The 2008 Bahrain GP Preview

The Sakhir circuit is one of the new generation, and comprises three straights connected by slow corners; the surface is smooth and offers reasonable grip in its own right, though the actual grip levels change considerably through the weekend as the track rubbers in, or the wind blows fine sand across the surface.

The main demands on the cars relate to tyre wear - which will be even more of a problem now that the teams are without traction control - and looking after the brakes, which can overheat: though teams should have this at least under control, as this will be the third hot race in succession.

In considering their approach, teams will need to balance downforce to protect the tyres against the cost to their speed on the straights; further, the impact of running heavy fuel loads needs to be considered very carefully, as the drivers will have to be especially careful not to wreck their tyres early on in the stint.

On the subject of tyres, Bridgestone are supplying soft and medium tyres this year, rather than the medium and hard option from 2007, as the hard tyres were noticeably disadvantaged in comparison with the medium last time out.

This circuit does not usually let a driver make much of a difference, so this weekend ought to be a good indication of the outright pace of each package.

Flashback

In 2007, Massa and Hamilton were the class of qualifying, though the Ferrari driver ultimately took pole from the McLaren incumbent, as the rookie made a couple of mistakes on his final hot lap. Raikkonen led Alonso on the second row, with the Sauber duo of Heidfeld and Kubica filling the third. Fisichella's took seventh for Renault, leading Webber's Red Bull and Trulli's Toyota; the Williams duo Rosberg and Wurz followed in tenth and eleventh.

Race day saw Massa get away cleanly at the front, with Hamilton slotting in behind. Raikkonen was slow with the start button, giving Alonso a run at him: unfortunately for the Spaniard, he ended up bottled behind his team-mate, allowing Raikkonen to sweep around the outside and re-take the position. Attacking Hamilton, he ran out of track, losing momentum with the result that Alonso passed again in to the fourth corner.

Further back, the normal mid-pack mayhem saw both Spykers heading back to the pits, whilst Button and Speed climbed out of their spun and stalled cars. There was a three lap safety car period as the mess was cleaned up, with little changing on the restart.

Alonso struggled to make the most of his car, falling ten second behind the leaders before the first stop: pressure from Raikkonen and Heidfeld did little to help. Hamilton stopped on lap 19, dropping well off the pace due to an unwise combination of scrubbed soft tyres and a heavy fuel load.

Massa stopped on lap 21, rejoining 3.4s ahead of Hamilton and noticeably quicker. Their team-mates stopped on laps 22 and 23, resulting in Raikkonen passing Alonso, then rapidly closing down Hamilton. Heidfeld, meanwhile, attacked Alonso, eventually working a fine pass on lap 31.

The second round of stops left Massa comfortably leading Hamilton, who kept a 2 second advantage over Raikkonen, and little changed to the flag. Kubica opened his scoring account, and the remaining places should have gone to Red Bull, except mechanical failures saw both eliminated from the event. Trulli took advantage of heavy wear on the Renaults of Kovalainen and Fisichella to pass both for seventh.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1h33:27.515
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +     2.360
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  +    10.839
 4.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  +    13.831
 5.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +    14.426
 6.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  +    45.529
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +  1:21.371
 8.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +  1:21.701

Fastest race lap: Massa, 1:34.067

Qualifying best: Massa, Q2, 1:31.359

Weather

There is no expectation for rain at all in Bahrain, though temperatures in the nineties should make it interesting for all. There should be some wind all weekend, largely around 10mph but getting over 20mph on occasion, so gusts and blown sand are likely to keep things interesting for all.

Strategy

A tweak to the qualifying format will stop cars from slowing too much to preserve fuel on their in-laps, so there should be less chance of a repeat of the accusations of delays by baulked drivers this weekend; but even if there are, there are some overtaking opportunities here, so a penalty from being moved down the grid is not quite so harsh.

Most teams should be running two stops, with fuel loads tailored to the longevity of the tyres. A single stop could prove a good option for any team that is looking to make up places and is particularly good at looking after their tyres on a full fuel load, but it will be interesting to discover whether Bridgestone's move to softer rubber for this race could make an aggressive three stop approach a better option.

