The annual pre-season testing period is in the books for Formula 1 and the anticipation is now building towards the opening race of the 2024 season this weekend.
But which teams can look ahead to that Bahrain curtain raiser with bullish optimism about their prospects and who will be braced for an underwhelming beginning?
Of course, the usual caveats are in order when it comes to assessing winter testing, with fuel loads and engine mapping modes remaining unknown outside the teams.
Haas ended last season with a dismal record of one point from the final 13 grands prix of the season, resulting in the team dropping to the bottom of the championship.
But based on the mileage figures, the American outfit appeared to sustain a promising pre-season with the most laps completed in the entire field with a total of 439.
However, new Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu had warned heading into the campaign that it was anticipating again opening an F1 season experiencing a struggle.
Indeed, Kevin Magnussen ended up with the slowest best lap time of the 20 drivers, with a late dash from Nico Hulkenberg at least seeing him pip five other drivers.
But Haas did not chase outright lap times and reserved much of its running to conducting long runs as it aims to understand the tyre wear woes it endured last term.
Sauber is another team aiming to rebound from a challenging season, which saw the Hinwil-based squad drop three places from sixth to ninth in the overall standings.
The Swiss outfit has since pursued a revamp with its C44 charger decked out in a distinct neon colour scheme, with Zhou Guanyu posting a 1:30.647s to end fourth.
However, Sauber has been renowned for taking out fuel and going for a ‘glory run’, with Zhou also posting the second fastest time on the second day of testing in 2023.
Valtteri Bottas being third slowest seems more representative of Sauber’s pace, with the Finn also interrupted on the final morning with a problem that saw the shutters up.
Sauber will at least hope to be battling with Williams, who endured the most disrupted programme and completed the fewest laps (298), 29 less than the next worst team.
Logan Sargeant will require a sizeable improvement to retain his drive next season, but he accumulated the least laps (138) and posted the second slowest time to boot.
The Grove-based squad could take some promise from Alex Albon popping up with the eighth-fastest time when he posted a 1:30.984s in the closing hours on the C4.
Williams achieved its highest placing in the Constructors’ Championship since 2017 with seventh and will hold optimism it has reeled in Alpine over the recent winter.
Having regressed to sixth place last season, Alpine elected to overhaul its car concept and proclaimed that it would take time to optimise its newfound package.
The testing times backed that attentiveness up as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly could only wound up 16th and 17th respectively once proceedings came to an end.
Discounting what the lap times suggested, the A524 still appeared to be a cumbersome and unresponsive machine through the various corner configurations in Bahrain.
“I don’t think we look great” was to be the assessment that Gasly offered regarding Alpine’s competitiveness, but the Frenchman remains hopeful of a swift turnaround.
Ahead of that quartet appears to be RB, who has rebranded from AlphaTauri over the winter and is bidding to maintain its momentum from the end of the past season.
Following a disastrous start to the previous campaign, the Faenza-based camp then began to capitalise on a closer technical alliance with reigning champions Red Bull.
That witnessed AlphaTauri become a consistent challenger for points in the closing stages, with the team coming within touching distance of pipping Williams to seventh.
The rebranded squad will hold aspirations of escaping that particular battle this season and Daniel Ricciardo had even voiced hopes of competing for top-five results.
Although the experienced Australian has since retracted that particular statement, RB look to have assembled a stable platform to build from with its VCARB 01 car.
Yuki Tsunoda set the seventh-fastest time late on with a lap of 1:30.775s on C4 rubber, while Ricciardo was outside the top 10 but did produce some strong race runs.
But at this stage, it looks implausible that RB has bridged the gap enough over the winter to further heighten the concerns McLaren CEO Zak Brown has over the setup.
McLaren had been touted as the team best placed to eradicate Red Bull’s crushing pace advantage having emerged as the Austrian outfit’s most consistent challenger.
The Woking-based squad completed one of the most miraculous turnarounds last season as it went from battling to score points to becoming a regular podium scorer.
Unlike several of its rivals, McLaren had the advantage of building upon a base that it understood. But it is unclear whether it has exploited such a benefit to the utmost.
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that McLaren is in a better predicament this time around, with Oscar Piastri posting a time that was three-tenths behind Max Verstappen.
The Bahrain International Circuit has tended to be a track that exposes McLaren’s weaknesses, meaning there should be reservations on the MCL38 until further notice.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella states it has improved rear-end grip which should aid its slow-speed performance, but it could exist as an area to be enhanced.
Lando Norris has ruled out being in contention for a podium finish in Bahrain this weekend; however, the Briton is notorious for cutting a negative figure on his chances.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin burst out of the blocks last winter but entertained a more conservative programme on this occasion with both drivers outside the top 10 places.
However, Mercedes Technical Director James Allison was impressed with a race simulation that Fernando Alonso completed in the latter stages which caught attention.
The Silverstone-based side had outlined that it intended to create a foundation that ensured the AMR24 was competitive across each circuit type for the entire season.
Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll will be able to depend on a car that is gentle on its rubber, but will it be enough for the Spaniard to trouble the rostrum once again?
One team that should be in fine kettle to compete for a podium place is Ferrari, who demonstrated an admirable turn of pace with its revitalised SF-24 charger for 2024.
The Italian marque occupied the top two places at the conclusion of testing, with Carlos Sainz’s 1:29.921s on the C4 compound ending up as the outright benchmark.
However, it was the Scuderia’s race runs that caught attention as Sainz usurped Sergio Perez’s Red Bull when the pair ran a comparable stint length on the second day.
Ferrari had earmarked that it had fixated on producing a car that was more benign and compliant than its troubled predecessor, which saw the team slip to third place.
Charles Leclerc gave the modifications the green light when he spoke, highlighting that the SF-24 was unsusceptible to changes in wind direction unlike its predecessor.
Likewise, Mercedes has also committed to a complete renovation in 2024 as it strives to dial out the “spiteful” rear-end characteristics that limited its drivers beforehand.
Whereas Mercedes personnel cut disenchanted figures 12 months ago, the German marque heads into the latest campaign with renewed optimism after a positive test.
Mercedes focused predominantly on long runs throughout, but George Russell showed a glimmer of the W15’s potential when he went second on the third and final day.
Russell and Lewis Hamilton expressed confidence with the direction Mercedes has taken, but both were also under no illusions that one team remains ahead of the rest.
Red Bull has obliterated the competition since F1’s return to ground effect aero in 2022, which extended last season to winning all but one of the 22 rounds to be held.
Despite urging that it was adopting a process of evolution upon the title-winning RB19, Red Bull has somehow pushed the boundaries with some creative innovations.
The Austrian outfit’s new car features a vertical slot inlet on the sidepods that is reminiscent of the failed ‘zeropod’ solution Mercedes conceived and then abandoned.
The hope amongst its rivals that a substantial change would result in unforeseen difficulties was dispelled on the first day when Verstappen went a second clear at the top.
While the reigning champion would drop to sixth on the overall timesheets, Verstappen and team-mate Perez did not venture onto the track with the C4 or C5 compound.
Red Bull endured some minor technical gremlins but nothing that destabilised its run schedule, with its rivals all adamant that the RB20 is in a class of its own out front.
So, Red Bull is looking like the team the rest has to catch, but the true size of its margin is unclear. However, there isn’t long to find out this season’s true pecking order.
Translation: should RedBull be disqualified for whatever reason, we might even have an interesting season ahead.
Appalling flowery writing, with many expressions mis-used. back to school, please, Taylor Powling!