It was Formula One’s opening weekend of 2024, with the teams and drivers getting back to action in Bahrain for the inaugural race of the season. While most of the F1 buzz surrounded the Grand Prix weekend, there were other headlines worth catching up on.
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The probe into Red Bull boss Christian Horner was completed on Wednesday. Red Bull confirmed in a statement that the “grievance has been dismissed”, although they still refused to reveal the specifics of the investigation as a matter of privacy for those involved. The unknown allegations came from a female Red Bull employee and Horner has consistently denied any wrongdoing. However, the saga may not be over just yet, as unverified screenshots of messages between Horner and the employee were anonymously leaked to the media and other F1 personnel only a day after the conclusion of the investigation. Horner is expected to face further scrutiny from the FIA and Formula One Management in the weeks to come.
Formula One has found itself in the middle of an ongoing trademark dispute with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The conflict stems from the use phrase “the greatest spectacle in racing”, which was trademarked by the circuit in 1986. F1 first caught the eye of the IMS for using “the greatest racing spectacle on the planet” to promote the Las Vegas GP. When approached by IMS, F1 agreed to stop using the phrase, but LL Cool J used the phrase “the greatest spectacle in motorsports” during the driver introductions at the Miami GP. Most recently, the US sports broadcaster ESPN used the same phrase in promotional material for the F1 season only a few days after NASCAR removed a social media post containing the same phrase. Although it’s unclear whether there’s any ongoing action against F1, IMS president Doug Boles has made it clear that the circuit intends to protect its trademark.
The FIA has announced it’s working on Driving Standards Guidelines that they will soon apply to all levels of motorsport. These new guidelines will be based on the current F1 standards and cover a variety of topics including defending, overtaking, track limits and yellow flags. The organization is gathering input from a variety of motorsport personnel, including some of the current F1 drivers, with plans to integrate the guidelines in the FIA International Sporting Code in 2025.
DHL will remain Formula One’s official logistics partner, as the two companies sign a multi-year extension. DHL, a global leader in logistics, first partnered with F1 back in 2004 and has since managed the sport’s complex shipping and logistics tasks. Moving forward, DHL will continue to play a role in the sport’s push towards sustainability, having already introduced biofuel trucks and more fuel-efficient aircraft. Later this year, the company plans to upgrade their paddock motorhome with solar panels and recycling stations.
Gamers should mark May 31 in their calendar, as EA Sports confirmed that this will be the date of their global launch for F1 24. The company has touted an overhauled career mode and new “EA SPORTS Dynamic Handling System”, the details of which will be revealed later in the year. Owners of the F1 2021, F1 22, or F1 23 games can pre-order the Champions Edition of the game for a 15% discount, which will also grant them a slew of perks including updated liveries for their current games.
RB has rejected claims that it is planning to relocate the Italian-based team to the UK. The claim was brought to the forefront by McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who has expressed concern over the team’s tight partnership with sister team Red Bull. According to the team, they are building a new UK headquarters “outside of the Red Bull campus”, but that will only serve as a replacement for their existing wind tunnel facility in Bicester. The team will continue to be primarily based at their Italian factory in Faenza.
Alpine may be set for another reshuffle in their technical department with two senior members reportedly having resigned. These two members are technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer. They joined the team in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and both submitted letters of resignation prior to travelling to Bahrain. However, there has been no confirmation from Alpine about either staff member and they are both still working at their roles during their notice period. This comes during what is gearing up to be a horrific season start for the French outfit.
Some drains at the Bahrain International Circuit were filled with concrete ahead of the first race of the season. This was to address issues with the drain cover in turn 11 popping up, which was a problem during pre-season testing last week. The same was also done in turn 7, which additional welding working having been completed around the circuit.
This week marked the official start of the 2024 Formula One season, with the first free practice session being held Thursday. The opening session of the weekend saw a bit of a shuffled result, largely due to the fact that the lead teams did not use the soft compound tyres. Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest lap time at the end of the session, leading the McLarens led by Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda in the other RB.
Thursday evening’s free practice two was led by Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes 1-2. This was the first real taste of the circuit in race-like conditions, although the track was unusually cold. The use of the soft tyres by last season’s leading teams produced a more expected leaderboard, with teams completing some quick running in the opening half hour of the session before moving on to race simulations for the last half.
The final free practice session was held on Friday, although track conditions were unrepresentative of those that would be experienced during qualifying and the race. The high track temperature saw no cars on track for the opening minutes of the session before Lewis Hamilton ventured out to do some laps on his own before returning to the pit lane. As track temperatures dropped, both Ferrari drivers were next to leave the garage, encouraging the rest of the teams to do the same later. The end of the session saw a flurry of hot laps which allowed Carlos Sainz to top the timing sheets ahead of Fernando Alonso, who also had a strong showing in both previous practice sessions, and Max Verstappen, who had been complaining about his car on Thursday.
Come qualifying on Friday evening, it was time to see the true pace of the cars and drivers for the first time in 2024. Although the first two sessions were led by a Ferrari, first Sainz and then Leclerc, Max Verstappen was able to earn the first pole position of the season ahead of Leclerc. George Russell, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez completed the top five. A surprise performance of the session was Nico Hulkenberg, who got his Haas into Q3 to qualify in the top 10.
The Bahrain Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen in a Red Bull 1-2 finish, with the team again looking like a team in a league of their own. Charles Leclerc struggled early in the race, locking up and running wide on multiple occasions, giving Carlos Sainz the opportunity to add a podium finish to his resume. Mercedes appeared to suffer from some reliability gremlins, with both drivers reportedly having to manage a power unit issue. A key talking point after the race was a spat between the two RB that led to some extra curricular activity on the cooldown lap by Yuki Tsunoda, who was angered by the decision to swap positions with his teammate late in the race. Click here to read a recap and view the results of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Weekly F1 Recap on Racing Clothesline is a series published every Monday. Each article breaks down the previous week's Formula One headlines into bite-sized pieces, perfect for casual fans to keep themselves in the loop.
