Easy to watch this weekend, the 2024 season F1 World Championship will officially "start" in Bahrain. Due to local religious reasons, the main race of this year's Bahrain Grand Prix will not be held. It will be held on Saturday, and the practice session started yesterday, that is, Thursday. Dear F1 fans, don’t miss the opening station of the new season. Just a week ago, each team also concluded a three-day pre-season test in Bahrain, so today, I will briefly give a preview of the new season based on the previous test results.

The first thing we want to talk about is definitely the defending champion Red Bull Racing. This year's new car RB20 did not cause much discussion when it was released. However, after the new car drove out of the P room on the first day of testing, its side box design became the focus of all cars. A topic among fans. This design is a bit like Mercedes-AMG’s previous zero-sidepod concept, but not quite. The Honda power unit used by Red Bull Racing is the only one in the paddock that uses hot and cold air exchangers, so the radiator layout of RB20 Racing is different from other teams, which frees up more space in front of the sidepods The undercut space guides more airflow to the Coke bottle area of ​​the body to improve aerodynamic performance.

As for the test results this time, although Red Bull RB20 did not "kill everyone", it only won the first place in the test on the first day, with the fastest lap time 1 The result of :30:679 was only ranked fourth in all three days of testing, but many people believe that this is Red Bull's low engine output due to heavy fuel load+made under circumstances. Defending driver champion Verstappen gave a positive evaluation of the new car after the test. He also said that the competitiveness of other teams has improved this year. Of course, friends who have paid attention to the staff of the Red Bull Racing Team will definitely find the smiles that cannot be hidden on their faces. The low-key attitude of the Red Bull Racing Team also makes many people feel that they are "saving their character."

Ferrari and Mercedes -AMG will still act as challengers to Red Bull Racing in the new season. Judging from pre-season testing, Ferrari's lap time is not slow, Sainz and Leclerc won the first place on the second and third days of testing respectively, but Leclerc's fastest lap on the third day was made with the C5 wheel, while the second-placed Russell was just 0.046 seconds slower than Leclerc on C4 tires. In qualifying simulation and race simulation, Ferrari's single lap was faster than Mercedes -AMG, but the race pace was better than Mercedes -AMG . Of course, whether it is qualifying simulation or race simulation, the fastest one is Red Bull.

Behind these three teams, it seems that McLaren suddenly emerged in the second half of last year. In pre-season testing, McLaren's MCL38 racing car completed a total of 327 test laps. The test plan was interrupted many times by unexpected factors. Among all teams, it was the only Higher than Williams. However, the team said that the performance of the new car has met expectations. Last year's poor performance in low-speed corners has improved this year. However, driver Norris still believes that the team is currently lagging behind Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG. Bahrain's Sakhir circuit has been closedThis is a track that McLaren is good at, so McLaren's performance in testing seems to be struggling more than its opponents, which is normal.

In the same camp as McLaren, I believe it is Aston Martin. The team is still satisfied with the results of this pre-season test, and technical director Fallows is also satisfied with the overall development progress. What deserves everyone's attention is that the AMR24 car seems to have a faster tail speed on the straight. This shows that the problem that troubled Alonso all year last year seems to have been solved. If you only refer to Alonso's three-day test In terms of long-distance performance, Aston Martin should have a chance to threaten Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG. However, judging from the simulation data, the long-distance performance of the AMR24 car is still behind the McLaren car, but this is only simulation data. That’s all, we’ll see the results in the main game tomorrow.

Among the other mid- to lower-tier teams, I believe that the one that we Chinese fans are most concerned about is Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber. After pre-season testing, both drivers Zhou Guanyu and Bottas gave positive comments on the new car, with the latter saying: "The biggest change in the car is the stability and reduced resistance at high speeds. This Two of last year's biggest weaknesses have improved significantly."

On the third day of testing, Zhou Guanyu used C4 tires to achieve a score of 1:30:647, ranking third on the day and the best result in the entire test. Can also be ranked in the top three. However, this result is just a lap task for the Sauber team. Perhaps it also wants to send a signal to Zhou Guanyu, because his performance this year is related to next year's driver seat. Whether he can keep up with or surpass his teammate Bottas in the driver standings is a question. key to consider. With the return of China Station, Zhou Guanyu will also play at home for the first time this year. Previously, Zhou Guanyu’s team stated that Zhou Guanyu will play at home.The home weekend focuses on games and reduces attendance at commercial activities, which shows that Zhou Guanyu will let his results speak for himself in his first home game in China.

In addition to several other teams, Alpine, which "failed" in the pre-season test last year, this year's test results are still not optimistic. The A524 car not only performed well in the test Lack of power and extremely high drag, this may be the only car this year that is worse than last year. Last year, "Deputy Squad Leader" Haas completed 441 test laps in this test, the most among all teams. Judging from the feedback from driver Magnussen, the performance of the car has become more stable when loaded with heavy fuel. The Haas team is cautiously optimistic about the progress of the car and has also lowered its attitude. So maybe Haas will surprise everyone in the opening race, and whether Alpine will return to the mid-range speed after the start of the race like last year is also worthy of attention.

Finally there’s Williams and Toro Rosso. Williams' performance in this test was quite satisfactory, with good lap times and car failures. The overall strength is probably still in the camp composed of Sauber, Alpine and Haas. middle. If Albon can maintain his excellent form, Williams may stand out among these four teams. The Toro Rosso team, which changed its name and livery this year, really impressed everyone. The two drivers Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda performed well in this test, and the speed of the car was also able to keep up with the pace. In the footsteps of Karen and Aston Martin.

Summary:

Having said so much, in fact, when the race starts tomorrow, the true strength of each team will be confirmed.Stronger. The highlight of this year, I think, is whether Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG can challenge Red Bull and Verstappen. Although it is very likely that Red Bull will still be the dominant team, and other teams can only compete for second or third place. . However, as fans, we still hope that F1 will become more and more beautiful. Judging from the test results, the situation of the mid-range teams this year may be more chaotic, and it will also add many variables to the competition. Well friends, see you there tomorrow night for the Bahrain race.

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