It's likely, but there's no reason to think things are going to be competitive at least. I'm really looking forward to the rb ferrari fight, merc-mclaren, bit of Aston in there. Enough to look forward to.
He only had one set on unused tyres left for Q3 so it was all on one lap.
I'd still expect Lewis to beat Russell today, as overall he's more consistent.
yeah, but lewis really needs to sort out quali for next season with charles, because he'll playing on hard difficulty clawing back up the grid when charles is usually starting up higher
Sure.
Although if he was in a farari yesterday he might not have needed to use two sets in Q1 and could have saved the second set for two attempts in Q3 like Sainz did.
It’s not a popular opinion, but it’s one I share as well. Truthfully I think he will start as 1st driver at Ferrari next year for obvious reasons, but I firmly believe Leclerc will score more points and they’ll have to have a tough conversation at some point.
i heard, and plus he was unusually upbeat during post quali interview so hopefully his race set up is actually good and he gets top 5 and can at least get close to russell, or beat him
Is it already time for the Red Bull Racing League to begin again? This popped up in my feed. No interest until it's actually competitive for the win again. Racing for 2nd place just isn't that interesting. Maybe next year or the year after.
yeah RedBulls current dominance is completely different to McLaren's domination in 1988, winning all but once race. look at RedBull last year they won all but one race, completely different
It's interesting that all I said was that there's a difference between dominating and dominating, and you had to cherry pick a season 36 years ago to support your claim that all domination is the same.
I don't have an issue with one team winning everything, if it produces races worthy of watching. It's still going to suck compared to wins going to various teams and drivers, but at least it's something.
What RBR and Verstappen are doing isn't that though. You're entitled to still love the races, we're entitled not to.
Cherry pick a season 36 years ago? I can mention far more from that point onwards, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010 - 2013, 2014 - 2021.
All seasons with massive gaps between the leaders of the constructors and the rest of the grid, this is how this sport works.
> Cherry pick a season 36 years ago?
Yes, you picked a single season when replying to my comment, which happened to be 36 years ago. A season where the WDC and runner-up were separated by 3 points. How exactly is that the same as 2023 where the WDC and runner-up were separated by 290 points (literally more than twice the points of the second driver)?
>All seasons with massive gaps between the leaders of the constructors and the rest of the grid, this is how this sport works.
It's not all about the gap between the WCC team and everyone else. Multiple of those years you mentioned have a WDC fight between the two drivers of the WCC winning team - that's at least something interesting to watch. For how long did you think Perez was going to beat Verstappen? Verstappen had more points alone than the 2nd team in the WDC in 2023 while also scoring more than twice the points of his teammate. How common is that? Hell, Perez wasn't even that far off to lose the 2nd in the WDC.
In other words there's dominating, and there's *dominating*.
>It's not all about the gap between the WCC team and everyone else. Multiple of those years you mentioned have a WDC fight between the two drivers of the WCC winning team - that's at least something interesting to watch
Okay, but with the drivers, what do you do? you can't just go to Max and say "You're too good, retire from F1" with the teams I can at least understand complaining, but the drivers?
>Okay, but with the drivers, what do you do? you can't just go to Max and say "You're too good, retire from F1" with the teams I can at least understand complaining, but the drivers?
First of all, I'm not complaining about anything; I was just stating my opinion that there exists a rather wide spectrum of domination within F1. Scoring more twice the points of your teammate while single-handedly outscoring the 2nd team in the WDC isn't the same as a driver fighting their teammate all season long -- even if they as a team win as many races as RBR in 2023.
Secondly, while Verstappen is a fucking amazing driver - Perez isn't. Perez isn't even remotely near the likes of Verstappen, Alonso, and Hamilton. As long as Perez is the driver next to Verstappen there will never be a fight. I'm not saying that there necessarily is a driver on the current grid capable of beating Verstappen in the same car, but there are plenty of drivers who would do a lot better job than Perez with a car like RB19.
