GULF WEEKLY: The world’s eyes are on Bahrain as it heads into the second F1 race weekend of its first ever double header with some wondering if last weekend’s drama-filled race can be topped.
At the F1 Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix, fans can expect to see Red Bull’s Alex Albon race for his career as the Thai driver’s seat at Red Bull has been rumoured to be in jeopardy due to a lacklustre season.
Last Sunday Albon pulled all the stops and put up some of his best laps at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), finishing third after Sergio Perez’s Racing Point car caught fire.
Coincidentally, if Albon is unable to maintain the pace in the coming two races, the fiery Perez is rumoured to be his replacement at a team which has struggled to find a worthy racing partner for Max Verstappen, who finished second last Sunday.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who finished first on Sunday, has bowed out of the coming race after testing positive for Covid-19.
He will have to wait till March 2021 for another shot at stealing Sebastian Vettel’s record for most wins at the BIC, the “home of motorsport in the Middle East.”
He is currently tied with Vettel for the record after a near-perfect drive last Sunday, where he was the first to race past the chequered flag being waved by National Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) member and BDF
Hospital infectious disease consultant and microbiologist Lt Col Dr Manaf Al Qahtani.
This will be the first F1 race that Hamilton has missed since his F1 debut at the 2007 season-opening race in Australia.
While Hamilton’s replacement is yet to be confirmed at the time of publishing, reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, due to return to Bahrain after Formula E testing in Valencia, seems to be the most likely choice.
However this didn’t stop Haas reserve driver Louis Delétraz from throwing his hat into the ring for consideration, saying on Twitter: “Hi Mercedes. I’m in Bahrain, I have my super license, Haas is not using me. Also I was on the podium on
that exact same track two days ago. Please?”
In the extremely unlikely event that the F2 driver competes for Mercedes, he will be the first driver to be allowed to drive in F2 and F1 during the same weekend.
After Sunday’s F1 inferno, Haas confirmed the next day that their reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will take Romain Grosjean’s place during the upcoming weekend and make his Formula One race debut.
There will also be plenty of action in the Formula 2 series, which is a feeder championship for the F1. While Mick Schumacher, son of renowned race driver Michael Schumacher currently leads the championship, his margin is razor thin and he could lose it to Callum Ilot if he can’t keep the pace up in this weekend’s season closer.