POLE POSITION:  Max Verstappen  looks a shoe-in for a first victory of the season to continue a run of consecutive race wins that goes back to Japan in late September last year

By Motoring Reporter

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put in a crushing performance to set pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The world champion was 0.228 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second. Mercedes’ George Russell was third from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was only ninth, 0.225secs behind team-mate Russell. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fifth, from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen’s ultimate margin was smaller than many in F1 expected it would be before the weekend – some had predicted the three-time champion would be 0.5secs clear of the field.

However, his superiority was underlined by the fact that only Leclerc managed to beat on new tyres the time Verstappen had set on used tyres in his first run in final qualifying, and even then by only 0.014secs.

Given the Red Bull’s traditional performance pattern, which sees their advantage extend in races in relation to qualifying, he looks a shoe-in for a first victory of the season to continue a run of consecutive race wins that goes back to Japan in late September last year.

And his performance bodes ill for a competitive season at the front of the field, after Verstappen and Red Bull combined to produce the most dominant season in F1 history in 2023.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Verstappen. “The track has a lot of grip but with the wind it has been quite tricky to get the whole lap together and it was the same today.

“To really get everything out of it in Q3 was a little bit difficult. It was a little bit unexpected but luckily in qualifying the car came to us and I felt a little bit happier with the whole car.

“We just needed to fine-tune a few things to get that perfect balance but lucky we went in the right direction and could push a little more in qualifying.

“In the race it is going be close as well. We do look good and I am confident we can have a strong race.”

Behind him, though, the field looks closely matched and competitive. Leclerc was just 0.078secs quicker than Russell, with Sainz just 0.100secs further adrift. Leclerc felt he had the pace to get pole and had not maximised his potential in the final session.

“I am a bit disappointed,” he said. “I found the sweet spot in qualifying. It is quite a good qualifying and we are in a better place than a year ago so that is good. Now we have to see the race pace goes tomorrow.

“In Q2 I did a 29.1, which was more or less the same time as Max did in Q3, but I lost a bit of the rhythm on the used tyres at the start of Q3.

“We really think Red Bull is still ahead by quite a bit in the race but we see tomorrow.” Perez came into the season under pressure from Red Bull to improve his qualifying performances, or risk losing his seat.

The Mexican did not get off to a good start, down in fifth place, with 0.358secs separating him from Verstappen on pole. Sparks will fly this weekend under the lights at the Sakhir circuit Norris’ McLaren looked quick at various times through the session but he ended up 0.435secs from pole and just 0.069secs ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The Briton was left ruing a mistake-strewn final lap, when he believed he could have been on the front row. “I messed up sector one,” he said. “I just had a little oversteer on the exit of Turn One just as I came on the throttle and it cost me 0.15secs, and today there was 0.15secs between me and P2.

“I felt I wanted to push a bit more – wrong thing to do, made another couple of mistakes in Turn Four. I would have been there or thereabouts. The car was good enough for a front row and disappointed I didn’t deliver it. A bit of a shame but I will try to make up for it tomorrow.”

Hamilton described his session as “poor” and said he had compromised his qualifying pace for better tyre performance in the race. “Yesterday George and I were identical car set-ups and the car was feeling great and we veered off,” Hamilton said. “He went one way and I went the other. The one I was on was not good on a single lap, I hope it is good in the race.

“I wasn’t comfortable with my race pace so I changed the car to hopefully make the race pace better, but we’ll see tomorrow if that’s really the case. There is lots of (tyre) degradation with the rears and race pace is everything but obviously position is important too.

“The factory have finally given us a car we can fight with but I wasn’t able to utilise it today. For George to be 0.3secs off Red Bull is incredible. If that’s our platform from here, we can really chase through the rest of the season.”

Behind Hamilton, Hulkenberg was the final driver to complete the top 10.

At the back, the biggest disappointment was in the performance of Alpine. The French team, who finished sixth overall in 2023, occupy the last row of the grid, with Esteban Ocon ahead of Pierre Gasly.

Ocon was moved to send a radio message on his return to the pits saying he “had faith” in the team.

MOTORING:

Briefs

TESLA GROUNDED

Electric vehicle maker Tesla failed to secure a vote among locals in favor of authorizing a major factory expansion for the company’s battery and car assembly plant in Brandenburg, Germany.

German state-owned broadcaster DW first reported on the vote and that Tesla needed to cut down approximately “250 acres of forest in the rural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area” for the expansion.

Plans for the Tesla expansion in Grünheide, which is in the Brandenburg district about an hour drive from Berlin, had included designs for a rail freight depot and storage facilities that could help Tesla avoid reliance on other logistics providers including existing freight rail and help them avoid production pauses due to parts shortages.

MERC EV DEADLINE EXTENDED

Mercedes-Benz has delayed its goal of becoming an EV-only brand by 2030 and now says it will produce combustion powered engines “well into” the next decade.

Weaker than expected demand for electric vehicles has driven the change, with Mercedes also pushing back its target of making EVs and hybrids 50 per cent of its sales by five years.

In 2023, electric cars made up 11 per cent of Mercedes sales in Europe while combined EV/hybrid sales accounted for 19 per cent.

STELLANTIS CEO FLUSHED

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares’ total compensation in 2023 rose 56 percent to €36.49 million ($39.5 million), the automaker said. Tavares’ total compensation last year compared to the €23.46 million he was awarded for 2022.

Stellantis, which owns brands including Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat, said it led the industry in financial performance in the first half of 2023 and that its share price has outperformed the automotive industry and S&P 500 index.

RENAULT 5 ELECTRIC

GENEVA — Renault Group’s emphatic response to the high cost of electric cars built in Europe, the €25,000 Renault 5 small EV, debuted on Monday at the Geneva auto show.

The Renault 5, with its “retrofuturistic” styling, has design elements from the original R5 and the brand’s iconic Super 5 such as vertical tail-lights and bright colors. Renault sold more than 9 million units of the two cars between 1972 and 1996.

The newcomer debuts with two battery sizes and up to 400 km (250 miles) range, with three power levels. Its price will undercut existing small EVs on the market by thousands of euros.

FIAT PANDA PUSHA

Fiat has delivered its own take on the Geneva Motor Show by revealing five concept cars that will make up its new ‘Panda’ family.  Five concepts, from pick-ups to city cars, have been shown that each tease a production car, the first – a new electric Panda – due to be revealed in showroom-ready form in July 2024.

It will help to establish a ‘Panda’ family of cars, with a variety of powertrains available, including petrol, hybrid and EV, all due by 2027.

RED BULL SHAY’iMOTO

Following its hiatus in 2023, Red Bull’s Shay’iMoto event returns this year with sixteen of South Africa’s top spinners duking it out for the top spot.

The pinnacle of organised spinning events will take place on March 16 at Canal Walk in Cape Town. The competition will be judged by Veerjaro, Jeff James, Magesh Ndabam, and Shahiem Bell. Additionally, the crowd will also have the opportunity to decide who will be crowned the Red Bull Shay’iMoto 2024 champion. As for the drivers, the lineup is a medley of returning veteran drivers, alongside a few new drivers making their debut in the competition. Notably, two-time Shay’iMoto champion Samkeliso “Sam Sam” Thubane is among the sixteen drivers this year and seeks to defend his title.