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Weather Forecast for the 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

Round 4 of the Formula 1 World Championship brings us to the Bahrain International Circuit in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

The circuit has a good blend of high to medium speed corners, heavy braking zones and long straights to test just about every aspect of a F1 car’s handling characteristics. Teams will need to find the balance between optimum down force and straight line speed. The tyres play an important part in the race as the rough asphalt at the circuit accelerates thermal degradation.

Pirelli have brought the yellow soft(option) tyre and the white medium(prime) tyre to the circuit for the weekend. This is the same tyre that was nominated last season the only difference this season is that the tyres have a different construction with a slightly altered compound.

Because the track is surrounded by desert, the is a large amount of sand that is blown onto the circuit which results in reduced grip levels at the beggining of a session. As the session progresses the sand gets cleaned away and the track rubbers down. Picking the right time to go out in qualifying will be crucial. Drivers will want to hit that sweet spot during the track evolution cycle during qualifying.

During the day the temperatures are high, which means the tyres degrade quicker, but this is not representative of the race. We’ll get a true sense of pace during FP2 when track temperatures have dropped slightly.

With the race taking place in the desert, the weather outlook is sunny and hot throughout the weekend during the day with temperatures hovering in the high twenties and lower thirties. The one thing that may put a damper on things is the wind. There is a sandstorm forecast for Saturday’s qualifying session with a northerly wind remaining steady at around 40km/h forecast throughout the day. Evening temperatures are much cooler with ambient temperatures dropping to the mid twenties in the evening. This should help with tyre degredation.

Below is a snapshot of this weekend’s weather and a live forecast that updates throughout the day. Be sure to check in before each session to get the latest weather conditions.

April 15, 2015
Daniel Ricciardo Wins Laureus Breakthrough Award

Australian Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has won the Laureus breakthrough of the year award.

The 25 year-old Ricciardo joined the Red Bull Racing team in 2014 and racked up three impressive victories and five podium finishes in a season otherwise dominated by Mercedes. Despite not being able to attend the prestigious awards ceremony in Shanghai Ricciardo graciously accepted the award via a pre-recorded video message.

“2014 is a year I’ll remember for a long time – it was definitely a breakthrough in my mind as well,” he said. Standing on the top step of the podium a few times was icing on the cake.”

Ricciardo is the first Australian in five years to win a Laureus Sports award.

April 15, 2015
F1 2015: Bahrain GP Preview – Hamilton vs Rosberg In Bahrain

It was just about a month ago that the agonising wait for the start of the 2015 season was all but over as the Australian grand prix loomed large within touching distance of starved Formula 1 fans.

As the Bahrain grand prix approaches, a mere seven days after the third round in China, Lewis Hamilton is firmly in the lead of the driver’s championship and Mercedes still have the quickest car on the grid.

But there is much that is different about the 2015 season. The narrative has changed slightly and now includes Ferrari’s captivating turnaround. Even though the SF15-T isn’t on par with Silver Arrows it has given Mercedes something to ponder. Sebastian Vettel’s debut with the team he idolised as a youngster has gone better than he likely could have dreamed. Three podiums, including a stunning victory, have proven that 2015 may not be all about misters Hamilton and Rosberg.

It is going to take some time however for Ferrari to be genuine threat to Mercedes in all conditions, on all circuits. Kimi Raikkonen concedes that Bahrain will likely produce the same result as China but the Finn is sure that Ferrari will catch up to Mercedes. “I think we have good plans already since last year and made big gains and will make big gains during this year,” says Raikkonen. “Everybody improves and it depends what the rest are doing but we trust the way our team is working altogether and what we are doing.”(sic)

Notwithstanding the fact that Bahrain will host the first night race of the season temperatures are still expected to be appreciably higher than in China. Pirelli have brought the medium and soft compound tyre to this circuit at which the management of rear tyre degradation will be vital. The first sessions may not be indicative of true tyre performance at the circuit characteristics continue to change throughout the weekend. “A defining characteristic of Bahrain now is that tyre performance changes over the course of the weekend as we slowly edge towards afternoon sessions,” predicts Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery.

Twelve months ago the Sakhir International circuit was the one and only site of a true wheel-to-wheel battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. It was the eventual champion, Hamilton, who got the better of his teammate in the spicy fight for supremacy in this race and the ensuing season.

It’s safe to assume that, before the season started, Rosberg would have predicted himself to be ahead of Hamilton or, at least, a very close second. On the face of it this battle appears much the same as in 2014. However, the tone of this inter-team battle is quite different and decidedly tilted to Hamilton’s advantage.

Not only has Rosberg not been able to match his reigning champion teammate he appears to have lost significant ground. It wasn’t long ago that Rosberg vowed to give Hamilton the fight of his life in 2015 but the German is yet to deliver on his boisterous declaration. Significantly, it also appears that Rosberg is losing the psychological battle and quite early on at that. The moaning about his teammate in Chinese Gp was not indicative of a driver with the mental toughness to beat his highly talented teammate.

