Damon Hill has named a surprise winner of Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix expecting a ‘surprise’ that will stop current world champion Max Verstappen.
The 2024 Formula 1 season is about to get underway and excitement is already building among racing fans.
Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Damon Hill shared who he thinks will be on the podium and raised a few eyebrows.
Hill names surprise winner of Bahrain Grand Prix
After months of developing their cars behind the scenes over the winter, every team returned to the paddock last week for pre-season testing.
Nine teams were waiting with bated breath to see if the quite radical changes Red Bull had made were going to work.
When the chequered flag flew over day one of testing, Max Verstappen ended the day more than a second ahead of his nearest rival.
Now, you can’t read a huge amount into the timings of pre-season, but it’s well-established that they’re the fastest team in F1 once again.
However, Damon Hill doesn’t think the Dutchman is going to be the winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix and instead names a different driver.
It would be a huge shock if the Dutch national anthem isn’t once again playing at the end of the race.
But, any opportunity to open up the championship at this early stage would be good for Formula 1.
Hill makes outrageous prediction ahead of opening race
Asked to name the top three finishers on Saturday, Hill said: “My podium for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening race of the 2024 season is as follows.
“In reverse order, Fernando Alonso and then the next is going to be Checo Perez.
“And then the winner is going to be, a totally stunned world is going to see…Lewis [Hamilton] is going to win it and that’s because both Red Bulls have sprung a leak and they’ve overheated or got some sort of technical problem they didn’t realise was going to happen.
“And that’s not wishful thinking, I just think we’re going to get a surprise result at least I hope!”
Hill suggesting Lewis Hamilton is going to be the winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix is a huge shout.
Mercedes have looked good in pre-season but have not been close to the pace of Red Bull and may even be behind Ferrari.
With Hamilton’s future already sealed for 2025, he would love to start his final year with Mercedes on the front foot.
And while Sergio Perez had a few reliability issues in pre-season, it’s hard to see Verstappen not winning the first Grand Prix of the year.
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