Welcome to the discussion thread for the 2021 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix.
A new Formula One season dawns, as the teams return to Sakhir for the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix. The paddock has become very familiar with location, and it will be the first time in history that three F1 races were held at the same venue in the space of four events. It will also mark Pirelli's 400th race weekend supplying tyres to the F1 grid.
It has become a challenging venue for teams to set up the car, largely due to just one of the three practice sessions being at night, presenting little chance for running in representative conditions. Another challenge for the teams comes from being in the middle of a desert, with the circuit being prone to gusty conditions. The balanced circuit characteristics should be a good test of the teams' new challengers, with the abrasive asphalt and rear-limited nature of the layout sure to test their tyre management.
This weekend is unsurprisingly set to be dry, however the teams could be in for a bit of unpredictability nonetheless. Gusts of wind between 40 and 50 kilometres per hour are predicted to affect running on both Saturday and Sunday night. Temperatures on race day are set to be slightly cooler, which should see the softer tyre compounds work a little better than earlier on in the weekend.
This year of course sees quite a few changes up and down the grid, with the old Racing Point team being rebranded as Aston Martin Racing, while Renault have chosen to bring the historic Alpine name to Formula One. Only Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and Williams will feature unchanged driver lineups this season. There is no doubt that F1's new rookies in Yuki Tsunoda, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will be keen to prove their worth. The latter two should provide a particularly exciting battle given they will both be at the wheel of a Haas. It will also be interesting to see how Fernando Alonso gets on at Alpine, as he returns to the F1 grid after a two year hiatus.
As nobody truly shows their hand at testing, it is difficult to predict what kind of a grid and race we could be looking at. What is clear however is that there seems to be very little between the midfield runners, with perhaps just a couple of tenths between the teams likely to place from 4th to 8th. McLaren demonstrated that they made a big step over the winter, with Red Bull enjoying strong testing form also. However, there can be no doubt that reigning world champions and record breakers, Mercedes, will be the team everyone wants to beat come Sunday.
chng.it
