2014 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

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2014 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

So after the second round of racing in Sepang where the Mercedes team asserted their dominance on the field, RBR put up a good fight against the Mercedes but couldn't fully compete with them. McLaren and Williams fell short of their good performances in Melbourne. So now we're just coming down off the Malaysian race, the F1 circus is raring to go again in the 2014 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix!

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Event Details
Date: 4-6 April
Laps: 57
Circuit Length: 5.412 km
Lap Record: 1:30.252 - M Schumacher (2004)
2013 Winner: Sebastian Vettel

 
I wonder what the odds are for a Merc 1-2...
 
Prediction for the race: Complete snooze-fest (on the most boring track on the calendar), Riccardo will get another fuel flow rate penalty because Red Bull are the only team that can't figure it out, Mercedes will dominate (at least it's not Red Bull), and Williams will fall on their face again.
 
Prediction for the race: Complete snooze-fest (on the most boring track on the calendar), Riccardo will get another fuel flow rate penalty because Red Bull are the only team that can't figure it out, Mercedes will dominate (at least it's not Red Bull), and Williams will fall on their face again.


....under floodlights.
 
....under floodlights.

Forgot this race will be at night for the first time, at the very least, we'll be able to see what the cars look like at night.
 
Remember guys, this year's a night race!

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The Renault powered teams may have more trouble here than the past couple races due to the heat, but we are racing at night, so that could level things a bit.

Williams looks to be in a better position because of that and considering they, Ferrari and Mercedes have a lot more data on the track in their cars than any of the Renault teams do. But I'm not sure of their cooling efficiency, that could put a hamper on things if heat's still an issue.

Don't know why McLaren were off pace in Malaysia, so they're a wildcard for me. Not a massive amount of mileage done in Bahrain pre-season as well.

Here's the testing mileage for all teams over the two week test:

1. Williams (Mercedes), 751
2. Mercedes, 666
3. Ferrari, 624
4. Force India (Mercedes), 615
5. Sauber (Ferrari), 613
6. McLaren (Mercedes), 567
7. Caterham (Renault), 550
8. Toro Rosso (Renault), 406
9. Red Bull (Renault), 298
10. Lotus (Renault), 238
11. Marussia (Ferrari), 287
 
I don't have Sky F1, and the highlights aren't being shown until 10 pm. I'll have to go all of Sunday without most of the Internet if I want to make this race less boring than it's already gonna be.
 
Qualifying and race starts at 6pm local time, and the sun's setting at 5:56 on Saturday and 5:57 on Sunday. Really not that hot yet, the race is going to be held on the last weekend of their short spring before things really start kicking into HOT. So high of 86F/30C with a low of 63F/17C on Saturday and just one or two degrees warmer in Sunday. During the start of the race it'll be around a toasty 77F/25C decreasing steadily from there.

For comparison, it was hitting above 90F/32C in Malaysia during the race and it was humid, so the dry heat should help. But at the same time, I imagine the dry heat will impact engine performance more. One more thing interesting to note: the testing held in the beginning of March at Bahrain had about the same temperature going as they will have during the race, there just won't be sun beating down.
 
Do they use the left over fuel from last year to power those floodlights?

I'll have to watch this race on German tv, with awful German commentators, and most likely a Lauda no-one can understand.
Ah well. Maybe it will rain. :P
 
Red Bull has warned Renault that if they don't fix the issues with the current engine, they will consider going for a different engine manufacturer for 2015.
 
So, I delivered a dud?

Dammit. I wanted it to be a hot, fresh from the press, earth shattering piece of news!

Oh well.
 
So, I delivered a dud?

Dammit. I wanted it to be a hot, fresh from the press, earth shattering piece of news!

Oh well.

If it was Horner, instead of the fool Marko, I'd have been worried for Renualt since RBR are their works team.
 
You disappoint me. ;)



Why? Horner isn't in charge. He might be called "Team Principle" but Code 21 proved that he isn't in charge at all.

Because even so, he has much more clarity than Marko, and this is an obvious publicity threat than anything else I'd say. Why they would abandoned being a works team and set themselves further back since McLaren will be a works team next year.
 
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