The Mercedes and Ferraris will line up for the Bahrain Grand Prix in the same order as they did in Australia. Can the red cars make the same sensational starts they did in Melbourne?
The team has played down whether it used some technical trickery to get the jump on the silver cars two weeks ago, but the Mercedes pair will be alert to the threat. Lewis Hamilton, however, indicated the team have not made any major gains in this area.
“It will be important to get a good start tomorrow, like always,” he said, “especially as there’s a longer run down to turn one here than in Melbourne.”
“It’s something we’ve been working on – but we’ve only had a couple of weeks since the last race, so I don’t expect big improvements. Hopefully it’s better than last time – we’ll see.”
Last year two soft-tyre stints and one medium was sufficient for almost all the points-scorers. However this Sunday the top eight qualifiers will all have to start on the super-soft tyre. Pirelli believes the rubber can be eked out for at least 14 laps, but that’s a big ask for the Q3 runners whose tyres have already done three laps. The longest super-soft tyre stint so far this weekend was Daniel Ricciardo’s 13 laps.
Last year Felipe Massa made a two-stop strategy work despite pitting for his first stop as early as lap ten. However over the final half-dozen laps his pace dropped off badly.
It therefore looking like being a close call between the two choices. We could see the medium tyre pressed into service by some teams looking to make a two-stopper work – the tyre performed very well for Kimi Raikkonen during last year’s race.
Overtaking is much easier at Bahrain than Melbourne, which may make those who lean on their tyre more heavily content to consider three-stopping.
Haas seriously impressed in qualifying and from ninth on the grid Romain Grosjean has a chance to repeat the team’s points-scoring start to the year. As the first driver on the grid with a fresh set of tyres at his disposal, it’s not impossible we could see him starting on fresh soft tyres and hitting the front after a dozen laps or so – think Nico Hulkenberg at Shanghai three years ago.
Bahrain has exposed the top speed weakness of Renault’s engine and the low-speed grip of their chassis very clearly. Both their cars were out-qualified by Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor, and Honda achieved higher straight-line speeds during qualifying.
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Qualifying times in full
| Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’31.391 | 1’30.039 (-1.352) | 1’29.493 (-0.546) |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’31.325 | 1’30.535 (-0.790) | 1’29.570 (-0.965) |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’31.636 | 1’30.409 (-1.227) | 1’30.012 (-0.397) |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’31.685 | 1’30.559 (-1.126) | 1’30.244 (-0.315) |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’31.403 | 1’31.122 (-0.281) | 1’30.854 (-0.268) |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’31.672 | 1’30.931 (-0.741) | 1’31.153 (+0.222) |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’32.045 | 1’31.374 (-0.671) | 1’31.155 (-0.219) |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’31.987 | 1’31.604 (-0.383) | 1’31.620 (+0.016) |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’32.005 | 1’31.756 (-0.249) | |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1’31.888 | 1’31.772 (-0.116) | |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’31.716 | 1’31.816 (+0.100) | |
| 12 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’32.472 | 1’31.934 (-0.538) | |
| 13 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1’32.118 | 1’31.945 (-0.173) | |
| 14 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’31.976 | 1’31.998 (+0.022) | |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1’32.559 | 1’32.241 (-0.318) | |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1’32.806 | ||
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’32.840 | ||
| 18 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’32.194 | ||
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’33.181 | ||
| 20 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’33.438 | ||
| 21 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1’34.190 | ||
| 22 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1’34.388 |
Sector times
| Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 28.343 (1) | 38.655 (1) | 22.449 (1) |
| Nico Rosberg | 28.405 (2) | 38.658 (2) | 22.507 (2) |
| Sebastian Vettel | 28.504 (3) | 38.838 (3) | 22.643 (3) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 28.549 (4) | 38.906 (4) | 22.718 (4) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 28.817 (7) | 39.290 (5) | 22.740 (5) |
