F1 2024: Get Up To Speed Before the First Race of the Season

The 2024 Formula 1 season is finally upon us! This Saturday, the Bahrain Grand Prix will ring in a new year of open-wheel action, but a lot has happened since the 2023 season concluded in December. Team names have changed, key personnel have been canned, and plenty of teams are hoping that this is the year they'll be blessed by Lady Luck.

If you haven't stayed on top of the ever-changing F1 landscape during the break, don't worry—we're here to get you up to speed with the most important news, the storylines to watch, and the channels you'll need to tune in.

When the racing stops in F1, the news grind usually slows up with it, but the same can't be said for 2024. This is what you need to know ahead of Bahrain.

First and foremost, there are two new team names on the F1 grid, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and Visa Cash App RB F1 Team. The former is the team we used to call Alfa Romeo, which has since shed its red-white-and-black livery for some bold neon green. The team wants you to call it «Team Kick» or «Team Stake» depending on the livery it'll wear during a race weekend, but you'll most likely hear the team referred to as Sauber. 

AlphaTauri, too, has evolved into its next form with the ultra-sponsored Visa Cash App RB F1 Team. Internally, team personnel are referring to the Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda-led team as «VCARB,» but during pre-season testing, commentators seemed committed to referring to it as «RB.» 

All has not been well at VCARB's sister team, as Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has spent several weeks under investigation for alleged inappropriate conduct. As a result of an investigation carried out by a third party, Red Bull has dismissed those allegations. However, just one day after being exonerated, an anonymous email containing images of alleged conversations between Horner and his former personal assistant was divulged to journalists, F1 team bosses, and even the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. This is a storyline we'll definitely see more of over the weekend.

The MoneyGram Haas F1 Team might look the same on the surface, but expect this outfit to adopt a much different vibe in 2024; former team principal Guenther Steiner