Official 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[The Hypno-Toad]

Ok, I’ll put my head above the battlements.

Hamilton has looked bored from when the car was unveiled. Maybe he’ll get more into it when the flag drops, maybe he won’t but he’s going to quit at the end of the year.

Williams will be quicker than Haas and Alfa Romeo.

Aston Martin won’t be as competitive as Racing Point at the start of the season but will get quicker as the year goes on.

Alpine.... if that radical engine/radiator set up works they will be right up there. If not Fred will get very bored , very quickly and we all know how that ends up.

Ferrari will be better than last year but not right at the front. Carlos & Charles could get a bit tasty. I don’t buy all this they are BFFs bks.

Alpha Tauri will be a big surprise, I think they will be the Racing Point of 2021. Will be interesting how Honda will handle engine distribution if Tsounda is as quick as he looks.

McLaren will be third fastest with nothing to choose between Norris & Riccardo.

Red Bull and Max could well nick it. Perez is going to have to be very much on it if he is going to keep up.

And we’re back to Merc. Bottas will try hard but I think last year showed that he isn’t a regular race winner if Lewis doesn’t turn up or if the car/circuit is tricky. If Lewis come out of his funk he’ll probably win it again. But if he’s lost his mojo then I wouldn’t like to predict who’s going to win the drivers championship.

[BrettMRC]

My thoughts:

Grid will be VER, HAM, PER

Race will be HAM, NOR, RIC (because Perez and Verstappen will have a coming together)

[Targarama]

I don't really rate Perez, he always seems to come together with team mates. Redbull chose him as the new Weber. I think Hamilton will get his mojo back once racing, he loves racing. I predict Aston Martin will go backwards compared to last season, but happy to be wrong.

So for me it will be Verstappen & Hamilton tussling for poles with McLaren getting a nose in now and then.

Oh, I forgot Bottas, he will pick up the pieces and maybe get a few poles but get overtaken by the above two in all the races assuming all cars and drivers are working as designed.

[seymourski]

I was watching the testing coverage and saw a stat for Valtteri Bottas - 9 career F1 wins - Lewis Hamilton scored more wins in one season. I like Valtteri but this stat says it all.

[CustardOnChips]

It could go a few ways.

We could see a battle up fron between Lewis and Max, Mercedes and Redbull for the WDC and WCC. Bottas and Perez might race for 3rd and 4th.

However over the course of a season I can't see Redbull and Max beating Lewis and Mercedes.
Realistically max needs to win 9 or 10 races to beat Lewis. And we've yet to see how Max's temperament will hold up under pressure.

Perez is simply there to mop up constructors points and make life difficult for Mercedes by Redbull splitting strategies. There is no way he will be allowed to challenge Max. Absolutely none.

Bottas will qualify on pole a few times and win a couple of races. But ultimately will be miles away at the end of the season and will be used to cover of Redbull strategy.

Alternatively we could see a resurgent Ferrari and another step forward from Mclaren.
This could mean Ferrari, Redbull and Mclaren all taking points off each other, leaving Mercedes to disappear off into the sunset.

I can't see AT, Alpine or Aston regularly challenging the top order. However there will be the odd track/conditions that suit their car. Then of course they will get lucky when something crazy happens. Seb and Alonso will crash a few times, wich will provide plenty of entertainment.

Williams, Haas and AR will continue to be mobile chicanes.

[SturdyHSV]

I'm going to go ludicrously bold on quali predictions and say:

1 HAM 1:27.200
2 BOT 1:27.250
3 VER 1:28.000
4 RIC 1:28.350
5 PER 1:28.400
6 LEC 1:28.500

[Muzzer79]

Looking forward to it.

My thoughts

Hamilton usually doesn't start the season particularly well (relatively speaking) He's only won the first race twice in his whole F1 career

Verstappen and the Red Bull looks fast. Perez doesn't seem too far behind.

Mclaren look OK. Alpine seem solid, along with Alpha Tauri.

