Bahrain F1 GP Fired Up in ’23
Posted on March 1, 2023 Tags: Bahrain GP
Images courtesy Pirelli.com
WASCC Racing Back This Weekend
AUSSIE EYES will be focused on the performance of Melbourne’s F1 rookie Oscar Piastri at the season opening Bahrain F1 GP’s Sakhir circuit this weekend.
Oscar’s McLaren team managed to complete the fewest laps of any team at the same track, across three days last week.
Both he and teammate Lando Norris spun out on the final day of testing, with the 23-year-old Belgium-Brit finishing the session in 11th, with Oscar back in 16th.
Compare their 312 laps to AlphaTauri’s massive tally of 456 – equivalent to competing the Bahrain Grand Prix eight times.
Problems They Didn’t Need
Writing for The Race, ex-Formula 1 designer Gary Anderson commented: “I think you could say that this was the only team in the pitlane that had problems that it shouldn’t have had.
“No matter if the car met the winter objectives or not, the fact it sat in the garage on numerous occasions (during testing) with heat guns drying glue on the front tyre mudguard section was simply a design and operational cock-up.
“I have been there and suffered the pain of a problem that couldn’t be fixed quickly but that was a long time ago – the problems McLaren is having shouldn’t happen with today’s technology and processes.”
Gary Anderson, former McLaren mechanic.
A fascinating whisper in the F1 paddock last season to Daniel Ricciardo has added further drama to his McLaren exit.
The fifth series of Drive To Survive on Netflix showed some of the behind-the-scenes conversations involving McLaren CEO Zak Brown as he managed Ricciardo’s early departure.
Cameras picked up F1 journalist Roberto Chinchero whispering to Ricciardo “I told you not to trust Zak” after the news that Daniel’s contract was terminated a year before its time was confirmed.
The Bahrain F1 GP takes place on a circuit surrounded by the Sakhir desert, where the swirling winds can affect the grip levels during the sessions.
The support races include Formula 2 and Formula 3, with the resulting rubber laid down influencing track evolution.
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.
• At the Bahrain F1 GP, C1 is the P Zero White hard, C2 the Yellow medium and C3 the Red soft. The teams have at their disposal two sets of hard tyres, three sets of mediums, and eights sets of soft per car, as well as the usual allocation of Cinturato intermediate and full wet tyres.
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.
Sakhir, Bahrain
The wide range of temperatures is a factor to take into consideration. Asphalt temperatures can reach 45 degrees centigrade during the day, dropping by at least 15 degrees as evening falls. FP2, qualifying and the race – which all begin at 18:00 – and will be run in very different conditions to the remaining sessions, which take place in the early afternoon.
Undercut Pivotal for Bahrain
“The first race of the championship is an important test bench to validate all the development work we have carried out last year, which allowed us to further improve the structure of the tyres and introduce a new compound.
“Our latest C1 will make its debut at Sakhir: an entirely new compound based on last year’s C2, which allows us to reduce the performance gap between the harder compounds in the range.
“We expect it to be a valid option for the race this weekend as well.
“The ‘undercut’ is often pivotal to the Bahrain Grand Prix, so it will be interesting to see how the teams make use of this new element in the trio of compounds that are nominated for Sakhir.”
MARIO ISOLA, Pirelli Motorsport Director
• Tyre degradation is a key factor here when it comes to deciding the strategy. Last season, all drivers bar one stopped three times (rather than the anticipated two-stopper) due to a late-race safety car.
The winner Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) carried out his first two stints on the soft, before swapping to the medium. The safety car allowed him to put the soft back on for the final run to the flag, ahead of his team mate Carlos Sainz.
Exclusively supplied by Pirelli, will also begin their seasons in Bahrain. This year’s Formula 2 grid again includes Aussie Jack Doohan, and no fewer than 10 drivers who have graduated from Formula 3. Also among the mix is 2022 champion Victor Martins, who received a 300,000 euro scholarship from Pirelli to help him move up to F2. A total of 22 drivers are competing in Formula 2, while the F3 grid comprises 30 drivers – 18 of whom are rookies.
Western Australia’s club racing season gets underway this weekend with the first round of the 2023 WASCC Championships at the recently named Carco Raceway, Wanneroo.
It’s a great venue and a wonderful two-day family event at WA’s premier motor racing circuit.
The WA Sporting Car Club 2023 Events Calendar includes:
. Seven rounds of Racing with the 2023 opening round a two day event, with Saturday under lights, finishing the 2023 season in just the same way!
. Two-day racing at four rounds, and three single-day race meets.
. Fourteen Tarmac Sportz event dates, including two DriftKhana dates.
. Eight DriftWest Practice Nights.
. Twenty Tuning Events – One Evening Tuning Event
Check out www.wascc.com.au
The World Rally Championship – another series officially equipped by Pirelli – has got underway, with Toyota’s defending champion Kalle Rovanpera winning in Monte-Carlo and Ott Tanak triumphing for M-Sport Ford in Sweden on only his second WRC event in the car.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli launched its 2023 season on Australia’s iconic Bathurst circuit on Mt Panorama, resulting in the fastest race in the history of the 12 Hours.
Image courtesy AutoAction.com.au
Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz pushed Sun Energy 1 Racing Mercedes to back-to-back Bathurst 12 Hour glories in an epic race.
After 2006km and 323 laps around the mountain, just 1.4s separated the top three as Gounon led home Matt Campbell’s Manthey EMA Porsche and Maro Engel’s GruppeM Racing Mercedes.
Bike legend Valentino Rossi topped FP2 before finishing sixth in the race with his BMW team mates.
EDITED by AC
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