F1 Bahrain GP 2024 LIVE: Results with Max Verstappen winning the first race of season
Follow live F1 updates from the first race of the season in Bahrain with Max Verstappen leading from pole
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Formula 1’s 2024 season is well underway as the teams prepare for Saturday’s race with the noise surrounding Christian Horner refusing to fade.
Friday’s action in Bahrain saw Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz top the leaderboard in the third free practice session to set up a Ferrari-Red Bull clash in qualifying. McLaren’s Lando Norris also found some quick pace though the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were unable to maintain their strong showing from Thursday.
In qualifying, Max Verstappen won the battle against Ferrari and finished on pole thanks to an improved lap time of 1:29:179 beating out Charles Leclerc by 0.228 seconds. Hamilton starts in P9 though teammate Russell had a storming final lap to clinch P3 and will be in with a chance of challenging the leaders today. Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso round out the top five.
Elsewhere, Christian Horner drew the media’s attention again after Whatsapps allegedly sent by him to a female colleague were leaked to the press, in what could be an embarrassing development for the Red Bull team principal who had previous been investigated and cleared over alleged ’inappropriate behaviour’.
Follow updates from the Bahrain Grand Prix with The Independent:
Christian Horner opens up on ‘testing’ week for wife Geri Halliwell and family
Christian Horner admits the past week has been “testing” for him and his family as he strode into the Bahrain paddock hand-in-hand with wife Geri Halliwell prior to Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Red Bull team principal was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” on Wednesday after a three-week internal probe conducted by an external lawyer, following allegations from a female colleague which were strongly refuted by Horner, before WhatsApp texts allegedly between the two parties – some sexually suggestive – were leaked to the media 24 hours later.
Yet Horner has been present in the paddock in Bahrain throughout the race weekend, including Saturday as Max Verstappen eased to a first win of the season, and the 50-year-old accompanied his Spice Girl pop star wife Geri as she entered the Bahrain International Circuit.
The pair, who have a seven-year-old son, shared a kiss inside the Red Bull hospitality unit and were together celebrating Verstappen’s victory by the podium after the race in a clear show of solidarity after a week in the spotlight.
Christian Horner opens up on ‘testing’ week for wife Geri Halliwell and family
Horner was hand-in-hand with his wife in the Bahrain paddock ahead of the first race of the F1 season
Patrica Evra cuts short F1 grid interview with Martin Brundle to embrace Neymar
Ex-Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra cut short his interview with Martin Brundle on the F1 grid in Bahrain to embrace Brazilian star Neymar at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
Brudle performed his famous grid walk on Sky Sports at the season-opening race in Bahrain, with Evra one of the first celebrities he encountered.
Wearing a bright pink suit, the Frenchman admitted: “My wife hated it [the suit] but I love it!”
He then added “We are in Bahrain, I love the race” - before he swerved away from the camera to greet ex-Barcelona and PSG star Neymar, leaving Brundle to move on with his grid walk.
Full report below:
Patrica Evra cuts short F1 grid interview with Martin Brundle to embrace Neymar
Evra was speaking to Sky F1 pundit Brundle when the former Man Utd footballer swerved away to speak to Neymar
Lewis Hamilton after finishing seventh:
“Physically I feel great. Probably feel some disappointment in the team, thought we’d be better then we were today.
“Degradation was high with the car, plenty of areas where we can improve. Further back than we thought from the Red Bulls.
What can you take to Saudi? “Car is reliable! It was a struggle in the car... I was giving everything, but there wasn’t a lot of performance there. The last stint was good. There’s lots that we can improve on.”
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc...
“I couldn’t go around turn nine or ten for the first few laps, lock every lap. A very frustrating race, I’ve been waiting for it for a long time, we were completely out of place. The car in general wasn’t where I wanted it to be,
“It still felt horrible.”
Max Verstappen on top of the podium!
It’s been three months since we’ve heard the Dutch-Austrian national anthem combination - but it’s back!
And it won’t be the last time.
Christian and Geri Horner are among the spectators looking up at the podium...
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz...
“I felt really good out there today, I was keeping up with the Red Bull which was a pleasant surprise, still not enough - but a solid start to the season.
“We had a very clear plan.
“It’ll be a surprise to see where we are [in Saudi], Red Bull and McLaren will be competitive, hopefully we can be strong.”
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Sergio Perez after finishing second...
“It was the maximum we could have achieved. Tricky race with the management of the tyres, a lot to learn for the championship.”
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Max Verstappen after his 55th grand prix win
“Unbelievable. The car was really nice to drive on every compound. We really stayed out of trouble, great start to the year - it could not have been better.”
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz
“We could not keep up with the Red Bulls, it’s a good start - good test, good preparation and we go for more.”
Sainz also wins the driver of the day, as voted by the fans.
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