1045 replies to this topic

[TomNokoe]

**The race is on Saturday, qualifying on Friday, practice on Thursday - you have been warned!**

 

After a tumultuous winter and ominous pre-season, we are back to racing for the start of F1 2024 and 20th running* of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

 

The beginning of any season brings with it a sprinkle of anticipation, the feeling that just maybe this will be the year. When the starting lights illuminate on Saturday, the drivers will stand as equals on nul points, with a record-breaking and satisfyingly symmetrical 24 grand prix ahead of them. But before that moment, we have media day, practice, qualifying and everything else that surrounds the magic of the first race weekend.

 

It is Round 1 of the 2024 Formula One World Championship!

 

 

 

 

Set for Sakhir
 

Both Red Bull and Ferrari shared a strong pre-season test one week ago, with the big question looming of just how much lap-time separates the pair? Red Bull's constant drive for performance is admirable, but equally so is Ferrari's turnaround and growing momentum. Both teams will be interesting and revealing scenes all weekend long. Verstappen begins his Quest for Perfection™, Perez for retention. Leclerc much happier than last season, and Sainz with a point or two to prove. A surprise in store?

 

Arguably, even bigger question marks loom over the inconsistent chasing pack of Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin. Can either meddle in the podium battle, or will it be an opening tranche of unlocking the potential? Like the Olympic torch, the Hamilton-to-Ferrari flame will burn all year. Russell will want to pick up from where he left off in 2023. Norris will be expecting McLaren to repay his contract-extending faith, while Piastri has big challenges ahead now he is free of the Rookie title. Alonso knocks on the door of 43 years old, and Lance Stroll remains the son of Lawrence Stroll, ad infinitum.

 

Elsewhere, the bottom five group seems to have closed up, putting points finishes at an even higher premium. The leader of the midfield is almost certainly RB, VCARB, whatever, as both Ricciardo and Tsunoda eye up the potential second senior seat. Williams, Sauber and Haas have each made genuine progress, with special interest towards Albon, and maybe a resurgent Bottas. The same can't be said for Alpine, however, rumoured to be all at sea with their 2024 challenger. C’est comme ça!

 

Tyres and Weather

 

 

A new season means a new Pirelli graphic - yay! Tyre pressures +1.0psi fronts and +0.5psi rears versus 2023 - boo!

 

Thu - 19C/66F, dry

Fri - 18C/64F, dry

Sat - 19C/66F, dry

 

A mild and breezy weekend in store, slightly atypical for Bahrain. Worth keeping an eye on.

 

Schedule

            GMT     CET 
FP1 (Thu)   1130    1230
FP2 (Thu)   1500    1600
FP3 (Fri)   1230    1330
Q   (Fri)   1600    1700
R   (Sat)   1500    1600

Convert to my time zone

 

The full complement to kick off the year, F2, F3 and Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East supporting. Full schedule.

 

--

 

Thoughts, predictions, team boss spy spots, and tradition-busting sentiment all welcome below. Here We Go Again!

 

*Excluding the Sakhir GP

Edited by TomNokoe, 27 February 2024 - 22:24.

[Myrvold]

"But Monaco has to have Fri-Sat-Sun, not Thu-Sat-Sun because race-weekends needs to be uniform".

*enter Las Vegas*
*enter religion*

 

I guess Monaco should've paid for their normal race weekend then.

[BoDarvelle]

Times for those of us in the US;

 

 

 

Thu, Feb 29
6:30 AM ET Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
*Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Practice 1   Thu, Feb 29
10:00 AM ET Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
*Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Practice 2   Fri, Mar 1
7:30 AM ET Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
*Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Practice 3   Fri, Mar 1
11:00 AM ET Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
*Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying   Sat, Mar 2
10:00 AM ET Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
*Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Race

[STRFerrari4Ever]

Not expecting anyone to trouble Verstappen so he should win convincingly but behind him it might be very tight.

I’m looking forward to seeing what chaos ensues from DRS being enabled after lap 1 and after one lap after a restart, it could be endless DRS trains or some incidents. My hope is that one of the Ferrari’s can be less than a second behind Max at the end of lap 1 and remain in DRS range until near the first stops to at least give us a race at the front because Perez won’t do that.

[Risil]

Saturday

[Risil]

Cheers Tom!

[TomNokoe]

Saturday

We had Thursday practice from Monaco, Friday qualifying from the sprints, and a Saturday race doesn't really offend me. But FP3 on a Friday?!?!?

 

Bizarrely, FP3 is often my favourite session of a weekend because you have the anticipation of overnight development, the building momentum before qualifying, but it's only practice so totally stress-free, plus it's usually Saturday morning breakfast or brunch. I can smell the eggs scrambling just typing this. Ahhhh!

Edited by TomNokoe, 27 February 2024 - 22:38.

[Myrvold]

I’m looking forward to seeing what chaos ensues from DRS being enabled after lap 1 and after one lap after a restart, it could be endless DRS trains or some incidents.

 

Hmmm. Was it not like that already? 2 laps after race start, 1 lap after restart?

