With the single winter pre-season testing session in Bahrain behind us, Formula 1 is ready to tackle the first race of the 2024 season, scheduled for next Saturday, in Bahrain. This opening round will kick off a lengthy championship, spanning 24 events, and given the limited testing available, it will start with not exactly well-defined hierarchies.
Hierarchies that could only be guessed at during the tests in Sakhir but, given the different and unknown work programs of the teams and any technical issues encountered, are not unequivocally definable and, more importantly, could hold some surprises. Yet, aware of these premises, the well-known journalist Leo Turrini attempted to draft his personal starting grid on his blog “Profondo Rosso”. A grid worthy of attention, given the Italian journalist’s experience and knowledge of the sport. First and foremost, Leo Turrini started with the certainties, namely Red Bull which (at least with Max Verstappen) will still be the car to beat, not even weakened by the affair related to the alleged sexual scandal involving team principal Christian Horner.
“Here is my 2024 starting grid. What follows is a ranking born of logic but also of hope. […].
THE HARE: Red Bull may be troubled by the prickly Horner case, it’s not even known if the historic leader of the team will still be at the pit wall. But the car seen in the tests pushed Verstappen to express boundless confidence. And the Dutchman usually doesn’t speak lightly. Maybe his teammate Perez will struggle more, but beating these guys will be very tough”.
Behind Red Bull, as in 2023, there will be Ferrari and Mercedes, with the former capable of having a fast car on the lap and better in race pace compared to the SF-23, and the latter having solved the problems of the W14 but, for now, does not appear capable of returning to success. The role of outsider then for McLaren, cryptic in the tests but capable, as in 2023, of growing during the year.
“IN PURSUIT: in an ex aequo role as the “official” chaser, I place Ferrari and Mercedes. Our heroes in the desert dune tests found an answer and a hypothesis. The answer: on the single lap the car is very fast. Beware, though: it already was in 2023, as shown by Leclerc’s poles. The hypothesis: the car is more “gentle” with the tires and this is a step forward. But I didn’t get the impression that the pace over distance is comparable to that of Red Bull. As for Mercedes, it corrected the misguided settings of the past. […] But I was told that the separated at home Lewis Hamilton believes little in it.
OUTSIDER: a year ago McLaren became the protagonist of a spectacular progression. From last or almost, it ended up frequenting the podium. If the trend remains the same, Norris and Piastri can fight with Ferrari and with Mercedes”.
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The surprise, for now, is the Racing Bulls team which, by copying the 2023 Red Bull, might often make its way into the noble zones of the standings. Aston Martin has fallen back, as happened with the 2023 developments, it does not seem to have made the hoped-for progress. Worse off is Alpine which, despite being a manufacturer, appears to be increasingly in crisis.
“SURPRISE. I admit I haven’t even fully understood what it’s called, the ex Minardi that is also the ex Toro Rosso and that is also the ex Alpha Tauri. But more than the RB badge, what worries and a bit scandalizes is that Tsunoda and Ricciardo’s car is the spitting image of the 2023 Red Bull. After all, the owner is the same! […] Anyway, the technical project is interesting.
BEHIND: Aston Martin does not lack money. What seems to be missing is the quality of the performances. Will that phenomenon Alonso, a monster of longevity, be able to compensate for the limits of the car and of the work colleague, who would then be Stroll junior?
THE HOLE: the same story for a brand like Alpine. Mysteriously for years, the parent company Renault has accepted to linger on the margins. The drivers, Ocon and Gasly, are not bad. But pulling the car out of the black hole of poor competitiveness might be too much even for Verstappen or Hamilton or Leclerc…”.
Closing the grid, according to Leo Turrini, are Stake F1 team, Williams, and Haas.
“AT THE BACK: the Alfa brand is no more, now the team is called Stake, it’s always Sauber under false pretenses. It aims to stay ahead of Williams, which, by the way, has a fine driver in Albon!, and Haas, which I swear I can’t understand why it’s doing so badly. And yes, the Ferrari engine is good…” – Leo Turrini concluded.
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