Not even Verstappen can prevent Horner being the talk of the day

The 2024 Formula 1 season has officially begun with the first day of winter testing in Bahrain. Lots of attention was given to the new cars on track. Some teams surprised positively, others negatively. Despite a dominating Max Verstappen, Christian Horner's case continues to grip F1. A comprehensive report on the first day in Bahrain.

It's just over 20 degrees. Enjoying the sunshine, I, like most journalists, travel from Bahrain's capital, Manama, to the Bahrain International Circuit in the morning. First, I went past the accreditation centre to collect my pass for the week and then to the paddock.

Not much sleep is needed to function on your first day back in the F1 paddock. Although I only got two hours of sleep due to the late flight, the feeling of arriving at a paddock still holds a special allure. It is my tenth F1 paddock event that I have visited as a journalist, a milestone, but it often still feels like the first time.

This is undoubtedly the case when I find myself in the pit lane in the morning at Max Verstappen's garage. I am the only one standing without a vest. A mistake by security, but after advice from some Dutch colleagues, I don't gamble and stay there when the light turns green. A red flag by the GPblog.com reporter is not the story I came to Bahrain for.

Which teams stand out in Bahrain?

Wearing a vest for the afternoon, I go into the media centre. It's a matter of picking a spot for the week ahead. The room is quiet, so I found a spot near the screens with all the images and information.

Besides a vest for the pitlane, I also get a vest to stand trackside. Together with two colleagues, we head out to the most interesting points of the circuit. The place I wanted to visit is turn 10. It's where you see how a car turns in and how quickly it can get back on the gas. VCARB 01 stands out positively, as does Aston Martin's car. Stake, for example, has much more trouble getting on the gas there.

It is also easy to get to the first corner combination from there. The braking for turn one (it is still bizarre how late these cars can brake for a corner), when drivers can get on the gas after turn one and how the car looks coming out of turns two and three again show clear differences between the cars.

In the first corner combination, the RB20 goes by with Verstappen. At first, things still look unsettled. Verstappen's car suffers from understeer and also has some rear-end excursions. Yet it seems to get better and better during the session as Verstappen gets to know his car better.

Again, VCARB and Aston Martin stand out positively. Otherwise, Ferrari, Red Bull, and Williams also look solid. The same cannot be said for Haas, McLaren, Alpine and Stake. Haas looks mostly sluggish, McLaren still looks unsettled, Stake has a lot of understeer, and Alpine lacks confidence when accelerating. The Mercedes wasn't on track due to problems when I was outside.

What does Wolff have to say about Horner's case?

Once back in the paddock, the drivers conclude their morning run. Verstappen tops the timesheet again, as he did almost every week in 2023. Times say nothing in the winter test, but the ease with which Verstappen sets those times does. The number of laps the Dutchman can complete with his RB20 is also extraordinary.

Press conferences follow in the break. First, half an hour with five drivers who have not yet sat in the car. Guanyu Zhou, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo then talk mostly about other things. Ricciardo is asked a lot about the seat at Red Bull Racing in 2025, while Sainz and Perez also get the necessary questions about their future.

The session after is more interesting in that respect. Joining Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur are two team bosses who switched to a new car concept in 2024. Can they challenge Red Bull Racing with this? Both realise the gap is big, but they will try to get closer step by step.

The subject of Christian Horner also comes up. The question is put to all, but after Toto Wolff's lengthy explanation, the rest stayed quiet. Wolff remains diplomatic but makes it very clear that certain limits are to be kept within F1.

Horner is again the topic of conversation in Bahrain

After the press conference, I walk to Red Bull Racing's hospitality. I sat at the table with Pierre Waché, Red Bull Racing's technical director. In an exclusive interview, the Frenchman explains why Red Bull opted for an aggressive development with the RB20, what has changed about the car and who he sees as their biggest competitors in 2024. A preview of this interview can already be read on GPblog.com.

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— Tim Kraaij (@TimKraaij) February 21, 2024

Christian Horner sits beside Raymond Vermeulen at a nearby table as I sit at Red Bull. Horner was dressed in everyday clothes instead of the Red Bull livery. Not a unique occurrence. Horner often wore his own outfit during the winter test. The conversation with Vermeulen's manager looks amicable. No sign of discontent between the two parties.

So, the news that Red Bull Racing would have already made a decision shocks me as I walk away from Red Bull. I have just seen Horner sitting there, but at Viaplay Finland, the reporter is said to have said that the decision has already been made. Enquiries in the paddock reveal that this was not the case. In their broadcasts, they speculated about Horner's future but did not mention him leaving.

There is also some time to dive into the pit lane. Wearing a vest and risking my life, I enter the pitlane. The technical details of the different cars become clearer, and after a tip-off from Waché, I also pay more attention to Mercedes and Aston Martin. Red Bull's technical director was surprised by these two teams. In Mercedes' case, it was mainly about the front wing.

Red Bull looks dominant in Bahrain

Taking pictures in the pit lane is nice, but you still see the most trackside. By the end of the session, I was back at my favourite corner combination (1/2/3 and 9/10), where the RB20 looked much better. No more mega understeer, no more moments of oversteer: Verstappen's car is back on track.

Ferrari, too, have a car that looks good. Still much slower at times, but the balance seems fine. McLaren are struggling a bit more in this respect. The car still seems a bit shaky and the team did not reach the desired mileage. That will have to be made up in the next two days. Aston Martin also looked good. Somewhat invisible, but the car seems to be on track.

Alpine and Williams went under the radar. Not bad, but not positively striking either. Stake and Haas are in a slightly weaker position. The green-and-black car is very tricky, especially on the throttle. The Haas has few outliers but mainly looks very cumbersome and slow through corners. This was also reflected in the timesheet and was somewhat to be expected after the new team boss' statements.

With that, the first day in Bahrain was a quiet one. It is expected to be different on Thursday. That is when Christian Horner joins the team bosses' press conference and will, in all likelihood, be asked for his opinion. Red Bull could still manage things at the car presentation, but that is not possible at an F1 press conference. In addition, five drivers who have already driven their new car will be present. There is already much more to read from that.