Ranked: The F1 teams on 2024 pre-season testing form

Formula 1 testing in 2024 ended differently. There was to be little of the final-hour action that had become something worth watching in previous years – teams finally switching to performance running through those typical caveats on fuel loads and engine modes. Think Lewis Hamilton spinning while preparing for a C5 flier in 2021. Or Max Verstappen doing likewise a year later and still taking that set to the top spot.

This year’s event’s top time came via Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – a 1m29.921s set on the C4s. But the Spaniard was running with three hours to go on the second day. Given his team-mate Charles Leclerc was running slightly later and into falling temperatures when he went second quickest overall on the final day, which Leclerc topped, it seems the track was at something of a peak when Sainz registered the best time.

He was then switched to long running, with Leclerc doing another race simulation effort in the test’s closing laps – something Red Bull, McLaren, Aston Martin and McLaren also did.

Heading into the third year of stable car design rules, it’s logical to conclude the teams have enough data to eschew performance runs and instead concentrate on doing as much work as possible on the efforts that ultimately bring points.

Some squads clearly wanted a better idea of where to improve against the clock – including Williams with Alex Albon, Mercedes and George Russell, and Sauber. In the neon-green-splashed machine, Zhou Guanyu leapt up to fourth in the overall order just seconds before a final timing and start systems check brought the event to a muted close. But a race-focused philosophy has been central to Red Bull’s domination since mid-way through 2022.

PLUS: What we learned from day three of 2024 F1 testing in Bahrain

F1 is back in action as the first event of the 2024 season gets under way on Thursday. The true 2024 pecking order will soon be revealed. But, with all this in mind, here’s how we think the pack stacked up in testing – where key narratives of the coming campaign were established.

Those caveats covered above of course deliberately disguise the picture. But, based on what all the teams did or didn’t do last week, plus digging deeper into the times and understanding the various key targets and messages across the pitlane, here’s how all 10 contenders got on.

1. Red Bull

There was a sense that Red Bull wasn't showing its true hand after Verstappen so impressively gapped the field on Wednesday

Photo by: Erik Junius

With Verstappen at the wheel, the currently clouded reigning champion squad amid the Christian Horner investigation simply blew the opposition away on day one. Verstappen’s 1.14-second margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris produced the biggest day one test gap since Red Bull driver Mark Webber trailed McLaren’ Jenson Button by 0.848s at Jerez in 2013. It was the biggest such gap of the modern era. That’s going back to 2009, when testing really started getting restricted.

But it must be acknowledged that Red Bull’s rivals closed the gap over the final two days, while it rather trod water. In terms of the headline pace among those caveats, it was actually eclipsed and shuffled down to fourth overall – Russell and Zhou making the final moves.

But the sense in the paddock as the teams didn’t pack up last Friday was not that Red Bull’s commanding position had disappeared. Instead, it was that it was hiding just how good the RB20 can be.

The team just totally avoided showing anything close to resembling a hand in terms of performance runs on the softer tyres. And GPS data clocked from the test suggests Red Bull was running in a very conservative engine mode – shipping over 10km/h (6mph) to Ferrari, which led the way in terms of top speed.

PLUS: Why it's a Red Bull vs Ferrari battle in F1 2024 testing's long run times

There were, however, small problems. On day one, there were several occasions when Verstappen would have been off the road had he not backed out, the Dutchman seemingly struggling with the understeer he detests.

Set-up tweaks addressed things on his balance ahead of logging his day one-leading 1m31.344s and that stunning gap, but that this was needed at all suggests Red Bull will have to fettle its new challenger into an ideal window at every race. That’s always the game, but it has got this wrong in the past – think the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix or Singapore last year.

On the second day, Sergio Perez lost time with a left-front brake fire. Then as night fell shortly past the test’s halfway point, he had to interrupt an on-off-on-off push run crawling back to the pits for an in-garage settings reset. But, clearly, Red Bull is very satisfied overall from its first three days of official F1 track work in 2024.

“The team believes that with how the car is at the moment, said Verstappen, “that there is more potential to find. So that's now up to us to unlock…”

Part of this effort will centre on getting the RB20’s seemingly Mercedes 2022/2023-inspired upper aerodynamic surface parts to work best. Sources suggest Red Bull considers making such notable changes to a package that utterly crushed the opposition as the RB19 last year a risk. But a calculated one worth taking. Mainly because its rivals now have cars that so closely resemble that one.

