2024 F1 Bahrain GP: Top 5 predictions

The 2024 F1 Bahrain GP will kick off the season this weekend on Sunday, March 3.

The pre-season has been married with plenty of news about tpoics that not many would have expected. It began with Guenther Steiner being fired by Haas and has seemingly ended yesterday with Christian Horner being cleared in the Red Bull internal investigation.

With the pre-season testing done and dusted, there are many speculations on what the pecking order is going to be on the grid. Before the cars take to the track for the first time in 2024, let's take a look as we share our predictions for the race Bahrain GP weekend.

#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP

Red Bull is just too far ahead at the moment, and if there is one driver in the field who anybody could bank on when it comes to delivering the best from a car, it's Max Verstappen.

There are many who are already anointing Verstappen as the champion in 2024, but as a fan, one would hope there is some level of competition as the season kicks off in Bahrain. Having said that, Max Verstappen is the outright favourite to win the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP.

#2 Mercedes and Ferrari will battle for the podium

By the looks of it, Ferrari showed its hand to a certain extent in the pre-season test while Mercedes kept its cards close to its chest. Early impressions do reveal that both of these teams might be the closest challengers to Red Bull at the F1 Bahrain GP.

The battle for the podium could come down to the Mercedes and Ferrari duo as they try to kick things off in 2024.

#3 Alpine is heading for a dreadful start to the season

Alpine seems to be in a bad shape heading into the first race of the season. What's worse is that even the drivers appear to accept that things might not be that good heading into the first race.

The car hasn't looked good on track, the timesheets have not shown the team putting together anything impressive, and there is a sense that the team might be a further step behind in 2023. The French team looks set for a poor start to the season as the clock starts ticking for Bruno Famin.

#4 McLaren, Aston Martin, and RB could form the third tier in F1

Early indications during the pre-season tests indicated that McLaren and Aston Martin were in a group that consisted of Mercedes and Ferrari. Hearing what Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso have had to say to the media, it does appear that those two teams might be step behind the top 3, which does put them in the company of RB.

The 2024 F1 Bahrain GP could see these three teams battle it out for points, as the podium appears to be a step too far.

#5 Drivers will make a difference

Arguably one of the best things about F1 right now is that the gaps within a tier are very small. What that does is that it gives drivers the opportunity to truly make a difference. During the race weekend, we're going to see instances of drivers standing out in their cars and getting results that the cars may not be capable of.

The 2024 F1 season might have quite a few such cases, as the field spread appears to have shrunk even further.