I’m writing this on board the flight back from Shanghai. One of the drivers is in the seat behind banking some rest. He’s going to need it. With five long haul fly-aways in six weeks kicking off the season, all the paddock folk are managing energy. Long gone are the days of a 16-race season with the beers flowing on the flight home – it’s all about the rehydration tablets and multivitamins now. How dull!
But at 38,000ft this enforced break from the madness provides as good a moment as any to take a breath, reflect on what’s been a very intense couple of weeks for everyone in Formula 1, and try to figure out what it all means for the season ahead.
With 80 per cent of the grid fielding new pairings and the top four teams all looking competitive at the end of 2024, there’s good reason to be excited. Above all, there’s been the thrill of F1’s most decorated driver joining F1’s most iconic team. Every time I went to the supermarket, a café or did the school run before flying to Melbourne people wanted to know if Lewis Hamilton was going to win in red. Well at least that’s one question we can answer already.
Starting the season in Australia feels right to me. Bahrain is a lovely place with hospitable people, great facilities and an extremely well run Grand Prix, but the buzz of Albert Park with 460,000 people across the weekend really does get everyone in the mood for the season. And going from there to a jam-packed Sprint weekend in China with just one practice session has given us some early insight into how well the teams and drivers are doing.
