Are Aston Martin really this quick?
Aston Martin made people think in Bahrain testing that they could challenge at the front of the field. They ended the first weekend of the season second in the Constructors’ Championship after Lance Stroll finished in a brilliant 6th place whilst Fernando Alonso finished in the podium places in his first-ever race with the Silverstone outfit. As much as all of that was amazing, it’s only been one race and it was all held at the same track. The big test for Aston Martin is whether the car is as quick and competitive in Saudi as it was in Bahrain.
Are McLaren really this bad?
In the opposite way to Aston Martin, McLaren had a pretty poor test where they looked massively on the back foot and that continued in the first round of the season as they currently find themselves bottom of the Constructors’ Championship which is absolutely mad. Again though, F1 has only been to Bahrain in 2023 and McLaren fans will certainly hope that the McLaren package works a lot better around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (it did last season).
Can Sergio Perez close the gap to Max Verstappen?
Red Bull absolutely dominated the first round of the season as they comfortably took home a 1-2 finish in the race (after locking out the front row in qualifying). If this is to be the case for the foreseeable future, it’s almost imperative that Sergio Perez closes the gap to his teammate. Checo finished just under 12 seconds behind his teammate last time out, but it’s fair to say that it didn’t seem like Max was pushing too hard. We do know however that Checo Perez is at his best when he’s driving on street circuits and he’ll look to try and take back the win that he felt he was robbed of when Formula 1 last went to Jeddah.
Charles Leclerc is already taking a grid penalty!
We’ve only had one race in the 2023 Formula 1 season and it’s already painful for both Ferrari and Charles Leclerc fans. After an issue with his Control Electronics (CE) earlier on in the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Charles was forced to use his second CE of the season for the race (you only get two per season). The part then failed in the race resulting in Leclerc retiring from a podium position and it’s now meant that he’s had to go outside of his allocation meaning he’s taking a 10-place grid drop this weekend. Luckily for Charles, this is a track you can overtake at, but it’s still got to be mightily frustrating for the Monegasque driver.
Can Williams build on a successful first round of the season?
One of the surprises in the first round of the season in Bahrain was the pace of the Williams. Many people (including myself) expected Williams to finish bottom of the Constructors’ Championship yet again this year, but they impressed in Qualifying as Alex Albon made it out of Q1 whilst rookie Logan Sargeant missed out by literally a thousandth of a second. It then got even better for them in the race as Logan finished in a really good 12th place whilst Alex Albon crossed the line to score himself and Williams 1 point. Williams are currently 7th in the Constructors’ Championship after 1 race and they will really hope that they can continue to fight in the midfield.
My Predictions for Bahrain Qualifying:
Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
Fernando Alonso
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