by VALERIO BARRETTA
Red Bull starts as in 2023: two doubles
Winter is the time of hopes for those who have to chase in Formula 1. Hopes that find comfort in the simulator data, but which are often frustrated by reality, because every improvement in F1 must always be calculated in relation to what others do. And so, the teams who said they were largely (and rightly) satisfied with the winter progress they then collided with the reality of an even superior Red Bull. Perhaps less dominant in terms of margin over the competition (but with a project different from the others and with unexplored potential). For now, however, it's definitely a winner.
Digging into the Formula 1 archives, Red Bull set yet another record in Jeddah. In fact, no team in history had ever started two consecutive World Cups with two doubles: the Milton Keynes team achieved it in the two-year period 2023-2024 thanks to the 1-2 of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez between Sakhir and Jeddah.
The other initial doubles
These are the other years that started with at least two doubles from the same team.
| Year | Team | GP and order of arrival |
| 1953 | Ferrari | Argentina (Ascari-Villoresi), Holland (Ascari-Farina), Belgium (Ascari-Villoresi) |
| 1981 | Williams | Long Beach (Jones-Reutemann), Brazil (Reutemann-Jones) |
| 1992 | Williams | South Africa, Mexico, Brazil (Mansell-Patrese) |
| 1998 | McLaren | Australia, Brazil (Hakkinen-Coulthard) |
| 2019 | Mercedes | Australia (Bottas-Hamilton), Bahrain (Hamilton-Bottas), China (Hamilton-Bottas), Azerbaijan (Bottas-Hamilton), Spain (Hamilton-Bottas) |
| 2023 | Red Bull | Bahrain (Verstappen-Perez), Saudi Arabia (Perez-Verstappen) |
| 2024 | Red Bull | Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (Verstappen-Perez) |
As can be seen from the table, Ferrari succeeded only once, way back in 1953. It should be noted that between the Buenos Aires GP and the Zandvoort GP there was the Indianapolis 500 (at the time valid for the World Championship) . Unlike what happened in 1952, the Scuderia did not participate. The record of consecutive initial doubles, which appears unbeatable, was set in 2019 by Mercedes, who “killed” the season with five 1-2s signed by Hamilton-Bottas.
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