Verstappen becomes the fifth driver to win in nine consecutive F1 seasons, Hamilton beceoms the British driver with the second-longest F1 career and Bottas fails to score in Bahrain for the first time since 2013. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
Max Verstappen kicked off his 2024 campaign with a Grand Slam victory at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. Becoming the first driver to record a Grand Slam at the season-opening race since Michael Schumacher at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen recorded the fifth Grand Slam of his career and became the first driver in Bahrain Grand Prix history to lead the race from start to end. It was the 13th race in which Verstappen led every lap, equalling Jim Clark for fourth in the list of most races which a driver has led from start to end. He won by 22.457 seconds – a new record for the largest winning margin in the Bahrain event’s history.
Taking an eighth successive win, Verstappen became the ninth driver to have won in as many as nine Formula 1 seasons and only the fifth to win at least one race in nine consecutive years. Having also won last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen became the ninth driver to have won the season-opening race in successive seasons. Valtteri Bottas was the last driver to do so, in 2019 and 2020.
On Friday, Verstappen secured the 33rd pole position of his career, equalling both Jim Clark and Alain Prost for fifth place in the all-time pole list. It was Verstappen’s third pole position in Bahrain, seeing him equal Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton as the driver with the most poles at Bahrain International Circuit. Verstappen became the 11th driver to have secured a pole position in six consecutive years, having taken at least one pole in every year since 2019.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
Sergio Perez qualified fifth for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. He has not qualified above fifth place since the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. This marked the fourth time in the last ten races that Perez has qualified in fifth place.
Perez finished in second place, recording his best result since finishing as runner-up at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. Red Bull secured their 29th 1-2 finish as a result, making 2024 the second year in succession in which Red Bull recorded a 1-2 finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Red Bull became the first team to record 1-2 results in consecutive seasons at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Race day at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix marked16 years, 11 months and 13 days since Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 debut at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. He overtook Graham Hill as the British driver with the second-longest Formula 1 career, second only to Jenson Button.
Lewis Hamilton maintained his 100% Q3 appearance record at the Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying in ninth place. It was his worst qualifying result at the track to date. His previous worst was seventh, recorded in 2023.
During the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton joined Fernando Alonso as only the second driver to have completed 19,000 Grand Prix laps during their Formula 1 career. He also overtook Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have raced the most laps at Bahrain International Circuit.
Finishing seventh, Hamilton set a new outright record for the most consecutive seasons in which a Formula 1 driver has scored a point. Hamilton previously shared the record with Jenson Button before making 2024 the 18th successive year in which he has scored.
Seventh is Hamilton’s worst Bahrain Grand Prix result since 2012, when he finished eighth. Hamilton crossed the finish line at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the 17th time, extending his record for the most finishes at the track.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
George Russell qualified in the top three at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix for the first time since qualifying on the front row for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. With Russell finishing fifth and Hamilton seventh, Mercedes recorded the same result at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix as they did in 2023, albeit with their drivers in the opposite order to last year. The team has never failed to score points with both cars on every appearance in Bahrain to date.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
Charles Leclerc qualified on the front row for the sixth consecutive race at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, matching the second longest consecutive front row qualification streak of his career to date. This was Leclerc’s third front row qualification in Bahrain, having previously taken pole position in both 2019 and 2022. Although Max Verstappen took pole position, Leclerc’s session-topping lap time from Q2 was 0.014 seconds faster than Verstappen’s pole lap time.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Carlos Sainz qualified fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the second year in a row. He finished on the podium on Saturday, which gave Ferrari the new outright record for the most podium finishes in Bahrain, having previously been tied with Mercedes. This was the team’s 17th top three finish at the track. Sainz’s efforts saw him voted Driver of the Day for the fifth time in his Formula 1 career.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
With seventh place in qualifying for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Lando Norris reached Q3 in Bahrain for the first time since 2021. He also recorded his best race result at the track since 2021, coming home in sixth place.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
Oscar Piastri was the only driver other than Max Verstappen to finish the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix in the same position as he started. This was only the second time in his career, after the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, that Piastri finished where he started.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
Finishing ninth in the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to score a point in 20 different Formula 1 seasons.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Lance Stroll finished in tenth place at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, securing a point for the fourth time in his last five appearances at Bahrain International Circuit.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
With 19th place, Esteban Ocon qualified on the back row for the first time since failing to set a lap time in qualifying for the 2022 Miami Grand Prix. This was his worst qualifying result on pace alone since the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
For the second year in a row, Pierre Gasly qualified in last place for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Unlike in 2023, he was unable to recover to a points-paying position in the race. He finished 18th, failing to score for the fourth time in his last five appearances at the track.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Alex Albon made his 83rd start in car number 23 at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, equalling Pierluigi Martini for the most starts in car 23. Albon qualified 13th for the race, becoming the first Williams driver to qualify in the top 13 positions in Bahrain since both of the team’s drivers did so in 2017. Albon recorded his fifth Q2 elimination at Bahrain International Circuit, equalling Sergio Perez as the driver with the most Q2 exits at the track.
Having started 13th, Albon finished 15th. This was the first time Albon has finished in a worse position than where he started in Bahrain.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
Logan Sargeant qualified in 18th place for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, making this the eighth consecutive race at Bahrain International Circuit at which at least one Williams driver has exited in Q1. On Saturday, Sargeant finished 20th for the third time in his career. He is only the eighth driver to have finished 20th on as many as three occasions in Formula 1.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
Yuki Tsunoda qualified in 11th place for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, missing out on a spot in Q3 by just 0.007 seconds. He remains yet to qualify in the top ten at the track. Tsunoda lost positions from where he started in Bahrain – the first time he has done so in his four appearances at the circuit.
🇦🇺 Daniel RICCIARDO
With Daniel Ricciardo 13th and Yuki Tsunoda 14th, this was the first time since 2015 that neither of the Red Bull junior team’s cars finished in the top 12 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
Valtteri Bottas recorded his worst-ever Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying result with 16th place. From his 13 appearances, this was Bottas’ first Q1 exit at the track. Finishing the race only 19th after a botched pit stop, Bottas failed to score at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the first time since his first appearance at the track in 2013.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu recorded his worst Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying result to date and his first Q1 exit at the track with 17th place. Zhou’s fastest lap time in Q1 was just one thousandth of a second slower than his team-mate’s best lap. Finishing the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix in 11th place, Zhou was the driver who gained the most places in the race, making up six places from 17th on the grid.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
Having been eliminated in Q1 or reached Q3 on every Bahrain appearance prior to 2024, Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, recording his first Q2 exit at the track.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
For the second year in a row, Nico Hulkenberg reached Q3 and qualified tenth at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Having also reached Q3 at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, this was Hulkenberg’s second consecutive Q3 appearance. It marked the first time he qualified in the top ten at two races in a row since the 2023 Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix.
Hulkenberg came home 16th in the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, losing six places from where he started. It was the most positions lost by a driver in the race.
