Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Bahrain Grand Prix

  • F2 – Bahrain – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Pole-sitter Duerksen got the start he needed to retain the lead, but Victor Martins was squeezed on the approach to Turn 1. He was off the road into the polystyrene boards, leaving him with front wing damage and at the back.

    Sebastian Montoya’s race was also over early as he was pointed the wrong way and out of the running on the opening lap.
    That brought out the Safety Car as his PREMA Racing car was recovered and Turn 1 was cleared up.

    The Safety Car was in at the end of the lap and Duerksen retained the lead ahead of Beganovic and Rafael Villagomez.
    Verschoor had closed to within DRS range of Villagomez ahead and with a switchback out of Turn 4, seized third position on Lap 10.

    Up Ahead, the leading pair of Duerksen and Beganovic were three seconds clear of the pack, but the Swede was sticking with the race leader closely.
    Onto Lap 11 and with DRS up the hill to Turn 4, Beganovic moved to the inside and claimed the race lead.

    As many settled into tyre preservation mode, Dunne was on the move again with a dive at Turn 1, passing Villagomez for fourth on lap 13.

    The Safety Car was back out on lap 16 after Max Esterson came to a stop in his Trident car. It brought several drivers into the pit lane for a stop.

    Back to racing conditions on Lap 19, Beganovic ran slightly wide at the final corner, inviting pressure from Duerksen behind.
    The Paraguyan re-took the top spot at Turn 1 while behind them, a four car scrap for third went the way of Verschoor, but Marti was able to pass Dunne for fourth a few corners later.

    The Rodin driver made slight contact with Browning and fell behind the Hitech TGR driver on Lap 20.
    An attempt to re-pass Browning at the first opportunity into Turn 8 opened the door for Arvid Lindblad to take seventh from the Irishman on corner exit.

    Lap 22 of 23 and Beganovic drew alongside Duerksen, but he couldn’t make the pass stick at Turn 4. That gave Verschoor the chance to take second, but Marti got the switchback on both of them out of Turn 8 to seize second for himself.

    On the final lap and Marti’s charge continued and with DRS he claimed the lead into Turn 1.
    The AIX driver couldn’t fight back and had to defend from Verschoor, but his running wide at Turn 11 allowed the MP driver to gain second just a handful of corners from the finish.

    Marti earned his first win of the year in some style, ahead of Verschoor and Duerksen.
    However, after the race Duerksen was disqualified as he breached the Technical Regulations. It promotes everyone up one position, with Dino Beganovic taking the final podium position.

    Day 3-

    Fornaroli aced his start but wheelspin for Martins dropped him down to seventh by Turn 1. Dunne seized second ahead of Roman Stanek and Rafael Villagomez.
    The Mexican driver was able to sneak his way by for third at Turn 10, while Josep Maria Marti had charged up to fifth from P11 on the grid on soft Pirelli tyres.

    Those running in the top eight were all fitted with the softer compound, Joshua Duerksen in P9 leading those on the white-walled hard tyres on the alternative strategy.
    That was until lap 5 when Luke Browning took ninth from the AIX Racing driver out of Turn 4.

    After Marti had passed Stanek, Martins was on the move up ahead, taking fifth from the Czech driver at the Turn 8 hairpin.

    Having trailed by over a second in the early laps, Dunne closed to within DRS range of race leader Fornaroli approaching the pit window opening, half a second back in P2.

    With DRS on Lap 7, Dunne took the lead of the race into Turn 1 from Fornaroli, who’d reported his tyres were beginning to fall away from him.
    Marti mirrored that move for third position a few metres behind the leading pair, while Martins took advantage himself, getting the run into Turn 4 to take fourth from Villagomez.

    Lap 10 and Stanek was able to re-pass Villagomez with DRS into Turn 4 to move himself back into the top five.

    Martins was the first of the leaders to pit for hard compounds tyres, rejoining in P17.
    Stanek, Browning and Duerksen were all in on the following lap for their pitstops, coming back out behind Martins but ahead of Verschoor.

    Fornaroli and Marti pitted at the start of Lap 16 for their mandatory stops, and left as they entered, rejoining the track between seventh placed Martins and Browning in P10.

    Browning was the lead driver on Softs and moved himself up to fourth at Turn 4 with a pass on Martin on Lap 18.
    The Hitech driver’s charge continued, and he was onto the back of Fornaroli on lap 21. He used DRS to take third down the main straight to maintain his progress up the order.

    Martins wasn’t able to repel his fellow Williams Racing Driver Development talent as on Lap 23, the Brit took second from the ART driver wit DRS into Turn 1.

    Browning’s progress stalled out however, as the leader extended his advantage in the following phase of the race to over six seconds.

    Fornaroli’s hopes of a podium weren’t over, as he was able to close in on Martins in third,
    He was told his pace through the last corner was a strength and he used it to good effect to get a run on Martins to take the place with five laps to go.

    One lap later and Marti was through on the Frenchman and into fourth with a 1.4s deficit to Fornaroli ahead.
    He cut into DRS range entering the final lap and with DRS into Turn 4, Marti had the momentum but some stout defence by Fornaroli kept the Italian ahead.

    Neither could catch Dunner though, who earned his maiden F2 win by over eight seconds from Browning!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dunne, P2: Browning, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Marti, P5: Martins, P6: Verschoor, P7: Beganovic, P8: Lindblad, P9: Mini and P10: Duerksen.

  • R4 – Bahrain

    Oscar Piastri has become the first multiple race winner of the 2025 season by taking a sublime victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Australian driver putting in a cool and collected drive to seal P1 on his 50th start in F1 as well as marking McLaren’s first triumph in Sakhir.