Bahrain has been a good hunting ground for Nico Rosberg and if he is indeed serious about winning the world championship then he has to transform all of the talk into action.

April 15, 2015
Video: Bahrain GP Memories: 2014 Bahrain GP Highlights

Relive all the action from the 2014 Bahrain GP – a thrilling race filled with all the action that any Formula One Grand Prix should have! The Bahrain GP race edit will have you waiting anxiously for Sunday’s upcoming 2015 Bahrain GP!

April 14, 2015
Broadcast Times for the 2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

The Bahrain Grand Prix is back-to-back with the Chinese Grand Prix. We here at Madness HQ really enjoy these back-to-back races. It keeps us busy and eases with withdrawal. Round 04 of the Formula 1 World Championship takes us to the Bahrain International Circuit where for the second time it will play host to the seasons first day-into-night race.

The circuit is well known to the teams, the year round warm temperatures made it a favorite test venue for the teams. The track has 15 corners in total with 2 DRS zones.

Mercedes have once again stamped their authority on the season after a completely dominant weekend by Lewis Hamilton. He took P1 in all three practice sessions, pole position in qualifying, fastest lap and race win in the race. A royal flush so to speak.

Ferrari have now cemented their place as best of the rest with Sebastian Vettel finishing P3, behind the Mercedes pair. Ferrari tried their best to manage expectations for the Chinese Grand Prix after their win in Malaysia, but the fans were hungry for the victory. It became very clear during the race on Sunday that Mercedes were just too quick for the Maranello team. Nevertheless, they are continuing with developing the car and are getting closer to Mercedes. They have not ruled out a few more wins this season.

Further down the field it looks as Renault have made an improvement with their power units which brings Red Bull back up the order. This is some good news but the team face the inevitable penalty of a power unit change as they have already used 6 of their 8 allocated power units for the season and we are just 4 races in.

Sauber are quietly going about their business and are getting good points. They are currently 4th in the Constructors Championship ahead of Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

Although they say they are making progress, McLaren are lagging at the bottom of the constructors table with no points to their name. Both McLaren drivers are towing the line and are hiding their frustrations very well at the moment. The team is making improvements throughout every race weekend. Things should get better for them once the European leg of the season begins.

Below are the television broadcast times for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 13:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 17:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 14:00

Qualifying: Saturday 17:00

Race: Sunday 17:00

April 14, 2015
Lewis Hamilton says he’s mentally stronger than Nico Rosberg

Mercedes driver and current Formula One World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton believes that he has the psychological edge over his team mate Nico Rosberg in their battle for the Drivers’ Championship title this season.

The defending world champ was accused of compromising Rosberg’s race during the Chinese Grand Prix this past weekend and responded smugly during the post race press conference. Following Rosberg’s ongoing claims, Hamilton said that he’s always thought of Rosberg as being a strong mental contender but that he has the edge over his team mate this season.

“I’ve always said he is really strong mentally,” Hamilton said. “But I’d like to think I’m stronger this year.”

Rosberg claimed that Hamilton deliberately slowed down during the race, making him vulnerable to attack from Vettel behind him. It would seem that Ferrari’s new pace has caught even Rosberg by surprise and that the German driver could think of no other reason why Vettel would be breathing down his neck.

Lewis however disputed the claims saying that it is “not my job to look after Nico’s race”. Hamilton made it clear that he was controlling his pace up front to ensure that he was looking after his tyre usage and that he’d have enough tyre left to maintain his lead. Lewis made it clear that if Nico wanted to pass him, he should have tried. “If I’d been second, with lots of pace, I’d have been pushing to get passed, but Nico didn’t,” Hamilton said.

“Take a step back. It’s racing. I wouldn’t have sat back two seconds to get to the end of the stint, I’d have tried to get passed.”

After much to and fro, plenty of media focus and a team debriefing, Rosberg announced that their disagreement is now a “thing of the past” and that they will “move forward”. Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff also called an end to the dispute saying that there was no doubt in his mind that Lewis Hamilton “didn’t do it on purpose”.

“Nico was in trouble, he couldn’t get near Lewis because he needed to protect his tyres and Sebastian was increasing his pace. So it is understandable from both.”

It would seem that we’re good to go to move on from the litle fiasco but you can bet your bottom dollar that this team mate rivalry is far from over! It’s Lewis Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg and you better get your popcorn ready!

Photo credits:

Lewis Hamilton, Chinese GP Podium Celebrations: Courtesy of Daimler, Mercedes AMG F1

Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Post-race press conference: Screen capture, Sky F1

April 14, 2015
Video: Brembo Brake Facts Round 04 – Bahrain Grand Prix

The hardest braking point on the Bahrain International Circuit is approaching turn 1. After the long straight, the driver has to decelerate by 267 km/h over just 158 metres. 2211 kilowatts of power are released in the process. The driver is subjected to 5.2 g, while having to push with 155 kg down onto the brake.