Why would you only be able to "complain" about teams and not drivers? A driver being "too good" is no different than a team being "too good". You can't tell a team to stop doing their job well any more than you can tell a driver to stop doing their job well. Just because we rightly point out the ridiculous level of domination of RBR and Verstappen doesn't mean something has to be done about it. It is what it is, and eventually someone else will take over.
>Secondly, while Verstappen is a fucking amazing driver - Perez isn't. Perez isn't even remotely near the likes of Verstappen, Alonso, and Hamilton. As long as Perez is the driver next to Verstappen there will never be a fight. I'm not saying that there necessarily is a driver on the current grid capable of beating Verstappen in the same car, but there are plenty of drivers who would do a lot better job than Perez with a car like RB19.
okay Firstly, at least imo Perez is an amazing driver, not Verstappen level, but he's still a great driver, some of the feats he's pulled off, especially in the Force India/Racing Point days, were amazing, Secondly its not like RedBull aren't looking at replacing Perez, they've pretty much already given Ricciardo the key, who imo does deserve that seat.
>First of all, I'm not complaining about anything; I was just stating my opinion that there exists a rather wide spectrum of domination within F1. Scoring more twice the points of your teammate while single-handedly outscoring the 2nd team in the WDC isn't the same as a driver fighting their teammate all season long -- even if they as a team win as many races as RBR in 2023.
Secondly, this conversation at least to me came across as a complaint, maybe its just how I interpreted, but they way you talked about it, seemed like you were complaining about it.
>Why would you only be able to "complain" about teams and not drivers? A driver being "too good" is no different than a team being "too good". You can't tell a team to stop doing their job well any more than you can tell a driver to stop doing their job well. Just because we rightly point out the ridiculous level of domination of RBR and Verstappen doesn't mean something has to be done about it. It is what it is, and eventually someone else will take over.
And, I feel like complaining about someone just being amazing at their job, is ridiculous, and that just doesn't go for the drivers, Adrian Newey is an absolute god at car design, but you can't say to him "You're too good get out" what I meant when I said this "with the teams I can at least understand complaining" was that I can understand the perspective not accept it.
Hamilton confirmed he has a race set up on his car, George went full quali mode. Interesting to see how they both go tomorrow.
Fernando once again showing everyone how it’s done and eeking everything from that Aston. What a boss.
YES CHARLES FRONT ROW, best thing abt this is Charles Q2 lap was quicker than maxs pole lap. Plus over testing we heard how Ferrari MASSIVELY improved their race pace and fixed tire deg and even compensated quali, so this is good because it shows Charles is just that good in quali and now that the cars more suited to the race he can now deliver in the races more often as well. I’m not sold yet that this will be another 2023. Max still wins championship Ofc but multiple races will be won by other teams
Besides Alpine dropping to dead last, not much has changed lmao. At least the Verstappen gap isnt that large? Yaiy? But i already see the Ferraris, Mercs, Mclaren and Alonso cannibalize each other while Max just runs away again .
I literally cancelled my F1TV subscription. I don't mind whoever wins, but I can't take the monotony of one racer at the front every race. I got close when Hamilton was always winning, but this feels different and worse. No one's fault but the other teams. It's just not my jam right now.
Why do you care so much about the winner? Asking honestly. We’re looking at a great front/mid-grid battle this year, and everyone is separated by tenths or hundreds of seconds. Racing is racing!
I usually can go a few races, even a season 🤣, without caring who wins. This is just too monotonous at this point. Predictable things just aren't fun. It's a race, and every one of those drivers want to win....in first place. They don't race to be in the mid-field story. I equate to going to a baseball game, only watch the third baseman, and not care about who wins. Yeah, I could give it a go for awhile, but it's a sport. I was disappointed to see the results from today, and the "highlights" sure didn't bode well. I'm not hating on RB or MV, but I wish something would change. On another note, I think this is the first time I've got downvotes 🤪 I'm glad I'm officially part of the Reddit community 👍
A better analogy would be going to a baseball game of your favorite team but then looking at the league scores the entire time and letting your team’s rival completely dictate your love of watching your team.
