Bahrain Grand Prix Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Pascal Wehrlein will return to action for Sauber in this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The team announced his long awaited return via social media today, just three days before Free Practice 1 on Friday. Wehrlein infamously sat out the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix due to his less than optimal fitness after the injury he sustained from his Race of Champions crash in January. Taking his place back in the team relegates reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi back to the sidelines after a spectacular debut in Australia, but anRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The tire compounds for the Bahrain and Russian Grand Prix, the third and fourth races of the 2017 Formula 1 season, have been announced by Pirelli. The third round will feature medium, soft and super-soft compound selections – the same as last season. For round four, the Italian manufacturer has decided to go with its traditional super-soft and soft rubber, but also added ultra-softs to Sochi circuit. 2017 will see a change in tires in F1, with a new era of regulations both bigger and widerRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After scoring points in his debut Formula 1 race in the Bahrain Grand Prix, it is time for the McLaren-Honda F1 Team to explore the option to run Stoffel Vandoorne for the 2016 season. Vandoorne, 24, substituted for Fernando Alonso after the two-time F1 champion was not medically cleared to race at the Sakhir International Circuit. Alonso was the focal point following a horrific crash that saw his McLaren MP4-31 collided with Haas F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez before flipping violently in the Australian Grand Prix. TheRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor If Haas F1 Team and Romain Grosjean were thrilled with their Formula One debut in Australia by netting sixth place, they and their fans must be ecstatic today after a virtuoso drive by the Frenchman took them one better for a fifth place finish in Bahrain. Starting ninth, Grosjean utilized three sets of supersofts, and a final stint on softs in an incredibly aggressive strategy that paid dividends. The chaotic start, during which the two Williams caught the leading Mercedes duo and Valtteri Bottas hip checkedRead More

Nico Rosberg’s dream start to the 2016 season continued as the German took his second consecutive victory and his first in Bahrain and his first at the Gulf circuit. Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth second place with Lewis Hamilton recovering to third after a first-corner collision. Before the start there was disappointment for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel, set to start from third, slowed on the formation lap with smoke billowing from the back of his car. His failure to start, the first of his career, meant a space opened onRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor 1:29.493, the lap Lewis Hamilton put in to claim pole position today at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit to beat team mate Nico Rosberg is the fastest lap ever recorded here. Faster than the mighty V10 era cars, faster than the V8’s, faster than Mark Webber’s 2005 lap record of 1:29.527 set in a Williams with a roaring V10. Hamilton was thrilled with the time and called it “sexy.” F1 might not have to change as much as they thought for 2017 to make the cars faster thanRead More

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of final practice in Bahrain ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen as Ferrari took the fight to Mercedes ahead of qualifying at the Sakhir Circuit. With just over 10 minutes left on the clock, the Mercedes drivers took to the track on the red-banded supersoft tyre for their qualifying runs. Nico Rosberg immediately jumped to P1 with a lap of 1:32.104, with Lewis Hamilton quickly slotting into P2 with a lap just five hundredths of a second adrift of the Australian Grand Prix winner. ItRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Fernando Alonso has not been cleared to race at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend. The two-time champ has been sidelined by FIA doctors after the scary crash he had with Haas F1’s Esteban Gutierrez in the season opening Australian Grand Prix. The announcement does not come as a shock as Alonso withstood over 40G’s in one of the most violent crashes in recent memory. Alonso has further revealed that he has a broken rib and a lung issue called a pneumothorax, where air gets trappedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There may be no single driver more excited for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix than Kimi Raikkonen, who returns to the site which was one of his standout performances since his return to Ferrari. Last season, the Finn was a man on a mission as he tore chunks of time out of Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the closing stages at Sakhir International Circuit before finishing a close second to the Mercedes driver. Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, has shown flashes of brilliance during his second stintRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Force India is handing Alfonso Celis Jr. the keys and allowing the young Mexican to make his official Formula 1 debut at the opening free practice session during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Celis, 19, will replace fellow countryman Sergio Perez at the Sakhir International Circuit, in what will be his first of seven scheduled outings for the 2016 season. The development driver took part in a Pirelli tire test at the end of last season at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and alsoRead More