F1 2024, Max Verstappen wins season-opening Bahrain GP: Key stats
Max Verstappen continued from where he left off in the 2023 Formula 1 season to pocket this year's season-opening Bahrain GP on Saturday. Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez claimed second position. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took third place ahead of Charles Leclerc, who recovered from dropping to fifth early on to pass Mercedes' George Russell in the closing stages. Here are the key stats.
55th race win for the Dutchman
With his 50th race win at the 2023 United States GP, Verstappen became the fifth to do so in F1 history. Lewis Hamilton leads the way with 103 wins ahead of Michael Schumacher (91). Verstappen has now won his 55th race in F1. Notably, the Dutchman sealed 19 race wins in the 2023 season out of 22 races.
Verstappen sealed his 99th career podium finish
By winning the Bahrain GP, Verstappen sealed his 99th podium finish. He is in line to become the sixth driver in F1 history to clock 100-plus podiums. Verstappen, who won the F1 title in 2023 and 2022 respectively, went on to claim 21 podium finishes last season. Notably, in the 2022 season, he managed 17 podium finishes. He has 39 podium finishes since 2022.
Perez and Sainz start well
Perez sealed his 36th podium finish. Perez, who finished second behind Verstappen in last season's standings, got off to a solid start in 2024, helping Red Bull Racing dominate the opener. Meanwhile, Sainz claimed his 19th career podium, including 17 for Ferrari. He finished seventh last season, collecting three podiums, including one race win.
Here are the top 10 drivers
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 3) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5) George Russell (Mercedes) 6) Lando Norris (McLaren) 7) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 8) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 9) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Key details about the race
Verstappen dominated the scenes from start to finish. It was a powerful and calculated show. Leclerc suffered in the early stages but did an able job of finishing fourth. Perez kept the pressure on Russell and had to wait until the 14th lap to take control and be behind Verstappen. Russell will be gutted to finish fifth. Meanwhile, Hamilton finished among the points.
Key records for Red Bull and Verstappen
Red Bull Racing began their 20th season with their 114th race victory, tying Williams for fourth in terms of wins. Verstappen claimed his eighth consecutive F1 race and a second successive one in Bahrain. As per F1, Verstappen is the first driver to score a grand slam in the opening race of the season since Michael Schumacher in 2004.
