The commentator, David Croft, notes that it may not have been the most thrilling opening race.

It’s time for the Dutch national anthem to be played. Christian Horner and Geri Halliwell are standing at the front of the crowd near the podium, looking up at the triumphant Verstappen with a smile. This is the second consecutive year that the Dutch driver has won the Bahrain grand prix starting from the first position.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz exchange friendly remarks while anticipating the podium ceremony. Verstappen appears completely at ease and joyful, as if he hasn’t even broken a sweat.

Carlos Sainz of Ferrari discusses the race: “I had a great feeling on the track today … I took care of my tires … I was able to keep up with the Red Bull at the end, which was unexpected … it was better than last year and a strong beginning to the season.”

Can we expect Ferrari to perform well in Jeddah next week? “Let’s wait and see. It will be a new track with the 2024 car. I predict that Red Bull and McLaren will also be strong competitors. Hopefully, we can also be competitive.”

Max Verstappen expressed, “It’s incredible. Today went even better than we anticipated. We were consistently fast on every type of tyre. We managed to avoid any issues…a fantastic way to kick off the year.”

“It was an enjoyable experience and I had a great time. I felt incredibly confident and comfortable driving the car. It’s truly a unique feeling to have days like this where everything falls perfectly into place and you feel completely in sync with the car.”

”

“In the initial corner, it is advisable to secure the inner position for safety. Then, we direct our attention towards our own race as planned.”

“After a few days of rest, we will resume our activities.”

Max Verstappen praises his team on the radio, saying “That was incredibly enjoyable. What a fantastic race and a great start to the year for us, guys. And to top it off with a one-two finish, absolutely fantastic.”

“I couldn’t have asked for a better start. Thank you!”

1. Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Perez (Red Bull)
3. Sainz (Ferrari)
4. Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Russell (Mercedes)
6. Norris (McLaren)
7. Hamilton (Mercedes)
8. Piastri (McLaren)
9. Alonso (Aston Martin)
10. Stroll (Aston Martin)
11) Zhou (Kick Sauber)
12) Magnussen (Haas)
13) Ricciardo (RB)
14) Tsunoda (RB)
15) Albon (Williams)
16) Hulkenberg (Haas)
17) Ocon (Alpine)
18) Gasly (Alpine)
19) Bottas (Kick Sauber)
20) Sargeant (Williams)

Christian Horner’s Red Bull team starts the 2024 season impressively as the world champions. The team secures a one-two finish with Sergio Perez in second place.

On the 57th of 57 laps, Verstappen is on his last lap! He is ahead by 21.5 seconds! It appears to be a Red Bull one-two finish, with Perez in second and a gap of over three seconds between him and Sainz of Ferrari in third.

After completing 56 laps, Verstappen’s lead in the race has widened to 21 seconds.

On lap 55 out of 57, the Red Bull drivers appear to be confused. It appears that Tsunoda was instructed to allow Ricciardo to pass. Currently, Ricciardo is in 13th place and Tsunoda in 14th place.

On lap 54 out of 57: When will football start? Oh, it’s already started. In a dominant performance in cycling, Pogacar won Strade Bianche.

At the beginning of the Bahrain grand prix, Verstappen is leading by a margin of 20 seconds.

On lap 53 out of 57, Verstappen is encountering some traffic, but this is due to lapping slower drivers. This could potentially provide some excitement towards the end of the race.

Max’s father, Jos Verstappen, can be seen observing from the Red Bull pit.

At lap 53 out of 57, Hamilton is maintaining a pace that is 0.5 seconds faster than Lando Norris in his McLaren. Norris is currently 3.7 seconds ahead. There is a possibility that Hamilton may be able to increase the pressure on Norris (Hamilton is in seventh place while Norris is in sixth).

On lap 52 out of 57, Verstappen, Red Bull, and their troubled team leader, Christian Horner, showcase another remarkable performance.

The Dutch racer is currently leading by 19.6 seconds over his teammate and is on his way to securing his first victory of 2024. In 2023, he set a new record by winning 19 races. Will he be able to surpass that achievement this year?

Lap 51/57: The on-screen graphics are currently bigging up the “battle for 13th”. Enough said.

On lap 50 out of 57, Leclerc is currently leading by a margin of three seconds, ahead of the 26-year-old British driver, Russell.

On lap 49 out of 57, Verstappen, who holds the title of world champion, is leading the race by 18.2 seconds ahead of his teammate, Perez, who is in second place.

The current top 10 drivers in Lap 48 of the race are Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Stroll, and Alonso.

During lap 47 out of 57, a change occurs as Russell makes a mistake and locks up, allowing Leclerc to pass him on the straight. This moves Leclerc up to fourth place. Meanwhile, his team cheers and watches the race on screens in the pits.

“That’s the challenge of relying on your mirrors while driving,” states Brundle, referring to Russell’s mistake. “Errors are bound to happen.”

On the 46th lap out of 57, Leclerc is still fighting against Russell for the fourth spot in the Champions League. Russell is currently keeping him from overtaking.

On lap 45 out of 57, Leclerc, who is currently in fifth place, is quickly catching up to Russell.

