Formula One heads to Bahrain for the second round of the 2016 season this weekend.
While fans and paddock members alike are still not too keen on the qualifying format, the race is full of unknowns after the new tire rules and subsequent tire strategies led to an interesting race in Australia.
However, the Australian GP - being a high speed street race - is usually a bit of a crapshoot, whereas the Bahrain circuit usually yields more predictable races and is a better indicator of which teams will fare well during the season.
With all that aside, it’s time to filter out who’s hot and who’s not heading into Sunday’s race:
Lewis Hamilton - HOT
True, he’s lost out to his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the past four races, but Hamilton is returning to a track this weekend where he holds the last two race victories. Additionally, it is fair to argue that Hamilton was bit by bad luck last time out in Australia with the timing of the red flag. The fact that he was able to salvage a second-place finish after falling back to sixth at the start is a testament to his and Mercedes pace.
Nico Rosberg - HOT
Likewise, Nico Rosberg also has a reason to be smiling heading to the Bahrain circuit, having won the past four races to date, and having finished on the podium here the past two years running. In 2014, he proved he was quite capable to go wheel-to-wheel with his World Champion teammate at this circuit, and it would be great to see more of the same this time around.
Kimi Raikkonen - HOT
It’s easy to forget but, with the Mercedes teammates struggling with brake problems late in the running last year, a couple more laps meant Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen could have walked away the race winner. The Finn has finished on the podium in seven out of his 10 starts here, but has never taken the victory. However, at Australia he proved that he had the pace to keep up front, but just wasn’t able to finish there due to a mechanical failure.
Romain Grosjean - HOT
To many, Romain Grosjean was considered the driver of the day when he got the new Haas F1 Team its first points with a sixth-place finish in Australia, and rightfully so. Look for the Frenchman to continue that momentum this weekend, after having already taken two podium finishes at this circuit in 2012 and 2013.
Toro Rosso teammates - NOT
Come race day at the Australian Grand Prix and it looked like Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were in for a historic day, taking the P5 and P7 grid slots respectively. However, after the controversial decision to keep Verstappen out on the track longer than Sainz and then the frantic pit stop that followed, the team saw its drivers argue it out en route to 9th and 10th place finishes. It doesn’t help that neither driver was able to make it to the finish at this track last year.
Jenson Button - NOT
Of course many aren’t predicting miracles from the McLaren-Honda team this weekend, but Fernando Alonso could be looking solid having taken three wins on this circuit (more than any other current driver). Meanwhile, Jenson Button’s track record on this circuit has not been anything to write home about, having not even been able to make it to the start last year, and having not finished any better than 10th (2013) here in his last four outings.
Nico Hulkenberg - NOT
Although he outperformed his Force India teammate at the Australian GP, Hulkenberg is another driver who does not have the numbers on his side heading into Bahrain. The German should be more than aware that he is running out of time if he ever wants to find himself in a top ride in the sport, but the master of consistency has not lived up to his reputation in the past at this circuit. In fact, in the past five years he has only ever got one points finish here, although it was a good one: fifth place in 2014.
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