F1: Bahrain Grand Prix Preview

[Rory Phoulorie]

Wednesday 11th April 2007

Back to back GP weekends can be tough for the teams even when they're in Europe, but when they're the other side of the world it's a real strain on logistics. From Malaysia we move to Bahrain and another of Hermann Tilke's recent circuits.

Thankfully, there were no costly accidents in Sepang and so all the major changes will be to race engines as almost the entire field gets their second engine unit of the season.

The circuit in Bahrain is less of a mystery these days as apart from racing here for several years the teams have been testing over winter. Last year it was the opening race on the calendar and saw one of the most fraught Qualifying sessions after Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren suspension failed going down through turns 9 and 10.

The rear wing peeled off proceeding to drop Mclaren spart parts between Turns 9 and 10. Despite having a terminally damaged car - the rear wheel hanging off - Raikkonen proceeded to drive it on three wheels all the way back to the pits doing all kinds of damage to his chassis floor (when all he needed to do was park it).

The session was immediately red-flagged with four minutes 34 seconds left on the clock, and cars returned to their garages for the track to be cleared of carbon fibre.

The majority of the drivers couldn't set a time and so with just 4.34 left, 13 drivers needed to get out on the track. So when the session was green-lighted again there was a queue at the pitlane exit similar to the M25 on a Friday night.

Things haven't been quite so busy in Qualifying 1 since, but the abrupt downhill turns of 9 and 10 are still two of the most interesting in F1.

Fernando Alonso comes into the race with a small World Championship lead over Raikkonen, but with no real prospect of running away as he did in 2006. Because the teams haven't had time to test in between races, the situation is likely to be very much as it was in Sepang with Ferrari and McLaren at the front.

The two major differences between Melbourne and Sepang were firstly that Ferrari, Renault and BMW had to amend the stiffness of their floors, making them less competitive in relation to the McLaren team. This hurt Renault the most, though they clearly don't want to admit it.

The 'strange and complex Bridgestone tyres' were blamed as the reason for their sudden drop in pace, but Toyota driver Jarno Trulli blew the gaff on that one. He pointed out that it was relatively easy to get the Bridgestone tyres to work in Malaysia because the circuit was very abrasive and the track temperature was so hot. What Trulli wasn't looking forward to was a cold race where it really would be difficult to get some grip.

Mclaren's greater understanding of how the Bridgestone tyres work is the second reason for their improvement relative to Ferrari.

So on the strength of the last race it is probably Alonso favourite to make it two races in a row, with Lewis Hamilton acting as the Ferrari filter behind him. Felipe Massa's ineptitude in getting past Hamilton in Sepang probably owes more to the fact that F1 drivers hardly ever overtake.

If you think about it, Lewis Hamilton made more overtaking moves during the course of the epic 2006 Turkish GP2 race than an F1 driver attempts in two seasons of racing. Similarly when it comes to outbreaking manoeuvres, Lewis had plenty of practice in 2006 while Felipe was honing his skills at lapping quickly and passing people during the pitstops.

Kimi Raikkonen will be anxious to make sure Alonso doesn't get too far ahead, but at the same time, will be just as keen to stay ahead of Massa. He knows that two or three more races like Melbourne and Sepang and he will get Jean Todt's undivided attention.

BMW need to get more reliability into their programme - though Robert Kubica was still circulating at the end of the Malaysian race effectively they've had two finishes out of four this year which isn't good enough. However for Heidfeld to keep a Ferrari behind him for so long was an achievement in itself.

Renault have reliability, they just don't have speed. Toyota think that they were unusually quick in Malaysia and will sink back (nice to see Jarno Trulli admitting it and not lost in PR speak) in Bahrain.

The jokers in the pack so far have been Williams and Red Bull. But whereas Webber starts strongly and fades, Nico Rosberg has been very impressive in both two races. Last year he had a demon debut at Bahrain and a repeat performance will keep up the Williams' team's momentum. However Alex Wurz needs to qualify better than he is doing.

Honda are likely to have another nightmare, Super Aguri should embarrass them again and Spyker will be stone cold last.

It's only the third race of the season, but already there are a few drivers with something to prove. We can safely count Lewis Hamilton out of that list.

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