From the first lap it was clear that the 2024 Aston Martin is competitive. The car driven by Fernando Alonso started with the best time on the Bahrain track, where Formula 1 testing is held, and although later both Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) surpassed him, Alonso’s times were very significant.
The Asturian driver was the driver who completed the most laps of the circuit (77) in what at first seemed like a duel with Charles Leclerc. The two exchanged the best time on a couple of occasions before Verstappen imposed his usual dominance.
At first it seemed that the risky RB20, with those pontoons with minimal slots, had certain problems. But as soon as he changed the settings, his times improved suddenly, to the point of reaching a time of 1:32.5 with the medium tire (C3), the same as his pursuers.
After this first round, Red Bull seems the fastest and most consistent. His times have been the best and he has hardly suffered any tire wear. Afterwards, the race session indicates that Alonso’s AMR24 is somewhat more docile than the Ferrari (also the driver) with the tires.
What seems evident is that the Aston Martin is once again among the best cars in the championship, something that last year brought many podiums to Fernando Alonso.
Regarding the rest, both the Mercedes and the McLaren showed great potential in the race sessions, although they were far away in terms of the fastest lap.
