Hey folks, hello and welcome back to my channel! Like I said in the last episode, I’m starting a brand-new F1 2024 racing series on my YouTube channel. Today is Episode 2, and we’re driving the Bahrain GP.
We’ve kicked off this season in MyTeam Career with a new team. I’m not expecting too much because the AI difficulty is around 52, and with the kind of custom settings I’m running—ABS off and traction control heavily reduced—this can get pretty challenging.
As a newcomer team, my job is simply to bring the car home cleanly. First, you have to finish before you can go for a win. So today my focus is exactly that: can we complete the race properly? Let’s see how it goes. Stay tuned—I’m about to give you the full race review. Let’s jump straight into qualifying.
F1 24 Bahrain GP Qualifying (Short/One-Shot)
I’ve set this to short qualifying (one-shot). In one-shot quali, laps aren’t always perfect. I’m not an expert at the game yet, and all the new custom assists are basically off. It’s the first race, I don’t know how the car will handle or how stable it’ll be. Braking points will change. Earlier, I used to drive with full traction control and ABS on, which made things easy; I could even be competitive at 80–85 difficulty. But now, I think I’ll lose almost one and a half seconds just from the assists being off. So let’s see on track.
This is the first lap; I’ll try to push, but in qualifying, you usually only use one or two laps max. Also, there’s the parc fermé/tyre rule idea—basically, the tyres you set your fastest time on are the ones you must start the race with. So in qualifying, most people will only run one or two laps max.
First lap: a bit too deep in places, and that’s going to happen—like I said, I don’t have the braking points or brake feel figured out yet. I’m seeing frequent lockups. Here as well—locked up. The car’s new, it’s a new season, and we’re a fresh entrant to the F1 world. The real-world new teams join in 2026; I’m excited to see how ours performs in game. Another small lockup, but okay.
Good corner exit here—hopefully I can set a decent lap so I don’t have to go again. Went a little wide, but overall the lap still feels okay. I’m not expecting a pole. Little wide again—the braking points are still confusing me. After the last three corners, I think we should be good. 1:34 — not bad! I don’t think I can do better than this. Let’s see what the AI does; I’m expecting Max or Lando Norris to take pole.
Okay, you can see Charles Leclerc is topping it after the sim. We’re currently around there; the gap isn’t huge—about two-tenths off pole. For a new team, that’s not bad!
One thing, though: in these games I’ve noticed the opening race kind of calibrates your level, so it can feel a bit easier. Upcoming races can get tougher. Also, AI difficulty varies by track—some will feel easy, some will be a grind. Cars are track-dependent, too.
Let’s see where we end up. For now, we’re somewhere around the top five, which is a good sign, but I won’t get ahead of myself. Okay—final position: pretty good, about half a second off the pace. First race, I’m not expecting miracles. I just hope we can score at least one point. No crazy targets; set them too high and you invite disappointment.
F1 24 Bahrain GP Race Strategy & Formation Lap
Same race strategy as suggested—I don’t think I can achieve much by under-fueling. You can if you’re 100% confident you can manage it, but I’ll keep the tyre and fuel strategy as-is.
Formation lap: good time to warm tyres and brakes. Be careful—if you brake 100% here you’ll just lock up. Use gentle acceleration and gentle braking, gradually pressing/releasing. A single lockup can spin the car. I’m aiming to start and finish well from around P7; for a new team, that’s not bad. Let’s hope for a points finish.
Tyre temps: fronts 66–70°C—need a bit more heat. I tweaked the steering wheel settings (reduced sensitivity); it felt glitchy and too twitchy before. Now it’s a bit more stable. The grid is forming up—let’s hope we perform better in the race.
Race Start & Early Laps
Lights out and away we go! The start was a bit sluggish, as expected. Even the backmarkers are strong teams here. Decent exit—I’m just trying to maintain position. This isn’t our car’s track yet; smaller teams can overtake us. Nice corner exit—I’ve at least taken Russell. I think I can get Sainz too, but I need to be careful; a small mistake and you can lose your front wing or cause body damage. Be careful over kerbs too—too much kerb and the car can spin.