[IrvTheSwerve]

Hmmm. Was it not like that already? 2 laps after race start, 1 lap after restart?

Always been 2 laps for both iirc.

[STRFerrari4Ever]

Hmmm. Was it not like that already? 2 laps after race start, 1 lap after restart?

I think for the restarts it was 1 lap in F2 and F3 but still 2 laps in F1, I could be mistaken though.

[balmybaldwin]

I think for the restarts it was 1 lap in F2 and F3 but still 2 laps in F1, I could be mistaken though.

yes they cut to one lap last year in the lower formulas. It makes it less likely for a leader to get out of DRS and I think is a plus (if we must have DRS)

[STRFerrari4Ever]

yes they cut to one lap last year in the lower formulas. It makes it less likely for a leader to get out of DRS and I think is a plus (if we must have DRS)

Verstappen will turn into Red Bull Vettel then and build a 2s gap on the first lap/restart to avoid any dramas.

[JimmyClark]

Not expecting anyone to trouble Verstappen so he should win convincingly but behind him it might be very tight.

I’m looking forward to seeing what chaos ensues from DRS being enabled after lap 1 and after one lap after a restart, it could be endless DRS trains or some incidents. My hope is that one of the Ferrari’s can be less than a second behind Max at the end of lap 1 and remain in DRS range until near the first stops to at least give us a race at the front because Perez won’t do that.

There will be no chaos. Everytime anybody predicts chaos from a rule change it never materialises, and these are the best racing drivers in the world for a reason. It will be fine.

[STRFerrari4Ever]

There will be no chaos. Everytime anybody predicts chaos from a rule change it never materialises, and these are the best racing drivers in the world for a reason. It will be fine.

Shh, let a man dream. But you’re right, as is often the case in F1 a big build up or anticipation usually leads to a lacklustre outcome.

[ANF]

yes they cut to one lap last year in the lower formulas. It makes it less likely for a leader to get out of DRS and I think is a plus (if we must have DRS)

Last year there was only 1 lap before DRS in the F1 sprints as well.

[Countersteer]

DRS detection zone 1 should be after turn 1.

[Bendo]

What? The race is on Saturday?

Bonkers nonsense. Ah well, I'll be watching the footy. Absolutely stupid, the first race of the season, on a Saturday. Liberty have no brains.

[ANF]

The only interesting regulation change I could find in this year's sporting regulations is that the pit lane will close 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the formation lap instead of the previous 40 minutes.

 

Oh, and the two strips of tarmac between the pit lane and the safety car lines are now called the pit entry road and the pit exit road.

Anything else?

[noikeee]

Still the least interested I've been in a F1 season opener in many, many years.

[loki]

What? The race is on Saturday?

Bonkers nonsense. Ah well, I'll be watching the footy. Absolutely stupid, the first race of the season, on a Saturday. Liberty have no brains.

Because Ramadan.

[barnardferrari]

Because Ramadan.

Since Ramadan doesn't start until Sunday evening, and the first fasting day isn't until Monday, they could have moved the race to Sunday afternoon.  I don't see why Bahrain needs to be a night race.  It's hardly going to be scorching hot in the desert at this time of year.

[Gary Davies]

Tom, where the dickens would we be without you? Bravo!

[Boxerevo]

[LolaB0860]

Since Ramadan doesn't start until Sunday evening, and the first fasting day isn't until Monday, they could have moved the race to Sunday afternoon. I don't see why Bahrain needs to be a night race. It's hardly going to be scorching hot in the desert at this time of year.

It's some stupid non-negotiable regulation in relation to Saudi Arabia start time

Wish we were in Melbourne

[SophieB]

Thanks, Tom!
 

Looking forward to new opening titles, see which driver tries to look tough, which ones go for the Mr Sex look, which ones look passively aggressively unengaged in the whole process and which ones look like they are just frozen by the presence of the camera. Especially looking forward to Perez, who generally comes up with something original but will have to go some to beat his own previous best of the pose someone once described as ‘Looking back over his shoulder at the urinal.’

[PayasYouRace]

What? The race is on Saturday?

Bonkers nonsense. Ah well, I'll be watching the footy. Absolutely stupid, the first race of the season, on a Saturday. Liberty have no brains.

This has been a talking point since the calendar was announced, and the reasons explained in depth. But I guess some people really do go live under a rock during the off season.

[SophieB]

Digging the Uriah Heep energy of Fernando there.

[PayasYouRace]

They really are all back, as there’s nobody new this year.

[loki]

Since Ramadan doesn't start until Sunday evening, and the first fasting day isn't until Monday, they could have moved the race to Sunday afternoon.  I don't see why Bahrain needs to be a night race.  It's hardly going to be scorching hot in the desert at this time of year.

 

 

It's some stupid non-negotiable regulation in relation to Saudi Arabia start time

Wish we were in Melbourne

 

It’s unfortunate for you that the host countries have a culture that’s different from yours.  Way to respect those differences.  It’s a car race.  That’s all.  No more, no less.