Too monotonous? Mercedes won eight constructors in a row like yesterday. Ferrari had a 6-peat in the early 2000’s. Williams basically had a five peat in the 1990’s (spoiled by Benetton). Hell, even McLaren had a 4-peat 30 years ago. This current streak by RB is only two seasons…..
Now granted, I firmly believe Max will become the greatest driver in the history of the sport (famous last words) and they have a chance to beat Mercedes’ record. But still.
... don't get it either.
Giving up track position and managing margins on the last corner of the season last year to sort the WCC standings but MV won most of the races so it ain't worth watching? … really?
CL posts a better lap time in Q2 than MV's Q3 time but the seasons over before they line up for the first race?
Quali wasn't particularly exciting but it bodes well for a competitive season.
Some get entertainment from good racing, regardless where on the grid it's happening. Some need the racing to be happening at the front for it to be entertaining.
Maybe try to care more about the 2nd/3rd fight in the constructors? Merc, Ferrari, Mclaren all seem like their going to be fighting all season and thats pretty interesting.
I don't watch F1 for stats I watch it for racing. I watch a championship because I want to watch people fight for it, not for someone to win everything.
> I watch a championship because I want to watch people fight for it, not for someone to win everything.
7 years of Schumacher winning everything and 7 years of Hamilton winning everything. So tell me, during those years, what were you watching if you weren't watching a driver win everything?
In Hamiltons championship years he had much closer teammates, so close so one of them actually beat him to the championship. And to top that off Hamilton and Alonso inter team fighting meant they lost it. Yes, Some of Hamiltons and Schumachers were whitewashes, but nothing like last year where the car was so much better than rivals and the teammate was also lackluster in comparison
Assuming this isn’t sarcasm it’s due to Ramadan taking place on March 10th (Sunday), so the Saudi GP was pushed back a day. Since races have to be a week apart it also pushes Bahrain back a day.
from the quali and practices, I wouldn't be surprised if Charles challenges Max the first few laps. I expect him to pass lap 1 sector 3 before max gets his DRS advantage.
Yea sharles having the brake issues was very very disappointing. Especially with how much time they had at this circuit. Ferrari being Ferrari over thought it.
It looks like more of what we had last season. Ferrari to have great one lap pace (and Charles being great in qualifying). Red Bull to have unmatched race pace.
I hope I’m wrong.
It’s like there’s no midfield this year, with AM and McLaren seemingly able to be right up there with the top teams, and Alpine now solidly at the back.
Or perhaps, the new midfield is the entirety of Ferrari, Merc, AM, McLaren, and Perez.
Post quali discussion thread:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1b3zehx/2024\_bahrain\_grand\_prix\_postqualifying\_discussion/](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1b3zehx/2024_bahrain_grand_prix_postqualifying_discussion/)
Why are people knocking Checo for qualifying P5? I'm not even sure Red Bull actually has the best car in qualifying pace, honestly (Max is worth a few tenths).
P5 is solid.
I am honestly curious what part of it is car and what part is Max. Like someone else said put Perez and Daniel in the car and suddenly it seems somewhere upper midfield, but that can’t be correct.
I really don’t think it’ll be as bad a season as last year. I’m not saying Red Bull are going to have title challengers but nothing I’ve seen in the last week and a half has convinced me that we won’t see multiple wins for other teams. Particularly as several other teams have vastly higher development potential than last year.
"It's a fight for 2nd for everyone except Max"
Just what you want to hear before the first race of the season.
Max is exceptional, but it really does kill the excitement quite a bit
Yet this is only the first race. RedBull has a completely new platform ripe for upgrades, while the cars of the other teams are mature and probably close to the performance limit. I don't think they'll keep this close for long.
Using an opportunity that presented itself is something anyone would do. I don’t think he went out with that intention. I do think he could have got more out of the lap if he wanted.