Tyre wear already looks like it won’t let me push for long, but I want to stay with the front runners to secure a strong finish. We’re about 0.8–1.0s ahead of the car behind. Remember, the AI brakes very early—you need to brake thoughtfully behind them. A 1:42.9 wasn’t bad for the phase, but it’s not a push lap. Up front, Leclerc and Verstappen are already side-by-side. The top five are settling in.
I went wide on a corner—not great, but I’m still with the front group. I don’t want to get into every fight yet; our car doesn’t have the pace. I tried once and paid for it—light contact up front, probably minor damage. Tried again, but I have to be careful; our car isn’t competitive enough to bully through. Track position is easy to lose because, compared to others, our performance is lower.
Still, I took the inside line and finally overtook Sainz—really good move. I’ll use ERS fully, but I know the Ferrari will be faster. I’m showing some competitiveness; I went a bit wide later. Sainz is around 0.2s behind; I won’t be able to hold him forever, but it was a nice overtake. If I can stick within DRS, maybe I can keep him behind for a bit. Tyre condition, though, isn’t great—our earlier contact probably hurt them.
We’re doing okay—gap to Sainz is around 0.5s, and we’re within DRS of the car ahead. Verstappen is going after Leclerc and pulls off a beautiful overtake. I’m just closely following; great battle up front. Good sign that I can keep up with the leaders for now, even sandwiched between two Ferraris at one point.
Car control is still tough—stability isn’t there, and I need to brake very smoothly. Tyres aren’t in great condition; the rear end is stepping out. Still trying to keep up. The lead group is slowly pulling away—Leclerc’s made about 1.2s. My plan is to keep Sainz behind and stay within DRS, but he’s already attacking. I run wide; tyre condition looks poor; my pit window is opening earlier than ideal. Easy overtake for Sainz there. I pull a switchback and get him back—nice! I’m trying hard to hold position, because P5 would be great for us. But I expect Sainz to come back, and Russell behind is also in the mix. Tight battles.
Mistake & Tyres Going Off
Five laps done; tyres are getting hammered—this track is tough on them. I overshot a braking zone, hit a bit of contact, and brushed the barrier—easy overtake for Piastri/another rival there (I lost positions). That was my mistake. The first half was strong, but the tyres are going off completely. It’ll be hard to hang on until the scheduled pit window. I’m feeling a lot of instability and understeer; Russell just breezed past. Alonso, too, maybe. I’m struggling to even get the car to the pits. Front-left and rear look cooked; still, I’m trying to stay within DRS of Russell to defend from cars behind.
We’re still within DRS and managing position, but the car is very hard to control. Tyres are already at ~40% wear on the front-left. I should probably box; another lap like this will be very difficult. Russell brakes very early at times; I nearly rear-ended him. Big time loss there. Battery almost empty; tyre wear 47%—the car’s stability is gone. I decide to box this lap (even though the plan said next lap). We’re still in Russell’s DRS, but I lock up badly again—major time loss, lost two positions, and now I’ve got front-wing damage. I have to change the front wing; I can’t continue without it.
Pit Stop & Rejoin
We’ve already lost several positions. Pit stop is 8.1 seconds—way too long, but with the wing change, it happens. We come out P19, basically out of the points. Very difficult now. We rejoin behind Ricciardo. I’ll need a super recovery drive to get back into the points.
I take Ricciardo on the inside—good overtake. Not sure if he’d already pitted. I’m still struggling with that tricky corner where it’s easy to lock the tyres in real life too. I’m trying not to lock up; because of that, I’m sometimes overshooting the apex. I bring the new tyres up to temperature; they’re getting there, and the grip is improving.
Next target: Stroll. He’s about a second up the road. I try to close under braking with DRS, but the AI brakes early into certain corners—if you don’t anticipate it, it’s easy to tag them. You saw that—I almost sent it, but backed out. I try again next corner, aiming for clean moves, because I don’t want to lose my front wing again. Tyres are good; I pick an inside line, a small tap on my front-left but no tyre damage. Managed to get past Stroll.
Midfield Train & Climbing Back
Next up, there’s a train of cars—until we clear them, we won’t have clean air. Realistically, our competition this season will be Haas or Kick Sauber; I’m not expecting to fight consistent midfield pace yet.
