[Official] Bahrain Grand Prix 2022: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 1 of 22

[Born Racer]

The new dawn is finally upon us. The wait may have seemed interminable were it not for a spectacular 2021 season of Formula 1, which delivered thrills, spills, some excellent racing throughout the year (and some questionable), a titanic championship rivalry which featured a heightening sense of historical significance, as well as the typical dose of controversy, saved up for the final chapter.

Max Verstappen brought a Red Bull (and a non-Mercedes) back to drivers' championship success for the first time since Sebastian Vettel won for the Milton Keynes-based outfit in 2013, although Mercedes stretched an unbroken sequence of constructors' title victories which runs from 2014. This year, battle between both Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will presumably be resumed, and yet with the pandemic-postponed rule changes finally imposed, others may join the fray – Ferrari are too iconic and successful to not be quietly harbouring hopes, and we have seen how McLaren have re-emerged as a force, but we are just days away from discovering whether they or someone else can take it to the big guns, or if the innovation and consistency of the established winning entities will topple all.

The sense of anticipation is amplified by a spread of cars which look highly distinctive – swooping noses, shrink-wrapped-looking sidepods, flat, straight surfaces, cooling bulges, gills – each team is vying for its own solution to the restrictions, and in the process maybe coming up with a spark of brilliance and overcoming the plans of the rule-makers, or disappearing down a blind alley. How quickly an established philosophy emerges and how rapidly they can respond to that will determine who comes out where in the overall results; Mercedes look on the back foot to some already, but we have seen this before.

What is more, drivers and observers have been tentatively noting the cars' capacities for close following through corners – could we finally rid ourselves of the 'dirty air' problem on a large scale?

Another element to watch will be the amount of 'porpoising' seen since the return to ground effect.

The return of some much-missed events, Suzuka and Melbourne, and the arrival of newcomer Miami, add their own interest.

Once we get going this weekend, the season will again be rather relentless, ending in November and springing into life with this double-header, as the second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is lined up for next weekend.


The rules

One of the intentions behind the new rules was to create a car with a focus on ground effect, with underfloor tunnels, and a reduction in 'dirty air.' A narrower wake, flicked upwards with the aid of a steeper diffuser ramp, was sought with the approach to rear wings, while it was hoped that front wings would prevent a major outwash. The addition of over-front-wheel winglets was designed to divert the wake away from the rear wing.

Tyres have bulged from 13 to 18 inches, while maximum heat in tyre blankets drops from 100 to 70 degrees Celsius in the fronts and from 80 to 70 in the rears.

In addition, the budget cap has got lower and the spread of CFD and wind tunnel restrictions across the teams has become wider.

Of particular interest to many following the maelstrom of Abu Dhabi will be the following tweak to Article 55.13: 'If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message 'LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE' has been sent to all Competitors using the official messaging system, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the Safety Car.'

There are various other changes, but a final one to mention here is that all teams must run a rookie at least twice during Friday FP1. They must have made fewer than three Grands Prix starts and teams can use one or two drivers if they wish.


Teams and drivers

New world champion Max Verstappen continues on a newly-signed long-term deal with Red Bull, while Sergio Pérez enters his second season there. Pérez had flashes of decent performance last year, but a series of mishaps and reliability issues hamstrung his season somewhat, so he will be looking to string together a more consistent season.

The relentless Lewis Hamilton is still hunting Championship Number 8 at Mercedes, but a compelling battle with new team-mate George Russell should ensue.

Over at Ferrari, the car has looked highly promising (and beautiful) in testing, with a closely-matched pairing in Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, while Mr Consistency, Lando Norris, who excelled in 2021 might, like Sainz, expect to see a maiden win in 2022. Daniel Ricciardo, who has not had the smoothest pre-season, faces his time to assert himself as a consistent competitor of Lando's. The new rules will hopefully give him the chance to show that.

Over at Alpine, the wily Fernando Alonso is looking as hungry as ever, and forms a solid partnership with Esteban Ocon, riding on the crest of a wave after his win and strong showing last season. Another driver on the up is Pierre Gasly, who has firmly buried his tricky Red Bull experience and become an accomplished and highly consistent performer at AlphaTauri. Yuki Tsunoda was, on the other hand, highly inconsistent last year. He needs more than flashes of speed this time.

Over at Aston Martin, Lance Stroll did not shame himself at all last year, and stacked up okay against four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. The jury is still out on the car, but they had their moments last year. Vettel, currently sidelined with Covid, will be replaced by Nico Hülkenberg.