As the test’s end approached, it was suggested that the true picture could have Red Bull with as much as 0.3s advantage on pure pace over the rest. But the team itself felt one particular rival was closer than it appeared in testing…

2. Ferrari

Race simulations for Sainz on day two compared favourably to Red Bull

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Ferrari heads into the new season widely considered as Red Bull’s closest challenger – but not just because it topped the testing times. Most intriguingly, the Scuderia, with Sainz at the wheel of the SF-24, logged a day-two race simulation that tracked nearly exactly with Red Bull’s own – via Sergio Perez. They both started on the C3 mediums, then moved gradually harder, compound-wise in two pitstops up to the C1s.

Their stint lengths were comparable at 16 and 14 respectively on the C3s, 19 each on the C2s, and 20 for Ferrari on the C1s with Red Bull doing 22. Those totals equate to 55 each and that this Saturday’s race is set to be a 57-lap affair added to the intrigue.

Sainz’s pace beat Perez in all three stints. But the margin was what shocked most, as he led by an average of 0.5s on the C3s, 1.2s on the C2s and 1.7s on the C1s. There is simply no way Red Bull has swung to be that far off, which implies Perez had considerably more fuel aboard overall. Plus, the detuned engine mode point becomes pertinent here, too.

“If they run with 20 kilos we are in a good shape,” explained Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur. “But if they run with 80kg we are nowhere. Nobody knows except them.”

On the final day, Ferrari also showed well in the long runs that rather replaced the much-anticipated performance efforts of previous years. These were less of a direct comparison, however, as Red Bull was regularly wheeling Verstappen back into the pits before sending him out again – likely with more fuel and a tweaked set-up.

Another eye-catching element was how consistent Leclerc was on a first stint as the less durable C3s wore and overall the second of three stints he logged on the final evening. This matched how, in his day-two race sim, Sainz was able to hit same low 1m37s and mid-1m35s bracket even after a long stint on the two harder compounds that have undone Ferrari in previous years. His pace did slip from a 1m36.725s to a 1m39.126s over the course of his C3 stint, but this is Bahrain and its abrasive track surface.

Overall, Ferrari was chuffed with its tyre management in testing – something it had targeted specifically when designing the SF-24, aiming for it to have a more predictable and stable car overall. “We definitely did a step forward in terms of tyre management,” said Leclerc.

Viewed trackside, the SF-24 certainly seemed less edgy and regularly wayward compared to its predecessor. Here last year, particularly at the fast, twisty Turns 5-7 complex, the Ferrari was really struggling in terms of wind sensitivity. Indeed, Leclerc reckons on this front his squad is now “quite a lot better”.

As we’ve already covered, Ferrari also rather eschewed performance running – no doubt confident in its drivers’ ability come qualifying sessions and so with a perceived testing focus on making the SF-24 better overall in race trim. But the same GPS data having Ferrari as the quickest in a straight line possibly means it might not have much more engine grunt to come in qualifying this Friday.

3. Mercedes

Mercedes believes it has eradicated some handling flaws in the W15, which appeared to run with a conservative engine map

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

When Russell was putting in that 1m30.368s to net the test’s third-quickest team time and put Mercedes second, the W15 looked to have come alive. But, given Mercedes appeared to deliberately avoid the kind of race sims logged by Red Bull and Ferrari – it conducted its high-fuel running over regular shorter stints of around 10 laps on days two and three – placing its potential is tricky.

What can’t be denied is what the team itself is saying. Lewis Hamilton’s “we know we've got work to do and we're not yet where we want to be” was the key takeaway line. And, for all of Russell’s late day-three poise even with the W15 running low seemingly in more of a qualifying trim, when viewed trackside earlier in the test the car had Hamilton regularly wrestling for rear grip at Bahrain’s big Turn 13 test. He was doing this far more than for drivers at the other front-running teams.

PLUS: What Bahrain trackside viewing reveals about F1 2024

This inconsistency in how its balance looks, however, might actually be considered something of a boost for Mercedes. It has developed an adaptable front suspension arrangement, which should mean it can optimise its set-ups more comprehensively. This is a clear sign Mercedes is able to make its latest design better, rather than just understanding why it doesn’t work. This was its challenge in both 2022 and 2023.