    After making a strong start from pole position – despite a close call from George Russell when the Mercedes driver locked up into Turn 1 – Piastri built a solid lead throughout the laps that followed.

    While there was early trouble for team mate Lando Norris – who was hit with a five second time penalty for being out of position in his grid box – the McLarens again looked impressive as the race played out with the Brit working his way forwards.

    And while the Australian’s position potentially looked under threat when a Safety Car emerged, the 24 year old made a clean getaway at the restart and went on to rebuild a gap in the laps that followed, eventually crossing the line with a 15 second lead.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Piastri, P2: Russell, P3: Norris, P4: Leclerc, P5: Hamilton, P6: Verstappen, P7: Gasly, P8: Ocon, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Bearman.

    What a drive from Oscar Piastri, that was such a strong drive from the Australian and a thoroughly deserved win! As for Norris, he bounced back from qualifying 6th to finish on the podium, I think he would’ve got 2nd if he didn’t have the 5 second penalty.

    P2 for Russell, a lovely result from the Mercedes man! Another podium added to his tally which makes three podiums out of four races, making it his best ever start to a season. As for his teammate Antonelli finished just outside of the points in P11, during the race he was running in the points so hard luck for the rookie to not get any.

    A good result for Ferrari, 4th for Leclerc and 5th for Hamilton. Unlucky for Leclerc to just miss out on the podium but the Ferrari is no match for the McLaren just yet… But it is still a good points haul for both drivers! I’m sure the podiums will come soon enough.

    P6 for Verstappen, not the best result for the Dutch man, but he had a bit of a rubbish weekend. He struggled with the car a lot and it didn’t help that he had issues at both of his pit stops either. As for Tsunoda he finished ninth, first points for the Japanese driver in the Red Bull team.

    P7 for the GAS Man, points on the board for the Alpine driver! Which is deserved after such a strong weekend for the team. This now means all teams have scored points already this season.

    A double points finish for Haas, which is good to see, this now boosts the team up to 5th in the Constructors. So the team will be wanting to score as many points as possible as the constructors is very close.

    Now for the next race week, we are on our third week of the triple header, where we head to Saudi Arabia for Round 5 of 24!

  • F3 – Bahrain – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    It was a terrific start for the pole-sitter Joshua Dufek who kept a hold of the lead, but AIX’s Slater got ahead of Martinius Stenshorne for P2 at Turn 4 after starting third.

    Behind them, Tsolov got ahead of Alessandro Giusti for P4, while Championship leader Rafael Camara had a slow start from P12 and dropped to the back of the field.

    Onto lap 2, Slater closed in on Dufek before making a move for the lead at Turn 1.
    Behind them, Tsolov continued his fine start, overtaking Stenshorne for third at the same corner.

    The Safety Car was called upon at the start of Lap 4, PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu stopped at Turn 2 after colliding with his teammate Brando Badoer, who pitted with a puncture.

    Racing then resumed on lap 7 and Tsolov was flying once again, diving to the inside of Dufek for P2 at Turn 1.
    The battles intensified on lap 9 as Tsolov again dived to the inside at Turn 1, this time on Slater for the race lead. However, the Campos driver went in too deep allowing the Briton to retake the lead.

    Just behind the pair, the battle for P3 was heating up as Dufek, Stenshorne and Taponen almost went three-wide into Turn 4.
    The latter two eventually made their way past at Turn 10 and 11, with Giusti following them through a few corners later at Turn 1.

    Further up the road, Slater and Tsolov were going wheel to wheel once more.
    The Bulgarian dived down the AIX driver at Turns 4 and 8, but on both occasions, the debutant retook the lead.

    However, Tsolov eventually made a move stick with the help of DRS and dived down the inside at Turn 1 again. Behind them, Taponen was now ahead of Stenshorne for P3.

    At the start of lap 13 of 19, the top three had begun to separate themselves out in front, while Stenshorne was coming under attack from Giusti and Callum Voisin for P4.

    Giusti then went side by side with Stenshorne into Turn 6 and 7, but the MP Motorsport driver had the door closed, putting him into the clutches of Voisin, who made a move past at Turn 11.

    On lap 15 of 19, the Safety Car was called upon, with Dufek and Ivan Domingues colliding at Turn 1, causing both drivers to stop by the side of the road.

    We returned to green flag conditions at the start of Lap 18, and Slater was right on the back of Tsolov, but the Campos driver resisted all his overtaking attempts.
    Onto the final lap, Taponen looked to make a move on Slater into Turn 1 but could not make it stick. Tsolov though was able to pull away out in front and went on to claim a record-equalling fourth victory in FIA Formula 3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Slater, P3: Taponen, P4: Voisin, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Giusti, P8: Ho, P9: Wurz and P10: Stromsted.

    Day 3-

    It was a great start for Voisin who got ahead of Camara on the brakes at Turn 1, while Charlie Wurz kept a hold of third ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho.

    Tuukka Taponen was also on the move for ART Grand Prix. From sixth, he got ahead of Bruno del Pino at the start, before overtaking Ho for fourth into Turn 4 on Lap 2.

    Onto Lap 3, Camara and Wurz had closed in on the back of Voisin, with the former using DRS to get ahead into Turn 1. However, the Rodin driver’s switchback move got him back ahead at Turn 4.

    Camara eventually got ahead on Lap 5, making the same move on Voisin at Turn 1, the Brit unable to get ahead at Turn 4 this time despite his attempts to do so.
    Wurz and Taponen were now battling for P3, allowing Voisin and Camara to disappear up the road.

