Lewis Hamilton’s start to the 2024 season in Bahrain has been far from ideal. The Briton only managed to qualify in P9 in comparison to his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who qualified in P3. 

Hamilton blamed his car setup for the poor pace in the session, a reasoning that has not impressed F1 expert Peter Windsor. The seven-time world champion stated in his post-qualifying interview that he took risks with his setup. He added that the car did not have enough pace for qualifying, but he is hopeful that the pace will be strong for the main race on Saturday.

After hearing Hamilton’s explanation for his poor qualifying, Windsor said on his Bahrain GP Qualifying analysis video, “Lewis never really looked that quick in the car. He looked about as he did yesterday, just as the lap time wasn’t so bad, so let’s hope it works for Lewis tomorrow.”

Following this, Windsor further added, “It is a question of he’s got a great setup for the race and we have to be a little skeptical about that if only because it’s hard to imagine George Russell being slow tomorrow or indeed eating his tires at a much faster rate than Lewis, that will be the ultimate test to see whether that happens.”

Hamilton’s decent results in the free practice sessions had fans expecting a brilliant qualifying performance from him on Friday. After the 39-year-old registered the fastest lap time during FP2, his fans expected that he could qualify in the top three to give him a good chance of finishing on the podium. However, with Hamilton only qualifying in P9, he will have it all to do.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull lived up to their expectations

While Lewis Hamilton perhaps failed to meet expectations, Max Verstappen delivered once again when it mattered most. The Dutchman lived up to the hype and snatched the pole position from Charles Leclerc and George Russell by over two-tenths.

Verstappen and Red Bull kept on sandbagging and tried out different setups on the RB20 throughout the pre-season testing and free practice sessions. They did not show their true pace until Q3 and when the time came, the Dutchman more than delivered.

However, the three-time world champion would be far from comfortable after the lights go out at the Bahrain International Circuit since Leclerc and Russell are not far off, and would do everything to put the Red Bull driver under pressure. Statistics say that the SF-24 is faster than its predecessor, while Mercedes too seem quicker with their W15.

Nonetheless, Verstappen is yet likely to have the advantage because of the RB20’s superior straight-line speed. Since there are multiple long straights in the first few turns of the track, the Dutchman could pull away from the rest of the pack in the first few laps itself and then manage the race from there on.