Fans on social media have been quick to dive into Jeremy Clarkson’s gridwalk talk with Martin Brundle in Bahrain on Saturday, where he questioned the progress of teams during the off-season.
The latest F1 season got underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix, and the Grand Tour and former Top Gear presenter was among celebrities including Neymar and Patrice Evra at the opening race of the 2024 season.
As usual, Brundle approached various high-profile figures on the grid before the race started, including Clarkson, who was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming season.
Clarkson told Sky Sports: ‘I spent all of today looking at the lap times from last year to this year, and wondering – what have they all been doing over the winter?
‘The gaps, by and large, are the same. McLaren have gotten a little better, they are much closer to Max. It’s a strange thing to go from one year to the next, and for so little to have changed.’
Jeremy Clarkson’s gridwalk talk with Martin Brundle ahead of the Bahrain GP has gone viral
The Grand Tour presenter cheekily tipped Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey to win
When asked who he thought would win, Clarkson cheekily replied ‘Adrian Newey’, Red Bull’s chief technical officer.
Fans on social media were quick to comment on the latter point, with one writing ‘Clarkson knows what’s up. I wonder what commentary by him & the boys would be like.’
A second added: ‘Jeremy Clarkson saying he’s backing Adrian Newey to win is so real’, while a third simply wrote ‘man knows Wheel’ alongside a smiling face emoji.
It also proved to tell the story of the race, with Red Bull’s flying Dutchman dominating proceedings as he has done over previous F1 seasons.
Max Verstappen took pole position in Friday’s qualifying, and maintained the lead going into the first corner, before going on to seal the win 57 laps later.
His teammate Sergio Perez came in second, while Carlos Sainz won driver of the day for his performance in getting his Ferrari onto the podium, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc.
Dutchman Max Verstappen started on pole, and took his Red Bull to victory 57 laps later
Brundle called the text scandal surrounding Red Bull boss Christian Horner ‘very sad’
The race proved to be little distraction from the bigger story engulfing the Formula One world regarding Red Bull boss Christian Horner’s text scandal.
Speaking in the build-up to the Bahrain GP, Brundle said the situation was ‘very sad’, but expressed his fears that it was just the ‘beginning’ of the scandal.