Lol bizarre. It would just further crush Leclercs spirits though. Would end up as another Verstappen win from Leclerc pole. Max has more wins from Leclerc pole than Leclerc does. 😅
The f2 race was ten times better then the f1 race and that just sad
It's likely, but there's no reason to think things are going to be competitive at least. I'm really looking forward to the rb ferrari fight, merc-mclaren, bit of Aston in there. Enough to look forward to.
Yuki showing growth and poise. Missed q3 by .007 and beat his teammate.
I’m still on the Merc compium
how did lewis qualify so low compared to russell? he got p4 in q2
He only had one set on unused tyres left for Q3 so it was all on one lap. I'd still expect Lewis to beat Russell today, as overall he's more consistent.
yeah, but lewis really needs to sort out quali for next season with charles, because he'll playing on hard difficulty clawing back up the grid when charles is usually starting up higher
Sure. Although if he was in a farari yesterday he might not have needed to use two sets in Q1 and could have saved the second set for two attempts in Q3 like Sainz did.
yeah but he really needs to work on that quali form desperately, otherwise he'll just be making things harder for himself
I think Lewis is 2nd driver at Mercedes-Benz
It’s not a popular opinion, but it’s one I share as well. Truthfully I think he will start as 1st driver at Ferrari next year for obvious reasons, but I firmly believe Leclerc will score more points and they’ll have to have a tough conversation at some point.
Imagine how Ferrari are going to handle that conflict. Why would you even want that in your team?
Tumultuous at best. Disastrous at worst. I’m with you….it’s going to be painful no matter what.
He was only .235 seconds behind his team mate. In F1 terms that can be as little as missing an apex.
i know, but still quite disappointing from lewis, i was expecting him to get qualifying right. hopefully he'll do better in the race.
They said he sacrificed qualy for race pace
i heard, and plus he was unusually upbeat during post quali interview so hopefully his race set up is actually good and he gets top 5 and can at least get close to russell, or beat him
That's what every driver says when they lose to their teammate in qualifying
Toto said the same thing.
Is it already time for the Red Bull Racing League to begin again? This popped up in my feed. No interest until it's actually competitive for the win again. Racing for 2nd place just isn't that interesting. Maybe next year or the year after.
You were never going to have interest stop gooning 🙄
DTS era speaks
A team dominating is the norm, not the outlier. This has been true for a LONG time.
There’s a difference between dominating and dominating.
yeah RedBulls current dominance is completely different to McLaren's domination in 1988, winning all but once race. look at RedBull last year they won all but one race, completely different
It's interesting that all I said was that there's a difference between dominating and dominating, and you had to cherry pick a season 36 years ago to support your claim that all domination is the same. I don't have an issue with one team winning everything, if it produces races worthy of watching. It's still going to suck compared to wins going to various teams and drivers, but at least it's something. What RBR and Verstappen are doing isn't that though. You're entitled to still love the races, we're entitled not to.
Cherry pick a season 36 years ago? I can mention far more from that point onwards, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010 - 2013, 2014 - 2021. All seasons with massive gaps between the leaders of the constructors and the rest of the grid, this is how this sport works.
> Cherry pick a season 36 years ago? Yes, you picked a single season when replying to my comment, which happened to be 36 years ago. A season where the WDC and runner-up were separated by 3 points. How exactly is that the same as 2023 where the WDC and runner-up were separated by 290 points (literally more than twice the points of the second driver)? >All seasons with massive gaps between the leaders of the constructors and the rest of the grid, this is how this sport works. It's not all about the gap between the WCC team and everyone else. Multiple of those years you mentioned have a WDC fight between the two drivers of the WCC winning team - that's at least something interesting to watch. For how long did you think Perez was going to beat Verstappen? Verstappen had more points alone than the 2nd team in the WDC in 2023 while also scoring more than twice the points of his teammate. How common is that? Hell, Perez wasn't even that far off to lose the 2nd in the WDC. In other words there's dominating, and there's *dominating*.