[SophieB]

This has been a talking point since the calendar was announced, and the reasons explained in depth. But I guess some people really do go live under a rock during the off season.

I missed it because I didn’t read the calendar discussion. I guess I just expected the races to be on a Sunday, on the basis that they (pretty much) always have been up to now.

[SophieB]

It’s unfortunate for you that the host countries have a culture that’s different from yours.  Way to respect those differences.  It’s a car race.  That’s all.  No more, no less.

Tbh, I think when you bid to host an event that is always run on Sunday, you should consider whether you can accommodate that. This doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. 

[loki]

Tbh, I think when you bid to host an event that is always run on Sunday, you should consider whether you can accommodate that. This doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. 

 

F1 and the WMSC approved the schedule.  Ramadan was known long before the F1 calendar.

[SophieB]

F1 and the WMSC approved the schedule.  Ramadan was known long before the F1 calendar.

I don’t think that changes my point. I mean, I think it goes without saying that the calendar was signed off on by the F1 powers that be. I’m suggesting that it shouldn’t have been. I don’t feel super strongly about it except I think it benefits the sport more when people can know when an event is happening without looking it up. It’s inevitable that time zones make it not practical for it always to start at the same time, but I think it’s better when it *can* stick to the same time slot. Now apparently we don’t even always have it on the same day.

[sportyskells]

I have a feeling we will hit Australia next year as race one due to the Ramadan will start in February . I have no issues with Saturday races as we had them before Las Vegas brought it back

[NateF]

No problem with race on Saturday it’s one out of many but Ramadan is a week this Sunday isn’t it? Apologies if I missed something as I have not read previous discussions. Assuming given it’s not precisely forecastable they just took the precaution to start on Saturday? A week is a big margin

[PayasYouRace]

No problem with race on Saturday it’s one out of many but Ramadan is a week this Sunday isn’t it? Apologies if I missed something as I have not read previous discussions. Assuming given it’s not precisely forecastable they just took the precaution to start on Saturday? A week is a big margin

It’s the Saudi GP that’s being held on Saturday because of Ramadan. There is also a regulation that there must be a minimum of seven days between grands prix, hence Bahrain is also on a Saturday.

[SophieB]

No problem with race on Saturday it’s one out of many but Ramadan is a week this Sunday isn’t it? Apologies if I missed something as I have not read previous discussions. Assuming given it’s not precisely forecastable they just took the precaution to start on Saturday? A week is a big margin

The Saudi Arabia race is also on Saturday. They moved Bahrain back because otherwise you’d only have six days between races.

 

e. What payr said

[JimmyClark]

It looks on the cool side and breezy this weekend.

[NateF]

The Saudi Arabia race is also on Saturday. They moved Bahrain back because otherwise you’d only have six days between races.

e. What payr said

Thanks!

Thinking caps clearly off, forgot it’s back to back!

The season had kind of creeped up on me. It’s really a full calendar year!

[Leatherface]

Was the C3 tyre the yellow set in testing?

[Collombin]

"Fun" fact - this will be the 75th non-Sunday WDC race in history, not including sprints.

58 of the 74 were held on a Saturday.

The first ever WDC race was on a Saturday.

The most recent Saturday season opener was 1982.

[ConsiderAndGo]

Was the C3 tyre the yellow set in testing?

Yeah

[southernstars]

I have a feeling we will hit Australia next year as race one due to the Ramadan will start in February . I have no issues with Saturday races as we had them before Las Vegas brought it back

 

Yes, that was already confirmed in the off-season that Australia will return to its rightful place as the season opener next year.

[SophieB]

Excellent. We get one step closer to restoring the platonic ideal of the calendar that is opening in Australia and closing in Brazil.

[sportyskells]

At least I can safety plan to watch races on the iPad and I will miss the free practise session as I got shopping to do. Friday and Saturday are clear for me to watch, we go though all this again next week as well

[JimmyClark]

Excellent. We get one step closer to restoring the platonic ideal of the calendar that is opening in Australia and closing in Brazil.

 

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that Suzuka is only 39 days away. 

[Leatherface]

Yeah

Do you recall the best time on the C3, wasn't it Perez's time with Hamilton around 3 tenths off?

[RedRabbit]

Saturday races in the Middle East make more sense, seeing as their work week is Sunday to Thursday. Probably one reason why attendance so low - everyone is usually at work on Sundays.

[Bendo]

This has been a talking point since the calendar was announced, and the reasons explained in depth. But I guess some people really do go live under a rock during the off season.

I can see the reason now. But the solution was simple, schedule the race elsewhere in the season.

As for under a rock, perhaps, or more likely my interest in F1 has wained over the past 15b years to the point one the season is done, it's done until the next one starts.

Anyway, at least now I know, I'll see if I can find time to watch it on catch up after the footy.

Edited by Bendo, 28 February 2024 - 10:33.

[KWSN - DSM]

They want Saturday races, just say this one will be a Saturday race, I see little reason for them giving a reason.