FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2024....Qualifying.... ▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▄▀▄▀▄▀

He stole a tow at the beginning of his Q1 which tells me Max was extracting every ounce out of that car.


Hoping for a great season with how tight the top is.

 

Sure and could be true. Max didnt need much full power time last year to open the gap and manage the race at all. The gap was larger due to that but we were never presented it overall I think.

 

If the car is fast on race day.

 

Leclerc faste in Q2 compare un Q3

 

Sir Lewis bringing up the rear in Q3.

 

So did Sainz, who didn't capitalize on it.

 

If a sandbag falls in the desert does it make a sound?

 

A rather dull sound. Compresses the sand nicely.

 

IF Ferrari can match Red Bull's race pace, we may just have a title fight between them this season. Russell's Mercedes looked pretty good too.

 

They say we sacrificed some one lap pace for race pace.
If so we have a fast car.

 

Its a rhythm thing -
Leclerc: Ferrari 'lost rhythm' to beat Verstappen to Bahrain F1 pole
Charles Leclerc has explained how Ferrari 'lost the rhythm' late in qualifying for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix to help Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen land pole position.

 

Some take aways from the first quali of the year.

Q1 and Q2 remain to be nail biters. Q3 tends to be less exciting, I think because drivers use up their tires.

Max still the fastest, no surprise there
Ferrari still very fast in quali, no surprise there
Mercedes perhaps not as fast as expected, but their race pace is what to watch out for
Alonso still gets the maximum out of the car and Stroll still is a good distance behind. AMR looks to have a very lazy front end.
Lando Norris king of the coulda-woulda-shoulda. Continues to make mistakes in qualifying
Ricciardo has not found his old self
Perez may have improved for one session, but is still nearly 4 tenths off of Max.
Hulkenberg again very impressive in qualifying.
Williams still have a slippery car, but still not enough downforce
Logan Sargeant is still the worst driver on the grid.
Alpine being the worst car is proving to be correct.

 

FROM AUTOSPORT:

Reflecting on the form, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that the team had changed the set-up overnight to move away from where it was on Thursday, after feeling that it was not in the best window over race run distances.

“We changed the balance of the car for a set-up that was less aggressive on the tyres for tomorrow's race, and probably we dialled out too much single lap,” he explained. “That's why it wasn't going as good as yesterday.”

Reflecting on the form, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that the team had changed the set-up overnight to move away from where it was on Thursday, after feeling that it was not in the best window over race run distances.

“We changed the balance of the car for a set-up that was less aggressive on the tyres for tomorrow's race, and probably we dialled out too much single lap,” he explained. “That's why it wasn't going as good as yesterday.”

Asked by Autosport what the potential difference was, Wolff said: “Probably we could have had a car fighting Max, but I don't think [with that car] we could have fought Max tomorrow.

“We were a bit too low on the ride,” he said. “And obviously, there is a bit of a trauma in our place, after Austin, that we would rather with a new car be a little bit more on the conservative side.”

Hamilton, who qualified ninth, felt that he moved much further away from the Thursday set-up than Russell, although he hopes it is a move that will pay dividends on Saturday.

"Yesterday, George and I were identical car set-ups, and the car was really great,” said Hamilton. “And we veered off: he went one way, and I went the other. You could say that the one I was on is not good on the single lap. I hope that it's good in the race!

"I wasn't comfortable with my race pace. And so I changed the car to hopefully make the race pace better. But we'll see tomorrow if that is really the case.

“Trying to find a good balance because the race pace, lots of degradation with the rears, and race pace is really everything here. Position counts as well."

 

Their whopping 0.2-sec teammate delta has substantial implications when the top end of the starting grid is so tight.

 

Divergence in set-up for both Mercedes pilots. Will be interesting to see how the race goes for both sides of the garage. LH with more risk starting so far back, accidents etc.

 

Sir Lewis Hamilton's setup has alwys leaned more on race pace. Great qualifying from Max.

 

Proud of the job done by the team.
Nevertheless tomorrow is the real test..

 

Great qualifying for the two Ferrari drivers. It would be interesting to see their performance in tomorrow's race.

 

Awesome to see LeClerc did the fastest overall lap time of quali with his Q2 time! The red donkey is fast! Looking forward to the race.

 

Charles' Q2 time was good enough for pole. Almost everyone went faster in Q3 but him....Still, tomorrow is what matters. Ferrari definitely in the hunt, RB also definitely not miles out in front....Top 9 covered by .5 is going to make for an exciting season (I hope).

 

Absolutely. I’m looking forward to seeing rookie year Verstappen torpedo moves again from him as I do not see this season being a walk in the park. That and I do not believe that Red Bull is going to be as reliable due to this new radical concept

 

Hard to gauge where everyone is, but while it seems Ferrari took a step forward in terms of balance, Red Bull appear to have taken one in terms of performance.

That said, the Ferrari certainly looks better in terms of cornering speed. No drifting around in the wind or wheel spinning that I can see. Hopefully that produces better race trim pace, which is where Ferrari have been lacking for years.

Also, don't count out Mercedes. I do like the way their car handles.

I'm very pleased that Ferrari finally built a car that is targeted for something other than pole.

 

Same in the WEC: the 2 Alpines qualified last at Qatar.