With the Malaysian Grand Prix fresh in our minds the circus moves onto Bahrain to complete the first back-to-back races of the new season.
From the overwhelming heat and humidity in Malaysia to the dry heat in the desert surroundings of Bahrain international circuit, it will be another huge test of the new power plants, fifty seven laps in the desert.
Will this be the the test that breaks the impressive, if quiet, power plants (engines to those old school motor racing fans)? Will the turbos be affected by the sand in the air? How will the new specification tires react to the conditions? How will the drop in temperature as night falls affect the cars and their engines? All will be revealed in a few days time.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir International Circuit but it will be somewhat different from the previous nine, in that it will be a twilight event starting at sunset and finishing in the darkness of the desert, with the only brightness coming from the many flood lights surrounding the circuit.
This puts it on a par with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hopefully this will add something to the race, which is in my opinion is another on a homogenized circuit with none of the rich history and flavour of other race tracks around the world. The other circuits grew more naturally and formed using the landscape around them, rather than the modern circuits that seem to have been dropped on a piece of land much like a child would drop a slot car track on the living room floor.
The plus side for the teams will be that two of the three pre-season tests took place in Bahrain so the they should have plenty of data to plan their race strategy. They will need this as there are still many variables with so many changes to the cars, engines and the new race schedule.
It will be of no surprise to any that last years winner was Sebastian Vettel and with the success of his third place finish in Malaysia still fresh in his mind I’m sure that he will fancy his chances of another win. However, a podium finish is probably more likely. His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo will take a ten place grid penalty from the last race into Bahrain, and his luck surely has to change at some point.
As the pace of the Mercedes duo shows no sign of diminishing and with no chance to return to base, development will be on a much smaller scale, we will have to wait until the first European race in Barcelona to see any major upgrades from the teams. This being said once you are ahead in the development race as Mercedes clearly are, it would take one almighty effort and a fair amount of luck to leapfrog them.
Without any huge disasters for Mercedes I can’t see any other team or engine supplier winning or taking big points. With their more than impressive pre-season tests and a fantastic start to the season as Nico Rosberg won in Australia, and Lewis Hamilton won last time out in Malaysia with Rosberg just eighteen seconds behind. It gave the team it’s first one-two result since 1955, and another first and second finish is surely on the cards in Bahrain.
McLaren should continue their resurgence with Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen proving a strong partnership. The return of Ron Dennis seemingly breathing fresh air into the Woking team.
Williams and force India should also do well here as they run the same Mercedes power plant but I expect Ferrari’s impressive driver line up to compensate for the teams deficiencies.
From Bahrain we move onto China then back to Europe for the Barcelona Grand Prix and all the upgrades the teams will bring to the race. We will find out whether Red Bull, Williams Ferrari and McLaren can close the gap to the silver arrows Mercedes team before the jewel in Formula 1’s crown, the Monaco Grand Prix.
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