After many months of long wait, the F1 2024 season is finally happening! This year it’s starting a day earlier, and the race will take place on Saturday, due to the celebration of Ramadan. Based on what we’ve witnessed during the pre-season tests, we can make some predictions, but there are a lot of question marks before the first race weekend of the year.
Schedule
All time schedules are provided in the local time (GMT+3)
Thursday, 29th February
10:55 – 11:40 – Formula 3 Free Practice
12:05 – 12:50 – Formula 2 Free Practice
14:30 – 15:30 – Formula 1 FP1
16:00 – 16:30 – Formula 3 Qualifying
16:55 – 17:24 – Formula 2 Qualifying
18:00 – 19:00 – Formula 1 FP2
Friday, 1st March
13:15 – 14:00 – Formula 3 Sprint
15:30 – 16:30 – Formula 1 FP3
17:15 – 18:00 – Formula 2 Sprint
19:00 – 20:00 – Formula 1 Qualifying
Saturday, 2nd March
12:00 – 12:45 – Formula 3 Featured Race
13:30 – 14:30 – Formula 2 Featured Race
18:00 – 20:00 – Formula 1 Race
No surprise from Pirelli
Sakhir circuit is known for harsh treatment of the Pirelli tires. It is no surprise, that the manufacturer selected the three most durable compounds for the race, C1, C2 and C3. Not knowing how well the new cars can manage the tirewear, it’s hard to tell the exact strategy, but the previous races made us expect a two stop strategy, with the C1 and C2 compounds selected for the race. In case of a late safety car, or fastest lap attempt, teams may want to save one set of the softs for the race.
Super Max?
Based on what we’ve seen during the pre-season testing, Max Verstappen seems to be in the prime position to fight for his 4th consecutive Drivers’ Championship title. Ferrari seemed to make a big improvement over their 2023 pace. The same can be said for McLaren and VCARB. The Papaya team with Oscar Piastri, who’s no longer a rookie may give a fight for the P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. The same cannot be said about Mercedes. They seemed to struggle with the car during the pre-season testing. At the end of the field, we expect to see Alpines and Haas. The French team has been rotting for the last years, and the disease seems to have spread from the management, to the team and the factory. On the other hand, Haas has let go Gunther Steiner before the start of the season due to a disagreement on the investments from Gene Haas. The new Team Director, Ayao Komatsu, openly said that they expect to be the slowest in Bahrain.
Our prediction
In this section, we’ll be presenting our 5 predictions for the race, based on the knowledge and experience. We encourage you to share your predictions in the comments!
1. Max Verstappen will take Pole Position and race Victory
2. One of the Ferraris will finish on podium
3. Yuki Tsunoda will score points
4. Neither of the Alpines will finish in the points
5. We will have at least one SC or VSC in the race
