Shedding light on the night

As the drivers prepare for Round 3 of the season, Graham Caygill looks at five things to look out for in Bahrain.

Bahrain International Circuit. AP Photo / 2012

Doubling up

You have to go back to June 2010 for the last time Lewis Hamilton won two races in a row in F1, when he triumphed in Canada two weeks after he had won in Turkey.

The Briton dominated last weekend in Malaysia, comprehensively outperforming his teammate, Nico Rosberg, as he led home a Mercedes-GP one-two.

He comes to Bahrain as race favourite and needs to start making performances like that seen in Sepang a regular thing if he is to win a second world title.

He was denied the chance to race for victory in Australia by an unreliable engine and, given how impressive he was in Malaysia, it would likely have to be another breakdown that would deny him his first win in Sakhir.

The Mercedes is the class of the field at present and it is vital that Hamilton shows the kind of ruthlessness Sebastian Vettel has demonstrated in the past to notch up win after win.

There is no guarantee Mercedes will maintain this advantage so Hamilton must maximise his points scoring opportunities while he can.

Staying in touch

After winning nine races in a row at the end of last year you could understand if third place in Malaysia felt a little underwhelming for Vettel.

But the four-time world champion drove beautifully as he was the only driver to get near the Mercedes pair.

There is no doubt Red Bull Racing are on the up, given the mess they appeared to be in preseason.

If Vettel can be that quick now, imagine what he will be like in a month’s time when the European part of the season begins and after the team have had three weeks to work on the car following next weekend’s race in China.

For now it is about scoring as well as he can and keeping the pressure on the German manufacturers on the racetrack.

Rosberg may lead the title but Hamilton is the driver Vettel will fear and to be only 10 points behind him after two races is encouraging for the German.

Dry qualifying

Wet weather made life uncomfortable for the grid in Australia and Malaysia but the forecast is for a dry evening tomorrow in Sakhir, meaning we should get the clearest look yet at the competitive order in 2014.

The unpredictability of the first two qualifying sessions meant that several drivers ended up out of normal position.

The Williams drivers have been much quicker than their qualifying results have indicated, leaving them too much to do in the races, while McLaren-Mercedes arguably overachieved in Australia and then did well to hold on to it in the race.

Qualifying for the big race is the simplest form of demonstrating a car’s raw pace and how quick or not they are, and tomorrow night should clear up a few questions on where teams genuinely are on speed.

Ferrari frustration

Two races and two fourth places is not what Fernando Alonso had in mind this season.

The Ferrari is not a match for Mercedes and Red Bull and, rather than fighting them, Alonso has spent most of his time racing the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, which is not where the double world champion or the most successful team in F1 history would have expected to be.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen is still readjusting to life with the Italian team and this weekend is likely to be another of damage limitation for both drivers as they look to further upgrades to the car to improve their underwhelming speed to date.

Tyre uncertainty

The past two seasons of races in Bahrain were dominated by high tyre degradation on the Pirelli compounds.

The night race environment, new for 2014, may change that with conditions estimated to be up to 15 degrees Celsius lower for race time compared to last year’s event, which was held in the afternoon.

This may mean less pit stops for the drivers and teams, but may also create the challenge of warming up the tyres to full temperature to get sufficient grip.

The teams tested in Bahrain in February and last month but did not drive at night, so this is a step into the unknown for everyone.

For the track guides, team profiles and the latest standings see our interactive F1 2014 graphic here

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