| Valtteri Bottas | 28.672 (5) | 39.440 (7) | 22.759 (6) |
| Felipe Massa | 28.823 (8) | 39.405 (6) | 22.914 (8) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 28.894 (9) | 39.545 (8) | 23.077 (13) |
| Romain Grosjean | 28.814 (6) | 39.812 (12) | 23.071 (12) |
| Max Verstappen | 29.054 (13) | 39.663 (10) | 23.001 (10) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 28.999 (11) | 39.625 (9) | 22.968 (9) |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 29.090 (14) | 39.818 (13) | 23.026 (11) |
| Esteban Gutierrez | 29.008 (12) | 39.679 (11) | 23.079 (14) |
| Jenson Button | 28.923 (10) | 39.826 (14) | 23.172 (15) |
| Daniil Kvyat | 29.284 (16) | 39.997 (16) | 22.912 (7) |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 29.386 (19) | 40.226 (18) | 23.183 (16) |
| Marcus Ericsson | 29.380 (18) | 40.188 (17) | 23.272 (18) |
| Sergio Perez | 29.091 (15) | 39.892 (15) | 23.211 (17) |
| Kevin Magnussen | 29.345 (17) | 40.488 (20) | 23.348 (19) |
| Jolyon Palmer | 29.524 (20) | 40.284 (19) | 23.533 (22) |
| Rio Haryanto | 29.794 (21) | 40.960 (21) | 23.436 (21) |
| Felipe Nasr | 29.908 (22) | 41.053 (22) | 23.427 (20) |
Speed trap
| Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 335.5 (208.5) | |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 335.1 (208.2) | -0.4 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 335.1 (208.2) | -0.4 |
| 4 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 334.3 (207.7) | -1.2 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 333.5 (207.2) | -2.0 |
| 6 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 333.2 (207.0) | -2.3 |
| 7 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 333.2 (207.0) | -2.3 |
| 8 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | Mercedes | 332.4 (206.5) | -3.1 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 332.1 (206.4) | -3.4 |
| 10 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 331.4 (205.9) | -4.1 |
| 11 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 331.3 (205.9) | -4.2 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 331.1 (205.7) | -4.4 |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 330.9 (205.6) | -4.6 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 329.2 (204.6) | -6.3 |
| 15 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 329.0 (204.4) | -6.5 |
| 16 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 328.1 (203.9) | -7.4 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 327.7 (203.6) | -7.8 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 327.4 (203.4) | -8.1 |
| 19 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Honda | 327.3 (203.4) | -8.2 |
| 20 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 326.6 (202.9) | -8.9 |
| 21 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 324.8 (201.8) | -10.7 |
| 22 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 322.2 (200.2) | -13.3 |
Over to you
Can Ferrari make good on the promise they showed in Australia? And who will emerge on top in the tight midfield contest?
Share your views on the Bahrain Grand Prix in the comments.
2016 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Haas mechanic credited for saving Grosjean’s race
- Grosjean takes back-to-back Driver of the Weekend wins
- Another decent race despite qualifying gloom
- 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
evered7 (@evered7)
2nd April 2016, 22:19
Top 4 setting top4 sector times in the same order :) How often does that happen.
Anyway, coming to the race the long run stint during FP2 from Kimi was pretty good. IMO Ferrari should go for a win and not necessarily a Vettel win. Anything to get points off the Mercs. Vettel has his advantage in all other places. Can’t put Kimi on the back burner for this.
Hoping for a great race. Ferrari should not have any reliability issues, hopefully.
Park
3rd April 2016, 8:19
We had the same top 8 in last year, only Vettel and Ricc changed the order…
Tyler (@tdog)
3rd April 2016, 10:56
Tyres available to each driver for the race –
https://mobile.twitter.com/pirellisport/status/716533062344044544
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
3rd April 2016, 13:38
The thing is a good start from either Ferrari isn’t a guaranteed win, Bahrein is a ‘very easy’ track to overtake on.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
3rd April 2016, 15:03
Last year the soft tire was clearly dominant over the medium tire, so I don’t expect many drivers to use mediums in the race, especially as overtaking should be quite easy. The supersoft tires will be the big question mark in the race. Can they compete with the soft tires or are they even worse than the mediums?