Valtteri Bottas will attempt to make it two wins from two at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend to prove his world title credentials in his battle with five-time champion Lewis Hamilton, while Ferrari must issue a response to Mercedes or risk seeing their 2019 challenge die before it’s got going.
The second round of the 2019 Formula One championship takes place on the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir this weekend and will offer a larger glimpse to how the rest of the season will pan out. Melbourne, which hosted the season-opening Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, can often mislead expectations as cars come straight out of testing, but both Bottas and Mercedes will be looking to show that their domination at Albert Park was not a one-off.
Hamilton left Australia after being informed that there was damage to his Mercedes floor, which has been used as a potential explanation for his surprise lack of pace in comparison to Bottas, but for Ferrari there is a far great concern that they may be well behind Mercedes this season.
There are far more positive noises coming out of Red Bull, who saw Max Verstappen pip Sebastian Vettel to third place last time out and were not far off challenging Hamilton for second.
However, in recent years Bahrain has proven to be a Ferrari track, with Vettel taking victory in both 2017 and last season, which followed three straight wins for Mercedes.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Bahrain Grand Prix.
When is it?
The Bahrain Grand Prix takes place across the weekend of 29-31 March, with the race itself on Sunday 31 March.
What time does it start?
Lights out is scheduled for 4:10pm BST (6:10pm local).
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 2:30pm. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 from 9pm.
Sky Sports F1 will also be showing every practice session as well as qualifying live throughout the weekend.
Times
First practice: Friday 11am-12:30pm
Second practice: Friday 3pm-4.30pm
Third practice: Saturday 12pm-1pm
Qualifying: Saturday 3pm-4pm
Race: 4:10pm-6:10pm
Talking points
Will Ferrari’s pre-season pace return?
Ferrari looked to have the edge over Mercedes during pre-season testing in Barcelona, only for the German outfit to flip those expectations on their head and dominate in Australia. If Ferrari prove to be a step behind again in Bahrain, the frustration within Vettel may be too much to contain.
We’ve seen regular outburst from the four-time world champion, particularly when things did not go his way last season, That ultimately led to the departure of former team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, and if Ferrari fail to challenge this weekend, his successor Mattia Binotto may feel a dose of that Maranello pressure.
Was Melbourne a blip for Hamilton?
Hamilton rarely has to look at the back of another Mercedes, yet the fact that he still couldn’t see a rear diffuser did not mean he was out in front, but quite the opposite. The reigning world champion finished more than 20 seconds behind Bottas, and he will be hoping that the damage to his Mercedes’ floor was the sole reason for that margin.
If Bottas can repeat his trick of disappearing into the distance, alarm bells not heard since Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton in Bahrain will be ringing once again.
Ricciardo gets second Renault debut
The home debut that never was, never was again. Daniel Ricciardo has a mixed history in Melbourne, bagging to fourth-place finishes, retiring nearly as many times as he’s finished and even getting disqualified back in 2014. But surely his maiden race with Renault wouldn’t be that bad? The sight of his front wing ripping off before he’d even made the first corner tells the whole story.
With less pressure away from his home country, Ricciardo can get back to racing this weekend and attempt to join and beat his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in their mid-field battle with Haas. The two teams look the best of the rest, and this should be the start of a season-long battle for fourth in the constructors’ championship.
Schumacher’s return
Those race fans looking for an early fix on Saturday afternoon should make sure they’re watching Formula Two as we will get a first look at Mick Schumacher in what is his biggest task yet. The jury remains out on the 20-year-old son of seven-time world champion Michael, but after winning the European F3 title last season, there are high expectations beyond his surname.
The opening F2 race of the season gets underway at 10:10am on Saturday with the 32-lap feature race, and there will be a second chance to catch the action on Sunday with the shorter 23-lap sprint starting at 12:15pm. It will also be the first chance to see the trail-blazing Tatiana Calderon, as the 26-year-old Colombian driver becomes the first female to compete in F2 – alongside her role as Alfa Romeo’s test driver.
Activist Najah Yusuf was imprisoned in Bahrain two years ago after posting criticism of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Facebook, with her recent column for the Guardian raising large concerns about her treatment as well as the suitability for the race to be held at all. Yusuf claims she was subjected to threats and sexual assault before being forced to sign a pre-written confession when she was jailed in June last year, and her story has attracted more attention than ever before on the future of the Grand Prix.
F1 have insisted that they will conduct an independent investigation into her case, but there is certain to be references to this throughout the weekend and it raises the potential for further protests against the sport.
