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2004
Formula 1 Bahrain
Grand Prix Race Preview |
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Malaysia was a bit closer although Ferrari and Michael Schumacher won and
had Rubens Barrichello opted for the softer compound tyre he may have finished
second. However the win wasn't by a huge margin which gives us some hope of a
competitive season. The Bahrain track is a brand new one and the teams and the drivers don't have any real data to use for this event. The Friday practice sessions will be crucial and the teams with test cars (the bottom 6 from last year) will have a significant advantage as they lap the circuit and understand it with a 3rd car that the single engine rule doesn't apply on. Of course their regular drivers will have to learn the track but the 4 top teams will have to setup their cars, choose the tyres and learn the track in 2 cars that run under the single engine rule. This may force the top 4 teams into taking risks by running their cars longer than anticipated which may cause an engine failure or choosing a wrong setup due to insufficient data. Another critical factor is how much of a role will the sand play. A lot of sand in the air can cause major problems for the teams. Some teams will get affected more than the others and this could also influence the outcome. A surprise result isn't out of the question. It will also be interesting to see how the team-mates fare. On a track that is new to everyone, those with less experience get a chance to shine against their more experienced team-mates. Also some drivers are known to be quick learners while others take their time. One thing that is being debated is the fact that Williams (under invitation from the FIA) carried out a short test on the track two weeks ago. Their test driver Marc Gene drove last year's Williams for a number of laps. While this has provided them with some real data and may give them a small advantage, it isn't significant as the track was dirty and the team ran last year's car. A number of teams were testing last week at Paul Ricard. BAR and Williams topped
the timesheets. McLaren, Renault and Toyota were also present. All the teams
put in very high number of laps reflecting the excellent reliability we have
seen so far this season. Here is a team by team review: Ferrari: Didn't dominate in Malaysia as they did in Australia
but they still won the race and that is what counts. Bahrain will be a new
challenge to them but they will adapt to the situation quicker than most.
However, as they cannot have a test car on Friday, their data could be
limited and may have to rely a bit on educated guesses. Drivers: Michael Schumacher won again in Malaysia and while he wasn't too far ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, he was never seriously threatened. His track record of learning new tracks is very good so expect him to be up there. Unless the Bridgestone tyres perform very poorly compared to the Michelins, a win is likely. Rubens Barrichello will face a big test in Bahrain. This is an opportunity for him to show that he can challenge Michael and prove that he could be Champion. Past experience though tells us that he is more likely to be left in Michael's wake all weekend. Lets hope that won't be the case. Points likely. Williams: One car performed reasonably in Malaysia, the other
was never in contention. It must be the drivers and Ralf isn't doing
himself any favours driving like that while his manager is negotiating a
contract renewal with Sir Frank. Drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya drove an excellent race in Malaysia and managed to finish in second which was realistically the best possible result for him. Expect him to put a good show in Bahrain and fight for a podium finish. Ralf Schumacher drove another ordinary race in Malaysia and ended up with a blown engine. So far he has not impressed this season and with Bahrain being a new track he may struggle here as well. Points likely. Renault: Looked good in Malaysia until their second round of
pit stops. Then they played with the strategies of both cars and it proved
disastrous. Still they managed to finish both their cars in the points
putting them on par with Ferrari in this regard. They could be the
surprise team in Bahrain as their car appears gentle on tyres and has good
fuel consumption. Drivers: Fernando Alonso made up for his mistake in Qualifying by storming up the field at the start. His switch to a 2 stopper though was a wrong one and cost him at least 1 place. He should be fun to watch on this track as he'll adapt pretty quickly. Podium possible Jarno Trulli drove a good race in Malaysia and fought hard with
Jenson Button. He dropped back though following his second pit stop which was
