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The 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP is the second race of the season and for many fans, it can't come soon enough.
The sport has been marred by one controversy after the other since the start of the year. At the moment there is an ongoing investigation against current FIA president, Mohammad Ben Sulayem, for intervening in a race result. There have been further allegations as well, potentially putting his position in jeopardy.
There is then, of course, the Christian Horner-Red Bull civil war. A case that was supposed to be an investigation into cross-border behaviour has turned into a political powerplay.
Amongst all of this, we have a race to run, and in this feature, we will only talk about that. So what can we expect from the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP? Let's take a look.
#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP
The overall gap we saw in Bahrain was probably a tad exaggerated, and one of the reasons for it was the issues that both Charles Leclerc and George Russell faced. Having said that, there's no doubt whatsoever that Max Verstappen is equipped with the best car on the grid in qualifying and in the race.
Yes, the gap might not be as pronounced, but it is big enough to help him win and manage races from the front. Unless the Red Bull civil war has proven to be a distraction, Verstappen is winning the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
#2 Charles Leclerc secures a podium for Ferrari
Charles Leclerc had an underwhelming start to the season in Bahrain. After a front-row start, the Ferrari driver was left with a brake issue that meant he couldn't drive the car at full potential. A P4 finish is still not a bad result as he made the most of what he had in terms of pace.
Having said that, coming to the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, Leclerc will be hoping to extract the most from the car. In general, the car has been strong on long straights and should be the second fastest here as well. A podium should be a satisfactory result for Leclerc as he begins to put the pieces together to be a more consistent scorer.
#3 Haas scores points
One mistake during the Bahrain weekend screwed Nico Hulkenberg's prospects to score a point. The car built by Haas is impressive and it is very good in terms of race pace as well. The team scored in Jeddah last season and will be hoping to do the same this time around as well.
#4 The overall racing spectacle might suffer
It's obvious from the very first race that the good old days of the 2022 F1 season when cars could follow each other are gone. We're back to the pre-ground effect era where pulling off overtakes is a major challenge once again.
We saw that have an impact in 2023 in Jeddah as well as the cars just ran in formation and none of them were able to make much progress. Unfortunately, the 2024 F1 season might see a lot of the same as the cars may struggle to follow once again.
#5 The overall pecking order would be somewhat similar
The overall pecking order is not going to be too different from what it was in Bahrain. Even though McLaren is supposed to be better at Jeddah, the car was still behind Mercedes in terms of overall pace in Bahrain.
We can expect the top five to remain the same. This brings us to the back of the grid, which might be more or less down to individual drivers producing impressive drives to jump up the field and maybe snatch a point or two.