Conclusions

Ferrari and McLaren should be well matched this weekend, though it would be no surprise to discover the Italian outfit has an edge; BMW-Sauber should be very close, too, and quite capable of taking points away from either team if they make any mistakes.

Behind the front six, things are very tight. Red Bull is looking quick, if fragile, whilst Toyota has been showing excellent form; Renault are also poised for fight for a point, and Williams ought to bounce back from their dismal Sepang performance.

A lap of Bahrain with Alex Wurz

"The Formula One circus likes visiting Bahrain. Everyone's looking for more than just another paddock and there's a lively city near to the Bahrain International Circuit, where there are good places to eat and go out.

"It's usually quite windy in the afternoons, which results in sand getting blown onto the track. The knock-on effect of this is felt most in qualifying, when everyone wants to be the last person on the track, when the circuit is at its cleanest. Therefore there's usually a lot of traffic to negotiate.

"The BIC is one of the slower tracks that Hermann Tilke has designed, but it's still quite interesting. From a technical point of view, braking and traction are crucial, and you break very hard into Turn 1, from seventh gear - more than 300kph - down to first gear. This provides the best overtaking opportunity on the lap.

"Turn 2 is a left kink, which, without traction control, is going to be quite challenging because you're going to have a lot of slip. We might see some snap oversteer here as a result. Turn 3 is easy flat and leads to the right-hander Turn 4, which is taken in third gear. It's off-camber and could pose quite a traction problem without TC.

"Then you come to a very interesting part of the track, the fast right-left chicane. It's enjoyable, but it can be frustrating from a car set-up point of view because if it wasn't for this section you'd soften up the car. As it is, you have to keep some roll stiffness in the car for this quick change of direction.

"You then come to the hairpin, which picks up a lot of grip throughout the weekend. The exit goes uphill, into a long left-hander, which tightens up into a sharp left. Everyone locks up a bit because it's off-camber and over a crest, so the inside front is unloaded. Traction is really important on the exit because the back straight follows, where you get up to sixth gear before slowing for the third-gear left-hander. I would set up my car's aero balance - the amount of wing I carry - for this corner.

"After this corner there's a long uphill stretch into a flat right-hander. The front left is loaded for a long time through here and then you come into another right-hander, which is an overtaking opportunity if the car in front is using its tyres too much. A very long straight leads to the last corner, where it's easy to out-brake yourself. You lose more than you can win through here because it's really important to have a clean exit onto the start-finish straight."

Team by Team

Ferrari

Apparently the fastest team in Malaysia, after McLaren's qualifying penalty, Ferrari went on to record their first win of the year, though only one car made it to the finish. With both Championships rewarding reliability more than outright speed, this is something the team is going to have to pay more attention to as the season unwinds.

A year ago, Ferrari and McLaren were closely matched in Bahrain, with a slight edge going to the Italian marque: Massa led from pole to flag, barely putting a foot wrong all weekend, whilst Raikkonen was not quite on the pace. Over the last year, the Finn has stepped up his game, so both drivers can be expected to bring a strong game.

With some new aerodynamic components anticipated for the weekend, Ferrari continues to push the development envelope, and will be very difficult to beat, even if they had not taken the opportunity for a Sakhir test over the winter.

1. Kimi Raikkonen: coming off the back of his win in Sepang, Raikkonen is looking to repeat the feat in Bahrain, though it will mean being on the top of his game, as this is a strong circuit for his team-mate, even if McLaren are not in a place to spoil his plans.

2. Felipe Massa: another race ended with a spin, another lost opportunity for Massa, who is starting to look a little shaky! The Brazilian's pace has been outstanding, mostly faster than his team-mate, but he is going to have to consistently finish races to challenge for the title. A year ago, Massa won from pole, and he is certainly capable of repeating that performance!

Objectives: Win the race.

BMW Sauber

A year ago, BMW Sauber posted intent when Nick Heidfeld passed Alonso's McLaren on track, and held on for a fourth place finish: it was their finest performance to date, and just the first of a string of fine outings that regularly saw them on the podium.

This season has continued where the last left off, and the Malaysia weekend saw Kubica drive an impressive race to second place, whilst Heidfeld took the fastest lap as he recovered from tenth. All told, the evidence tells that BMW are very close to Ferrari and McLaren now, taking points off them any time they slip up, and poised for their first race win.

