for a married man) more than it does predatory or sinister but there may be much detail not yet revealed. The power dynamic or persistance may be the bigger issue with the content being secondary

Practice 2:

 

1) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.374

2) George Russell Mercedes +0.206

3) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.286

4) Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.395

5) Oscar Piasti McLaren +0.410

6) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.477

7) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.510

8) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.517

9) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.739

10) Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.741

11) Alex Albon Williams +0.959

12) Daniel Ricciardo RB +1.142

13) Logan Sargeant Williams +1.341

14) Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.390

15) Yuki Tsunoda RB +1.507

16) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.577

17) Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.627

18) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.653

19) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.674

20) Lando Norris McLaren +2.234

Practice 3:

 

1) Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.824

2) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.141

3) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.238

4) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.270

5) Lando Norris McLaren +0.294

6) George Russell Mercedes +0.366

7) Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.386

8) Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.424

9) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.454

10) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.572

11) Daniel Ricciardo RB +0.625

12) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.628

13) Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.807

14) Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.847

15) Alex Albon Williams +1.141

16) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.176

17) Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.272

18) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.300

19) Logan Sargeant Williams +1.301

20) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.558

Well, if this qualifyting is anything to go by it's is going to be much closer this year.

 

Fastest driver today didn't get pole either

It was pretty close in quali most of last season, I remember a few times Max only took pole by less than a tenth. Unfortunately when it came to the races there was seldom any contest whatsoever.

 

Most striking result of that quali is that Alpine are the new Haas.

Oh good god it’s going to be a long year

 

 

I’m naively hoping that we will do a McLaren and pull a massive update package that puts us from last to right into it

 

 

 

 

 

But it’s more likely we end up with nil points

Alpine being quite that bad aside, that basically felt like a continuation of last season. Sauber's + Sargent in Q1, Stroll failing to make Q3 as his teammate breezes through, Hulk being the best non-top 5 qualifier, Leclerc being Max's closest challenger, Perez being a way off hi and a few positions down the grid...

Edited March 1, 20241 yr by RabbitFurCoat

There was never likely to be any big change in the order, not until 2026 with the new regs. McLaren not flopping so far at the first race was about the only other change from last season.

It was pretty close in quali most of last season, I remember a few times Max only took pole by less than a tenth. Unfortunately when it came to the races there was seldom any contest whatsoever.

 

Most striking result of that quali is that Alpine are the new Haas.

 

 

That's true but it closed up over the year. Comparing with last season's Bahrain qualifying, the Red Bulls were 1-2 with Perez two tenths ahead of Leclerc and the only cars with a lap time below 1:30. Today the top nine cars were all in the 1:29s plus Leclerc's fastest lap was quicker than anyone else but it came in Q2, suggesting that Ferrari have more pace in the car as neither Charles or Carlos got it all hooked up as much as they like.

 

I still expect Red Bull's greatest strength is in low tyre wear and strong race pace but if Ferrari has sorted out their tyre deg it should make more of a fight of it from day one. I don't think Red Bull are as far ahead now as they were this time last year. Perez certainly isn't whereas Max is... well, Max.

 

 

Loads of drama at the front tomorrow and Hulkenberg swoops in for a fairytale win…..(one can dream)

 

Definitely a lot closer than a lot of people were expecting. Would be good to see Leclerc push Max

 

I know it’s race 1 but I can see myself getting frustrated with Perez and Stroll early on

Ferrari looked great, rooting for them

Loads of drama at the front tomorrow and Hulkenberg swoops in for a fairytale win…..(one can dream)

It'll be interesting to see if they've sorted their tyre wear problems but I strongly suspect that Haas is gonna go backwards pretty fast

Well I guess 3rd place being 25 seconds behind this time, instead of the 38 seconds last year is closing up on Red Bull.

BIG rumours that Max is going to sign for Merc for 2025. Can't even let Lewis have the #1 shock driver move story of the year :lol:

 

This seems like a chess move in order to get Horner to resign.

Edited March 4, 20241 yr by Dobbo