    Further behind, Alessandro Giusti got himself ahead of Noel Leon for P11 at the same corner. He made a similar move at Turn 1 on the following lap on another PREMA Racing driver, Brando Badoer for P10.

    Trident then came on the radio to tell Wurz to stay with Taponen, but at the same time, his teammate Noah Stromsted was coming under threat from Ho and Tramnitz for P5.

    The Dane fended off Ho, before the DAMS driver ran wide at Turn 2. This opened the door for Tramnitz to get ahead on the run to Turn 4. On the next lap, the Singaporean lost another position to Nikola Tsolov at the next corner.

    Another driver showing tremendous pace was Mari Boya. The Campos driver overtook Badoer for P11 after starting the race down in 20th.
    Tramnitz and Tsolov then got ahead of Stromsted for fifth and sixth, while Giusti overtook his MP teammate del Pino for P9.

    As lap 14 of 22 started, Camara was three and a half seconds clear of Voisin, who was 2.4s in front of Taponen. A DRS train had now formed behind the ART driver, with Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov and Stromsted all in the fight for the podium.

    After trying for several laps to get ahead of Wurz, Tramnitz eventually got ahead of the Trident driver by going round the outside at Turn 4 on Lap 17.

    Taponen had been able to pull out a one second advantage due to the fighting behind him, but Tramnitz closed the gap before pulling off another move round the outside at Turn 4 on lap 19 for third.

    Wurz had now dropped to P6 after being overtaken by Tsolov, and was coming under attack from his teammate, Stromsted.

    Out in front though, Camara was over six seconds clear across the line as he went on to win his second feature race of the season. Voisin finished in P2 and Tramnitz ended up third for MP.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Tramnitz, P4: Taponen, P5: Tsolov, P6: Stromsted, P7: Giusti, P8: Boya, P9: Del Pino and P10: Ho.

  • F2 – Bahrain – Day 1

    Practice-

    Oliver Goethe got the Sakhir race weekend off to a great start for MP Motorsport, leading teammate Richard Vershoor in Free Practice around the Bahrain International Circuit.

    The Red Bull Junior driver saved his best effort for the final minutes, a 1:47.789 leaving him fastest going into Qualifying.
    Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti rounded out the top three.

    Joshua Duerksen got the ball rolling in the session, recording a 1:48.954 as the early benchmark time for AIX Racing.
    DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford went second in the opening 10 minutes, just 0.022s down on the Paraguayan.

    Marti moved to P1 as the clock ticked into the final 20 minutes. He set a 1:48.379 for Campos, 0.008s quicker than Victor Martins who moved up to P2 in his Williams liveried – ART Grand Prix car.

    Much of the remaining laps were dedicated to race running, though Goethe surged to the top in the final two minutes with a 1:47.789 for MP.

    Qualifying-

    It was a direct fight between Leonardo Fornaroli and Victor Martins for top spot, with the former earning his first Formula 2 pole position in the end.

    The Invicta Racing driver secured P1 with a 1:44.008 to pip the Frenchman by over a tenth, while Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning earned third position at the chequered flag.

    After several build laps, ART’s Martins set the early pace and benchmark to beat, going to the top with a 1:45.110.

    Rodin Motorsport driver, Alexander Duune was just 0.002s down on that effort to go second but they were both blown out of the water by Fornaroli, who laid down a 1:44.642 for the top.

    Half of the field opted to wait and as the first 11 returned to the pitlane, the others joined the circuit for their first attempts.
    Josep Maria Marti was the quickest of the second group, going up to P2 for Campos Racing and 0.223s down on the provisional pole sitter.

    With eight minutes remaining, everyone rejoined the circuit for their final attempts. Martins improved to re-take the top spot with a 1:44.163 and he was comfortably clear, but Fornaroli denied him once more, going back to P1 to earn his maiden F2 pole position.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Fornaroli, P2: Martins, P3: Browing, P4: Dunne, P5: Stanek, P6: Verschoor, P7: Meguetounif, P8: Villagomez, P9: Beganovic and P10: Duerksen.

  • R4 – Bahrain Qualifying

    McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, getting the better of Mercedes rival George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a thrilling conclusion.

    Practice pace-setter McLaren had been in control through the Q1 and Q2 phases but had to work hard to remain at the top of the timesheets in Q3 – Piastri’s final 1m 29.841s lap putting him a couple of tenths up on Russell. Leclerc was another tenth and a half back in third.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Piastri, P2: Russell, P3: Leclerc, P4: Antonelli, P5: Gasly, P6: Norris, P7: Verstappen, P8: Sainz, P9: Hamilton and P10: Tsunoda.

    What a lovely result from Piastri! Pole for the McLaren man, just what he would’ve wanted as he will be looking to grab his second win of the season.
    As for Norris, a bit of a shocker in 6th, however, he hasn’t lost out too much as he will be lining up next to Verstappen…

    P2 and P4 for the Mercedes boys! A really strong finish from Russell and Antonelli, it is a track both drivers know well. However, they are going to be investigated after qualifying for a potential rule breach.

    P3 for Leclerc, a much better result from the Monegasque and Ferrari, hopefully they can keep up the good result and turn it into a good points haul / a podium.
    As for Hamilton, he qualified, 9th, a semi-decent result for the Brit, could’ve been better for sure, especially as Leclerc qualified third but a decent result.

    A mixed result for Red Bull, Verstappen 7th, he was complaining about brake issues throughout the session. As for Tsunoda he qualified 10th, not too bad, but a position where he can improve and grab some points.

    P8 for Carlos Sainz, a lovely result for the Spanish driver, his best result in the Williams so far! Hopefully he can get some points this weekend.

