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

[Piginapoke]

Here we go again; a brand new season, starting in Bahrain. It was a promising pre-season test for Red Bull, so let’s hope that the team can carry this form into the first GP and Mercedes has actual competition.

Alpha Tauri, Mclaren, Alpine and Ferrari are all worth watching, judging by the pre-season test. Welcome back F1!

Just a note that clocks go forward on March 28.

Date(s): Friday 26 March - Sunday 28 March 2021.

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1; Channel 4 showing highlights of Race and Qualifying:





Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...

Weather forecast:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/290340

Tyre options:

Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.



2020 race result:



2020 race highlights:

https://youtu.be/HnfHMC02Mj4

[Piginapoke]

Deesee said:

Ferrari to take Pole.

Seb grab a Podium.

Williams top 10.

That's bold! Ferrari have no chance of pole from the testing, but have made progress.

Verstappen for pole and win, Bottas 2nd (Hamilton seemed a bit disinterested all weekend), Ricciardo 3rd.

Williams looks firmly the 9th fastest team, so that's 16 faster cars ahead of it. I'd put £10 on no points all year again for Team Willy.

[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.

[Piginapoke]

CustardOnChips said:

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.

He is a once in a generation talent, just overshadowed by Mercedes dominance. He’ll be absolutely fine if the car is good enough.

[Piginapoke]

honda_exige said:

suffolk009 said:

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?

Guess Jaguar have been proven right 20 years later. I remember the criticism they got for their bright shade of green but they claimed darker green looked black through a TV camera hence the lurid shade.

Ironically I think the AM effort is as doomed as the Jaguar team was, so it’s appropriate they choose similar colours

[Piginapoke]

HustleRussell said:

DanielSan said:

HustleRussell said:

Gary Anderson predicted the opposite in the run up to pre-season testing, and still nobody really knows until we’re into the competitive season.

Glad you've said that, I've been thinking I'm losing my mind for the last few days because I was sure he'd said that but couldn't find where.

It would’ve been on ‘The Race’ podcast. It’s a few weeks ago now but I think he initially predicted that the high rake teams would have greater difficulty sealing the floor. On the same podcast after testing he said that high rake teams actually have a greater volume under the floor ahead of the rear tyres in which to manage tyre squirt. It’s still possible that both statements are true...

On that note, The Race podcast and website really is excellent quality stuff, a lot better than Autosport.

[Piginapoke]

ChocolateFrog said:

RShole said:

Ricciardo is delusional, he'll never win a world title.

I think he probably knows that but you can't exactly go out and say you know that fact and then expect to be able to stick around in F1.

It applies even more so to Bottas and he still says he can be a WDC.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 26th March 08:28

Ricciardo is a modern day Button- lacking the last 10th in qualifying but great in the race. Like Button, he could be a WDC in the right car.

[Piginapoke]

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

He'll attract a fair sized audience from around the world, and it'll be good advertising. The coverage should be great. He's on board for results off the leader boards rather than on them.

Dead right Derek. The car is simply not competitive anymore, it's way under evolved since 2018 compared to the rest of the midfield and the PU has never been that impressive either.

It costs £10m per 1/10th of a second in F1 they say... Far cheaper to employ Fred who'll find various other ways of raising headlines. In fact, the slower the car is the more likely he'll raise headlines and keep the sponsors happy

I think Alonso's signing (and the team's budget, senior structure, branding) reflect that there is no clear strategy about what Renault want from F1. Having said that, whatever the question is, a 39 year old troublemaker is rarely the answer.

[Piginapoke]

TheDeuce said:

I think his own morals would prevent him from leaving the team without notice..

But I do agree he's changed, his focus has shifted. I thought as much early last season and tbh it didn't entirely surprise me that he signed a single year contract this time. People are making a big deal about that as if it's 'all he could get', I rather suspect it's all he was prepared to commit to.

Brundle sees it differently, a year was all that was on offer.

[Piginapoke]

Very good P3 lap from Max. Car to beat it looks like

[Piginapoke]

Ted is top class, as is Brundle.

Anyway, here we go.....

[Piginapoke]

And for Norris to beat Ricciardo...

[Piginapoke]

Wonder if Vettel will get to Q2, I'm not sure

[Piginapoke]

Good lap from Perez

[Piginapoke]

Gasly may have troubles this year- 0.3 slower than his new teammate

[Piginapoke]

Need a special lap from Russell

[Piginapoke]

7th for Russell!! Wow

[Piginapoke]

Appalling from Vettel

[Piginapoke]

NRS said:

Can RB fix the floor on Max’s car for tomorrow?

Yes, you can repair damage but not change set up (unless a wet race)

[Piginapoke]

Ferrari have fixed the engine then!