FACTS AND STATS: Red Bull tie Williams’ win tally in first-ever retirement-free season opener

It was a remarkable race in Bahrain on Saturday for numerous reasons. One, of course, was Max Verstappen’s imperious showing for Red Bull. Arguably more remarkable, however, was the fact that for the first time in F1 history every car that took the start in the season’s first round also took the chequered flag. Here’s a few more fascinating figures from Sakhir for you…

• Red Bull begin their 20th season in F1 with their 114th race victory, tying Williams for fourth on the all-time win table.

• Verstappen today won his eighth consecutive race.

RACE REPORT: Verstappen storms to victory in action-packed season-opening Bahrain GP

• Verstappen now has two of the four longest winning streaks in history in the past 10 months (10 races, eight races).

• This weekend Verstappen took a grand slam for the fifth time in his career, tying Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher’s career totals, third of all-time behind Lewis Hamilton (six) and Jim Clark (eight).

• Verstappen is the first driver to score a grand slam in the opening race of the season since Michael Schumacher in 2004.

• Today was Verstappen’s 42nd consecutive classified finish (the second longest streak in history behind Lewis Hamilton’s 48).

• Red Bull finished one-two in the opening race for the second consecutive season (Verstappen beat Sergio Perez by 11.987s in 2023).

• Perez’s P2 today was his best finish since the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, nine races ago.

• Carlos Sainz’s P3 for Ferrari was only his fourth podium finish since the start of 2023.

DRIVER OF THE DAY: Sainz gets your Bahrain vote with superb podium drive

• Charles Leclerc’s P4 in the second Ferrari gave him 12 points – he only scored six points in the opening three races of 2023 combined.

• With George Russell in P5 and Lewis Hamilton P7, Mercedes scored an identical result to Bahrain 2023, but with their drivers swapped over.

• With Lando Norris P6 and Oscar Piastri P8, McLaren scored in the season’s opening race for the first time since 2021.

• Piastri scored as many points in this race as he did in the first five races of 2023.

• Hamilton’s P7 was his worst Bahrain result since the hybrid era began in 2014.

• Fernando Alonso was P9 for Aston Martin – he finished on the podium in the opening three races last year.

• With team mate Lance Stroll in P10, Aston Martin scored with both cars in Bahrain for the second consecutive year.

• At Haas, Kevin Magnussen’s P12 was his best result since scoring a point in Singapore eight races ago.

• There were no retirements in the opening race of a season for the first time in F1 history.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from the Bahrain Grand Prix as Verstappen takes first victory of 2024