    One driver I haven’t mentioned is Mr Pierre Gaslyyyy, putting his Alpine in P5! A lovely result from him and the team, they definitely seem to have improved from last season. Hopefully a good points haul from the Frenchman to help in the Constructors.

  • F3 – Bahrain – Day 1

    Practice-

    Trident’s Rafael Camara picked up where he left off in Melbourne to set the pace in the opening session in Sakhir, his 1:50.984 the fastest time of Free Practice.

    The Brazilian driver eclipsed Nikola Tsolov’s early benchmark time by 0.127s to end up fastest ahead of his Campos Racing rival, while ART Grand Prix rookie Tuukka Taponen rounded out the top three.

    Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues had the track to himself early on as the rest of the field waited in the pit lane. He set a 1:52.776 to complete the first push lap of the session.

    Action started to ramp up with 15 minutes to go as one by one all 30 cars started to head back out onto the circuit.
    After the first set of push laps, it was Tsolov that set the pace with a 1:51.111, with Rodin Motorsport rookie Roman Bilinski 0.312s behind in P2.

    However, Tsolov was down to second as Camara went top on a 1:50.984, putting the Brazilian 0.127s clear in front.

    Fellow rookie Taponen went third for ART, over two-tenths back from the leading time, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos jumped up to fourth.

    The drivers continued to set their best times up until the chequered flag as MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti ended up in P5 ahead of Charlie Wurz and Bilinski.

    Qualifying-

    Rafael Camara was the one to beat once again, as the Trident driver took his second consecutive pole position of the season, beating out Callum Voisin in an action packed Sakhir Qualifying.

    A closely fought encounter between the pair, the Brazilian’s late 1:49.214 was enough for P1, while the Rodin Motorsport driver ended up 0.156s down in second, with Trident’s Charlie Wurz in third.

    It was Nikola Tsolov that set the early benchmark though of 1:50.506, putting the Campos Racing driver 0.169s clear of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho, with James Wharton just behind in P3.

    The entire field was back in the pit lane with 18 minutes left in the session, but after a quick change of tyres, they were out on track for the second set of push laps on their new rubber.

    There were plenty of improvements and on this occasion, it was Voisin on provisional pole, thanks to a 1:49.882, putting him just 0.023s ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti.

    Camara went to third ahead of Tsolov this time around, before the drivers returned to the pit lane to put on another new set of tyres.

    Setting his lap earlier than the rest of the field, Camara went to P1 with a 1:49.214. Voisin set the fastest first sector but could not overhaul the Trident driver and ended up second, 0.156s down.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Wurz, P4: Ho, P5: del Pino, P6: Taponen, P7: Stromsted, P8: Tsolov, P9: Giusti and P10: Slater.

  • R4 – Tyre Selection

    The Sakhir circuit boasts several layouts, with two different ones used for the races in 2010 and 2020, but the current one is 5.412 kilometres in length and features 15 corners, 9 to the right and 6 to the left.

    The track is one of the toughest on the calendar when it comes to tyres, especially in the braking areas and when traction is required.
    The aggregate used for the asphalt at the Bahrain International Circuit is still very abrasive despite it being quite old now.

    Temperature will be a very important variable when it comes to tyre management at the fourth race of the year.
    As was the case in Suzuka, the teams will have a choice of the three hardest compounds in Pirelli’s range.

    The C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and the C3 (Soft), however, the Sakhir track characteristics and indeed the temperatures, will require a different approach to that adopted last week in Japan.

    All the teams, will have a good baseline from which to start work, given that in the last week the circuit hosted the only pre-season test. Which means everyone will have plenty of data to work with when it comes to setting up the cars and choosing the best strategies for qualifying and the race.

    Bahrain is the one Grand Prix where a two stop strategy would seem to be a given, and that was the case last year.
    All drivers made at least two stops, whilst some even stopped three times.
    The Soft and Hard tyres are the preferred compounds, with the vast majority opting to start on the C3.

  • Browning gets FP1 run in Bahrain

    Luke Browning will be making another Formula 1 free practice session appearance with Williams in Bahrain this weekend.

    The Formula 2 racer, will be taking over Carlos Sainz’s car in Friday’s opening session, having made his F1 practice debut with Williams in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.

    Last week, he drove the team’s FW45 car from 2023 at Monza alongside fellow F2 racer Victor Martins, who recently joined the Williams Academy.

    Browning has been part of the Williams Academy since 2023, during that time he also drove the FW46 at the post-season young drivers’ test last year.

    Currently he is competing in FIA Formula 2 Championship in his first full campaign, after he took part in six races last season after finishing third in the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

    Being given another opportunity to drive in a free practice session with Williams is a dream come true, and I’m getting more and more confidence each time I drive the car. My main aim for FP1 is to get more comfortable with the procedures and environment that come with F1, and to build on my experience from Abu Dhabi last December. I’m excited to feel the progression from the FW46 to the FW47 and I feel incredibly grateful to James [Vowles], Sven [Smeets] and the team at Grove for entrusting me with the car. I’m excited to feel the progression from the FW46 to the FW47 and I feel incredibly grateful to James [Vowles], Sven [Smeets] and the team at Grove for entrusting me with the car.
    Browning on the news.

    Luke has made strong progress since his first F2 weekend last year and scored good points in the opening race of the season in Australia. His previous FP1 experience, participation in our TPC [testing of previous cars] programme, and simulator work have prepared him well for this weekend and we look forward to seeing him take this next step forward in his development.
    Williams Sporting Director, Smeets.

  • Drugovich in for FP1 for Aston Martin

    Fernando Alonso will be sitting out for the first free practice session at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

    The two-time champion makes way for reserve driver Felipe Drugovich for the hour as one of the FP1 sessions by a rookie driver.

