Carlos Sainz third and Charles Leclerc fourth due to a brake issue that impacted the Monegasque driver’s entire race. The debut of the red car could have been considerably better, but Scuderia Ferrari claims to be the second force in this early season ahead of Mercedes and McLaren. For Fred Vasseur, Red Bull won’t be unbeatable this year.
Before every season, as tradition dictates, there is hope for something beyond the sterile numbers that emerge from simulators and wind tunnels. However, in Formula 1 over the last decade, the famous ‘correlation’ has become reliable, snuffing out any inclination to hope for miracles.
The Bahrain Grand Prix confirmed what was seen in testing; Ferrari begins the 2024 World Championship as the second force. Here, there can be two schools of thought: the die-hard optimists defying logic and those who keep their feet firmly on the ground.
Frederic Vasseur follows the good team principal handbook and rightly emphasizes the glass being half full. “All things considered, we got the maximum realistically possible,” he commented after the race. “Carlos’ start wasn’t perfect, but then he recovered very well, fighting with Perez until the end of the race. We knew that in the final laps, we would be on hard tires while Perez would be on softs. Our goal was to put pressure on him, and we did that until the last lap, but it wasn’t enough.”
The Scuderia’s championship begins with a third and fourth position, a result affected by the brake problems that struck Leclerc. On the Sakhir circuit, one of his favorite tracks, Charles found himself without his sharpest weapon, namely braking. “Leclerc’s braking problems lasted throughout the Grand Prix,” confirmed Fred Vasseur, “and because of this, he flat-spotted the tires in the early stages, forcing us to bring him in for an early pit stop. We will investigate the causes of the problem that forced us into non-ideal operating temperatures.”
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Charles Leclerc contributed significantly to completing the scheduled 57 laps, and the final twelve points are far from a negligible haul. The podium, crucial for starting the season on solid ground, came thanks to a very solid and determined Sainz, especially in trying not to relent the pressure on Perez until the checkered flag. “In the final part of the race, I tried to manage the tires to attempt an attack on Checo,” confirmed Carlos Sainz, “but they are still faster than us.”
Overall, Ferrari outperformed Mercedes and McLaren (which was not a given before the first race), but the significant gap that separates them from Red Bull remains. “Throughout the weekend, we performed well on the fast lap,” clarified the Ferrari team princoap, who continued: “However, we need to progress in terms of race pace if we want to compete with Red Bull. That said, I consider this race a good starting point, as our deficit compared to a year ago has been significantly reduced. We will continue to develop the SF-24, and I am confident that we will frequently fight for the top position.”
Both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc spoke about the car as a solid foundation to build the season upon, but the first three races (across different types of tracks) will be needed for a clear picture.
“Jeddah will be an entirely different story,” confirmed Fred Vasseur. “In terms of layout and asphalt, it has little to do with Sakhir, but we will have a better understanding of the situation only after Melbourne. However, I can say that compared to a year ago, when we were a second behind Red Bull, we have halved the gap. It’s not enough, of course, we are still behind, but ending the first weekend of the year with a third and fourth place is certainly not a disaster.” – the French manager concluded at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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