After all the promise of pre-season testing and yesterday’s Qualifying, Charles Leclerc’s Bahrain GP fell quite short of expectations. Throughout the race, the Monegasque struggled to keep up with Max Verstappen. He also lost out places to the likes of George Russell and his own teammate, Carlos Sainz. Underlying his torrid race was a lack of confidence on the brakes of the SF-24. Leclerc was locking up on multiple occasions. Now, Italian journalist, Giuliano Duchessa has revealed why.
Duchessa revealed on X (formerly Twitter), “It is possible that [Charles Leclerc] had the front brake socket blocked, taking away its strength when braking, partially resolved in the pit or with a less heavy car Too bad we didn’t see his pace today.”
The potential issues with a blockage in Leclerc‘s brake system explain why he was not able to maintain a consistent pace throughout the race. Every time he tried to lean on his brakes to either attack or defend, he would lock up. The majority of his troubles came at the tricky turn 10.
On the other hand, his teammate, Sainz proved to be in control of his SF-24 as the Spaniard outclassed both, Leclerc and Russell to seal of the final podium place behind Sergio Perez and the race-winner, Verstappen. Despite his troubles, Leclerc managed to recover back and finish P4.
Max Verstappen starts his title defense where he left off in 2023
At the end of the day, Max Verstappen clinched the first race win of 2024 in style. The #1 driver completed yet another Grand Slam as he started from pole, won the race, and also got the fastest lap. What’s even more alarming is the gap he won with. The second fastest car was of his teammate’s, and Perez finished a whopping 20+ seconds behind Verstappen.
The Dutchman has started this season off exactly in the uber-dominant form he showcased last year. After the race, many have already written the 2024 season off as Verstappen is now the favorite to clinch his 4th consecutive world title.
That being said, the Bulls’ rivals are not that far away. At least on a single-lap pace, the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren seem to be really close to the Milton-Keynes-based team. Hence, the others need to work on their long-run and race pace to ensure they can stop Verstappen and Red Bull from making 2024 a whitewash.
