Friday at the Bahrain Grand Prix saw the first two practice sessions of the weekend held and helped us to form a picture of what the balance of power might look like

Performance over health? He won’t be the last in F1. Yet the second iteration of the Bahrain Grand Prix, 20 years ago, was the most extreme example in the sport’s 75-year history of drivers prioritising pace over physical condition. At 42.6C, beating 40C temperatures in Dallas and Detroit in the mid-1980s, it was the hottest F1 race ever.

Circuit history & stats | 2024 race | race predictions | how to watch | championship standings Does F1 have an overtaking problem, or has Bahrain arrived at the right time? After his tense Japanese Grand Prix win Verstappen quipped "you wouldn't have seen me" if he had been driving the McLaren car.