    Having stood in for Lance Stroll at the Sakhir International Circuit during pre-season testing in 2023, Drugovich knows his way around the track in an Aston Martin car.

    The 24 year old has competed in numerous FP1 sessions for the Silverstone team since winning the Formula 2 Championship in 2022.

    I’m very happy to be getting out in the F1 car again, especially so early in the season. I’ve been preparing on the simulator to get a feel for the car, and Bahrain is a track I know well and really enjoy driving. I’m excited to contribute and give the team the data they need to perform at their best this weekend. Thanks to the whole team for their continued support.
    Drugovich on the news.

    We’re pleased to offer Felipe this opportunity to drive the AMR25 in Bahrain. He has been an integral part of our team’s simulator programme at the AMRTC and consistently provides valuable and insightful feedback that helps drive the development of the car. Felipe is a trusted pair of hands, and we’re confident he’ll do a great job in FP1 and contribute to our preparations for the race weekend.
    Andy Cowell, CEO and Team Principal.

  • Vesti to drive in FP1 at Bahrain

    Frederik Vesti will be driving for Mercedes in the opening session for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

    Mercedes’ test and reserve driver, will be taking over George Russell’s W16 for FP1 at the Bahrain International Circuit, having already assisted the squad with simulator work at Brackley this year.

    This is the Dane’s third appearance in a grand prix weekend, having also driven in FP1 for Mercedes in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in 2023.

    This year, he is dovetailing his Mercedes commitments with a drive in the IMSA Sports Car Championship with the factory backed Action Express Cadillac team.

    New for 2025 signing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has already fulfilled the requirements for Mercedes in Australia and China, but now that the Italian has completed two grands prix, he is no longer considered a rookie for this purpose.

    The Sakhir circuit is seen as an ideal venue for F1 teams to bring in newcomers, as they already have a substantial amount of data from the track during pre-season testing in February.

    I am really looking forward to getting my first taste of the W16 in FP1 in Bahrain. Being able to put all of my simulator work into practice on the track is a really exciting prospect for me. At the start of the year, I set myself the goal of maximising every chance I get behind the wheel of an F1 car in 2025, and that is what I hope to achieve in Bahrain. I will be doing everything I can to help the team, George, and Kimi get set for the rest of the weekend. I am grateful to Mercedes for once again giving me this opportunity.
    Vesti on the news.

  • Beganovic set to make debut in Bahrain

    Dino Beganovic will be making his official Formula 1 debut during the first practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

    This will take place alongside his existing responsibilities in F2 as he and Hitech TGR ready themselves for a busy weekend.

    The Swedish driver taking part in FP1 will begin to fulfill Charles Leclerc’s obligation to hand over his car to a rookie for two sessions this season, but will also make him a fifth member of Ferrari’s famous Driver Academy to join an official F1 weekend.

    Beganovic began racing in karts in his home country, quickly establishing himself as a talented driver within Europe. On joining Formula 4 in 2020, he immediately proved his talent when he finished third in the Italian race with PREMA.

    He was able to quickly ascend through the junior formulas, with his hard work bearing fruit with 13 podiums, four race wins and an FRECA championship to his name in 2022.

    Moving on to Formula 3, he finished sixth in the drivers’ standings in both 2023 and 2024 seasons, and at the end of the year had a taste of F2, where he scored a podium finish with DAMS Lucas Oil at the Yas Marina sprint race.
    Currently he sits 15th in the standings with Hitech TGR after the Australian season opener.

  • F3 – RND 1 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2, Sprint Race-

    Van Hoepen covered off teammate Nikola Tsolov on the run to the first corner, but the Bulgarian driver was able to sweep around the outside to take the lead.
    Further back, Dino Beganovic suffered damage in the opening exchanges after contact with Santiago Ramos at Turn 1, with the PREMA driver being handed a 10-second time penalty.

    After losing the lead from reverse grid pole, Van Hoepen was able to stick with his ART teammate and with DRS, the Dutchman swept back through on lap 4. The battle then continued up the hill with the Bulgarian driver squeezing his way through. Whilst they was battling, it allowed Max Esterson to close back up on the pair.

    Christian Mansell had been battling hard with Sami Meguetounif of lap 5, and after initially losing a spot to the Trident driver, the Aussie fought his way through into Turn 1 for seventh.

    That allowed Luke Browning the momentum up the hill into Turn 4 to pull of a pass around the outside of them to take P7 himself. However, the move was completed off the track and he earned a 10 second time penalty.

    Looking back towards the front, the lead battle became a five-car fight as Lindblad and Fornaroli caught up to Esterson.
    As the race reached the halfway point, van Hoepen retook the lead with a pass into T1 on Tsolov, once more though, the Bulgarian fought back and through and re-passed his teammate into Turn 8.

    On lap 13 and after being tracked closely over several laps by Lindblad, van Hoepen got a little too wide at Turn 11, which opened the door for the Prema driver to take second place.

    Lindblad didn’t stop then as he claimed the lead of the race on lap 15, with a DRS pass into the first corner. But Tsolov fought back through immediately, re-taking first on the run up to Turn 4 again.
    One lap on and the PREMA driver made the move stick into the first turn.

    The full top 10 is- P1: Lindblad, P2: Van Hoepen, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Tsolov, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Esterson, P7: Mini, P8: Boya, P9: Goethe and P10: Meguetounif.

    Day 3, Feature Race-

    Dino Beganovic suffered a terrible start from pole, with a slow getaway which left Browning free to surge into the lead. Beganovic baulked the momentum of PREMA Racing teammate Gabriele Mini behind him, allowing Meguetounif to steal a march and rise to second.

