Race preview: Bahrain
Get up to speed on all you need to know for Alex's first race of 2024
Published
28 Feb 2024
Est Reading Time
2 min
Buckle up for 2024.
We kick things off in the heart of the Sakhir Desert, with Alex taking to the Bahrain International Circuit for Round 1 of the Formula 1 World Championship this weekend.
Ahead of the season-opener Albono recorded 161 laps in the FW46 across his 1.5 days of testing last week, setting the eighth fastest lap time of any driver.
As the first race of the year, Bahrain will have its challenges, with drivers and teams heading into the unknown. Alex will be looking to get to grips with the new car as quickly as possible, whilst the team looks to build on the progress it made last season.
Previewing this weekend, Alex said, “We didn’t have the easiest test but made progress throughout.
“There’s still work to do to maximise the car we have. Those few days in between the test and race have been spent understanding the package and especially the areas we need to work on.
“We’ll go into FP1 with some new ideas and try to maximise the weekend as much as possible."
Heading back in time, Bahrain is a circuit that has played host to some key moments in Alex’s racing career so far:
Back in 2017, our Thai racing driver stepped onto the F2 grid for the first time here, making his debut for ART. Qualifying in P9, Alex went on to finish 6th in the feature race and placed 7th in the sprint.
In 2018, Albono lined up alongside future F1 teammate Nicholas Latifi for the first time in Bahrain, racing for DAMS in his sophomore F2 season and finishing P4 in the first feature race of the season.
Stepping up to the big time in 2019, Alex picked up his first ever F1 points here in only his second race. Racing for Torro Rosso, he battled from P12 to a 9th place finish, picking up two points for the team.
One year on, and by then racing for Red Bull, Alex picked up his second ever F1 podium at the 2020 Bahrain GP, fighting from P4 to finish 3rd behind Lewis Hamilton in 1st and teammate Max Verstappen in 2nd.
Following his year away from the grid, Albono returned to F1 in 2022. He debuted in Bahrain for Williams Racing and finished P13 ahead of teammate Nicholas Latifi.
This time last year we got to see Alex battle from P15 to P10 on his way to picking up a point in the opening race of the 2023 season - the first Williams points-score in Bahrain since 2017.
Bahrain GP
29 Feb - 02 Mar
Event completed
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