MOTORSPORT: Red Bull the team to beat in 2024 Formula 1 season

Following an intriguing three days of testing in Bahrain, the Formula 1 season kicks off this weekend with Red Bull Racing set to be the team to beat.

After winning 21 of the 22 races contested in 2023, the team’s latest racer, the RB20, appears to once again have an edge over the competition.

In combined simulation figures released by Formula 1, the Red Bull has a lap advantage of 0.2sec over the field in terms of both qualifying and race pace.

Although team drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen only placed fifth and sixth on the combined overall time charts, the outfit elected not to run the faster C3 soft-compound Pirelli tyre, an option that is not available for use this weekend in Bahrain.

Across the board, the 10 teams tended to focus on tuning cars for longer race-length stints, rather than outright qualifying pace.

“We made the plan to not focus on pure lap time,” said Verstappen.

“I think it was more important just to get the long running done and then get a bit more of an understanding of the car, so we focused on that program, and to be honest, I think it all looked quite positive.

“I’m quite happy with the car, how it was behaving, and then when we head into the race weekend it’s about finetuni

ng the balance around the circumstances that you face throughout that weekend.”

Overall, testing provided remarkably similar results to the final pecking order from 2023.

Behind Red Bull, Ferrari headed McLaren and Mercedes in terms of qualifying pace, while Mercedes had an edge over Ferrari and McLaren in terms of relative race pace.

Ferrari, in particular, comes into the new season with a spring in its step, with drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc positive about their new steed.

The duo placed first and second on the overall scoreboard respectively, thanks to the employment of soft tyres, but importantly, over the duration of a long stint, the new SF-24 enjoyed improved tyre life.

Year on year, the biggest loser appears to have been Aston Martin, which kicked off last season with Fernando Alonso registering six podiums from eight starts.

One saving grace for the squad from testing, however, was that it showed solid pace on the hardest compound tyre, meaning that they could still be a surprise packet on race day.

Elsewhere, the McLaren continued to be solid, carrying on the form that saw the team shoot to the forefront following a major upgrade in Austria last July.

Oscar Piastri noted that he was more comfortable with the new MCL38 after day three, as he aims to add to his sprint race win and two grand prix podiums earned from his rookie campaign.

Meanwhile, the freshly rebranded RB squad appears to have made gains, with Daniel Ricciardo placing inside the top five overall on the second and third day of the test, with the team set to be in the thick of the mid-field battle.

Although they lacked pace, Haas did top one statistic, with the team completing the most testing laps at 441, with Williams at the other end of the scale, having only logged 299 circuits.

The season-opening race is set for a Sunday 1:55am AEDT start, with all sessions once again broadcast live in Australia on Foxtel and Kayo.

Following next weekend’s race in Saudi Arabia, the Formula 1 circus rolls into Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix from March 22-24.

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