Five talking points ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix

F1 now moves to Bahrain for the fourth round of the calendar. It was a pretty eventful race in China, just a week back. Read our review, in case you missed any of it. Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, ES brings you the 5 talking points before the race.

1. Tussle within Mercedes:

Apart from a straight forward Mercedes dominated race, the post conference tussle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton was the main talking point of the Chinese Grand Prix. Nico complained Hamilton of going ‘too slow’, and compromising his race. Hamilton was quick to respond that it was not his responsibility to look after Nico’s race. Mercedes defended Hamilton calling none of his actions wrong, and soon Nico also settled down after settling the matter within closed doors. But is the issue over yet?

One thing is for sure, Mercedes is on back foot. After the Malaysian Grand Prix, they are vary of the prancing horses, and this was pretty visible during the Chinese Grand Prix as well. Recently, Toto Wolff said that the team will definitely resolve to team orders wherever required, especially since they aren’t as ahead of the rest of pack as they were last year. Relations are bound to turn sour, because of this. Whether the team orders go in favour of Nico or Lewis, only time will tell. Mercedes is breaking away from the concept of ‘free racing’, what Formula One stands for-pure driving, pure racing, racing with no strings attached.

1. Disastrous Renault:

There’s no escaping the fact that Renault is currently nowhere when it comes to the reliability or pace of their Power Unit. The previous race had two disqualifications, just because of an engine blow up-Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso. That’s 50% of the Renault powered cars, blown out of the race. The latter was running in eighth when his engine decided to blow up two laps before the finish, thus ruining his points finish. Commenting on this issue, post race, Renault further said that it expects more such issues in Bahrain due to higher temperatures. Clearly, they need to work on the reliability first and then try and improve the power of the engine. Red Bull and Toro Rosso, both have decent cars, with very talented drivers on board. They are being pushed back by Renault, and for any success this year, Renault has to buck up.

1. Ruins of McLaren:

Fernando Alonso admitted that it wasn’t the best feeling after he was lapped by both the Ferraris. (Read more on this as Alonso opens up on his situation at McLaren).Struggling more than what was expected. The Mclarens are struggling. They’re right now faster than the two Manors, but slower than anyone else on the grid. Any good result that the team will get will mainly be because of the two talented drivers they have, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. What happens to them under the heat and dust of Bahrain, will be a big mystery until the end of the race.

Let’s be honest here. Was Fernando Alonso right in jumping from Ferrari to McLaren?
One side, is a team which has already won one out of three grand prix and on the other is the team that is struggling to even make it to Q2 in Qualifying. But McLaren will give him a better environment to grow as a racer and work more closely with the development of the car.  We’re not jumping to any conclusions here. We’re leaving that for the time to tell us.

1. Max ‘Senna’ Verstappen:

That’s what he is called by most F1 pundits. At a mere age of 17 years, he has managed to impress every expert. His ballsy move on lap 10 on the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson would have definitely earned him a lot of new fans. He was fast, precise and never showed signs of any lack of experience. Having started 13th, he was upto 8th, when his engine blew up on the start finish straight, ruining his race, just two laps before the end. He’s shown incredible talent, and will sure short find himself in a championship winning capable car, very soon. He sure is one of the most exciting racers on the grid(though not as exciting as Maldonado). A lot of bigger teams will be watching his performance in Bahrain closely.

1. Is Ferrari a threat to Mercedes?

With Vettel’s victory in Malaysia, everyone in the F1 fraternity hailed Ferrari’s comeback and maybe the end the Mercedes’ strong rein. Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix fair and square on strategy and tyre degradation. Hamilton won the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix on sheer pace. When it comes to pace, there is no catching the Silver Arrows. The two Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen were nearly 3s and 4s respectively behind Hamilton. In Qualifying they were nearly a second slower than pole sitter Hamilton. One race can never help us understand whether Mercedes have an actual contender for race victories or not.  Ferrari’s performance in Bahrain will help solve the unresolved question.