Kevin Magnussen (P12): 7/10
Kevin Magnussen's performance in Bahrain was potentially one of the most intriguing of all. Haas won the wooden spoon in last year's constructors championship and the problem was always how the VF-23 ate its tyres in race trim. The team put in a lot of work on that aspect, completing the most laps of any team in last week's pre-season testing, at the expense of working on single lap pace. And on this early evidence, that approach is paying off. The new VF-24 looks lighter on its feet and consequently easier on its tyres, and Magnussen put in a calm and consistent performance that saw him running just outside the points, staying out of reach of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda for pretty much half the race. If Haas can find a way of adding some speed in the package then Haas might actually have something that can deliver results (and points). in 2024.
Zhou Guanyu (P11): 7.5/10
Zhou Guanyu didn't get off to the best of starts this weekend, finishing 15th in first practice and going backwards from there, duly missing the first cut in qualifying meaning he started behind his Sauber team mate Valtteri Bottas on the grid. But the race proved a different matter entirely, with a great start for the Chinese driver that saw him gain four places on the first lap, while Bottas dropped two spots in the other direction. Zhou opted for a slightly different strategy from the rest of the field, pitting early on lap 9 to ditch his initial softs and take on hard tyres for the rest of the race. Being off-sync meant he briefly cracked the top ten, but in the closing stint he found himself stuck behind the two Aston Martins and denied a point, which would have been a deserved reward for such a solid outing in a car yet to find its true level.
