Formula 1 2024 Season Preview: Bahrain Grand Prix Practice Starts Marathon F1 Year After Dramatic Offseason

After the most dramatic offseason in recent Formula 1 history comes its longest-ever season.

Thursday practice for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix launches the first of 24 race weekends. Champion Max Verstappen 바카라� sixth in the first practice 바카라� is among several drivers raising concerns about the impact of a relentless schedule. (More Motorsport News)

As practice got underway, the focus remained on Red Bull and its team principal Christian Horner. He remains in charge after the team's parent company in Austria said on Wednesday that a grievance made against him was dismissed after an internal investigation.

Also this offseason, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton stunned the series by announcing he is moving to Ferrari next year. The switch surprised his current team, Mercedes, and even his parents. Also, Netflix star Guenther Steiner was removed from his role leading the Haas team.

It's been a lot for drivers and F1 fans to follow even before a marathon season begins.

All three past and present champions on the grid 바카라� Hamilton, Verstappen and Fernando Alonso 바카라� agree 24 races push the limits of what F1 drivers and team members can take.

바카라�When I started we had 16 races,바카라� said two-time champion Alonso, who has a record 377 career race starts. 바카라�Now we are up to 24 and this is not sustainable for the future for anyone.바카라�

바카라�I feel already that we are way over the limit of races," said Verstappen, who questioned if some drivers might 바카라�start shortening their careers바카라� over the workload.

Since Liberty Media took over F1 before the 2017 season, the number of races has risen from 20.

The growth is driven by Liberty's strategy of staging races in destination cities like Las Vegas, Miami, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and, from 2026, Madrid.

Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez voiced concern for staff on F1 teams who, he said, seemed exhausted at the final races last year.

바카라�I remember seeing a lot of zombies in Abu Dhabi, after Vegas,바카라� he said. 바카라�We are trying to basically put some points across that it's not only for the drivers, to be honest. There's a lot of mechanics, engineers and basically they travel the world weekend after weekend, a lot of hours on the planes."

This record season means an extended goodbye for Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes at the end to join Ferrari, and raised concerns over how the expanded calendar might worsen F1's impact on the environment.

Daniel Ricciardo was a surprise leader in the first practice for Red Bull's second team, the newly renamed RB, formerly known as AlphaTauri. The two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were second and third fastest.

Practice in Bahrain was widely seen as a continuation of last week's preseason testing at the same track as teams tried out setups and strategies. The daytime conditions were not representative of qualifying and the race, which will be held in the evenings.

Testing was twice disrupted by drain covers flying off and leaving debris across the track 바카라� prompting Verstappen to voice concerns over safety 바카라� but that problem has been solved for now.

Rain isn't a major concern in Bahrain so problem drains at two corners have simply been filled in with concrete.

Modern F1 cars' powerful ground-effect aerodynamics generate grip between the floor and the track surface but that force can also pull loose items away from the ground.

Carlos Sainz Jr.'s Ferrari was badly damaged by a water valve cover in practice for the Las Vegas GP in November, underlining the risks to drivers.