Russell risks new strict FIA penalty for swearing live on TV in Bahrain – Formula One is finally back on track after a long European winter. Yet the expected T-shirts and shorts weather for pre-season testing did not arrive in Bahrain. The temperatures were way down for this time of year which to some extent will hamper the data the teams collect.
There are six full year contract rookies racing this season, although Liam Lawson has completed eleven Grand Prix weekends across the 2023/24 seasons and Oliver Bearman two as stand in for the unwell Carlos Sainz and the banned Kevin Magnussen.
Jack Doohan was given the Alpine seat for the weekend as departing Esteban Ocon was benched for the final race of last season. Whilst times are not as relevant as during practice sessions during the racing season there is some interest when comparing the times between the various team mates.
Verstappen fast, Lawson left in his wake
Kimi Antonelli started his Mercedes career well being the quickest amongst the first round of drivers and ironically faster than Lewis Hamilton whose seat he has taken with the silver arrows. He finished the day some 0.8 seconds behind his team mate George Russell who was second and just ahead of Verstappen.
Liam Lawson finished the day just behind Antonelli in 8th place but the New Zealander who has been promoted alongside Max Verstappen was a disappointing 0.9 seconds slower than the current F1 world champion.
Last year Red Bull did not run both their drivers on day of pre-season testing so the only comparison was from day 3 when Perez and Verstappen shared the Red Bull driving. Then the difference between the pair was just 0.65 seconds and of course it is early days but Lawson must prove to be a more worthy driver alongside Max Verstappen than Checo did last year.
By way of contrast in the Racing Bull’s team Yuki Tsunoda now in his fifth season in F1 was closely matched by rookie Isaac Hadjar with just a couple of hundredths of a second between them.
Verstappen’s man quits Red Bull
Hamilton way slower than Leclerc
Charles was fourth in his Ferrari but new team mate Lewis Hamilton was a whopping 1.7 seconds slower than the Monegasque driver who looked more at home in the all new SF-25 creation from Maranello.
Jack Doohan was a respectable 0.45 seconds slower than Pierre Gasly for Alpine whilst Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were the bottom two on the list for Haas. The final other rookie Gabriel Bortaleto was much quicker than Nico Hulkenberg, the difference being around half a second.
The McLaren in the hands of Lando Norris was strong, but Oscar Piastri languished in 17th at the end of the day around 1.5 seconds slower than his British team mate.
New boy at the Williams F1 team Carlos Sainz looked impressive as he finished ahead of team mate Alex Albon, there bing 0.6 seconds between the pair.
Mercedes retained Hamilton branding
Lance Stroll appeared at ease with his new Aston Martin and finished the day 0.074 behind team mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes were slightly embarrassed at the start of the day when a piece of kit in their garage displayed the number 44 of Lewis Hamilton. The error was most probably because the F1 team’s leave various pieces of kit in storage around the world and this generator will have been in the middle east since the end of last season.
The paddock was plunged into darkness as the evening set in with all the lights around the circuit going out. Fortunately it was not too dark for Carlos Sainz, the only driver out on track ate the time, to find his way back to the pit lane.
With the very first session of the season red flagged, the drivers and some of the garage crew began messing about. In this light hearted atmosphere Russell was interviewed for his thoughts on the day and uttered the word “shit” during the conversation.
Russell swears on live TV
Under the new regulations drivers will suffer a three strikes and then a month long racing ban. For F1 drivers the fines a quadruple of those in other racing series. The new rules were recently enforced when World Rally Championship driver Adrien Fourmaux was handed down a €10,000 fine for swearing on a live broadcast.
Russell is likely now to be sanctioned by the FIA but even at €40,000 this will not be the biggest concern for the Mercedes driver. More worrying is the fact that this would be his first sanction of the year, just two more and George will miss a month of the racing season.
Russell was happy with the progress mercedes have made over the winter as he revealed “we’ve put a lot of focus on making the car more drivable, more intuitive to drive and I think from what we’ve seen so far it seems to be doing that.”
Ferrari admits Hamilton slower than Leclerc
Mercedes find new energy with Hamilton gone
Toto Wolff spoke about the new era for Mercedes having lost their seven times champion to Ferrari. “It’s a bit unusual not seeing Lewis rock up in the garage, it’s been a while. But Kimi’s such a great value to the team, the dynamic is so positive,” said the Mercedes boss.
“And I see a bit of a new buzz going through the team because it’s new [the car]. We’re very much looking forward to see how it performs.”
Hamilton was a shadow of his former bullish self during 2024 and at times even admitted “I’m just slow” as he lost out time and again in qualifying to his team mate. The excitement of young gun Kimi Antonelli coming into the team appears to have energised those in the Mercedes garage.
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FIA president to follow Trump’s lead and appease Russia
The invasion of Ukraine by the aggressor Russia three years ago today one February 24th 2022, saw Formula One take decisive action with almost immediate effect. The Uk almost immediately banned Russian drivers from competing within its territories and the US owned Haas F1 team found itself in rather a pickle.
They had hired the son of a Russian oligarch, Nikita Mazepin as one of their full time drivers for the season yet as the first missiles were fired on Kyiv, Haas were given some breathing space given this was day two of the test and their Russian driver was not scheduled to drive their car.
Haas F1 were primarily sponsored by Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, the owner of Uralkali, who had ironically influenced the design of the team’s livery to resemble the Russian flag. As the massed ranks of Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Formula One was undertaking its pre-season testing in Barcelona… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
