# 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 2 March 2024 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the opening round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.
After taking pole position in qualifying, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing led every lap, won the race, and had the fastest lap, his fifth career grand chelem. His teammate Sergio Pérez finished in second, followed by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari.

## Background

The event was held across 29 February – 2 March. It was the opening round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the twentieth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It also marked the 20th anniversary of the first Bahrain Grand Prix held in 2004.
The Grand Prix began at 18:00 local time (UTC+3) on Saturday, 2 March 2024, becoming the first Formula One World Championship Grand Prix season-opener race to start on a Saturday since the 1982 South African Grand Prix. The event was held on Saturday to comply with regulations that require a minimum of one week between Grands Prix, as the following Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia was scheduled to take place on 9 March. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was moved a day forward from Sunday to avoid a conflict with start of Ramadan, which was expected to begin on 10 March.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

## Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 29 February 2024, at 14:30 local time (UTC+3), and was topped by Daniel Ricciardo of RB ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of McLaren. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 18:00 local time, and was topped by Lewis Hamilton ahead of George Russell, both of Mercedes, and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. The third free practice session was held on 1 March 2024, at 15:30 local time, and was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 1 March 2024, at 19:00 local time (UTC+3).

### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:30.031 | 1:29.374 | 1:29.179 | 1 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.243 | 1:29.165 | 1:29.407 | 2 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.350 | 1:29.922 | 1:29.485 | 3 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:29.909 | 1:29.573 | 1:29.507 | 4 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:30.221 | 1:29.932 | 1:29.537 | 5 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:30.179 | 1:29.801 | 1:29.542 | 6 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:30.143 | 1:29.941 | 1:29.614 | 7 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:30.531 | 1:30.122 | 1:29.683 | 8 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.451 | 1:29.718 | 1:29.710 | 9 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.566 | 1:29.851 | 1:30.502 | 10 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:30.481 | 1:30.129 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:29.965 | 1:30.200 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1:30.397 | 1:30.221 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:30.562 | 1:30.278 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.646 | 1:30.529 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 1:30.756 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 1:30.757 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1:30.770 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:30.793 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1:30.948 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 107% time: 1:36.202 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

## Race

The race was held on 2 March 2024, at 18:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 57 laps.

### Race report

Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz Jr. He led every lap and took fastest lap, for his fifth career grand chelem. Charles Leclerc finished fourth despite suffering brake problems throughout the race. Mercedes were hampered by engine cooling and ERS battery issues as their drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and seventh, respectively. McLaren finished with a sixth place for Lando Norris and an eighth place for Oscar Piastri. It was the first season-opening race in Formula One history without any retirements.

### Race classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 57 | 1:31:44.742 | 1 | 26 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 57 | +22.457 | 5 | 18 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 57 | +25.110 | 4 | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | +39.669 | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | +46.788 | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 57 | +48.458 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | +50.324 | 9 | 6 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 57 | +56.082 | 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 57 | +1:14.887 | 6 | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 57 | +1:33.216 | 12 | 1 |
| 11 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 56 | +1 lap | 17 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 56 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 56 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 56 | +1 lap | 11 | |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 56 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 56 | +1 lap | 10 | |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 56 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 56 | +1 lap | 20 | |
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 56 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 55 | +2 laps | 18 | |
| Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:32.608 (lap 39) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 26 |
| 2 | Sergio Pérez | 18 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 15 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 12 |
| 5 | George Russell | 10 |
| Source: |||
| Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 44 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 27 |
| 3 | Mercedes | 16 |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes | 12 |
| 5 | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 3 |
| Source: |||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.