The team is not planning a significant step forward until the circus returns to Europe, but it is clear that they are learning more about how to get the most out of this car, which is considerably more complicated than its predecessor: they may be able to unlock further speed this weekend. On the downside, they are probably more sensitive to high winds then their rivals: this is precisely what is predicted for Saturday or Sunday, so it could prove tricky.

3. Nick Heidfeld: a strong racer in Bahrain, Heidfeld will be looking to take the race to the leading teams - and will have no qualms about forcing his way through if any of their drivers are off the pace.

4. Robert Kubica: following his podium finish in Malaysia, Kubica will be arriving in Bahrain on a high, and motivated to repeat the experience. Provided he keeps it on the track, the youngster should be as quick as his team-mate and just as much a threat to the leaders.

Objectives: Both cars in the points - perhaps one on the podium.

Renault

Even with their double world champion back on board, the Renault team are struggling to show progress with their car since last year. In Malaysia, Alonso did make it in to the final qualifying session, but seemed fortunate to take a point from the weekend, despite a strong, hard drive.

It appears that they are running at about the same relative pace to the midfield as last year, where Fisichella made it home for the final point in Bahrain: it seems likely that they are going to again be fighting for that final point again this weekend.

Interestingly, Symonds is pointing the finger for the team's current plight at the knock on effects of lost development following a wind tunnel correlation error a year ago; it doesn't change the fact that the team is currently towards the back of a very tight midfield, and a small improvement in performance will yield a significant change in the results on track. That said, this is not the weekend to be expecting a significant step forward!

5. Fernando Alonso: a hard race in Sepang led to a single point for Alonso, who was at least able to salvage that from the weekend; the car is arguably middle of the field material right now, but another point might again be on the cards if the Spaniard again puts together a canny race.

6. Nelson Piquet Jr: having finished the race in Malaysia in good order, Piquet must be looking to build on the experience and produce a closer performance to his team-mate. Targeting a points finish is perhaps optimistic, though.

Objectives: Get a car in to Q3 and fight for a point.

Williams

The team had a miserable weekend in Malaysia, with an unexpectedly poor showing. Neither driver could get pull the car through Q1, then had problems with collision damage or a puncture during the race. All told, it was a weekend to forget...

Last in, Bahrain saw Williams on the cusp of Q3 pace on Saturday, then race to finish just outside the points; approaching this year's race, Rosberg will be keen to avoid a repeat of his struggle with a braking problem, but with two hot races behind them, the team should have a handle both on general cooling and looking after the brakes.

A big question mark remains over why the team was so far off the pace last time out; in principle, it comes down to a struggle setting the car up for that specific racing surface, and the Sakhir circuit has a different asphalt that the team understands better. It will be interesting to see if the team really has understood all the issues before qualifying rolls around on Saturday! One of the keys to that will be reliable running in practice, as there is no substitute for track time.

7. Nico Rosberg: Bahrain has been a good hunting ground for Rosberg, who appears to have particularly good pace here; provided the team can dial the car in properly, he ought to be looking to make it through to Q3 before racing for points.

8. Kazuki Nakajima: despite a slow start to the season, the Japanese should be interesting to watch this weekend. His qualifying pace has been somewhat shy of his team-mate's, but this circuit offers genuine overtaking opportunities, so he should be able to make up places quickly in the race, if his Sunday pace is up to scratch.

Objectives: Get both cars to the finish. Score points.

Red Bull Racing

It was an interesting weekend for Red Bull last year, with reliability problems driving most of the events. An interesting, aggressive strategy for Coulthard saw him climb to seventh from the back of the grid before a broken driveshaft ended his race; Webber struggled for pace a little, but eventually retired (also from seventh) with a broken gearbox.

So far, it is too soon in 2008 to illustrate that they have a handle on the reliability problems of last year: both exits in Australia were due to collisions, and Webber's blown engine in Malaysia practice raises questions. Further, the car seems to be very fragile compared to others, illustrated twice by Coulthard as it disintegrated around him, in the collision with Massa, and from running hard over a kerb in practice.

This car is quite clearly capable of a decent turn of speed, particularly at high speed, but the drivers will have to pay considerable attention to tyre wear this weekend, given that tyre graining in Malaysia prevented Coulthard from finishing in the points...