Ferrari seem to have moved a little forward but still work to do.

I'm going for Verstappen on pole, then the race as

1st: Verstappen
2nd: Bottas
3rd: Ricciardo

Bit of a lottery though, as always for the 1st race

[M5-911]

Battle between Redbull and McLaren for the first couple of races I reckon. Mercedes not far behind.

Verstapen World champion by the end of the year.

[honda_exige]

seymourski said:

I was watching the testing coverage and saw a stat for Valtteri Bottas - 9 career F1 wins - Lewis Hamilton scored more wins in one season. I like Valtteri but this stat says it all.

Bottas is the best thing that could've happened for Rosberg in terms of a reappraisal of his skills.

[JohnnyUK]

honda_exige said:

Bottas is the best thing that could've happened for Rosberg in terms of a reappraisal of his skills.

[exelero]

M5-911 said:

Battle between Redbull and McLaren for the first couple of races I reckon. Mercedes not far behind.

Verstapen World champion by the end of the year.

Wow. Interesting

[suffolk009]

My two thoughts are:
1. What lap will Verstappen crash out after failing to execute another wildly optimistic overtake?
2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

[Hub]

honda_exige said:

seymourski said:

I was watching the testing coverage and saw a stat for Valtteri Bottas - 9 career F1 wins - Lewis Hamilton scored more wins in one season. I like Valtteri but this stat says it all.

Bottas is the best thing that could've happened for Rosberg in terms of a reappraisal of his skills.

What Bottas version are we up to now? V7.0?

[Piginapoke]

suffolk009 said:

My two thoughts are:
1. What lap will Verstappen crash out after failing to execute another wildly optimistic overtake?
2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

I don't think Max has put a foot wrong recently, last year he was outstanding, but he still has this reputation.

[Leithen]

If we are doing it in codes then,

Quali - VERHAMRICPERNORLECBOTALOGASSAI
Race - VERPERRICNORHAMLECBOTGASALOSAI

[Mr Dendrite]

Leithen said:

If we are doing it in codes then,

Quali - VERHAMRICPERNORLECBOTALOGASSAI
Race - VERPERRICNORHAMLECBOTGASALOSAI

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

[London424]

Piginapoke said:

suffolk009 said:

My two thoughts are:
1. What lap will Verstappen crash out after failing to execute another wildly optimistic overtake?
2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

I don't think Max has put a foot wrong recently, last year he was outstanding, but he still has this reputation.

If you look through the races he hit more cars than you’d want to though. Lots didn’t end in him retiring but he still hit a fair few.

[CustardOnChips]

London424 said:

Piginapoke said:

suffolk009 said:

My two thoughts are:
1. What lap will Verstappen crash out after failing to execute another wildly optimistic overtake?
2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

I don't think Max has put a foot wrong recently, last year he was outstanding, but he still has this reputation.

If you look through the races he hit more cars than you’d want to though. Lots didn’t end in him retiring but he still hit a fair few.

He does. Lots of the other drivers give him a wide birth because of it.

I've said this on here a few times. As good a racer as Max is. It has yet to be seen how he performs under real pressure, when a championship is on the line. Balls out taking risks to win a race is great when it doesn't matter if you bin it. But its completely different when every point counts.

The Redbull garage will be a pressure cooker environment if they have a sniff of either championship. I'm not sure Max and his dad will be able to cope.

I hope we get to see what he's made of and they push Mercedes all the way.

[Finlandese]

If the rule change regarding the floors affects the low rake cars, such as MB more than the high rake ones (RB), then we might have an interesting season ahead of us.

[Leithen]

Finlandese said:

If the rule change regarding the floors affects the low rake cars, such as MB more than the high rake ones (RB), then we might have an interesting season ahead of us.

Nail on the head.

I saw this going the other way completely, thinking that higher rake cars would be more vulnerable to the reduced floor area and would find sealing the underfloor area harder and would therefore lose more downforce.

I'd still like to fully understand why this appears to be wrong - underfloor volume?