The start of the 2024 F1 season is now well underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, but what should we look out for ahead of Race Day in Bahrain?
A free Mercedes seat…
With the news that Lewis Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari for the 2025 season, rumours have began to spread over who will take the vacant Mercedes seat.
Mick Schumacher is high up on the list of probable candidates for Mercedes, being a reserve driver for the team currently, and already having raced in F1 for Haas in the 2021 and 22 seasons.
The German driver is also branching into series’ outside of F1, racing for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship – a feat which could set him in the sights of Formula 1 teams, and return him to the Championship.
Another candidate could, oddly enough, be Carlos Sainz.
It is entirely possible that there could be a direct swap between Ferrari and Mercedes for their respective drivers, and would also mean that Sainz would not be out of a seat for 2025.
Other theories have circulated suggesting George Russell could be made the recipient of the ‘first seat’ at Mercedes, being more experienced within the team – meaning whoever takes Hamilton’s place alongside him will be in a more supporting driver role which would possibly suit a rookie more than somebody already with a number of F1 seasons under their belt
A challenger to Red Bull…
It has been rarely disputed that Red Bull have dominated the timesheets the past couple of seasons, with Max Verstappen taking the World Championship whilst his team clinches the Constructors’ Trophy, but could the new season spark an end to their winning streak?
Since the start of the 2023 season, McLaren have been on an upward trajectory, with their drivers finishing in the Drivers' Championship 6th and 9th, and landing 4th in the Constructors’.
Another team which will be looking to improve on the past couple seasons is Mercedes, hoping to revert back to their winning ways. Particularly with this being Lewis Hamilton’s final season at the team, it looks set to be an interesting season in the team garage, looking to find the pace needed to overtake the field and get to the top of the timesheets.
Haas F1 Team…
The team fronted by none other than F1 returners Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg could be a team to look out for this season. With success not being their biggest forte since their debut on the grid in 2016, surely the time has come for the team to get on the podium.
Their best result to date was in the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, where they finished 4th and 5th with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen respectively. But, a series of changes have happened to the team recently which could spark up some change.
The first, and perhaps most prominent, of these is the exit of team boss Guenther Steiner. Rumours surrounding his exit have suggested it could have been due to a dispute over shares in the team despite Steiner securing a large amount insponsorship funding.
The role was taken over by Ayao Komatsu, a placement which hopefully refreshes the team and puts it into a new light – sparking a promising future for the team in the sport. If they can rebrand themselves and take on a new approach to management and racing, frontlined by Komatsu, then the team could be in for a better run this season than previously anticipated.
It looks set to be a thrilling season opener, and an even more hotly anticipated season.