    Mini’s poor start allowed Mansell and Santiago Ramos in the Trident to move through for fourth and fifth places on the opening lap.
    The third Trident of Leonardo Fornaroli had dropped to eighth off the line but moved ahead of Nikola Tsolov out of Turn 3 on Lap 3 to move up one spot.

    The fighting behind, had allowed Browning to stretch his lead to 1.2s at the one-third mark, though that advantage slipped to half a second after Mansell regained DRS behind.
    Despite not having the drag reduction advantage, the Hitech driver was able to keep his pursuer at arms length heading into the second half of the race.

    With 10 laps to go the top eight drivers were tracking one another, separated by five seconds but within DRS range of the car ahead. A wide moment at Turn 10 for Ramos put him off track, but the Mexican driver was able to keep Mini at bay to hold fifth.

    After defending for much of the race, Browning began up to his pace in the closing laps toe extend his lead slowly but surely over Mansell by a few tenths per lap.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Browning, P2: Mansell, P3: Tramnitz, P4: Meguetounif, P5: Ramos, P6: Mini, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Lindblad, P9: Dunne and P10: Goethe.

  • RW 1 – Bahrain

    The first race of 24 is complete, so let’s take a look at how it went in Bahrain!

    Max Verstappen converted pole position into the race win with a controlled drive, which led home Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to start his latest title defence.

    Verstappen maintained his advantage as the race got under way, he never looked back over the 57 laps, where he crossed the line 22 second ahead of his teammate.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Sainz, P4: Leclerc, P5: Russell, P6: Norris, P7: Hamilton, P8: Piastri, P9: Alonso and P10: Stroll.

    A decent result from Ferrari, P3 and P4, especially with Leclerc as he was struggling with the car and it not responding the way he wanted as well as having a big problem with the brakes… Not a very good sign for the Italian team for the first race.

    A decent result for both Mercedes and McLaren, some decent points on the board for them both.
    Piastri and Hamilton had a little moment where the McLaren driver was coming out the pit lane and ended up side by side with Hamilton who had stopped a lap earlier. The McLaren got his nose ahead into Turn 1 but the experienced a slide on the exit which dropped him behind the seven time world champion.

    Not a good weekend at all for Alpine, a shocking qualifying result in P19 and P20, they then went on to finish P18 for Gasly and P17 for Ocon, a big change from last year. They team definitely have a lot of work to do.

    There was also a bit of drama between the two VCARB’s as the team asked Tsunoda to move to the side for Ricciardo giving his alternate soft-tyre run to the finish, promoting the Japanese racer to shout “are you kidding me over the radio?” only to eventually adhere to the instruction.
    I can see tensions rise between Tsunoda and the team this season, for it to only be the first race and him having problems with the team it doesn’t set of the best image…

  • RW 1 – Bahrain Qualifying

    The first qualifying session of 2024 is complete, let’s take a look at how it went!

    Max Verstappen grabbed pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc in second and the Mercedes of George Russell in third.

    Verstappen produced a 1m 29.421s with his first run in Q3 and worked his way down to a blistering 1m 29.179s during the second runs to ultimately finish two-tenths clear of Leclerc, with Russell a tenth further back.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Russell, P4: Sainz, P5: Perez, P6: Alonso, P7: Norris, P8: Piastri, P9: Hamilton and P10: Hulkenberg.

    What a great result by Max Verstappen, just how he wants to start his title defence! I don’t think he expected the grid to have been that close and I don’t think he will expect to sail away with it in the race aswell…

    Both Ferrari’s in the top four! A great start for the Italian team, hopefully they can keep it the same or even better in the race and start the season off strong.

    George Russell, P3, great start by him. I believe Mercedes were actually quite shocked at their pace in practice as they topped the timesheets on Thursday. The car definitely looks more of an improvement than last year, but we will have to see what their race pace is like, and a good way for them to properly see is Lewis starting in 9th so his got some ground to make up!

    A special shout out to Nico Hulkenberg! First Q3 appearance of 2024, and qualifies P10, Haas will be wanting to score some points today to start the season off strong.

    VCARB – they have definitely made an improvement since last year, both drivers into Q2, Yuki just outside the top 10 in P11, and Daniel Ricciardo in P14. They are in a position where they could possibly score some points.

    Now one team we have to talk about is Alpine, P19 and P20 i’m not overly surprised by this for some reason, and I don’t think they are either. Obviously they have a lot of work to do in the race, but we will have to see if this carries on throughout the season aswell…

  • F2 – RND 1 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Isack Hadjar made a fine start to the opening round of the weekend in Sakhir by topping the timesheets in Free Practice.
    The Campos Racing driver left it late in the session to complete a lap of 1:45.099 to lead MP Motorsport rookie Franco Colapinto by 0.137s.

    As the lights turned green, most teams opted to keep their cars in the pitlane although Hadjar was the first driver out on track to complete a lap, however it was his Campos teammate Josep Maria Marti who set the early benchmark with a time of 1:45.849.

    But then the Rodin Motorsport pair of Zane Maloney and Ritomo Miyata, with the former going to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:45.588.

    Now with the session winding down to a close and the drivers now returning to the track for a final few laps, Hadjar secured the top spot.

    Qualifying-

    Kush Maini scored his maiden pole position in FIA Formula 2 as he beat out teammate Gabriel Bortoleto to seal a P1 start for Saturday’s Feature Race.

    On his final attempt in Qualifying, Maini completed a lap of 1:41.696 to go to the top of the timesheets, Bortoleto followed his teammate across the line two-tenths off the pole-winning effort.