I close up and go side-by-side with the next car; who brakes later? I do, but I get tagged—lost the rear slightly when Tsunoda (the RB) clattered into me during an overtake attempt. Not huge damage, but both of us lost time. We’re still around P13–P16 in this phase.
I focus on Ocon next—if I can pass him, I can aim for the points. I’m within DRS, the gap dips to 0.5s. I have to clear him this lap or it’ll be hard to score. I go for the move—very aggressive, but I also leave space and make it stick. Car gets a bit loose on exit, but we’re through.
Next target: Gasly. It’s tough; I’m trying to keep it clean—sandwiched a couple of times, but I don’t want more contact. Lap times are improving; I’m closing on the front of this little group. I overcook a braking point once—locking tyres here is easy, and it kills them. Throttle application has to be super smooth—you’ll notice I’m rarely at 100% throttle at corner exit now.
Because our straight-line speed isn’t great, I can’t rely only on DRS; I look for outside-line opportunities where the AI tends to cover the inside. I stay right on Gasly—get into DRS again, lose the rear briefly, but keep it together. I consider a risky outside move, then think better of it. Fuel looks good—we’ve saved about one lap. ERS is on medium deploy; the battery’s not full, so overtaking won’t be easy.
I try a late-braking lunge on Gasly—too aggressive. Disaster. We both lose out; I get a minor damage warning, but nothing major. Still, we drop back to P13. My mistake. No excuses.
Late-Race Push for Points
We reset and go again. There are five laps left—can we still get a point? I clear the next car (Stroll/Tsunoda) at the same corner I used earlier. We’re up to P12, and now I’m hunting the final points position. Side-by-side moments with Tsunoda again; we both get DRS, but I brake late and take the corner cleanly. Great battle for P10, the last point. I bump wheels once—have to be super careful now; I need that point.
On the next DRS straight, I finally breeze past and take P10… wait, timing shows we’re effectively P11 because Ocon is three seconds up the road. We still need to pass Ocon to lock the point. Only 3–4 laps left—tough task. At least we’ve cleared Tsunoda and built about 3 seconds on him. Braking remains tricky at a few corners—too much brake and I lock; too little and I overshoot.
I push hard. It’s been a tough race; we could have finished higher—P5 was possible without mistakes. But for a new team, I was thinking P18–P19; the fact that we’re fighting for points in the opening race is a good sign for the season.
I overshoot again once and nearly wreck the front wing—saved it. I’m around 1.0–1.6s off Ocon, depending on the sector. Straight-line speed isn’t our strength, but I’m chipping away, leaning on late braking and careful trail braking. By Lap 18/20, I’m just outside DRS—I need to get within a second.
Finally, I dip into the DRS window behind Ocon. I don’t want to take crazy risks now. Remember: the AI brakes early—if you dive without planning, you’ll bump them. I stay patient and look for the corner where the AI tends to run slightly wide—I’ve used this spot for moves before. I get the run, line it up, leave space, and complete the pass. We move into P10.
Final Laps & Defence
This final point won’t be easy to keep—Ocon fights back with DRS. We go side-by-side—clean, respectful racing. I hold the inside where needed and keep it tidy. My tyres are starting to give up because we pitted early, but I manage them through the key corners. I open up a 1.5–2.0s gap to Ocon.
Last lap: keep it clean. One small mistake and the final point is gone. I’m careful at the critical corners—no barrier, no spins. Gap to Ocon hovers around 2 seconds. Final corner: clean exit.
Race over. Great race. We finally secured a P10 and one point!
F1 24 Bahrain GP Post-Race
Super tough race—considering our car’s performance level, we should have been at the back and not expected to finish in the points. But we managed it with damage, a long stop, and a recovery drive. Driver of the Day goes to Kevin Magnussen. Well deserved.
Exciting first weekend—let’s make the next one even better. More action coming soon. The loudest noise is music. 🎵
Greetings! I am the voice behind the thoughts presented on Synched Harmony. As an ordinary individual, I strive to live a life dedicated to achieving inner peace and serenity by cultivating harmony within and making difficult aspects of life work together in sync during tough phases of life. Life becomes much easier if we open ourselves to small changes and respect each other’s personal boundaries, creating space for shared happiness.