What’s next for Christian Horner?

Norris: Bahrain doesn’t suit McLaren

In general, the drivers agree that Bahrain alone is not meaningful for the rest of the season. Norris explains that this is particularly the case at McLaren.

Because Sachir was always one of the worse tracks for McLaren, he recalls, emphasizing that he is sure that the McLaren will be very fast again on some tracks this year.

But Bahrain is not one of them.

Verstappen avoids commitment to Horner

The world champion is asked again whether he stands behind Christian Horner? “I trust the process,” he clarifies in this context and emphasizes that it is important that everyone in the team sticks together.

But: He avoids a clear commitment to Horner. Overall, you can tell that all drivers don’t like talking about this topic – for understandable reasons.

Hamilton: I won’t bend over backwards at Ferrari

The Brit is asked whether he will have the same opportunities to freely develop his personality at Ferrari as he currently does at Mercedes? And he makes it clear that this will definitely be the case.

He announces that he will not bend at Ferrari and will continue to be himself. He also emphasizes once again that his full focus will continue to be on Mercedes in 2024.

He doesn’t feel like a Ferrari driver at the moment.

Will Alonso continue in 2025?

The Spaniard is also one of the drivers whose contracts expire at the end of 2024. And he himself has now revealed in the PK that he doesn’t yet know whether he even wants to continue in 2025.

“I have to decide whether I want to continue racing. That will be the first decision I have to make in a few races,” said Alonso, who emphasized that he was currently feeling “great.”

But with 24 races, it is “a demanding calendar,” said Alonso, who will turn 43 in the summer.

Hamilton: It will be an “emotional” season

The record world champion admits that 2024 will be an “emotional” season for him and Mercedes. There will be many last times for him. For example, he has already had his last seat adjustment in the winter and his last winter test.

And he knows there will be even more of these emotional moments in 2024.

Verstappen: Horner situation doesn’t matter

The Dutchman is asked about the Horner situation in the PK. He emphasizes that the matter doesn’t play a big role for him. He is simply completely focused on the performance.

Nevertheless, he hopes that the situation will be clarified “very soon”. In terms of sport, he doesn’t want to give an assessment of the new season yet. You first have to see how fast everyone is.

Sainz too late

Meanwhile, the press conference begins in Bahrain – and Carlos Sainz arrives two minutes late. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this isn’t a foretaste of his season…

And then let’s see what the drivers tell us. Not much time has passed since the test. But maybe there are still some new insights.

Analysis: Who should beat Verstappen & Red Bull?

You’ve never analyzed Formula 1 tests in such detail before: Alex Bodo, CEO of our technology partner PACETEQ, uses tools that only the teams themselves use to analyze what can be gleaned from the three days in Bahrain!

Besides that in this video: An interview with Alex Bodo about what PACETEQ actually does and what role artificial intelligence plays in evaluating data in Formula 1 and motorsport as a whole.

Glock: Sainz will “move aggressively” in 2024

We’ll stay on the subject of contracts and come back to Carlos Sainz. Expert Timo Glock believes that the Spaniard “will not take any losses into account” in 2024, he says opposite Sky.

“He will be completely aggressive, even within the team against Charles Leclerc. He will want to show that it was a bad decision to send him out the door,” predicts the German.

“He also wants to position himself for top teams and everyone knows how good Sainz is, he showed that, no matter which team he was in. Sainz performed everywhere and delivered a very consistent performance,” said Glock.

“So he is in a very good position as far as his future is concerned,” he believes.

Bottas: Focus is on Audi

And so back to the driver market: Valtteri Bottas’ contract also expires at the end of 2024. And the Finn emphasizes that he would like to stay with his current employer.

“The people behind me are of course already working on finding the best options,” he says with regard to his future and explains that he would like to remain loyal to Sauber.

“My priority, as I have already said, would be to participate in the Audi project. I think that is very, very tempting for me,” said Bottas, for whom it would be “ideal” to stay in Hinwil.

Now he wants to concentrate on performing well in order to recommend himself for further tasks.

20 years of Bahrain

In 2004, exactly 20 years ago, the Bahrain Grand Prix was held for the first time. In my personal opinion, the route is still one of the “newer” courses on the calendar.

But the fact is that Bahrain has now become almost a “classic” compared to other Formula 1 tracks. More about this in our photo gallery:

The racing pace ranking…

… by the way, you can watch it again here after the test. For me personally, there are still some question marks. For example, I can’t imagine that Alpine is really doing that badly.

But let’s wait for the weekend. As we all know, numbers don’t lie…

Krack: Bahrain is an “outlier”

We already heard from Red Bull that Bahrain is not necessarily a representative race track for the rest of the season. Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack sees it very similarly.

When asked what result he wanted in Bahrain, he replied: “We don’t focus too much on the results from race to race, but we want to close the gap to the cars in front of us.”

“Let’s wait two, three, four races to see where you really stand, because the tracks are very different, especially Bahrain is an outlier compared to other tracks,” he emphasizes.

It is also important to do better in the development race in 2024 than in 2023. Because Aston Martin fell behind over the course of the season.

Jordan finds Red Bull situation “absurd”

Former team boss Eddie Jordan has with colleagues from #F1-Insider#i about the situation at Red Bull and explains: “I have experienced many wrong decisions. But the Red Bull situation is the most absurd thing I have ever seen.”

“Of course, there is a presumption of innocence for Horner. But does anyone seriously believe that the employee made up her mind about the allegations? If Horner is innocent, is she guilty?”

“Red Bull’s loss of image is already huge. Someone has to pull the ripcord now,” demands Jordan. Pretty harsh words, although he’s probably not alone in the paddock with this opinion…

Vowles: Goals achieved with the new Williams

Team boss James Vowles is not completely satisfied with the Bahrain test because Williams repeatedly struggled with reliability problems on the first two days. But there is also positive news.

Vowles emphasizes: “I would definitely say that the balance of the car is significantly better than last year. The predictability for the drivers is better than last year.”

He recalls that the FW45 reacted very sensitively to external influences, “and we have not seen that so far in the three days of testing or in the simulations. So there is good news in that regard,” says Vowles.

The goal in 2024 is to have a car that is good for all 24 races of the season “and not just five or six, like last year’s car,” he emphasizes. Let’s see if this wish comes true.

What awaits us in Formula 1 2024?

The big Sky season preview with Ralf Schumacher: Who are the big favorites, why the Christian Horner affair is a burden for Red Bull, what are Nico Hülkenberg’s chances in the Haas and what is the probability that Mick Schumacher will be in a factory Audi in 2026.

The Sky season preview was recorded on February 26th as part of an online media event in Unterföhring. The show was moderated by Sandra Baumgartner. Of course, it was also about how Sky will report on Formula 1 in 2024. And with some innovations!