The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship that starts tomorrow in Bahrain will be historic. In addition to being the earliest start in the last 32 years (in 1992 it started on March 1 in South Africa), it will be the longest championship in the 75 editions with 24 races. So champion Max Verstappen will have the opportunity to extend his absolute record of victories in a season (which he set at 19 last year). Because the insatiable and indomitable Dutch driver will once again be, if nothing strange prevents him, the great favorite to take the crown, the fourth in a row, at the hands of a Red Bull that continues to be the fastest and most reliable car.

These are the main news of the 2024 F-1 World Championship so as not to miss any details.

Fernando Alonso already said it after the three days of preseason testing in Bahrain: “I would say that after seeing Max and this year’s Red Bull car, there is less chance for everyone to win a race this season. “I think 19 drivers in the paddock now think we won’t win the championship.” That is, the sole favorite will once again be Max Verstappen, who is waiting for a new rival after the opposition he had from Lewis Hamilton (2021), the slight opposition from Charles Leclerc (2022) and the almost non-existent opposition from his teammate Sergio Pérez (2023). . An ambition that goes hand in hand with the mechanical superiority that the RB20 has shown in testing, thanks to its new aerodynamic twist (with minimalist sidepods), with which it has taken a step forward and moved even further away from the competence. Neither Ferrari nor Mercedes, nor Aston Martin, seem in a position to challenge Red Bull for victories.

There are no new faces on the 2024 grid. Since no new promises of quality in the lower categories are knocking on the door of F-1, the same 22 drivers who finished the 2023 World Championship in Abu Dhabi will start in Bahrain. That is, with the only change compared to the starters at the beginning of last year, the Australian Daniel Ricciardo driving the Alpha Tauri instead of the Dutchman Nick de Vries, who only lasted eight races. They repeat the same 11 pairs of drivers, among which the most veteran are those of Ferrari, Leclerc-Sainz (the Madrid native wears red for the last year), and Red Bull, Verstappen-Pérez, both for the fourth season in a row (since 2021 ).

Whoever pays rules, and therefore, the teams are subject to name changes due to commercial imperative. Two teams change their name, which will take some getting used to: Alpha Tauri (as the Toro Rosso heir was known for the last three years) is now called Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, or simply RB (from Red Bull) to friends, while the one that was Alfa Romeo has been renamed Stake Kick Sauber – and with new colors, green and black –, as a previous step to becoming the official Audi team in 2026 (with the technical structure of Sauber). .

Liberty Media, in its eagerness to squeeze out business, has signed commercial agreements with 24 promoters to take Formula 1 to all ends of the Earth. So 2024 will be the longest championship in its 75-year history, until just before Christmas. There will be two more races than in 2023: Emilia Romagna return to the calendar, after the floods in Imola that forced the cancellation of last year’s GP, and China, after four years of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also noteworthy is the change in the date of the Japanese Grand Prix, from September to April, the Spanish Grand Prix in Montmeló, from the beginning to the end of June (the San Juan Festival weekend), and the celebration of the first two races. on Saturday, that of Bahrain (4 p.m.) and that of Saudi Arabia (6 p.m.).

The short races on Saturdays (called Sprint since last year, although introduced in 2021) are not going any further, so they will only be seen in six grand prix: they repeat at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, in Austin, Interlagos and Qatar, and they premiere in Shanghai and Miami. The format (one third of the usual distance) and the distribution of points (to the first 8) are maintained, and their classification will continue to determine the grid for the Sunday race.