The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 2 March 2024 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the opening round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.
After taking pole position in qualifying, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing led every lap, won the race, and had the fastest lap, his fifth career grand chelem. His teammate Sergio Pérez finished in second, followed by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari.
Background The event was held across 29 February – 2 March. It was the opening round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the twentieth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It also marked the 20th anniversary of the first Bahrain Grand Prix held in 2004.
The Grand Prix began at 18:00 local time (UTC+3) on Saturday, 2 March 2024, becoming the first Formula One World Championship Grand Prix season-opener race to start on a Saturday since the 1982 South African Grand Prix. The event was held on Saturday to comply with regulations that require a minimum of one week between Grands Prix, as the following Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia was scheduled to take place on 9 March. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was moved a day forward from Sunday to avoid a conflict with start of Ramadan, which was expected to begin on 10 March.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.
Practice Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 29 February 2024, at 14:30 local time (UTC+3), and was topped by Daniel Ricciardo of RB ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of McLaren. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 18:00 local time, and was topped by Lewis Hamilton ahead of George Russell, both of Mercedes, and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. The third free practice session was held on 1 March 2024, at 15:30 local time, and was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 1 March 2024, at 19:00 local time (UTC+3).
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:30.0311:29.3741:29.1791216 Charles LeclercFerrari1:30.2431:29.1651:29.4072363 George RussellMercedes1:30.3501:29.9221:29.4853455 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:29.9091:29.5731:29.5074511 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:30.2211:29.9321:29.5375614 Fernando Alonso 1:30.179 1:29.801 1:29.542674 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes 1:30.143 1:29.941 1:29.6147881 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:30.5311:30.1221:29.6838944 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:30.4511:29.7181:29.71091027Haas-Ferrari 1:30.566 1:29.851 1:30.502101122 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT 1:30.481 1:30.129N/A111218 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:29.965 1:30.200N/A121323 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes 1:30.397 1:30.221N/A13143 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT 1:30.562 1:30.278N/A141520Haas-Ferrari 1:30.646 1:30.529N/A151677 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:30.756N/AN/A161724 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:30.757N/AN/A17182 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes 1:30.770N/AN/A181931 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault 1:30.793N/AN/A192010 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault 1:30.948N/AN/A20107% time: 1:36.202Source:
Race The race was held on 2 March 2024, at 18:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 57 laps.
Race report Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz Jr. He led every lap and took fastest lap, for his fifth career grand chelem. Charles Leclerc finished fourth despite suffering brake problems throughout the race. Mercedes were hampered by engine cooling and ERS battery issues as their drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and seventh, respectively. McLaren finished with a sixth place for Lando Norris and an eighth place for Oscar Piastri. It was the first season-opening race in Formula One history without any retirements.
Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredPoints11 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT57 1:31:44.742126211 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT57 +22.457518355 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari57 +25.110415416 Charles LeclercFerrari57 +39.669212563 George RussellMercedes57 +46.78831064 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes57 +48.45878744 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes57 +50.32496881 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes57 +56.08284914 Fernando Alonso57 +1:14.887621018 Lance Stroll57 +1:33.2161211124 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari56 +1 lap171220Haas-Ferrari56 +1 lap15133 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT56 +1 lap141422 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT56 +1 lap111523 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes56 +1 lap131627 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari56 +1 lap101731 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault56 +1 lap191810 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault56 +1 lap201977 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari56 +1 lap16202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes55 +2 laps18 Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:32.608 (lap 39)Source: Notes – Includes one point for fastest lap.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Max Verstappen262 Sergio Pérez183 Carlos Sainz Jr.154 Charles Leclerc125 George Russell10Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points1 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT442 Ferrari273 Mercedes164 McLaren-Mercedes125 Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes3Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2024 Sakhir Formula 2 round 2024 Sakhir Formula 3 round
References
External links