    It was Maini who set the early pace for Invicta Racing, aided by a strong middle sector, he completed a lap of 1:42.533 to lead Hauger by just 0.045s.

    With 10 minutes gone, the driver returned to the pitlane for some fresher tyres. However, that was when Campos elected to send Hadjar and Josep Maria Marti out on track for the first time in the session.

    The rest of the field then emerged from the pit lane ahead of their final runs with Maloney going fastest. But the Bajan’s time was quickly eclipsed by the Invicta pair.

    Maloney and a number of other drivers including ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, made their second attempts at the top spot, but with the Pirelli rubber not offer more than one push lap.

    However… Kush Maini has been disqualified from the final Qualifying classification after his Invicta Racing car was found in breach of the Technical Regulations.

    The Stewards found that the height of the left undertray front external strake of the car was below the required minimum height and therefore not in line with the Technical Regulations.

    As a consequence, all of Maini’s times set during the Qualifying session has been removed. And will be starting the Sprint Race & Feature Race from the back of the grid. Instead, Gabriel Bortoleto has inherited pole position.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bortoleto, P2: Hadjar, P3: Maloney, P4: Hauger, P5: Miyata, P6: O’Sullivan, P7: Fittipaldi, P8: Martins, P9: Barnard and P10: Crawford.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/C38WGKlID2c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

  • F3 – RND 1 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Hitech Pulse-Eight driver, Luke Browning picked up from where he left off in pre-season testing, where he ended practice as the fastest driver with a time of 1:47.828s.

    Installation laps opened practice, but it was a long wait until the teams and drivers ventured out of the pitlane for serious running. Joseph Loake of Rodin Motorsport led the way with 15 minutes left.

    That was until Fornaroli came through to secure the top spot with a 1:48.599, just as a Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
    Mini suffered a spin at Turn 4, beaching his car in the gravel trap as the VSC quickly became a Red Flag.

    Practice resumed with six minutes left of running time and everyone was eager to make the most of it. Browning and Fornaroli exchanged fastest efforts until the British driver crossed the line, with Beganovic being another late improver, moving up to third late on.

    Qualifying-

    Dino Beganovic claimed pole position for PREMA Racing, setting a 1:46.431 to take the first P1 of the season. The Swede driver left it until the final moments to leap up the times.

    After several warm up laps, Max Esterson hit the front for Jenzer Motorsport, setting a 1:47.573 to lead early on, 0.047s ahead of Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli.

    Mari Boya was next to go quickest overall, setting a 1:47.307 though that was quickly beaten. Fornaroli returned to the top of the timesheets, with Beganovic moving up to second.

    Once again, the field boxed for the final time and were back out for the final flying laps with six minutes left. Green and purple sectors began to fly and Christian Mansell put ART Grand Prix to the top with a 1:46.843 for the rest to beat.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Beganovic, P2: Browning, P3: Mini, P4: Meguetounif, P5: Ramos, P6: Fornaroli, P7: Tramnitz, P8: Mansell, P9: Lindblad and P10: Esterson.

  • RW 1 – Tyre Selection

    Formula 1 returns to Bahrain for the first round of the 2024 season, with the usual grand prix weekend schedule being brought forward a day, as will be the case next week in Saudi Arabia.

    The teams always come to Sakhir with plenty of information about how the car and tyre package works on this particularly abrasive track, where traction and braking stability are key to performance.

    Track evolution is somewhat limited, with temperature being the biggest influence with two of three free practice sessions tale place in the heat of the day, making it harder to get a read on race data.
    Another factor often affecting the cars is wind, which causes sand to blow onto the track and making the balance unpredictable.

    The Bahrain Grand Prix offers a number of different overtaking opportunities, particularly in Turns 1, 4 and 11. Tyre degradation also playing a part in it, with different race strategies coming into play.
    Last year, a two-stopper using the C1 and C3 was the favoured strategy with the C2 used by only one team (McLaren).

  • RND 1 – Bahrain Grand Prix

    The first race of the season is complete, let’s take a look at how it went…

    Everyone bar hard-shod Kevin Magnussen began the race on soft tyres and Verstappen had a solid getaway, but teammate Perez fell back and lost second place to Leclerc.

    The reigning champion stretched his legs in the lead and eventually won by more than 10 seconds. Perez made it a one-two with both drivers on similar soft-soft-hard strategies.

    Whilst Fernando Alonso, went on a warpath as on Lap 45 he passed Sainz after a stunning battle to get on the podium, his first since Qatar 2021 and his first with Aston Martin.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Alonso, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Stroll, P7: Russell, P8: Bottas, P9: Gasly and P10: Albon.

    A good start to the season for the reigning constructors champions, it’ll be interesting to see if any tracks maybe don’t suit them and if they have any reliability issues.

    Aston Martin have made a big improvement from last year, hopefully they can keep the momentum running and keep the streak going.

    Not the best race for Ferrari, with Leclerc having a problem and retiring it isn’t the best start to the season especially if they want to challenge for the Championship.

    A little shout-out to the highest placed rookie. Logan Sargeant finished 12th on his debut, not a bad first race for the American.

  • RND 1 – Bahrain Qualifying

    The first Qualifying session is complete at the Bahrain International Circuit, as it was an intense and hotly contested session under the Sakhir lights.

    Max Verstappen took pole position, with his teammate, Sergio Perez making it an all Red Bull front row lock out. Charles Leclerc rounds out the top three.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Leclerc, P4: Sainz, P5: Alonso, P6: Russell, P7: Hamilton, P8: Stroll, P9: Ocon and P10: Hulkenberg.

