The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held on 2 March 2024 at the

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit () is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Formula One season, 2004 Gr ...

Sakhir Sakhir () is a desert area located in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870. Camping in Sakhir during the winter months is a popular activity in the country. Notable sites In the earl ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. It was the opening round of the

2024 Formula One World Championship The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars and was the 75th running of the Formula One World Championship. It was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the gov ...

. After taking

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

in qualifying,

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

led every lap, won the race, and had the fastest lap, his fifth career grand chelem. His teammate

Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Pérez was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Red Bull, and won Gr ...

finished in second, followed by Carlos Sainz Jr. of

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

Background

The event was held across 29 February – 2 March. It was the opening round of the

and the twentieth running of the

Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix (), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made hist ...

. 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 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, ...

) 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 1982 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 23 January 1982. It was the first race of the 1982 Formula One World Championship. It was the 28th edition of the South African Grand Prix and the 16th time th ...

. 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 Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, 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 Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

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 Formula One race weekend refers to an auto racing event which takes place over three days (usually Friday to Sunday), with a series of practice and qualifying sessions prior to the race on Sunday. Current regulations provide for two free practi ...

sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 29 February 2024, at 14:30 local time (

), and was topped by

Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( , ; born 1 July 1989) is an Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Ricciardo won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australi ...

of RB ahead of

Lando Norris Lando Norris (; born 13 November 1999) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Norris was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and has won Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix ...

and

Oscar Piastri Oscar Jack Piastri ( ; born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Piastri has won Formula One Grands Prix across three seasons. Born and raised in Melbourne, Piastri began his career in radio-co ...

, both of

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 18:00 local time, and was topped by

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

ahead of George Russell, both of Mercedes, and

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

. The third free practice session was held on 1 March 2024, at 15:30 local time, and was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr. of

ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 1 March 2024, at 19:00 local time (

Qualifying classification

Race

The race was held on 2 March 2024, at 18:00 local time (

), and was run for 57 laps.

Race report

won the race ahead of teammate

and Carlos Sainz Jr. He led every lap and took fastest lap, for his fifth career grand chelem.

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Leclerc was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and has won Grands ...

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

finished fifth and seventh, respectively.

finished with a sixth place for

and an eighth place for

. It was the first season-opening race in Formula One history without any retirements.

Race classification

Notes * – Includes one point for fastest lap.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

External links

{{F1GP 2020–29

Grand Prix

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...