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Bahrain, a favoured testing
venue in the past on account of its year-round warm weather, hosts the third
race of the season where the medium and soft compounds have been nominated,
like Australia and China. Unlike these, it is a twilight race: starting in
the evening and finishing in the dark. As a result, track and air
temperatures tend to fall as the race goes on.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “We have the same tyre
choice as we did in China for Bahrain, although there will obviously be a
bit more temperature involved. However, with the race taking place in the
evening, conditions won’t be as aggressive as they were in Malaysia – or
even Bahrain two years ago, when the race was still run during the day. A
defining characteristic of Bahrain now is that tyre performance changes over
the course of the weekend as we slowly edge towards afternoon sessions. Last
year’s Bahrain Grand Prix had a thrilling finish because of the safety car
with 10 laps to go, leading to a great battle between the two Mercedes team
mates. It’s harder to know what to expect this year – apart from the fact
that it’s very unlikely to rain!”
The biggest challenges for the tyres:
Bahrain has the highest degree of asphalt roughness seen all year (with the
exception of Jerez, used for testing). This accelerates thermal degradation
on the tyres. However, this factor is partly mitigated by the fact that
track and air temperatures fall as the race goes on, which obviously has an
effect on tyre degradation and therefore strategy.
Because of the traction demands of the Bahrain International Circuit, it is
particularly tough on the rear tyres: the limiting factor in Bahrain. During
the day, ambient temperatures tend to be high, which increases thermal
degradation but is not completely representative of the race.
The circuit is surrounded by the desert, which leads to sand blowing onto
the surface and decreasing grip levels, particularly at the start of each
session. When it comes to strategy, teams will not be able to rely on the
appearance of a safety car. Since the race was inaugurated in 2004, the
safety car has appeared only twice (in 2007 and 2014).
Pirelli’s presence will be increased with the first round of this year’s GP2
series in Bahrain, which has supplied eight of the drivers currently on the
Formula One grid. At a GP2 race alongside F1, the total number of Pirelli
tyres supplied increases from 1800 to 2700 and the number of Pirelli
personnel at the track from around 55 to 65.
Last year’s strategy and how the race was won: Last year, a rare safety car
just 10 laps from the finish levelled the playing field and provided a
thrilling battle to the finish. The top six all adopted a two-stop strategy,
but there were different choices down the field. Lewis Hamilton went for a
soft-soft-medium strategy, with Nico Rosberg going for soft-medium-soft. The
German set the fastest lap at the end of the race, but didn’t quite manage
to pass his team mate after their final stop. Sebastian Vettel was fourth on
a different strategy, being one of just two drivers to start the race on the
medium tyre.
Expected performance gap between
the two compounds: 1.5 -1.7 seconds per lap.
Expected weather conditions for the race: Dry and warm, starting in the
region of 29 degrees centigrade ambient and dropping down to 25 degrees or
lower by the finish. The risk of rain is very low, although there has been
some light precipitation in the past over the race weekend.
The Pirelli team choose their race numbers: #13, Francesco Romani (Head of
compounds and material development)
“I would choose 13, as it’s actually always been a lucky number for me. My
birthday is on the 13th, I met my wife on the 13th, and I got married on the
13th. So it isn’t hard for me to choose!” |
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