“This hasn’t been considered a timeless classic,” comments Brundle from the commentary box.

Lap 44/57: This is a phenomenal performance from Verstappen, and of course from Red Bull. But 23 more races like this in 2024 isn’t going to make much of a Netflix series.

43rd lap out of 57: First ten racers are in order of: Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Stroll, Zhou.

After a strong performance, Verstappen currently has a lead of 15.8 seconds.

There is an image of Mercedes’ Toto Wolff observing the screens in the pitlane, appearing quite pale in the face.

During lap 42 out of 57, commentator Brundle ponders about Alonso’s strategy to make only one pit stop while driving for Aston Martin. Currently in ninth place and trailing behind Piastri in the McLaren, Alonso’s decision may pose a challenge.

During lap 41 out of 57, there is a 16-second difference between Verstappen and Perez that remains consistent. Could Sainz, driving for Ferrari, potentially challenge the Red Bull’s one-two victory?

On lap 39 out of 57, Sainz is currently in third position and is trailing second place Perez by a margin of 1.9 seconds.

Hamilton fell to the eighth position, but he surpasses his former rival Alonso and returns to seventh.

On lap 38 out of 57, Verstappen from Red Bull is ahead of his teammate by a margin of 16 seconds following their second visit to the pitstop.

Verstappen’s domination on the race track has been so powerful that Brundle remarks, “Will he even have to question if the race is still ongoing on the radio? It’s truly amazing how he seems to be in a world of his own.”

During lap 38 out of 57, Verstappen, Alonso, and Albon are the three drivers in the top 10 who have only made one pit stop. However, Albon makes another pit stop and is followed by Verstappen.

During my pre-race grid walk, the highlight of the day so far was when Brundle had a conversation with Patrice Evra on lap 37 out of 57.

On lap 36 out of 57, Verstappen is now in front with an 18-second lead over Perez. At the same time, Hamilton in the Mercedes has passed Piastri of McLaren. Hamilton, who holds the record for being a seven-time world champion, has moved up to eighth place.

After completing 35 out of 57 laps, the leaders Verstappen, Perez, and Sainz have all made one pit stop.

Meanwhile, Leclerc is communicating over the radio to his team that he is still experiencing issues with his brakes.

After completing 34 out of 57 laps, all 20 cars are still in the race. A few laps prior, Logan Sargeant in his Williams car went off the track at turn four, but there haven’t been any other notable incidents.

At the 32nd lap out of 57, Sainz from Ferrari is currently in third place and is trailing behind Perez from Red Bull by 3.2 seconds. This is where the excitement lies… Leclerc, who is in fourth place, is about 11 seconds behind his teammate.

During lap 31 out of 57, there is a slight feeling of disappointment compared to the intense competition during qualifying.

Mercedes caused a stir by sacrificing a bit of their speed for one lap in hopes of improving their overall performance in the race. However, we will have to wait and see what their thoughts are on this decision afterwards. Currently, Russell is in fourth place, trailing the race leader by over 30 seconds. Hamilton is currently in seventh place.

Lap 30/57: We have reached the halfway point of the race, and the reigning champion is leading by 15 seconds over his teammate. Currently, there is a competition for second place, as Sainz is 2.5 seconds behind Perez who is in second place.

On lap 29 out of 57, I believed that Logan Sargeant from the Williams team had left the race, but that is not true. He has, in fact, been overtaken by the leaders.

Verstappen is leading with a gap of 14.8 seconds.

Lap 28/57:

As it stands:

1 Max Verstappen
2 Sergio Perez
3 Carlos Sainz
4 George Russell
5 Charles Leclerc
6 Lando Norris
7 Oscar Piastri
8 Lewis Hamilton
9 Fernando Alonso
10 Guanyu Zhou
11 Yuki Tsunoda
12 Lance Stroll
13 Kevin Magnussen
14 Alexander Albon
15 Daniel Ricciardo
16 Esteban Ocon
17 Valtteri Bottas
18 Pierre Gasly
19 Nico Hulkenberg
20 Logan Sargeant

At the 26th lap out of 57, Verstappen is currently in the lead with a gap of 13.2 seconds ahead of his Red Bull teammate Perez in second place.

At the 25th lap out of 57, Verstappen has extended his lead to 11 seconds, almost reaching 12 seconds.

On the 24th lap of the 57 lap race, Zak Brown communicates via radio saying, “Piastri gained valuable experience last season but has now become a professional after a year.”

“Seems like Charles [Leclerc] is experiencing a problem with his tires. Our lap times are matching those of Lewis [Hamilton]. The race will likely be a close one.”

Lap 23/57:

The top 10 racers are Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Alonso, and Guanyu Zhou.

Kravitz gives a shout out to Guanyu Zhou for his impressive performance as the 10th place runner for Kick Sauber. However, it may have been David Croft who made the comment, but I am uncertain.

During lap 22 out of 57, Ricciardo from RB manages to pass Ocon from Alpine, moving up to 15th place. Are there any other interesting events happening on the track?

Max Verstappen is currently in the lead, with a lead of 8.4 seconds. Following behind him are Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc, in that respective order, all in pursuit of the top spot.