“The team has worked hard to iron out the handling flaws that were integral to the W14, and it's great that we seem to have put a number of those problems behind us,” said Mercedes’ director of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin.

But, as with Red Bull, there is a sense that Mercedes was also rather holding something back. It was the only team slower in that GPS analysis of straightline speed. Again, the logical conclusion is that its engine wasn’t running at full power.

4. McLaren

Race simulations were thwarted by niggles for Norris, who feels McLaren has drifted away from the sharp end, although the team is encouraged by certain traits

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We've definitely taken some steps in the right direction, but I think it's still quite long way behind Red Bull,” Norris said after climbing out of the MCL38 for the final time in testing, mid-way through day three. “So, a very long way behind Red Bull and a long way behind Ferrari still.”

The Briton’s press conference answers were perky and polite as usual. But when not holding the mic, his demeanour was downright dark – Norris obviously not best pleased. We could get rather amateur psychology and suggest this was disappointment at finding his new car isn’t any closer to Red Bull and has likely slipped behind Ferrari and Mercedes.

But, take Norris at his characteristically honest words, and it’s more likely he was displeased at having a race simulation effort thwarted for a second day in a row. On the second, this was due to detritus in the McLaren’s fuel system, on day three there was another problem McLaren wouldn’t specify. “Not exactly what I wanted”, Norris mused.

What Norris called “a few setbacks here and there” in terms of the MCL38’s reliability meant McLaren ended up with the second-lowest mileage total of any team (328 laps).

On the long run logged by Oscar Piastri on the test’s final evening, McLaren also seemed to be struggling with tyre degradation given his times were rather inconsistent. But it’s worth remembering this was a weakness Piastri displayed against Norris last year and Bahrain has long been something of a bogey track for McLaren.

On the plus side, the MCL38 looked very compliant viewed trackside. And team boss Andrea Stella said, “we are happier with the grip at the rear axle, which was one of the aspects that we wanted to work on”, before adding, “overall, there is more grip in the car”.

This indicates McLaren has made clear progress on its key winter target of making its 2024 more predictable at the limit. And, although there were niggles, this was not the Bahrain testing bother of 2022 and 2023.

5. Aston Martin

Braking instability may hinder Alonso's hopes of repeating his debut Aston Martin podium one year ago

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Aston could, frankly, have the number four spot in this ranking. But it doesn’t simply because it kept its hand so closely guarded.

Then there was Fernando Alonso’s admission when Autosport asked about the braking instability we’d spotted trackside that the AMR24 in this area “feels tricky”. This is important because good braking feel was a key part of Alonso’s fine form early in 2023.

Inside Aston, the view is nevertheless that it has made a step forwards car-wise, especially when it comes to the 2023 weaknesses Alonso wanted addressing – in straightline speed and overall handling consistency.

“It was a very, very good test for us,” said team principal Mike Krack. “The car was in a really good state when it arrived here, very reliable, high-quality parts.”

Stacked against this is Alonso’s mood – he is not bouncing as he was in 2023 and continued to talk about being in “a good position to negotiate” in the 2025 driver market.

Lance Stroll, meanwhile, completed his running and so goes into the season without the handicap Aston felt he had all through 2023 in terms of understanding the car after missing pre-season testing a year ago with injury.

Stroll also completed a similar race simulation on day two alongside Sainz and Perez. He diverged in terms of tyres and stint lengths, but on the C3s, to begin with, he came in 0.3s slower on average than the Ferrari. A real gap of this nature on Saturday wouldn’t result in an Aston Bahrain podium repeat.

6. RB

The RB team's VCARB 01 seemed stable in the gusty conditions of day two

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

In the midfield, these ranks can be considered even more fluid. But RB takes this spot for two important reasons. One was just how stable the VCARB 01 viewed trackside. In the gusty conditions on day two’s afternoon, only Red Bull appeared as unwavering.

Plus, the former AlphaTauri team appears to have retained its edge in low corner speeds – as GPS data also had Daniel Ricciardo beating Sainz in these turns during their respective best runs on day two.