9. David Coulthard: tyre graining impacted Coulthard's race in Malaysia; considering the Scot's aggressive strategy in Bahrain a year ago, if the team struggles to control wear this weekend, it should not be a surprise to see him again running light and putting in an extra stop.

10. Mark Webber: a points finish in Malaysia puts Webber on the scoreboard and underlines the pace of the car - his pace seemed close to all the midfield runners, so there is every reason to look for another points finish from the weekend ahead.

Objectives: Score points.

Toyota

A year ago, the team scored points in Bahrain courtesy of both the Red Bull cars suffering reliability problems - Trulli had raced hard, passing both the Renault drivers on track in order to finish in seventh. This was about as good as the team could hope for, as they were really not on the pace of the midfield.

Two weeks ago, in Sepang, Trulli raced to a justified fourth place, underlining the definitive progress that has been made in the last year. Their improved pace has left the team able to capitalise on any misfortune, including for the front runners - they held off a McLaren for that fourth place finish.

For the weekend ahead, the team must be looking for both drivers to make it in to Q3 again, and this time, for them both to make the finish. The package should have the pace to challenge for points again.

11. Jarno Trulli: coming off a well earned fourth, it seems apparent that another decent qualifying session should present Trulli another very real chance to score points- though he won't be able to count on the McLaren duo being penalised five places again!

12. Timo Glock: a decent qualifying result (tenth) was squandered in an opening corner collision with Rosberg in Sepang. Spinning out of the first two races is inauspicious, leaving Glock in danger of earning a bad reputation if he doesn't do something about it soon by completing a race distance!

Objectives: Get both cars to the finish. Score points.

Toro Rosso

Neither car finished the race in Malaysia, or a year ago in Bahrain - not an auspicious sign for the Toro Rosso outfit. Further, in neither race did the team really look like scoring points, though they are looking a little stronger on race day this year than last.

With no testing taking place on the fly away races, they will be relying primarily on data from the first two races to decide how to look after engine and gearbox, and should not have a significant update available for the package, though a lower downforce configuration of the aerodynamics should not be a surprise. Given the problems with Vettel's car in Sepang, they will probably be paying more attention to cooling!

Looking at their outright pace, the team is probably not in a position to score points entirely on their own merit, but if there is any attrition from those ahead, they are ideally situated to end up in the points.

With half the team up for sale, there has to be some lingering doubts within the team over the future of the outfit, which in turn is likely to impinge on performance. Whilst that difference is arguably small, the midfield this year is incredibly competitive with the result that everything that impacts performance is important. It will be interesting to how this impacts motivation as the year progresses.

14. Sebastian Bourdais: this should be an interesting test for the Champcar Champion, who has shown impressive race day form when his car is on the track - if he keeps it together on the opening lap, then expect a steady, determined attempt to drive up the field from the Frenchman.

15. Sebastian Vettel: the car basically overheated in Malaysia, leading to a fire that ended Vettel's race. The youngster had actually shown reasonable pace despite struggling with understeer up to that point, and there is every reason to hope that he can do the same again this weekend.

Objectives: Score points.

Honda

Malaysia was a good indication of the progress that Honda have made: certainly when compared with the year before, the team have moved forwards, even if they have a long way to go before they can challenge for points on merit.

With two cars making the finish, even for tenth and thirteenth, is a good indicator that they are largely on top of reliability in hot climates. More to the point, it provides useful data, which can be fed back in to the next race when considering how much the engine and gearbox needs looking after.

Last year, this was just another miserable weekend for the team, who watched Button spin out on the first lap and Barrichello struggle his way to thirteenth, complaining of a 'terrible' chassis. Whilst they may be fighting for similarly indifferent places this weekend, they are actually performing close to the level of the remainder of the midfield, whilst developing the car.

The drivers are clearly far more motivated, too, which makes a difference on race day at least; with a good qualifying performance and a decent strategy, they may offer a surprise or two to the midfield competitors.

16. Jenson Button: although a spin finished his race on lap one last year, Button will probably not be looking for a conservative start - so watch out for a late braking attempt at the opening corner to maximise the places the Briton picks up there. The changing grip levels from blown sand may potentially play to his style, as the effect bears similarities to wet racing, at which he excels...

