The 2024 Formula 1 season got underway on Saturday, March 2nd, with the 20th running of the Bahrain Grand Prix in the desert sands outside of Sakhir, Bahrain.

With a relatively incident free race, pure power was on display on a track with one of the longest straight-away's on the F1 circuit. It was no surprise that the RB20's of Red Bull finished one-and-two with Max Verstappen leading his teammate, Sergio Perez, by a full 22 second margin.

"They both had the perfect start to a very dominant race," said Christian Horner, Red Bull CEO & Team Principal. "Max drove a strong race from start to finish and [Perez, who started fifth] really came through the field, made a couple of good passes and drove a great race."

With pure power being on display, the breakdown of the field in terms of speed at the first Grand Prix of the season was obvious. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished three and four with the W15's of Mercedes finishing fifth and seventh (Russell, Hamilton). The MCL38's of McLaren Racing finished sixth and eighth (Norris, Piastri).

Ferrari's Leclerc complained of braking issues while both Mercedes were dealing with cooling issues.

"It was a disappointing race from my side. There was an issue with the brakes, so I struggled to stay on track, especially in turns 9 and 10. We would have had the pace in the car to put up a good fight so I can't wait to get back in the car in Jeddah," said Ferrari's Leclerc.

"It was a strange day today. Both Lewis and I faced a similar issue. The power unit was overheating from very early on, so we were managing that throughout." said Russell, who started third on the grid.

"We got the cooling level wrong today and that cost us. To manage the issue, we had to do a lot more lift and coast and you then lose performance with the tyres," said Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal & CEO.

McLaren seemed satisfied with the performance of their MCL38's.

"It's good to begin the season with a strong performance here in Bahrain," said Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal. "We've been reliable, we were quick enough to fight the Mercedes today, and this allowed us to score good points at a track we know isn't the best for the characteristics of our car."

Finishing ninth and tenth were the AMR24's of Aston Martin (Alonso, Stroll) which was no surprise given the team showed some speed in the 2023 season.

"We completed our objective of getting both cars home in the points and that's a good way to start the new season - so a big thank you to the entire team in Silverstone and trackside," said Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal. "We certainly optimised things this evening, considering our race pace, and scoring points is a reward for the team's hard work over the last few weeks."

The tour heads to Saudia Arabia next weekend with the action occuring, as it was in Bahrain, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday due to holy days of Ramadan.

Results Summary: Verstappen (1h 31:44.742), Perez (+ 0:22.457), Sainz (+ 0:25.110), Leclerc (+ 0:39.669), Russell + 0:46.788), Norris (+ 0: 48.458), Hamilton (+ 0:50.324), Piastri (+ 0:56.082), Alonso (+ 1:14.887), Stroll (+ 1:33.216), Zhou (+ 1 Lap), Magnussen (+ 1 Lap), Ricciardo (+ 1 Lap), Tsunoda RB (+ 1 Lap), Albon (+ 1 Lap), Hulkenberg (+ 1 Lap), Ocon (+ 1 Lap), Gasly (+ 1 Lap), Bottas (+ 1 Lap), Sargeant (+ 2 Laps)

Bahrain GP - Full Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	57	1h 31:44.742
2	Perez		Red Bull	57	+ 0:22.457
3	Sainz		Ferrari		57	+ 0:25.110
4	Leclerc		Ferrari		57	+ 0:39.669
5	Russell		Mercedes	57	+ 0:46.788
6	Norris		McLaren		57	+ 0: 48.458
7	Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+ 0:50.324
8	Piastri		McLaren		57	+ 0:56.082
9	Alonso		Aston Martin	57	+ 1:14.887
10	Stroll		Aston Martin	57	+ 1:33.216
11	Zhou		Stake		56	+ 1 Lap
12	Magnussen	Haas		56	+ 1 Lap
13	Ricciardo	RB		56	+ 1 Lap
14	Tsunoda		RB		56	+ 1 Lap
15	Albon		Williams	56	+ 1 Lap
16	Hulkenberg	Haas		56	+ 1 Lap
17	Ocon		Alpine		56	+ 1 Lap
18	Gasly		Alpine		56	+ 1 Lap
19	Bottas		Stake		56	+ 1 Lap
20	Sargeant	Williams	55	+ 2 Laps

Fastest Lap: Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:32.608 (Lap 39)

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)