Preview: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix

This weekend, it's time for the second Grand Prix of the season! The F1-circus will travel to Bahrain to battle it out this weekend on Sakhir, which means that it's time for a preview!

Last year, much like this year's Australian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel won the race after qualifying third. The German had a lightning start overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the first corner, and later in the race, he managed to overtake the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas with their 2-pit strategy. Max Verstappen had a promising start but frustratingly was forced to retire early after he had a brake failure. In the back of the field, it was a familiar sight when both Alonso's and Vandoorne's McLaren had engine problems and were forced to retire as well. 

Vettel finished first, followed by Lewis Hamilton, who did have a five-second penalty for holding up Daniel Ricciardo in the pit lane, but the Brit was miles ahead of third-placed Valtteri Bottas, which meant Hamilton didn't lose any places because of the penalty. At that point of the season, it really looked like Vettel could steal the title from Hamilton. And boy were we wrong!

1. Sebastian Vettel 1:33:53.374

2. Lewis Hamilton        +6.660

3. Valtteri Bottas        +20.397

The Bahrain International Circuit is known for how kind it is for overtaking. The track is wide and there's plenty of straights, which is a cocktail for lots of overtaking and therefore lots of excitement. The F1 certainly has something to make up for after the Australian Grand Prix, where there was barely any overtaking due to the narrow track of Albert Park. What we did learn in Melbourne though, is that the Big Three are still unchallenged when it comes to pace.

Mercedes struggled with their tyre temperature last year, so that's definitely something to keep an eye on this year round. The circuit is in the middle of the Bahrain desert, which means track temperatures are very high too, even though it cools off in the evening, which is when the actual Grand Prix starts. Can Mercedes get their tyres right this year?

Ferrari has always been fast in Bahrain and as for Red Bull, there were certainly promising signs in Australia. Max Verstappen had a car that wasn't on a 100% due to parts that broke off early on in the race, but Daniel Ricciardo showed rapid pace. He was able to close the gap with third-placed Kimi Raikkonen in a matter of laps and the Aussie also had the fastest lap time of the day. On a track where overtaking isn't an issue, that could mean very good things for the Bulls.

McLaren will have some more updates installed in their battle for fourth place, which, at the moment, is looking like it will be between them, Renault and Haas. Haas looked the quickest of the bunch in Australia, but then couldn't finish the race with either car. Who will be 'the best of the rest'?

A final thing to look for is the second Free Practice session. That's the only time when the conditions will be the same as for the Grand Prix on Sunday, as FP2 will too be held in the evening under the floodlights. Temperatures famously drop severely in the desert after the sun goes down, meaning that FP2 will be the only time teams can practice under race circumstances. Expect teams to really go for it in that session.

There's absolutely no chance of rain in Sakhir this weekend, as temperatures will stay above thirty degrees with low humidity. As we previously stated, we really have to wait and see how Mercedes will manage their tyres in Bahrain. We predict that both W09's will really go for it in qualifying and that they'll be the ones on the first row of the grid. Party mode or not, they clearly have the best car when it comes to one-lap pace. Expect a close, heated battle between Red Bull and Ferrari on Saturday.

As for the race itself, Red Bull and Ferrari will probably creep up and attack the Silver Arrows. We still give Sebastian Vettel an edge to win it, as we still think there are some issues with Mercedes' tyre management that will haunt them during the race. Hamilton will probably still squeeze a second place out of his Mercedes, but we predict Valtteri Bottas will fall out of the podium places and finish fifth.

Top 5

1. Sebastian Vettel

2. Lewis Hamilton

3. Max Verstappen

4. Kimi Raikkonen

5. Daniel Ricciardo