The fast paced world of F1 tends to move very quickly. This week in the run-up to the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix it moved just that little bit quicker.

The good news kept flowing this week with arguably one of the biggest stories of the week is that Romain Grosjean, who suffered burns to his hands in the horror crash in the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, was discharged from hospital and he is his usual smiling self. Grosjean kept fans updated through his various social media channels throughout the weekend and fans were delighted to see him back on his feet and with people around him.

In more great news, the Schumacher name returns to Formula 1. Mick Schumacher was announced as a Haas driver from 2021. Schumacher has been quite impressive in F2 this year. His consistency has been paying off and he is in line to win the 2020 F2 title. He has caught the eye of the big wigs in Maranello and will be watched very closely. The Schumacher name in F1 comes with a huge amount of expectation and pressure with young Mick which he has so far handled very well. F1 is much more intense with increased media pressure and the expectation to perform. Time will be the judge of how Mick handles all of this in the coming years.

Alongside Mick Schumacher in the Haas garage in 2021 will be Pietro Fittipaldi who will also sub in for Grosjean this weekend.

In slightly dissappointing news mixed with some good news was that Lewis Hamilton had tested positive for SARS COV-2 the day after the Bahrain Grand Prix. This means that he will this weekend’s upcoming race. The twitterverse was buzzing with potential substitues as to who can replace Hamilton. Mercedes’ current reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne and Williams’ George Russell were front runners for the seat. It was eventually announced that George Russell will sub in for Hamilton after Williams relesed him for the weeked. Jack Aitken will sub in for Russell for this weekend at Williams.

No hiding that smile. 😁 pic.twitter.com/vmW6MvDXEv

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 2, 2020

While we stay at the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend, a different track layout will be used this weekend. The outer-track which is just another layout of the entire circuit complex and it will be used for the first time with F1 cars.
The outer-track is 3.543 with 11 corners. There are three straights with a sweeping middle sector. Simulations predict that we will get sub-60-second lap times. With the speeds, the 2020 F1 cars reach it will be a sight to behold. Downforce should be close to Monza levels this weekends so we should see some speed records take a tumble.

With the Constructors championship and drivers championship sewn up by Mercedes and Hamilton respectively, the attention turns to the best of the rest. Second place in the drivers’ championship is close between Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen with just 12 points separating the two.
The constructor’s fight is for P3 at the moment between McLaren currently in 3rd, Racing Point in 4th and McLaren in 5th. The double DNF by Racing Point last week did not help them much which allowed McLaren to move ahead in the points. It will be intense between the three teams in the final two races of the season.

This year has been quite different compared with other years. The lockdown has made us do things differently, the pandemic has us testing our mental strength and mental health. We’ve all dealt with things in our own way. While we were all ecstatic that the F1 season was able to get off the ground after a disastrous start in Australia, let us not forget the toll it has taken on the people working behind the scenes. They have worked tirelessly to bring us the F1 production, they have built and rebuilt cars weekend after weekend, they have transported things across country borders. And they’ve done this with great pride and for that, we should give thanks to each and every one of the individuals involved. We are in the home stretch. Let us see it through, and let us get there safely.