RB also got on smoothly with its testing running amid the news focus on the various broadsides launched at it by rivals on its closer ties to Red Bull. But, more importantly, like its senior team relation, that GPS tracking suggests it too will receive a boost from the Honda engine come Friday qualifying.

PLUS: Why the Red Bull/RB F1 alliance controversy is not going to disappear

7. Sauber

Zhou vaulted up the order late on to end the test fourth in the timesheets

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Sauber can be considered both fortunate and hard done by with this ranking – the Swiss-based team getting a considerable boost for its late performance running with Zhou on the C4s.

It also racked up the mileage without any major dramas – logging the most laps of any midfield team other than Haas, which, as we’ll come to, is a special case in 2024 testing. Only the day-three drain-caused red flag and some ensuing “precautionary checks” in the garage resulted in “a few missed test items and laps” – all per Valtteri Bottas.

“I feel that we made good steps in many different areas,” Bottas added. “So, there's nothing that is worse than last year. Aero wise, mechanically – steps forward.”

8. Haas

Haas had a different objective to the rest, focused on understanding the tyre woes that plagued it in 2023

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Given how it ended up last in 2023 and based on team new team principal Ayao Komatsu saying it expected to stay there at 2024’s start, Haas must be considered the most likely backmarker for the season opener. But there’s simply no denying it had a rather good test, with other teams getting marked down for being unable to say likewise.

Haas was at the foot of the times after day two, but it leapfrogged Alpine with a performance run it put in with Kevin Magnussen where the Dane was without “any sort of optimising of the set-up” compared to what he’d had for a dedicated final race sim.

Haas also did so much long-running as it concentrated on fully understanding its 2023 in-race tyre weakness, it ended up topping the mileage chart on 441 tours. That can only be considered a positive sign, which came with an additional boost.

Magnussen concluded, “On high fuel, I feel like it's more consistent”, while Komatsu reckoned, “We’ve got lots more work to do, but at the same time we’ve got a base car that we can actually race.”

9. Williams

Williams was the only team to have its car stranded by a mechanical problem

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

The only time a car was returned to the Bahrain paddock on a flatbed in testing this year occurred with 20 minutes of day one’s first session remaining. It was the Williams FW46 that Albon had pulled over at Turn 2’s exit – near enough to the barrier to avoid a red flag stoppage – having lost drive with a fuel pump failure. Williams then lost more time that day with a driveshaft issue when Logan Sargeant took over.

All told, Williams’s reliability issues went a long way to explaining why it finished with the lowest mileage total (299 laps). Plus, the FW46 was unremarkable in trackside viewings, other than standing out as never looking particularly quick or agile.

But, having lost time at the end of both sessions on day two with further reliability issues, the Williams ran without fault on day three. Plus, team boss James Vowles insisted the FW46 “looks directionally correct” in terms of being more adaptable on a wider range of track types, as Williams wanted.

And that is a big boost for a team that was able to ride its restricted favourable circumstances brilliantly in 2023. Having a more adaptable package in a crowded midfield must therefore be considered promising, despite the FW46 having a tough infancy.

10. Alpine

Alpine didn't do any performance running in Bahrain and ended up slowest, but that's not the only reason for it being ranked bottom

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Alpine could actually be leading the midfield in the true Bahrain GP pecking order, but there can surely be no denying its test form was poor. The Enstone squad propped up the times overall – admittedly without any headline performance running, it should be noted – and had a Williams-like pace propensity when viewed trackside.

Then there were the odd handling moments for its drivers, such as Esteban Ocon ending up skating over the Turn 4 exit gravel having had to catch an oversteer snap in the test’s opening session, plus his wild Turn 1 lock-up in the second session on day two. There, Ocon oddly failed to get off the brakes quickly and wrecked a set of C1s. Then, late on the final day, Pierre Gasly had a right-front wheel cover top fall off as he traversed the main straight.

Alpine barely led the relatively hobbled McLaren and Williams in the mileage charts, despite reporting no reliability dramas. It just had a lot of work to do with its package in the garage. And rumours flew around the paddock come the test’s end that the reason for its lack of livery is that the A524 is overweight.

It is, however, a massively overhauled design, which will take time to understand. And Alpine did signpost at its season launch that it didn’t expect to be showing promising times in the year’s early stage. “I don't think we look great,” Gasly summarised.

Alpine's test was rather underwhelming even without major reliability worries

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images