Max Verstappen took a hiatus in 2023, but will return in 2024, and the first ratings of the season have been released.
Ferrari put in a strong performance without the Dutchman, but Alpine will want to take the next step quickly.
Max Verstappen – 10
Perfect performance from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening. Heading into 2024, there was a lot of talk about different drivers who could potentially challenge Verstappen, but in the end it turned out to be a very familiar result.
Sure, this car may be better than the rest of the grid, but Verstappen takes it to another level. You only need to look at Sergio Perez to see that.
The race in Bahrain may have seemed like a quiet test for the Dutchman, but from within the first 10 laps he was comfortably far ahead and there wasn't a speck on the horizon.
It was a perfect performance, one that sent shivers down the spines of the rest of the field.
Sergio Perez – 8.5
If Verstappen's victory is a well-known story, so too is the race in which Perez made up for his poor performance in qualifying.
In 2023, Perez achieved the most overtakes for any driver with 95, and this year he has made a strong start with three more on his resume, proving that he truly excels in race conditions.
He pulled off some smart overtakes, passing both the Ferrari driver and George Russell, before being able to stay on the soft tires long enough to not have to worry about Sainz's comeback.
If the RB20 takes another step forward this year, Perez will be the only one who can get close to Verstappen, and if he can qualify correctly…
Carlos Sainz – 9.5
Sometimes I put myself in a shop window, sometimes Carlos Sainz did it in Bahrain.
To borrow the stakes slogan, the Ferrari man was a force under the lights, once happily putting himself in front of his team and twice overtaking Charles Leclerc.
One of them was a risky move into Turn 1, but Sainz had enough control to pull it off, and even after going off once due to an undercut, he clawed his way back into the spot.
Sainz also made it onto the podium, passing George Russell. The perfect reward for a wonderful drive.
Charles Leclerc – 8.5
Leclerc, who started second, was disappointed after the race, but it wasn't actually his fault that he dropped a few places.
Problems with the brake balance appeared on the formation lap, and Leclerc stated that the situation worsened with each lap until lap 10, explaining why it was so difficult to keep on track.
The problem did not stop Sainz's progress, but the Monegasque man managed to finish ahead of Russell, who had his own problems.
George Russell – 8
It says a lot about how much Mercedes have improved that for Russell, P5 will feel like a wasted opportunity.
Perhaps very unreliable of a team, but it appears that something went wrong with the set-up, which caused both drivers to have cooling issues and therefore required more lift and inertia than desired. Ta.
That will have a negative effect on their pace and it will be difficult to catch up with Ferrari, but we have had a good start to the year behind them.
Lando Norris – 7.5
There was a lot of pessimism at McLaren heading into the Bahrain race, but it turned out to be largely unfounded as both drivers finished higher than perhaps expected.
After the race, Lando Norris stated that the winding nature of the track did not suit them, but they still managed to pass Fernando Alonso and move into 6th place.
He didn't really have the pace to push and get into Russell's DRS range, but sixth place was a good result for Norris for a track that clearly didn't suit them.
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Having fallen off the pace compared to his teammate in qualifying, Hamilton had a job to do in the race, a task made even more difficult by a problem with his power unit.
He did the best he could and passed Oscar Piastri, but the seven-time world champion found himself out of reach of Norris.
Oscar Piastri – 7
It may be a bit of a shame not to have the disabled Hamiton behind him, but Piastri decisively showed the ability to make tires last, something he struggled with in his rookie year.
As Norris suggested, McLaren's time will come at other venues, but points were the way Piastri wanted to start his second season.
Fernando Alonso – 7
Aston Martin appeared to be a bit behind the leaders and opted to keep Fernando Alonso on for longer in hopes of bringing out the safety car.
That didn't happen, but Alonso made a good recovery until he overtook him in the closing stages and returned to ninth place.
Lance Stroll – 8.5
The spin at the start probably wasn't the “on-track conversation” that Lance Stroll alluded to, but what happened afterwards certainly was.
Stroll, who had fallen to the back of the field just before Nico Hulkenberg pitted, kept his head down and worked his way into the points.
The Canadian's detractors would have thought this kind of run was only possible for another Aston driver, but Stroll showed he is no slouch with his impressive recovery.
Zhou Guanyu – 8
Many pre-season predictions, including mine, had Chou Guanyu finishing behind teammate Valtteri Bottas, but Bahrain showed that things don't necessarily play out that way.
He pitted earlier than most of the grid, but made it work and with five strong teams up front, the 11th place spot was probably the best stakes Zhou and Zhou could hope for. Ta.
Kevin Magnussen – 7
Much of the attention after Friday's event was on another Haas driver, but it was Kevin Magnussen's performance that should have encouraged the team during the debriefing.
Unlike in 2023, Haas' car did not eat up the tires at alarming speeds, allowing Kevin Magnussen to follow a similar strategy to the majority of the grid.
It will always be difficult to score points given his 15th start, but there were enough points for the Dane to hint at future possibilities.
Daniel Ricciardo – 6.5
It wasn't a great race considering the running backs had promised so much heading into the season, but Daniel Ricciardo would have been one spot higher if his teammates had played the ball. He could have finished.
The Australian driver had a different strategy than Hiroki Tsunoda, but the Japanese driver refused to stand aside in the final stages of the race.
However, 13th place is not a spot where Ricciardo would oversleep. He wants to move up the rankings even further.
Hiroki Tsunoda – 6
There were definitely some strong words in the RB report after Tsunoda first rebelled against team orders, but it's easy to see where he's coming from.
Tsunoda was within DRS of Magnussen with only a few laps left, so the swap for Ricciardo was likely to be permanent.
The frustration seen in the first year briefly returned, particularly when he locked up on the in-lap after the race, but Tsunoda will want to prevent the same thing from happening in the near future.
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Alex Albon – 6
He started 13th but was overtaken by Ricciardo and Magnussen and finished 15th. Alex Albon's car didn't seem to pick up much pace all weekend, but James Bowles suggested they would be slow starters.
Nico Hulkenberg – 7
Sometimes you really have to feel for Hulkenberg. After a great result in qualifying, all that hard work was undone as he got nowhere after Turn 1 and made contact with Stroll, who spun.
Having to stop for a long time in the pits to change the front wing almost ruined any strategic plan Haas might have had, but the German managed to claw his way back to 16th place.
Esteban Ocon – 6.5
It's a positive for Esteban Ocon to move up from second-to-bottom to 17th, but given where he wants to compete, this is a result he'll want to forget.
To the credit of both Alpine drivers, they avoided attacking the team and suggested they trust the process, but if the car continues to be in such bad shape, that trust will be destroyed. We don't yet know how long it will be around.
Pierre Gasly – 6.5
There was a similar story with Pierre Gasly, who did not have the car to move further up the grid. The Frenchman did his best with the tools provided.
Valtteri Bottas – 5
It was a disappointing day for Bottas, who not only finished behind the slower Alpine, but also finished eight places behind his teammate. Another dangerous wheel nut forced him to stop for nearly a minute, but it only added to the misery on a gloomy day.
Logan Sargent – 5.5
An apparent steering wheel problem caused Logan Sargent to run wide in what was likely his first DNF of the season, but the American took advantage and returned to the pits.
With a new steering wheel installed, he completed the race, but came in last place.
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