too early for some reason. From then onwards his pace was ordinary. BAR: Once again they proved they are on the pace with the
other top Michelin runners. Reliability remains an issue for them but they
have also improved on that significantly. Being a new track, BAR will
benefit from the test car they will use on Friday and that may put them
ahead of McLaren and Renault again. Their drivers though may struggle. Drivers: Jenson Button finished an impressive 3rd in Malaysia pretty much on merit. That shows that both himself and the car are good. It will be interesting to see how he does on a new track. Expect him to struggle a bit but a points finish is possible given the advantage they'll have from Friday testing. Takuma Sato was in the points until his car failed him in Malaysia. While he isn't matching Jenson, he is quick and he'll want to prove that he can be on equal level with Button on a new track. He could surprise but he may show his inexperience and go off. McLaren: They showed some improvement in Malaysia but their
reliability is hurting them as their quicker driver suffered twice in a
row so far. Expect them to fight with BAR and Renault here. Drivers: David Coulthard again managed to finish after driving an ordinary race. It seems that he doesn't push the car too hard and that earns him a finish in the points. Not high enough though to challenge anyone. Expect more of the same. Kimi Raikkonen yet again retired with a mechanical failure while in contention for 4th place. Kimi will impress on this track and if his car doesn't fail him he could score a much needed podium. Sauber: Were again slower than expected in Malaysia despite the
Ferrari power. The improvement on their aero package as a result of their
new wind tunnel needs to be applied on the car before it is too late.
They'll get points if enough cars in front fail. Drivers: Felipe Massa scored a point in Malaysia as a result of attrition. Still he managed to beat the rest to it. It will be a very interesting duel between Massa and Fisichella here. If he keeps his cool he could beat Fisichella again. Once again points will be difficult. Giancarlo Fisichella once again struggled in Malaysia but this time is was due to slow getaways during his pit stops. Still he must be unhappy with his performance given that Massa managed to finish in front and scored a point. He should be stronger than Massa on this new track. If he isn't then he would have lost that edge. Toyota: Yet again they weren't competitive in Malaysia. They
improved marginally over Australia but the pressure is on to improve the
car. They managed 9th place but that isn't good enough. Still they've
managed to finish both their cars which is a good achievement. They could benefit
from their 3rd car on Friday at this new track. Drivers: Cristiano da Matta finished just outside the points but that was only after 4 cars ahead of him retired. He continues to do better than his team-mate but he needs a car that performs well. Expect him to surprise a few at this new track but points will be hard. Olivier Panis struggled in Malaysia after going into the pits 5 times. Still he managed to finish in 12th. The Bahrain race will be a difficult one for him. Points unlikely. Jaguar: Once again Mark Webber was impressive in the Jaguar
qualifying in second place but the car seems to have a problem at the
start. They need to fix that quickly otherwise their races will be just
test sessions. Drivers: Mark Webber was very impressive until several incidents during the race in Malaysia got to him and he spun out. That isn't usual for Mark and he'll bounce back in Bahrain. A points finish is a possibility. Christian Klien continues his learning process in Formula 1. He isn't as quick as Webber but he has managed to finish both races so far which is a good achievement. It will be interesting to see how he compares to Webber on this new track. Points unlikely though. Jordan: They continue to perform poorly and it is hard to see
them improving as their budget is very tight. Drivers: Nick Heidfeld retired in Malaysia with a gearbox problem while running near the back. Don't expect much in Bahrain. Giorgio Pantano finished ahead of the 2 Minardis in Malaysia and that's were you'd expect him to finish. Same again in Bahrain. Minardi: They'll be at the back once again and hope for others
to fail so they can finish near the top 10. They could hassle one of the
Jordans. Drivers: Gianmaria Bruni continues to outperform his team-mate but that is expected. If he can be close to Pantano, that will be an achievement. Zsolt Baumgartner will likely to struggle in Bahrain just like at any other track! Bridgestone Preview - Michelin Preview Join
8 'n'
Pole and see how your predictions stack up against the others. Note: Official team preview links when available
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