After weeks of drama that cast the sporting agenda to one side, Formula One finally put some wheels in motion in Bahrain which, intriguingly, suggested there may be an equally gripping spectacle to come on the track.
As the cars opened their accounts for the 2024 season, a triumphant return was anticipated for the Red Bulls after the turmoil that has surrounded the team and that continued in Bahrain.
Instead, they were usurped by a surprisingly rapid Mercedes in Lewis Hamilton's hands as he topped the timesheets on the first day of the new season.
Christian Horner was on the pit wall overseeing his Red Bull team for the first time since the investigation into his alleged inappropriate behaviour was closed on Wednesday with the grievances of a female employee dismissed and Horner exonerated. Testing the previous week suggested Red Bull had built another rocket ship, they were three-tenths up on the field on race pace simulations and the assumption was that when the gloves came off in Bahrain, they would once more enjoy a handsome advantage.
Certainly Horner must have welcomed the focus on lap-time analysis and working through a run plan. Yet there was to be no balm from the timing screens as Red Bull laboured in the desert.
この記事は The Guardian の March 01, 2024 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian の March 01, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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