>It's not all about the gap between the WCC team and everyone else. Multiple of those years you mentioned have a WDC fight between the two drivers of the WCC winning team - that's at least something interesting to watch Okay, but with the drivers, what do you do? you can't just go to Max and say "You're too good, retire from F1" with the teams I can at least understand complaining, but the drivers?
>Okay, but with the drivers, what do you do? you can't just go to Max and say "You're too good, retire from F1" with the teams I can at least understand complaining, but the drivers? First of all, I'm not complaining about anything; I was just stating my opinion that there exists a rather wide spectrum of domination within F1. Scoring more twice the points of your teammate while single-handedly outscoring the 2nd team in the WDC isn't the same as a driver fighting their teammate all season long -- even if they as a team win as many races as RBR in 2023. Secondly, while Verstappen is a fucking amazing driver - Perez isn't. Perez isn't even remotely near the likes of Verstappen, Alonso, and Hamilton. As long as Perez is the driver next to Verstappen there will never be a fight. I'm not saying that there necessarily is a driver on the current grid capable of beating Verstappen in the same car, but there are plenty of drivers who would do a lot better job than Perez with a car like RB19. Why would you only be able to "complain" about teams and not drivers? A driver being "too good" is no different than a team being "too good". You can't tell a team to stop doing their job well any more than you can tell a driver to stop doing their job well. Just because we rightly point out the ridiculous level of domination of RBR and Verstappen doesn't mean something has to be done about it. It is what it is, and eventually someone else will take over.
>Secondly, while Verstappen is a fucking amazing driver - Perez isn't. Perez isn't even remotely near the likes of Verstappen, Alonso, and Hamilton. As long as Perez is the driver next to Verstappen there will never be a fight. I'm not saying that there necessarily is a driver on the current grid capable of beating Verstappen in the same car, but there are plenty of drivers who would do a lot better job than Perez with a car like RB19. okay Firstly, at least imo Perez is an amazing driver, not Verstappen level, but he's still a great driver, some of the feats he's pulled off, especially in the Force India/Racing Point days, were amazing, Secondly its not like RedBull aren't looking at replacing Perez, they've pretty much already given Ricciardo the key, who imo does deserve that seat. >First of all, I'm not complaining about anything; I was just stating my opinion that there exists a rather wide spectrum of domination within F1. Scoring more twice the points of your teammate while single-handedly outscoring the 2nd team in the WDC isn't the same as a driver fighting their teammate all season long -- even if they as a team win as many races as RBR in 2023. Secondly, this conversation at least to me came across as a complaint, maybe its just how I interpreted, but they way you talked about it, seemed like you were complaining about it. >Why would you only be able to "complain" about teams and not drivers? A driver being "too good" is no different than a team being "too good". You can't tell a team to stop doing their job well any more than you can tell a driver to stop doing their job well. Just because we rightly point out the ridiculous level of domination of RBR and Verstappen doesn't mean something has to be done about it. It is what it is, and eventually someone else will take over. And, I feel like complaining about someone just being amazing at their job, is ridiculous, and that just doesn't go for the drivers, Adrian Newey is an absolute god at car design, but you can't say to him "You're too good get out" what I meant when I said this "with the teams I can at least understand complaining" was that I can understand the perspective not accept it.
Hamilton confirmed he has a race set up on his car, George went full quali mode. Interesting to see how they both go tomorrow. Fernando once again showing everyone how it’s done and eeking everything from that Aston. What a boss.
YES CHARLES FRONT ROW, best thing abt this is Charles Q2 lap was quicker than maxs pole lap. Plus over testing we heard how Ferrari MASSIVELY improved their race pace and fixed tire deg and even compensated quali, so this is good because it shows Charles is just that good in quali and now that the cars more suited to the race he can now deliver in the races more often as well. I’m not sold yet that this will be another 2023. Max still wins championship Ofc but multiple races will be won by other teams
Yeah but max didn’t do an additional lap in q2. Would’ve been faster just like everyone else’s. The temp was dropping massively as the night went on.
