“We’re not bluffing like people assume we are.”
“At the moment, we’re not going to be in the race for the win.”
“We’ve got a lot to work on.”
“Today, we found out that we are a long way off.”
Over the last two years, the opening day of the first grand prix weekend of the year has been a sobering one for Lewis Hamilton.
Determined to reclaim that eighth world championship title that he lost on the final lap in 2021, Hamilton instead climbed out of his car from the first day of practice over the last two years knowing that he had a mountain to climb with his new Mercedes. But not in 2024.
At the end of day one in Bahrain, Hamilton was quickest of all. With Mercedes team mate George Russell two tenths behind in second, it seems to reinforce that this is a much stronger start to the new season than the team have had the last two years.
“We didn’t know exactly where we would stack up against everyone else, but we had a positive FP2 session,” Hamilton said after his 1’30.374 put him at the top of the times.
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“Overall, I’m feeling much happier with the car than last year. We’ve made some good improvements and it feels much more like a race car.”
As promising as it may appear for Mercedes and its fans, it’s foolish to read too much into lap times on the first day of the season. Down in sixth position, behind the Mercedes, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Ferrari and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, reigning world champion Max Verstappen was quick to point out that his team were not running their power units near their full potential. Indeed, Verstappen was the slowest of the four Honda-powered cars in the speed trap.
Hamilton recognised this too, admitting that he still forsees Mercedes being behind the Red Bulls when things get truly competitive.
“I think we’re going to be in the mix,” he said. “I think it’s a bit too early to say, but I think we’re there or thereabouts with Ferrari and maybe Aston and McLaren. I don’t know exactly where we lay with those guys, but we’re around those. So it’s going to close. I think if Max is in the front, he will clear off as he has done for the last couple of years.”
There are plenty of signs Red Bull have far more pace in hand than they revealed on Thursday. Their best lap time was 1.1 seconds slower than their quickest throughout last weekend, the largest deficit of…
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