April 13, 2015
Jules Bianchi update

Philippe Bianchi, father of Jules Bianchi, has provided an update on Jules’ current medical situation, as well as voiced his anger around the FIA investigation which blames his son for the horror crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

The 25-year old Bianchi remains in a coma in Nice more than six months after that terrible day at Suzuka. His father agreed to an interview with a local Nice newspaper “out of respect for all the people who continue to send Jules their beautiful wishes, encouragement and affection every day”.

He did however admit that there is very little to report about Jules’ progress medically.

“The only thing we can say is that he fights with force and with the same strength that he has always fought with, before and after the accident,” Bianchi told the local Nice-Matin newspaper.

“Every day, Jules does a marathon. From a medical point of view, his condition is stable. He is fairly autonomous — no physical problems.

“All of his organs are working without assistance. But for now, he remains unconscious.”

When asked whether neurosurgeons are seeing any improvement in Bianchi’s brain state, he admitted that this is something that will take a very long time, “For this kind of trauma, we know the evolution is very slow,” he said.

“But compared to what the Japanese professor who operated on him told us, it is already night and day. There, when we arrived to see Jules, there was no hope. There was talk of irreversible damage.

“It was said he could not be transferred before one year, but it was done after seven weeks, as Jules quickly began to breathe again on his own.

“Now, the doctors tell us there is no specific intervention they can do. Most important is to stimulate Jules so that he feels a constant presence at his side.

“So we take turns every day — his mother, his sister, his brother and me. He also has his German girlfriend, Gina, who lives here now,” Philippe told Nice-Matin.

“From time to time, at his bedside, we see that things are happening. Sometimes he is more active, he moves more, squeezes our hand, but is it mere reflex or is it real?

“Hard to know,” Mr Bianchi said.

He said it continues to be a terrible time within the Bianchi family, a “daily torture”.

“Our universe collapsed on 5 October 2014. The questions that no one can answer now: will he make it? If so, will he be disabled or can he live normally? I think that in this type of accident, it hits harder than a death. The suffering is relentless. A daily torture,” Bianchi explained.

“To those people who think of him, I want to thank each one and tell them that we will give news when there is any, good or bad.”

When asked about the FIA investigation which placed blame on Jules Bianchi for the horror crash, Philippe was furious.

“It was an internal investigation,” he abruptly replied. “Only those who were involved were engaged.

“Regarding this, I have nothing new to say,” Mr Bianchi continued. “Very good people are involved now to defend the interests of Jules.

“If someone is responsible some day, he will have to pay. Frankly, I’m too upset to talk about it. I prefer to focus my energy on Jules now”.

Our thoughts remain with Jules Bianchi, his father Phillipe and his family, friends and fellow race drivers. Keep fighting, young man! #ForzaJules

April 13, 2015
Wolff: “He Didn’t Do It On Purpose”

After the race debrief Mercedes Director Toto Wolff has confirmed that Hamilton did not back Rosberg up on purpose and that it was all a consequence of preserving the tyres.

Wolff called it a positive debrief adding that there was no animosity between the drivers.

“I think he didn’t do it on purpose, and we’ve cleared that now,” he insisted. “There wasn’t any intention from Lewis to slow Nico down in order to make him finish third or worse, one hundred per cent.

Wolff put it down to the fact that Hamilton had to save his tyres as they were not sure how long the option tyre would last as they changed their strategy during the race to go from option-prime-prime to option-option-prime.

“He didn’t know the gaps behind Nico. What he knew was that he needed to take the tyre longer than we’ve ever run it the whole weekend, and this is why he decided to slow down in the way he did.

“Lewis was the car in the lead, he was controlling the pace. We were putting the option tyre on, although we were actually expecting to put the prime on, so our expected race would have been option-prime-prime.

“Also because we learned the lesson from Malaysia, we thought we might run into trouble with the option. And then we found out that our option was actually holding on much better than we expected, and much better than Ferrari.

“We tried to make sure that we could cover Ferrari with the option. We put the option on, the driver realises he has the option in, doesn’t know what’s going on behind him, and controls his pace, because he needs to take the option longer than expected.

“And he was controlling that pace. From his point of view, completely understandable.”

He explained Rosberg’s situation and said that it was completely understandable that Rosberg was getting a big edgy.

“Nico on the other side was really running into trouble, because he was bunched up behind Lewis, he couldn’t go any more near, so he asked for a 2secs gap to Lewis so he could at least protect the tyres a little bit, which he did”, said Wolff.

“And on the same time Sebastian was increasing the pace behind him. So understandable from both of them.”

April 13, 2015
Video: Rosberg Angry at Hamilton for “Compromising” His Race

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg lashes out at team mate Lewis Hamilton for driving too slow and compromising his own race. Rosberg was very vocal post race about his race being compromised and made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction in the post race press conference. The full transcript of it here.

April 12, 2015