Everyone's second-favourite team (and of course, many people's first), Williams, seems to be on the ascendancy, although pre-season testing has not run completely to plan. Nicholas Latifi has had some decent showings, looking particularly lifted when the performance of the car has been better, and he may yet demonstrate something a bit more, freed from the tough challenge that was having George Russell as a team-mate. The highly popular and positive Alex Albon gets another chance and the team rates him highly.

Alfa Romeo blew hot and cold last year, but mostly cold. This is another team with a tough pre-season behind it, but Valtteri Bottas has been around the block and seems highly up for the challenge, rather than fazed by no longer being in a championship-winning car. There are question marks about his ability to race his way up, though. He will be intent on silencing them. He forms an intriguing partnership with the only rookie, Guanyu Zhou, the first Chinese driver to race in the series.

Finally rid of the useless Nikita Mazepin, Haas can set about showing they had previously been a decent racing team. Mick Schumacher has a good yardstick in Kevin Magnussen, a known quantity and fesity racer. Haas have been concentrating on this season for some time, so let us hope that Gunther Steiner's expletives are reserved more for moments of joy than of frustration.


Trivia

Of the current drivers, only Fernando Alonso competed in the inaugural outing in 2004.

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Bahrain, with five wins.

Hamilton is tied with Sebastian Vettel on poles here (three apiece).

Of the current drivers, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Sergio Pérez (in the Sakhir Grand Prix) have taken victory here.

Vettel becomes the fifth driver to miss a Grand Prix due to Covid after current team-mate Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Pérez and Kimi Räikkönen. This is the third occasion that Nico Hülkenberg will stand in for one of those (after Pérez and Stroll, all at the same team, albeit this time not in its Racing Point guise).

This also means that eight of the twenty drivers on the grid have had Covid during their Formula 1 career, Charles Leclerc twice (the others are Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly).

The Bahrain Grand Prix is one of three Grands Prix that McLaren has yet to win (the others being Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan).

Seven of the sixteen races have been won from pole, yet never has the Grand Prix been won from lower than 4th on the grid (although race winner Pérez qualified 5th for the Sakhir Grand Prix).

Three different layouts have been used for a Grand Prix at the track – the 5.412km 'Grand Prix' circuit, used this time and in most races, the 6.299km 'Endurance' circuit, appearing in 2010, and the 3.543km 'Outer' circuit, put into action for the Sakhir Grand Prix.

On taking victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix, Sergio Pérez became the only person to take an F1 win having been last at the end of Lap 1.

With Turn 1 being named after Michael Schumacher, Mick Schumacher is the only current driver to drive on a circuit with a corner bearing his name.

Exactly half of the drivers have won Grands Prix – Verstappen, Pérez, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Ocon, Alonso, Leclerc, Gasly and Bottas and 16 of the 20 have finished in a podium placing (add Russell, Norris, Stroll, Sainz and Albon to the list).


The History

The first Bahrain Grand Prix was won by eventual seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher from his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button in his BAR. In 2005, the forthcoming new champion Fernando Alonso took the spoils. Schumacher had run off the track in his pursuit of the Renault driver and soon retired with a hydraulic problem, bringing his run of 58 races without a mechanical retirement to an end. Race day also brought the hottest conditions yet seen at a Grand Prix, with 41.9 degree and 56 degree air and track temperatures.

Alonso again had the measure of Schumacher the following year, overturning Schumacher's lead during the pit stops. Bahrain hosted the season's curtain raiser this time, the first race for both the 2.4-litre V8s and for the Q1, Q2 and Q3 qualifying system. Perhaps most memorably, Kimi Räikkönen came a cropper in Q1 with a rear wishbone failure, failing to set a time, and charging through in the race to 3rd on a one-stop strategy.

Felipe Massa won in his Ferrari in 2007, with Lewis Hamilton 2nd in the McLaren. Kimi Räikkönen was 3rd for the third successive season, this time in a Ferrari. Alonso, Räikkönen and Hamilton all left the race equal on points after three Grands Prix. Hamilton also became the first person to ever take a podium in his first three F1 races.

Massa won again in 2008 from Räikkönen, with pole-sitter Robert Kubica completing the podium for BMW-Sauber. Hamilton drove into the back of Alonso and ended up a lap down.

In 2009, Toyotas locked out the front row of the grid for the first time, with Jarno Trulli on pole and Timo Glock second. Glock took the lead at the first corner, but it was Jenson Button who won for Brawn from fourth on the grid. In 2010, Bahrain had the season opener for the second time and Alonso led home a Ferrari 1-2, where for one occasion only, as it turned out, the Grand Prix used the longer 6.299 km Endurance layout. By taking victory, Alonso became the seventh and most recent driver to win on his debut for the Prancing Horse.