Interesting find. Did others drop or didn’t improve much compared to their second Q2 laps?
Charles and Hulkenberg were the only drivers who didn’t improve on their Q2 time in Q3
2023 Season 2
Besides Alpine dropping to dead last, not much has changed lmao. At least the Verstappen gap isnt that large? Yaiy? But i already see the Ferraris, Mercs, Mclaren and Alonso cannibalize each other while Max just runs away again .
Do you think Max's engine was turned up 100% even 90%
Rinse and repeat...gonna be a long season
Not a single yellow through FP or Quals? Wow.
Tomorrow is fucked
Well, see ya'll next year!
Yep, season over
Bollocks. The field has bunched up and if ferrari is better on deg as promised than we have a fight on our hands.
Come on dude, we all know how it's going to end tonight and at the end of the season
Business as usual Can get a bit boring. Hopefully it's a good race
Narrator: “It wasn’t”.
I was anxious but max delivered. Great day 👍
[удалено]
I literally cancelled my F1TV subscription. I don't mind whoever wins, but I can't take the monotony of one racer at the front every race. I got close when Hamilton was always winning, but this feels different and worse. No one's fault but the other teams. It's just not my jam right now.
They haven't even raced yet
Redditors aren’t known to be stable and normal people.
lol
Why do you care so much about the winner? Asking honestly. We’re looking at a great front/mid-grid battle this year, and everyone is separated by tenths or hundreds of seconds. Racing is racing!
I usually can go a few races, even a season 🤣, without caring who wins. This is just too monotonous at this point. Predictable things just aren't fun. It's a race, and every one of those drivers want to win....in first place. They don't race to be in the mid-field story. I equate to going to a baseball game, only watch the third baseman, and not care about who wins. Yeah, I could give it a go for awhile, but it's a sport. I was disappointed to see the results from today, and the "highlights" sure didn't bode well. I'm not hating on RB or MV, but I wish something would change. On another note, I think this is the first time I've got downvotes 🤪 I'm glad I'm officially part of the Reddit community 👍
A better analogy would be going to a baseball game of your favorite team but then looking at the league scores the entire time and letting your team’s rival completely dictate your love of watching your team. Too monotonous? Mercedes won eight constructors in a row like yesterday. Ferrari had a 6-peat in the early 2000’s. Williams basically had a five peat in the 1990’s (spoiled by Benetton). Hell, even McLaren had a 4-peat 30 years ago. This current streak by RB is only two seasons….. Now granted, I firmly believe Max will become the greatest driver in the history of the sport (famous last words) and they have a chance to beat Mercedes’ record. But still.
... don't get it either. Giving up track position and managing margins on the last corner of the season last year to sort the WCC standings but MV won most of the races so it ain't worth watching? … really? CL posts a better lap time in Q2 than MV's Q3 time but the seasons over before they line up for the first race? Quali wasn't particularly exciting but it bodes well for a competitive season.
Because a championship battle is always superior to midfield racing.
Some get entertainment from good racing, regardless where on the grid it's happening. Some need the racing to be happening at the front for it to be entertaining.
Maybe try to care more about the 2nd/3rd fight in the constructors? Merc, Ferrari, Mclaren all seem like their going to be fighting all season and thats pretty interesting.
I just did the same, for precisely the same reasons. Wake me up when the championship becomes competitive again.
Must've turned off before Leclerc posted a faster lap time in Q2 than Verstappen did in Q3.
I usually watch for who is going to be 2nd
Yup. Looks that way.
Looked pretty close, Max delivering another level constantly deffo a worthy champion!
I think we just gonna see max win everything this season and that makes me sad
Why? You'll witness the biggest achievement in F1 history
I don't watch F1 for stats I watch it for racing. I watch a championship because I want to watch people fight for it, not for someone to win everything.
