Alvin's Formula One Blog

Another race weekend is upon us so quickly after Malaysia. This time at night as the Bahrain GP is now a night race after Singapore. The Bahrain Grand Prix is a Formula One Championship race in Bahrain sponsored by Gulf Air. The first race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the "Best Organised Grand Prix" by the FIA. The Bahrain Grand Prix has usually been the third race of the Formula One calendar. However, in the 2006 season, Bahrain swapped places with the traditional opener, the Australian Grand Prix, which was pushed back to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. In 2010, Bahrain staged the opening race of the 2010 season and the cars drove the full 6.299 km (3.914 mi) "Endurance Circuit" to celebrate F1's 'diamond jubilee'. The 2011 Grand Prix, due to be held on 13 March, was canceled on 21 February...

Here is a collection of news and stories that were doing the rounds the past week. Some of you might have missed it, so I have collected them here for you. Those that I think are interesting and will keep us fans updated on the goings on in the sport. Also, some technical ones to keep us in the know about this new season. Rosberg and Mercedes lead the way in test mileage While Williams might have held off Mercedes in terms of claiming the fastest lap posted in Bahrain, that Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) failure late on Sunday afternoon not only saw the Grove outfit lose its 100% pre-season reliability record but also saw it lose out to its Brackley neighbour in terms of pre-season mileage completed. Martini lifts Williams off the rocks Following weeks of speculation, Williams has today confirmed a new title sponsor and with it a striking new livery. The new agreement sees Martini, the world's leading vermouth and best-selling Italian sparkling wine, join forces with Wi...

This is a re-produced post by PlanetF1. I couldn't have put it better, so I'm just re-producing it here for your benefit. To read the original article, click HERE . Mercedes on top, Red Bull still struggling, Williams have two Felipes and everything's taking a lot more time... Number 1 When Marussia decided they needed to change the engine on Max Chilton's car after four laps on Friday, it wasn't the work of a couple of hours. That was it for the rest of the day. Although repairs and engine fixes are going to come down as teams learn to shortcut the time, such is the complexity of the new engine systems that everything is taking around double the time it took before. So if teams get engine problems in final practice (FP3) on a Saturday morning, it may be impossible to get the car ready in the time left before Qualifying. Number 2 Thus on Friday when Ferrari had some telemetry issues, what would have been a routine fix for the team in 2013 with telemetry ...

The good news is that Red Bull are having loads of problems and won't be stamping all over the championship come Melbourne. Hopefully, with all of Renault's problems, we'll see a more level playing field this year. Of course, they won't be behind forever, F1 teams have a knack for solving problems fast and getting back on performance. But personally, I'm grinning from ear to ear. After a whole year of boring-ness. So how bad are Renault teams anyway? Not that bad according to Rob White, Renault Sport F1 Deputy Managing Director. But then he would say that, wouldn't he? From what we can glean of this interview, they are a few weeks behind and that is bad in F1. The last 2 tests showed that when you are behind, when you can't use the time to test for speed and you waste time fixing problems here and there, you will be quite behind in terms of development. What were the key steps taken between Jerez and Bahrain ? We made a number of specification c...

The teams have been able to complete more testing distance with Pirelli's new 2014 range of tyres in Bahrain, as they begin to get a better picture of how the latest tyres interact with the radically different new cars. A number of teams were able to complete race simulations, as well as qualifying and pit stop practice, assessing every aspect of tyre usage. Weather conditions remained dry and warm, in the region of 20 degrees centigrade or higher: temperatures that are much more representative of the season as a whole. In accordance with the nominations they had made in advance, the teams were able to try out the entire 2014 range of P Zero tyres in Bahrain, as well as a special 'winter' hard compound, with a faster warm-up. Paul Hembery comments: The teams were able to learn more about tyres over the four days in Bahrain than they could in Jerez two weeks ago, thanks to increased running time and optimal weather conditions. Although the teams are still at a compa...