In 2011, a month before it was due to be held, the Bahrain Grand Prix was postponed (and later cancelled) following the Bahraini protests, returning the following season and seeing the first of two successive Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull victories (and two identical podia – with Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean second and third for Lotus both times), before Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes took two in a row in 2014 and 2015. In the first of those two years, there was a particularly thrilling duel between team-mates Hamilton and Rosberg, with some hard and close racing, the event at which Pastor Maldonado tipped Esteban Gutiérrez into a roll.

In 2016, the fairly unanimously unpopular qualifying format which saw a car eliminated every 90 seconds was used for the second and last time. Eventual world champion Rosberg won, and there was a first corner collision between Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, while Sebastian Vettel didn't even make the grid, thanks to an engine failure. Hamilton managed to get back to third.

The following year, Bottas took pole early in his Mercedes career, but Vettel won in the Ferrari from Hamilton and his team-mate.

In 2018, Max Verstappen, making his way up from 15th on the grid, tangled with Lewis Hamilton, who had fallen to 10th, puncturing his left rear. Kimi Räikkönen collided with Ferrari's Francesco Cigarini, breaking the crew member's tibia and fibula, after his team's pit light changed to green early. Bottas harried leader Vettel, but didn't make it past. They finished like that, with Hamilton in third. Pierre Gasly claimed his first points and Honda's best finish since their return, with an excellent 4th place.

In 2019, Charles Leclerc secured his maiden pole position, but was beaten away off the line by Vettel and Bottas. He got back in the lead, however, but lost likely victory when he lost a cylinder. Vettel was pursued by Hamilton, who got by, causing Vettel to spin on his own. Hamilton won, followed by Bottas and the hapless Leclerc.

2020's race was originally scheduled for March, but was postponed and eventually placed in November in a double-header with the Sakhir Grand Prix, the latter of which would use the outer loop configuration.

Romain Grosjean collided with Daniil Kvyat on the opening lap and managed to extricate himself from his fireball accident after going through the barrier. On the restart, Kvyat again had a crash, this time with Lance Stroll, with the Racing Point driver rolling over (the second time a driver has rolled over in the Bahrain Grand Prix, along with Gutiérrez). Hamilton won from Verstappen and Albon, with Sergio Pérez retiring with flames coming from his car, after an engine failure on Lap 54, while in 3rd.

In the Sakhir race a week later, Pérez would make amends by winning, after an opening-lap accident that eliminated Leclerc and Verstappen and put the Racing Point driver at the back. This win occurred after Mercedes driver George Russell, who was replacing Hamilton due to Covid, hit problems. Russell had made a sensational getaway off the line from 2nd on the grid to take the lead. However, during a pit stop, he was sent out on Bottas's tyres and had to come back in to change them. He later acquired a puncture too and it seemed that if it could fall apart for him, it did fall apart. He nonetheless put a great move on Bottas to get past him. Pérez claimed his maiden win (still without a drive for 2021) and broke the record for the number of Grands Prix before the first victory, with Esteban Ocon 2nd for Renault and Stroll 3rd for Racing Point. Russell scored his first points, in 9th, though that was scarce compensation.

Last year, Verstappen backed up Red Bull's testing promise by taking pole, but was beaten to the win by Hamilton after an audacious pass on the Mercedes driver at Turn 4 was deemed to have been off-track. The team ordered him to hand back the place, and thereafter he couldn't catch Lewis, ending up in the runner-up spot, while Bottas was a distant 3rd. Lando Norris impressed at McLaren in 4th, while Yuki Tsunoda was somewhat disappointed on his debut in 9th.


The track



On this configuration, after the start-finish straight and DRS Detection Zone 1, Turn 1 is a right-hand hairpin, while the gentle left-hand 2 feeds into a small right-hander which just takes drivers onto the next straight (with DRS activation). Turn 4 is a slightly off-camber right, after a crest, while the 5, 6 and 7 left-right-left challenges the downforce. Turn 8 is another right-hand hairpin.

DRS detection can be attained at the end of the next straight, just before the tricky Turns 9 and 10. Drivers go left through 9 and have to brake while turning, making it easy to lock up the unloaded tyre. 10 is a tighter left. The next straight can see DRS activation, before increased gradient and a change in style for the remainder of the lap.

There is a long left-hander in 11, before the flat-out right at 12. 13 is a tighter right and the start of Sector 3. DRS Detection Zone 3 is at the end of the next straight and the lap ends with the 90-degree right of 14 and its extension at the end of 15. The DRS activation will be on the next straight.


Other information

Circuit length: 5.412km
Number of laps: 57
Race distance: 308.238km
Race Lap Record: 1:31.447 (Pedro de la Rosa - McLaren-Mercedes - 2005)
Dry weather tyre compounds: C1, C2 & C3
First Bahrain Grand Prix: 2004

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