#1 ·
Any music suggestions for listening to while reading the intro theme?
Man, what a race we just witnessed. I can't even bring myself to talk about the Bahrain Grand Prix without getting stuck thinking about that first race and all the individual disasters. I spent most of my intro focusing on Romain Grosjean because he’s really the hero of this story, but then there was Lance Stroll’s crash and that missed podium opportunity for Sergio Perez. Looking back at the very first Bahrain Grand Prix, it actually stands out as the longest dry race in modern Formula 1 history—clocking in at 2 hours and 59 minutes! On the Top 80 list of longest races, that puts it at 37th place. For comparison, the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix holds the top spot at over 4 hours, while the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix sits at 29th with 3 hours and 1 minute. Further down, the 2010 Korean Grand Prix is at 54th with 2 hours and 48 minutes, and the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix is 63rd at 2 hours and 44 minutes. That’s basically where modern Formula 1 ends on the Top 80 list for duration. Everything longer than that belongs to those classic marathon races from the 1950–1970 era.
The most important thing is that Romain Grosjean made it out of there. He's okay, he didn't suffer any broken bones, just some burns. That's all that matters.
What can we actually expect from the outer loop? Honestly, it looks like it'll be packed with action. Given how many overtakes usually happen between turns 1 and 4, I’m expecting plenty of movement from turn 5 through to the chicane at turns 7 and 8—kind of reminiscent of that race back in 2010. Up until now, turn 4 was always a V-shaped corner, but since it's basically functioning as a chicane now, that changes the whole dynamic.
Action Zone
My bad for using a Streamable link to share those videos. FOM ended up blocking all seven posts I had lined up on YouTube.
The 2010 Sakhir Grand Prix was held on the Endurance Circuit, which utilizes turns 5 through 8 along with the outer loop. Because of that layout, it’s really the only way to get a feel for what the drivers—and honestly, us viewers—can expect. I wanted to make sure I gathered as much info as possible to give you guys a better idea of the setup. I went back and watched the race, and I managed to pull together 7 interesting moments:
Turns 1 through 9.
2010—Taking a look at that section from above. You hit turn 5 first, which leads right into what are essentially two back-to-back chicanes. Turn 7 is a real nightmare because you're braking and turning at the exact same time, and then you've got that straight chicane followed by a slight bend at turn 9.
https://streamable.com/r0875l
The turns 1 through 4 complex.
2010—Hulkenberg versus Heikki Kovalainen. Just like you see in any standard racing section, a driver who loses their spot at turn 1 can easily claw it back by turn 4.
https://streamable.com/29al7v
Turn 4.
2010—Glock versus Heikki Kovalainen. In this clip, Glock puts a bit of pressure on Kovalainen heading into turn 5. It's just one of those moves to help secure a freshly snatched position.
https://streamable.com/4j4zi7
2010—Mark Webber versus Sebastien Buemi. Coming out of the pits, Webber just breezes right past Buemi. No contest.
https://streamable.com/avncsb
2010—Kubica versus Buemi. Just another textbook example of an overtake at turn 4 2010.
https://streamable.com/nxd38n
Turns 6-8 complex
2010—Nico Hulkenberg loses control under pressure in turn 7 and spins + bonus retirement for Lucas di Grassi.
https://streamable.com/mah73v
Turns 10 and 11
2010—Sebastien Buemi fighting Hulkenberg. You don't expect much overtaking through these two turns, but if someone loses traction exiting this complex—whatever the cause might be—it pretty much means losing ground to whoever is breathing down their neck at the start/finish line. For instance, a mistake exiting the chicane could prove costly before turn 10 or the first turn of the next lap.
https://streamable.com/eekik1
Pirelli is bringing the C2-C4 again, and the number of sets remains the same as last race.
McLaren secured a nice cushion over Racing Point thanks to those solid results in Bahrain. Racing Point really had a rough run with those unbelievable retirements, and looking at the driver standings, that third team—specifically Ricciardo—has actually profited the most.
You can see just how tight everything is regarding fourth place. In fact, Sainz, Norris, and Albon are all slowly closing in on Leclerc, or rather, Perez and Ricciardo. I'm expecting Leclerc to drop in the standings because the outer loop is just going to eat up anyone with a traction deficit, though you never know. Nobody saw that bizarre Bahrain weekend coming. Anything can happen.
The race schedule has been pushed late into the night local time, so please keep an eye on that. We’re looking at another dry weekend, obviously, but that won't stop the action. We're wishing Romain Grosjean a speedy recovery; it's not out of the question that we'll see him in Abu Dhabi, assuming there are no broken bones. It all depends on how those burns heal.
