The first round is here, and we are at the Bahrain International Circuit for Round 1 out of 23.
This season we have three rookies joining the grid, and a lot of changes within the teams and the drivers as well as having the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But who will be the world champion? Can Max Verstappen make it 3 in a row? Or will Ferrari finally end their 16 year drought and grab the championship? Will Mercedes be back on form and fight at the top?
Who needs to shine?
Guanyu Zhou is going into his second year as an F1 driver, he will be wanting to prove a lot more as he was quite unlucky last season.
This year we will be having three new rookies to the grid, Oscar Piastri for McLaren, Logan Sargeant for Williams and Nyck de Vries for Alpha Tauri. Three different cars for three different drivers, it will be interesting to see how they do as Piastri comes from a year out of racing, Sargeant from racing in F2 and de Vries from Formula E.
And we have Nico Hulkenberg who is returning to the sport after leaving at the end of 2019, but making several appearances since then as well as being a reserve and development driver.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hamilton, P5: Alonso.
I think we all know that it’s going to be Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes fighting at the top but I think it will be even closer in the midfield.
Times for the weekend-
Friday 3rd-
Free Practice F3: 07:55am – 08:40am, Free Practice F2: 09:05am – 09:50am, Free Practice 1 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Qualifying F3: 13:00pm – 13:30pm, Free Practice 2 F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm, Qualifying F2: 16:30pm – 17:00pm (GMT).
Saturday 4th-
Sprint Race F3: 09:15am – 10:00am, Free Practice 3 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Sprint Race F2: 13:15pm – 14:00pm Qualifying F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm.
Sunday 5th-
F3 Feature Race: 08:50am, F2 Feature Race: 10:20am and F1 Race: 15:00pm.
Jordan's F1 Blog 