    Lando Norris missed out on Q3 by a couple of tenths as he started to make up for a tricky pre-season test. I think it will be interesting to see how he can do in the car whilst on race pace.

    Rookie, Logan Sargeant almost joined his teammate in Q2 for the first time of asking, but he set an identical time to 15th place Norris towards the end of Q1, as the American set it second it meant to he was out.

    Something I didn’t expect to see was Pierre Gasly out in Q1 but the Frenchman starting P20 on the grid, as he had a lap time deleted.

    A shoutout to Hulkenberg though, starting P10 on his first race back, he already looks comfortable in the car so if he can keep this going for not just the race this weekend but throughout the season, Haas shouldn’t have a problem with being in the midfield.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are: P1: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Alonso, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.

    I feel like we all know roughly the four teams that are at the top for this first race, but we won’t get a true idea for race pace until later on.

    There’s always some drama on the first race so if some drivers are clever they will optimise on the misfortune of others.

  • F3 – RND 1, Day 1

    Round 1 is here, and we have had cars back on track finally! So here is a round up from all the action on Day 1.

    Practice-

    Gabriel Bortoleto began his Formula 3 campaign in fine form as he topped the timing sheets in the opening Free Practice session in Sakhir.

    The Brazilian looked at home in his Trident car as he set a 1:47.775 to go 0.075s clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Gabriele Mini – an all rookie top two.

    As the clock approached 23 minutes, a flurry of cars headed out of the pits to put their times on times on the board, which saw Bortoleto for a swift moment become the driver to beat ahead of Mini.

    The top three from qualifying are: P1: Gabriel Bortoleto, P2: Grabiele Mini and P3: Gregoire Saucy, one thing to keep an eye on is track evolution as its expected to be a major factor in Qualifying.

    Qualifying-

    Gabriele Mini began his F3 career in fashion as he stormed to his first pole position of his championship debut. The HiTech Pule-Eight driver’s late effort of 1:47.055 couldn’t be matched as less than half a second separated the top 17 runners.

    It was clear the field were pushing to the limit as Bortoleto took to the top spot however he became the first of many drivers to fall foul of track limits.

    Times continued to tumble, as Mini launched himself half a second clear of Collet. Laying down a 1:47.118, then with three minutes remaining the Alpine junior delivered another lap which was a 1:47.055.

    The order then continued to change, as the trio of PREMA cars rose up into the top six. And Bortoleto being a man on a mission to then launch himself up into second after the track limits violation.

    The top three were: P1: Gabriele Mini, P2: Gabriel Bortoleto, P3: Gregoire Saucy. But looking toward the sprint race, Williams junior, Franco Colapinto grabs reverse grid pole as he qualified 12th.

  • Bahrain Grand Prix

    The first round is here, and we are at the Bahrain International Circuit for Round 1 out of 23.

    This season we have three rookies joining the grid, and a lot of changes within the teams and the drivers as well as having the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

    But who will be the world champion? Can Max Verstappen make it 3 in a row? Or will Ferrari finally end their 16 year drought and grab the championship? Will Mercedes be back on form and fight at the top?

    Who needs to shine?

    Guanyu Zhou is going into his second year as an F1 driver, he will be wanting to prove a lot more as he was quite unlucky last season.

    This year we will be having three new rookies to the grid, Oscar Piastri for McLaren, Logan Sargeant for Williams and Nyck de Vries for Alpha Tauri. Three different cars for three different drivers, it will be interesting to see how they do as Piastri comes from a year out of racing, Sargeant from racing in F2 and de Vries from Formula E.

    And we have Nico Hulkenberg who is returning to the sport after leaving at the end of 2019, but making several appearances since then as well as being a reserve and development driver.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hamilton, P5: Alonso.

    I think we all know that it’s going to be Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes fighting at the top but I think it will be even closer in the midfield.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 3rd-

    Free Practice F3: 07:55am – 08:40am, Free Practice F2: 09:05am – 09:50am, Free Practice 1 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Qualifying F3: 13:00pm – 13:30pm, Free Practice 2 F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm, Qualifying F2: 16:30pm – 17:00pm (GMT).

    Saturday 4th-

    Sprint Race F3: 09:15am – 10:00am, Free Practice 3 F1: 11:30am – 12:30pm, Sprint Race F2: 13:15pm – 14:00pm Qualifying F1: 15:00pm – 16:00pm.

    Sunday 5th-

    F3 Feature Race: 08:50am, F2 Feature Race: 10:20am and F1 Race: 15:00pm.

  • Bahrain Tyre Selection

    The tyres for the first round of the 2023 season have been chosen as the new C1 makes its debut this weekend.

    This year, Pirelli has expanded the range of available compounds to six, with three still chosen for every race. The brand new C1 compound fills the gap between the hardest C0 (used as the C1 in 2022) and the C2 which is unchanged from last year.

    The selection is: C1 (Hard tyre), C2 (Medium tyre), C3 (Soft tyre). The teams will have at their disposal two sets of hard tyres, three sets of mediums and eight sets of soft per car.

    The Bahrain International Circuit, features some of the most abrasive asphalt of the year while the track – consisting of low to medium speed corners – mainly places traction and braking demands on the tyres. The layout also requires a good level of stability at the rear of the car.

    The Bahrain Grand Prix, takes place on a circuit surrounded by the Sakhir desert. Wind can sometimes blow sand onto the track, which can affect the grip levels during the sessions.

    The support races include Formula 2 and Formula 3, with them resulting rubber laid down influencing track evolution.

    Tyre degradation will be a key factor when it comes to deciding the strategy. Last season, all the drivers bar one stopped three times (rather than the anticipated two-stopper) due to a late race safety car.