17. Rubens Barrichello: clearly keen to get out and race again, the Brazilian is as quick as his team-mate and just as motivated. It will be interesting to see whether he can put on a good show in qualifying, as a good Q2 result would permit the team to work effectively with a heavy fuel load and long opening stint.

Objectives: Both cars in to Q2 and fight in the midfield on race day.

Super Aguri

The team will be looking to build on their Malaysia result, where both cars made it to the finish, if in unspectacular style. Neither driver was really in a position to make much impact on the race overall, as the package was basically outclassed, but it should have been entertaining to discover that they were able to match the pace of Williams all weekend!

Last year, the team was out-performed by the field in Bahrain, but avoiding the same fate is going to be tough. Considering their troubled winter testing and the late start to the season, they started on the back foot and will be struggling to find the pace to do much more than prop up the grid on race day - though either driver may manage some personal heroics during qualifying and move a row or two forwards.

18. Takuma Sato: an engine failure brought a miserable weekend to a close last year, and there is some danger of a similar weekend coming up. The Japanese driver is likely to attempt to drive the wheels off the car, leading to problems with tyre wear... though he now has plenty of experience.

19. Anthony Davidson: this was a decent weekend for Davidson last year, as he qualified twelfth and ran well until engine problems struck. It remains to be seen if he can make much of a difference to the package this year, but there is no doubt that the car is less competitive, so he should not make it out of Q1.

Objectives: Get both cars to the finish. Beat anyone!

Force India

Leaving Malaysia, it appears that Force India is making some progress, with some definite forward progress compared with the season before, but their reliability continues to be problematic, as Sutil's race ended early on with hydraulic failure. Of course, they still have not quite made it in to Q2, let alone threatened the points, so their progress needs to go far further.

Even with race pace improving, the team must be looking at the weekend in Bahrain with some trepidation. It could be the hottest event yet, so reliability is going to be a problem, and when the wind gets up, their aerodynamics are going to be put to the test: the competition has by and large invested more in dealing with wind. Still, a concentrated attack on the Saturday session might, just, see them scrape a car in to Q2.

At home, things are not running quite smoothly either: Eddie Jordan has blocked the main access to the factory in an attempt to force the team to negotiate purchase of the land.

20. Adrian Sutil: quick, but plagued with tough luck so far, Sutil really needs to finish a race: if his team-mate can keep battling for places (even twelfth) whilst he does not make the distance, then the cause is likely to be overlooked...

21. Giancarlo Fisichella: although he is not in a position to fight for points, this package is certainly allowing Fisichella to compete against others on race day; although the attrition levels required to score points are currently far too high, he is showing his young team-mate the way forward, and positioning himself well for when the car improves.

Objectives: Get in to Q2; get both cars to the finish.

McLaren Mercedes

Whilst conspiracy theorists were having fun with the penalties handed down to the McLaren drivers after qualifying in Malaysia, the team got on with the business of rescuing what they could from the weekend, and left with a podium.

A year ago, Bahrain slightly favoured Ferrari. The team ran competitive strategies, but was unable to get the most out of their tyres and lost time at some critical moments in the race. This year, Ferrari it is again likely to have a small advantage, though McLaren would be expected to capitalise on any mistakes. They are defending a comfortable lead in the Constructor's Championship, and have to be looking for both cars to finish in the top four this weekend.

On a side note, the FIA have stepped in to ensure that the team's position in the pitlane reflects their actual 2007 Championship result: for the first two races, they were offered garages that reflected an effective fifth place, rather than last. At most circuits this will have little impact, though it will be interesting to see what difference it makes in practical terms.

22. Lewis Hamilton: a wheel-nut problem in the first pitstop eliminated any chance of moving forward to the podium in Malaysia, besides which, Hamilton seemed to be a little off the pace of his team-mate. He must be looking for a return to business as usual this weekend, and targeting a podium finish even if the race win proves impossible. Either way, Hamilton currently leads the Championship by three points...

23. Heikki Kovalainen: scoring his maiden podium, Kovalainen put together a decent race in Sepang, arguably eclipsing his team-mate on the weekend. If he can continue that form, then a race win is only a matter of time.

Objectives: Win the race.

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