Lots of traffic, blue flags, overtaking, slipstreams and new F1 drivers are going to make this race weekend very exciting at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), according to Formula 1’s veteran drivers.
The second weekend in the first ever double-header to be held at the ‘Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’ starts today and the Formula 1 Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix will be run along the much shorter Outer Track, a layout which is seeing its F1 debut, amidst a sea of driver changes.
For the first time since 1974, laps of less than a minute are expected to go up on the board, with 87 laps to be run, the highest number of laps on the calendar.
“It’s a unique track layout so we are going to see a lot worse traffic than usual and there will be a lot more ‘blue flags’ as people are lapped which offers its own opportunities,” Haas driver Kevin Magnussen told the GDN.
“I am going to try to take advantage of the slip stream to keep up my pace and hopefully use that to my advantage.”
In F1, a blue flag is flown when a driver is about to be lapped and the slower driver is required to let the faster car pass.
This also creates opportunities for drivers to take advantage of slipstreams – where a car behind a much faster one can take advantage of the leader’s aerodynamics to increase their speed.
The roars from Haas this weekend will also be Magnussen’s swan song as he is set to retire from F1 at the end of this season, after seven years in the league.
Magnussen is driving with Pietro Fittipaldi, instead of Romain Grosjean this weekend, after a fiery crash last weekend sent Grosjean to the hospital with burns on his hands and ankles. Grosjean has recovered from his accident and made an appearance at the BIC yesterday.
Fittipaldi comes from a legacy of drivers and will have big shoes to fill this weekend. His grandfather was a two-time F1 world champion, making the 24-year-old Brazilian the first ever grandson of an F1 driver to become one himself.
“I have been dreaming of this moment since I was four years old and started karting,” Fittipaldi said.
“Obviously, it’s not under the best circumstances. But I am happy with the opportunity and grateful to the team and the principal Guenther Steiner, for putting their trust in me.
“I may not be driving for the best team but it’s an amazing group of people, who have been very supportive and open with me.
“It’s been three years since a Brazilian was in Formula One so I am also getting a lot of support from back home, where motorsport has a lot of fans.
“I also got some advice from my grandfather and uncle Max (Papis) who told me to enjoy the race because you never have your first (race) again.”
Fittipaldi and Magnussen may have a stronger chance this weekend as driver shuffles throughout the ranks means three of the drivers on the track will be steering unfamiliar steeds.
After world champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes was diagnosed with Covid-19, Williams Racing driver George Russell was called up and has been busy trying to familiarise himself with the car.
However, he says he is not too stressed about the shoes he is set to fill, since there is “no pressure, since I am being thrown in at the last opportunity.”
However, his team mate Valterri Bottas may have reason to fret if Russell outdoes the Finn, with just a few days in the new car, saying, “it won’t look too good, but I don’t like to think about that and prefer to stay positive and focus on doing my best.”
With Russell shuffled to Mercedes, F2 driver Jack Aitken is set to make his F1 race debut for Williams under the number 89, driving for the embattled team, alongside Nicholas Latifi.
This also opened up a spot in the F2 teams, with Ralph Boschung returning to F2 to fill the void. F2 will also Mick Schumacher, son of renowned racer Michael Schumacher sing his F2 swan song, as he is set to join Haas next year, alongside Nikita Mazepin.
The F2 championship remains extremely close, with Schumacher leading followed by Callum Ilot, but a slip-up this weekend could see Ilot blitz to the top.
There will also be plenty of action in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East, as they undertake the second round of their 2020-2021 season this weekend.
Just as it had done for last week’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, BIC will be welcoming a second group of the kingdom’s frontline health workers, first responders and their immediately family members to enjoy the F1 action, in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince Prime Minister.
The initiative is in appreciation of the health workers’ tireless efforts and sacrifices in Bahrain’s national response to Covid-19, and it is being held under the theme “#ThankYou_OurHeroes”.
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naman@gulfweekly.com