[akash_v12]

The second of the 2 races in the Bahrain International Circuit, this time on the Outer Layout is the Sakhir Grand Prix. This race is a late-nighter (IST), kicking off at 10:40 at night and finishing at 12:40 AM the next day.

The Outer Circuit is one of the three-layouts at Bahrain, the others being the Main track & the Endurance layout. Interestingly, Bahrain will have had a Grand Prix at the 2nd shortest (Endurance) as well as the 2nd Longest layout (Outer Circuit). The simulations on the circuit predict lap times under a minute due to the straights and fast-flowing nature of the circuit.

Here's an overview on both the alternate circuits.

F1's Bahrain Exploration Video

The past week was also filled with breaking news from all directions about driver changes, new signings etc.

For the race, Pirelli will continue with the C2, C3 & C4 Compounds as used in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

All Times IST

Driver Changes & The Driver Market

Driver Market

Schedule



Circuit





Tyre Choices

[Samir Taheer]

Would have been cool to have 3 DRS Zones in each sector.

Looking forward to Russel in the Merc - Bottas will have to bring his 'A' Game!

[RM Motorsports]

Lapping the outer layout of Sakhir Circuit in F1 safety car. At just 3.5km it is the shortest lap of the season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN5-uHeeEsA

[Cyborg]

What fun, someone else in Lewis’s car, under sad circumstances though, but it is what it is. An exiting weekend is hopefully on the cards.

Imagine IF George Russell beats Bottas on Sunday, what a story that will make for the kid.

This is also Max’s chance to show who is the top dog if Lewis is not around.

Cheers

[speedmiester]

This one will be a fun race and definitely we will see some good overtaking aided by DRS. If you have good top speed, you can forgo downforce as the track layout doesn't encourage any overtaking at the corners.

It's a low downforce high speed track, Redbull will not enjoy this track as they traditionally don't enjoy high speed circuit.

Williams may get their first points of the season if they can capitalize on their higher top speeds compared to Haas and AlphaTauri.

Looking forward to Sunday night.

[akash_v12]

FP1 & FP2 made for an interesting series of events. Here are my observations:

1. The track is extremely short, leading to constant traffic throughout the circuit.
2. The surface is highly abrasive with a good number of bumps.
3. Turns 6,7 & 8 seem to be toughest ones with many running wider than necessary.

Also, George is driving fantastically! For a guy who hadn't driven the complicated W11 even once before, achieving P1 with sub-60 second laps is quite an achievement. Goes to show the talent the kid has.

[deetjohn]

Well, what can I say!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2QkSUIO4L0&

Get in there, George!

And if the young Brit carries on like this over the race weekend, he is going to cost his fellow countryman a few million quid in his next contract.

[DeathPig]

I can't help but feel sorry for the Catch 22 situation Bottas finds himself in. If he beats George, no big deal as it's expected out of him. He's been in that seat for four years (God, has it been that long already), and to know the machinery in and out is something that will be expected out of a long time driver in a top team such as Mercedes.

On the other hand, if he fails to beat Russell, then Mercedes might (and should) rip up his contract. Bottas has a weird headspace and it is extremely difficult for him to dominate an entire weekend, something that the racing leviathan that is Lewis can do so with utter ease at times. I pray for his future he can do better today, but we'll know what happens in a few hours.

I've already seen a few posts on social media, one faction about how this shows Hamilton is just Shamilton and it's just the car, another about how Russell should replace Lewis/Bottas, and yet more about why Bottas deserves to be kicked out and finally on why Lewis is overpaid. But one should not forget that the team and Lewis have grown together, and the seeds of the team laid by Brawn and Michael is what has become the team that has created the most advanced car of all time in the history of Formula 1.

[Yusha]

George is doing a good job for Mercedes but let’s not get bogged down by his pace. Bottas was faster than George in both the practice sessions but his fast lap was beaten by George and then his car’s bib got damaged and that was that.

In FP2 Bottas’ fastest lap was deleted for track limit violation. That deleted lap was, I think, 2 tenth faster than Russell’s time. I doubt GR is going to out qualify Bottas. This race should be won by Bottas.

Mercedes is in trouble in this race. The RPs and the Renaults are pretty fast on the straights.

[F150]

I dont know which is the right conclusion to make.
Mercedes car is too good that a good driver can be on top of the charts
OR
George Russel is as quick as Hamilton.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by DeathPig

I've already seen a few posts on social media, one faction about how this shows Hamilton is just Shamilton and it's just the car, another about how Russell should replace Lewis/Bottas, and yet more about why Bottas deserves to be kicked out and finally on why Lewis is overpaid. But one should not forget that the team and Lewis have grown together, and the seeds of the team laid by Brawn and Michael is what has become the team that has created the most advanced car of all time in the history of Formula 1.

Another part to be tested is strategic thinking and tyre management. Hamilton has been outstanding in these areas. Managing tyres in order to gain a huge time advantage, then taking on a pitstop with reduced impact on the lead. Also, analysing competitor moves and striking at the right time. We saw that in Turkey

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by F150

I dont know which is the right conclusion to make.
Mercedes car is too good that a good driver can be on top of the charts
OR
George Russel is as quick as Hamilton.

The right perspective could be George (even without any real time in the Mercedes) is better than Bottas. Quite a few times Verstappen is better than Bottas inspite of being in the Red Bull. George’s pace in the car right now indicates he is a better driver than Bottas, nothing else. It’s not a reflection on Hamilton.

I don’t entertain the possibility of George being better than Hamilton without seeing it on the track.

I feel Bottas is managing to beat the others because of the car, his talent is nowhere near many other drivers on the grid.

Anyways, these are just practice times without any real pressure as such. Let’s see where George actually qualifies and his race start and pace.

Cheers

[DeathPig]

I believe the acid-test for Russell will come over the race distance specifically. The Mercedes has been renowned to chew up rubber, even though multiple iterations over the years have been able to partially solve this issue.

A key difference is performance between Bottas and Lewis comes in when the rubber starts to age. While Bottas has been simply nowhere in this region, Lewis manages to put in stunner after stunner every lap.

Russell has proven in every qualifying outing that he has the single lap pace. To maintain the car over the entire race distance might be more troublesome. However I have a feeling the young Brit is going to come out with flying colors even then, and we might see a deeply troubled Bottas come Sunday midnight (IST of-course) :P

[DeathPig]

Sorry for the double post, but as I'm unable to edit ( I guess I need to cross the 25 post mark to be able to), here's my 2 cents after watching the F2 race.

It was a good race, Tsunoda lost the lead off the line to Mazepin who had some pretty harsh defensive moves IMO. Similar to Schumacher Barrichello in Hungary a couple of times. Schumacher and Illot both scored 8 points so no change in the championship. Lots of overtaking

Also, There were some good overtaking moves on the outside of the long right hander before the chicane so might be something similar in F1 tomorrow. Q1 should be interesting with 20 cars and 50 odd seconds to separate them. I expect the beep-button guy will have to get his finger massaged by the time it's done.

[Tojo_GotBhp]

P1: Bottas
P2: Russell
P3: Verstappen

What Russel showed today was definitely impressive!

But, Boy oh Boy, Leclerc on his Q3 lap was incredible, he was extracting everything that was left in that Ferrari! Shows how good he is!

And wait! He's P4 on the grid!