Formula 1 is back this weekend with the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix after a drama-filled off-season which saw Lewis Hamilton announce his departure from Mercedes and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner investigated and .towards a female colleague.
After being ,F1 now switches attention back to the track as Max Verstappen looks to defend his world championship title.
Last week’s pre-season testing proved that Red Bull will once again be the team to beat with Verstappen setting the fastest lap time on day one. Their closest rivals seem to be Ferrari, who Hamilton is joining for 2025, though Mercedes and McLaren cannot be discounted either.
As for the teams competing in the middle of the field, Daniel Ricciardo hopes newly-rebranded RB will compete at the front of the pack while Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin look to further develop their car. That said, all this is merely speculation until the competition heats up.