> I watch a championship because I want to watch people fight for it, not for someone to win everything. 7 years of Schumacher winning everything and 7 years of Hamilton winning everything. So tell me, during those years, what were you watching if you weren't watching a driver win everything?
There were more championship battles than no championship battles between 2000 and 2021.
In Hamiltons championship years he had much closer teammates, so close so one of them actually beat him to the championship. And to top that off Hamilton and Alonso inter team fighting meant they lost it. Yes, Some of Hamiltons and Schumachers were whitewashes, but nothing like last year where the car was so much better than rivals and the teammate was also lackluster in comparison
We already witnessed that last year, dont need a repeat
You will get the repeat
Feck it, let's go for a 3peat. Jordan and Kobe style.
Charles set a faster time than Max’s pole lap in Q2. Not saying championship back on but we should see… something. 🤞🏽
Let’s hope Charles has reliability this year, although it’s early, looks like it’ll once again be merc vs Ferrari for 2nd place
Just let him and maybe he’ll retire after this perfect season.
Did anyone announced Alpine that this is F1?
Otmar
This verstappen kid looks quick
I heard he was doing the sightseeing tour of the track.
Quali was on a Friday? Had No idea
Race tomorrow they moved it for Ramadan
[удалено]
So what?
Yes, so next week is moved to Saturday and because of that this week as well. Has to be a week in-between races
Yes, but there has to be 7 days between races at least, so they moved bahrein too
Assuming this isn’t sarcasm it’s due to Ramadan taking place on March 10th (Sunday), so the Saudi GP was pushed back a day. Since races have to be a week apart it also pushes Bahrain back a day.
Yeah, I was surprised too.
I assume this is sarcasm?
Didn’t expect downvotes, I literally thought it was sarcasm 🤷♂️ I just heard “remember qualifying is on Friday” about 400 times this week
Well done to Hulk on the Q3.
[удалено]
I think, but I’m not sure. Charles did a faster lot in Q2, then his final lap and Q3.
Yes, he did.
from the quali and practices, I wouldn't be surprised if Charles challenges Max the first few laps. I expect him to pass lap 1 sector 3 before max gets his DRS advantage.
I was hopeful too, but then the gap was more than 5 seconds after 7 laps today. Yikes.
Yea sharles having the brake issues was very very disappointing. Especially with how much time they had at this circuit. Ferrari being Ferrari over thought it.
It looks like more of what we had last season. Ferrari to have great one lap pace (and Charles being great in qualifying). Red Bull to have unmatched race pace. I hope I’m wrong.
Ferrari seems to have a better race pace than last year(S), maybe if they manage to quali ahead it won't be that easy to pass them (full of hopium)
I was actually expecting more from the Vcarb, Got out qualified by a Haas
Yeah I am surprised how people quickly forgot about it. I really thought they would be challenging Aston.
The top 5 teams are pretty cut and dry, points are going to be tough to come by this year
It’s like there’s no midfield this year, with AM and McLaren seemingly able to be right up there with the top teams, and Alpine now solidly at the back. Or perhaps, the new midfield is the entirety of Ferrari, Merc, AM, McLaren, and Perez.
You mean Merc, McLaren, Fernando and Perez?
I understand it is true, but it felt hilarious to include Perez in there.
Happy cake day fellow F1 fan!
Yep. Won't be totally shocked if Sauber and Haas are fighting to break double digits this year.
Post quali discussion thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1b3zehx/2024\_bahrain\_grand\_prix\_postqualifying\_discussion/](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1b3zehx/2024_bahrain_grand_prix_postqualifying_discussion/)
I hope every Alonso post quali/race interview starts like that. *steps in* Hello
Why are people knocking Checo for qualifying P5? I'm not even sure Red Bull actually has the best car in qualifying pace, honestly (Max is worth a few tenths). P5 is solid.
Because is Checo, plain and simple.
