The 2024 Formula One season kicked off at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and there were many questions on everyone's lips heading into the weekend.
There's no stopping Verstappen
The most common query amongst fans and journalists alike was if Red Bull's Max Verstappen would continue his form from the back end of last season.
After winning the final seven races of 2023, the Dutchman cruised to the win in Sakhir, 22 seconds clear of his teammate Sergio Pérez and 25 seconds clear of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen cakewalked the 2023 championship, winning 19 of the 22 rounds, and it seems as if he will easily replicate that form this year.
He said: "I think today went even better than expected. The car was really nice to drive on every compound.
"We had a lot of pace and it was just super enjoyable to drive today. We stayed out of trouble and it's a great start of the year, it couldn't have been better.
"It was a lot of fun and I felt really good in the car. It's always very special to have these kind of days because they don't happen that often where it all goes perfect and you are at one with the car."
As the Red Bull cars seem to be clear of all the other teams, Max's only potential title rival is his teammate, Sergio Pérez.
However since the Mexican joined the team in 2021 he has played second-fiddle to his far more successful counterpart.
Equally, Pérez contradicted what Verstappen said about the handling of the car.
He said: "It was quite a tricky race with the management of the tyres, there's plenty we will learn from tonight's race which will be important for the championship.
"It was really different from tyre compound to compound the amount of sliding we were having. We were having some issues with the engine braking, the driveability, which is not easy around here."
With Sergio struggling and Max's magnificent win, unfortunately it seems the outcome of this year's drivers title is decided after just one race.
Only the turmoil surrounding the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner could upset the flow of the season for the Milton Keynes outfit.
The 50 year old is under the spotlight again as the inappropriate messages he sent to a female colleague were leaked to the press.
An internal investigation initially found him not guilty of any wrongdoing however there are rumours of discontent in the Red Bull camp.
Alpine are awful (in every aspect)
Another talking point was the sheer lack of competitiveness from the Alpine team, as both their cars were plum last in qualifying.
Then during the race, Esteban Ocon finished 17th and Pierre Gasly was 18th, only finishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas' Sauber and Logan Sargeant's Williams, who both had issues.
Alpine, like Red Bull have off-track problems with their staff as many sources have reported that their technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer, 'resigned' last month.
The Alpine project is very reminiscent of the Toyota works team that operated from 2002 to 2009, who had the biggest budget of any Formula 1 team yet failed to win a race, never mind a championship.
When Renault took over the Enstone based outfit again after its brief spell as Lotus F1 Team, they established a five-year plan.
The idea was that the team would be fighting for drivers and constructors championships by 2021, although this clearly hasn't materialised yet.
The highest constructor's finish the team have achieved was fourth place in both 2018 and 2022, and unlike Toyota they do have a solitary race win.
However with the engines understood to be underpowered and the car to be aerodynamically inefficient, it seems Alpine's year will be a hard slog.
Gasly said after qualifying: "We knew it was going to be tough.
"We saw it coming so [the lack of performance] was not a surprise."
Meanwhile his teammate Esteban Ocon was more optimistic about the road ahead.
He said: "I've got faith in this team. Some years ago they were champions.
These ideas were created in the same places, in Enstone and in Viry and it can be done.
"We need to stay united and motivated and it's important that we keep going and keep our chin up.
"We need to be progressing or it's going to be a long year".
Alpine's aim must be not to finish last in the constructors standings, which would be a great embarrassment to the team.
Driver tensions at Racing Bulls
Towards the end of the race, the VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda was given team orders to let his teammate Daniel Ricciardo by for 13th place.
Tsunoda responded on the radio by exclaiming "Are you kidding me?", before letting the Australian through on the next lap.
Ricciardo was unable to advance his position into the points in the remaining laps, and the two drivers finished 13th and 14th.
Yuki's frustration came from the fact that the swap came too late for any more positions to be made by Daniel on the faster tyres
However on the cool-down lap, Tsunoda overtook his teammate and did so in an aggressive manner, locking his brakes and nearly colliding with him.
Ricciardo said on the radio: “What the f**k! I’ll save it… he’s a f***ing helmet!”
Once the eight-time race winner had a chance to calm down after the race, he said: "I came on the radio and was trying to stay cool.
"It was a bit of immaturity, let’s say.
“I’m being very sensible right out but let’s call it immaturity.
“I think he was obviously frustrated with the team orders but let’s be real, this is something we talked about before the race, you know."
A close fight for second place in the constructors
During the Friday qualifying session, the drivers from second to ninth places were separated by a mere three tenths of a second.
These eight competitors came from five different teams, and although they spaced out in the race, this means the battle from second to fifth in the constructors championship could be close throughout the year.
Ferrari appear to be the quickest car behind Red Bull in one lap pace followed closely by Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren.
Aston Martin seem to lack race pace as despite qualifying sixth with Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard dropped to ninth during the Saturday race.
This is a step down from the green team's performances at the same point of the year last season, as they scored a podium to start 2023.
However with the four teams using very different car philosophies I think relative performance will ebb and flow throughout 2024, and the championship positions will chop and change throughout.
