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Introductory round is running
Come on, all 20 drivers are on the introductory lap. Who is the best to escape from here? Does Verstappen have a chance against the Mercedes drivers in the middle in the first few meters on soft tires? Speaking of tires: Outside of the top 10, Magnussen, Latifi, Norris and Fittipaldi are on soft, everyone else is in the middle.
We are about to start!
Today is 87 laps, most of them in a Formula 1 race this season. One of the advantages of the short lap: in the event of a collision or a puncture, the path to the pit lane is comparatively short. Of course, this can also play a role in a safety car or a VSC.
Open the session ticker now!
It will start in less than half an hour. At this point, there is a quick hint to open our session ticker with Christian Nimmervoll at the same time. There you will find the complete coverage of the race, here we focus on the most important information, images and voices. As usual.
Russell: Mercedes expects top 5 result again
That was already the case yesterday in qualifying, and Toto Wolff just stated on ‘Sky’ that Russell is expected to finish in the top 5 again today. More is great, but not the expectation of the team. As is well known, yesterday it even exceeded the requirements with P2. Let’s see what is happening today. By the way, all 20 drivers made it onto the grid successfully.
Pit lane opens
The pit lane opens and the drivers now have ten minutes to get to the starting grid. We saw in Istanbul in 2020, for example, that this doesn’t always go smoothly, when Giovinazzi and Russell crashed before the start. Of course, the conditions were much more difficult than today. We assume that all 20 drivers arrive on the grid.
Mick Schumacher: No sporting goals yet
Before the start, a quick look at Formula 2, where Mick Schumacher gave the interview to his teacher earlier. There they asked him about his objectives in Formula 1, among other things. “To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it. Of course I want to develop as a driver in Formula 1, but I also want to integrate into the team as well as possible. That is the most important goal,” he explains.
“As I said, I have not thought about my sporting goals yet because I have concentrated on Formula 2, which I still wanted to win. In the next few days I might be able to take care of it. In Abu Dhabi I want as much as possible to learn to prepare myself. best possible next year. Maybe then I can answer this question, “said Schumacher.
Start in an hour!
So we are entering the hot phase, it will start in 60 minutes! In the hybrid era, Bahrain has never won a team other than Mercedes or Ferrari since 2014. The Silver Arrows triumphed five times, the Italians two. Red Bull’s last victory dates back to 2013. However, there has never been a race at this particular track. Will the series break today …?
Sainz hopes to limit the damage
The McLaren driver is coming from P8, but is quite pessimistic before the race. The pace wasn’t really there all weekend. So expect a tough race and expect “damage capping.” His partner Norris has to start from the last line and explains that he needs “luck” to get to the points. He also expects the advantage of the new engine. Let’s see what else is possible.
Albon: also works with stop
The Red Bull driver also had a disappointing qualification and only starts from P12. However, he naturally hopes to score more points. Interesting: it explains that you can also drive with a stop. By the way, Ricciardo sees it that way too. So far we had assumed that there would be two stops again, as in the previous week. By the way, other drivers even wait up to three stops … so it will be exciting!
Leclerc: Lack of FT2 is a disadvantage
The Ferrari driver starts from P4, but the entire FT2 was lost on Friday due to a driveshaft defect. So now he lacks the experience of long races. This is why Monegasse admits that it is definitely a little journey into the unknown. However, the conditions for his teammate are even worse.
Vettel only starts from P13. “Yesterday we lost the thread a bit in qualifying,” he explains. Today he hopes to find his rhythm again. The goal is to score a few more points. He also explains that today is a little colder than yesterday. Perhaps that, in combination with the free choice of tires, is an opportunity.
Russell: I slept well
No sleepless night before Mercedes’ debut. The Brit reveals that he slept well and just wanted to enjoy the race. “It will be a long and tough race,” he predicts anyway. The biggest challenges are the new section of the road, the bumps and the turns. We spoke briefly on this topic earlier. After all, this time Russell himself is the one who has fallen and not the one who has licked!
Bottas awaits pole position
Last weekend the Finn started from P2 and totally ruined the start. This time he starts from pole and naturally expects the pole side to be an advantage again this Sunday. This time his partner Russell has the P2 “handicap” and the dirty side. Bottas also explains that the wind could become a problem today.
Career strategies
As a reminder: the two Mercedes drivers start on Medium, the rest of the top 10 on Soft and everyone else has free choice of tires. According to Pirelli, a start in the middle is an advantage, because the medium-hard-medium strategy is suggested as the fastest option. However, according to Italians, soft and hard media are also a quick option. We are definitely excited and looking forward to as many different strategies as possible!
Ricciardo: “I didn’t have many bad days”
There are still two races to go, but Daniel Ricciardo has already looked back on his 2020 season. Overall, he was “happy” with his performance and said he had “pressure” to get on the podium. “We did it,” she says cheerfully, adding, “I don’t think I’ve had many bad days.”
Sometimes he did not get the absolute maximum of the classification, but above all the season was perfect. “I have minimized the bad days,” said Ricciardo, who is clearly ahead in Renault’s internal duel against Esteban Ocon with 102: 42 points. Today starts from P7.
As promised yesterday …
… we have reviewed our series of photos with the fastest qualifying laps in the history of Formula 1. Since yesterday with a new place 1!