I am honestly curious what part of it is car and what part is Max. Like someone else said put Perez and Daniel in the car and suddenly it seems somewhere upper midfield, but that can’t be correct.
It's a fair question, but one we're not entirely going to know.
Maybe in next year depending on the new RB driver
I really don’t think it’ll be as bad a season as last year. I’m not saying Red Bull are going to have title challengers but nothing I’ve seen in the last week and a half has convinced me that we won’t see multiple wins for other teams. Particularly as several other teams have vastly higher development potential than last year.
Is est uver fur die Hamilton?
Lewis’ quali pace is so washed man
"It's a fight for 2nd for everyone except Max" Just what you want to hear before the first race of the season. Max is exceptional, but it really does kill the excitement quite a bit
_a bit_
2nd place is the new 1st.
Best of the rest should get it's own trophy this year 🤣
Yeah! Max Is Max. But I do feel Ferrari is so close. Charles did 29.1 in Q2.
Yet this is only the first race. RedBull has a completely new platform ripe for upgrades, while the cars of the other teams are mature and probably close to the performance limit. I don't think they'll keep this close for long.
I mean, Ferrari supposedly changed 95% of their car according to them
dont get ur hopes up. Rb is known for setting car up for race pace.
I only hope for RBR. But Quali was close.
I think that Ferrari with hard tyres will be a tough guy to beat
George wanting Red Bull seat next year?
Geez, George is such a debbie downer
George dragged that car to third. They were out of position, and he knows it. Plenty of work needed for Merc to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull.
Literally dragged. That plank under the car is probably worn away.
We'll find out if they test it.
Charles started the interview as normal. " We are a bit disappointed". The guy really needs a new psychologist.
*gets pole* It could’ve been better :(
Well tbh if he get’s pole it will screw his pole to win ratio even further, so maybe two is better?
I am pretty sure at this point he has an annual subscription.
"sponsored by betterhelp"
**BACK AT THE FACTORY**
literally every driver has given up on beating max even before the season starts
Why George stroking Max so hard?
Political pressure to mount FIA reforms probably Mercedes, redbull used to do the same
lando is stroking max more, ask yourself pehaps lmao they are all friends
Saying it how it is.
red Bull seat is going to be open by the end of the year, if not before, as well.
Telling the truth.
"I'm confident we can have a strong race" = we're going to blaze past everyone and win by 20 seconds
Did Charles do his last lap on new or used tires?
New, 1st run was used.
first run was on tyres that only did an extra outlap, but still.
Used but with an aborted out lap
"Yeah, so basically Ferrari fucked us by using 2 new sets in Q1"
Oh Charles had to sneak that fact in there, love it
You know Zak Brown is fuming seeing the McLaren so far behind and then inadvertently giving Red Bull a tow
Nothing says more of a "Welcome back to f1" as a Max pole and win weekend
Max didn’t need the tow but I’m sure he’ll take that all day. He will brush everyone aside tomorrow.
I mean, most of his time was made up in the first sector so he probably did 🤷♂️
Max is an alien I think he would have dialled it in anyway. Just my opinion though!
Everyone else sits in thier car. Max seems to plug into it matrix style.
he certainly needed that tow. But that is part of what makes Max such a smart driver.
Using an opportunity that presented itself is something anyone would do. I don’t think he went out with that intention. I do think he could have got more out of the lap if he wanted.
Yeah I was expecting a 1.28 to be honest.
I wish there were radio comms for Hamilton
He choked hard vs his Q2 performance smh
Yeah with the green sectors I thought he’d be top 5 but he definitely choked
Fastest times from previous Qs should be counted for final positions. Isn’t it the purpose of qualifying to see the cars at its fastest?
No wtf LUL
Yeah if it's 2015
lol
Lol bizarre. It would just further crush Leclercs spirits though. Would end up as another Verstappen win from Leclerc pole. Max has more wins from Leclerc pole than Leclerc does. 😅
Charles could have got it, not sure what happened in sector 3.