We'll see some record cornering speeds in 2024!💡

Sainz had a 135km/h minimum speed in Turn 15: 6km/h more than the fastest F1 car of all time! (Mercedes W11)
Thanks to that, the SF24 has been consistently the fastest in sector 3🔥

God knows what the RB20 will do in quali😳

Before someone says ‘But the RB19 is the most dominant car ever…’ —>
- On a single lap, the Mercedes W11 is the F1 car which produced the lowest lap times ever;
- ‘Fastest’ depends on the ruleset too and does not imply ‘most dominant’ (even though the W11 was extremely dominant too).

Ferrari made a massive step in race pace vs last year (~1.4s/lap), but the RB20 is the car to beat!🏆

They had the same pace over a race distance
However, Verstappen had minimal tyre wear (even on the softs!), indicating that he was not even pushing 100%😳
Crazy consistency👌

The two race simulations were made at the same time (during DAY 3):

Leclerc used a different setup than Sainz the day before and pushed more➡️Slightly better lap times than him but more tyre wear as well.

Leclerc's pace was excellent on all compounds, but the wear was similarly high too.

On the Hards, Verstrappen's lap times improved even when taking the decreasing fuel load into account!

Which team has the longest gears?⚙️

Rules allow the full fuel flow (100kg/h) from 10500rpm onwards➡️engines can reach their maximum power

The graph shows each car's speed in VIII gear at 10500rpm:
🟠McL has the longest gear
🟣Alpine the shortest
Less than 6km/h between them!

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https://linktr.ee/fdataanalysis

🗒Notes on #BahrainGP Track!

-Very abrasive asphalt➡️High Tyre wear➡️C1-C3 (hard) compounds to compensate🛞
-Longitudinal grip (traction and braking) is crucial for laptime⏱
-Mitigating wear on the rear left tyre will be critical!🔥

What’s your prediction?🤔

📸 : @pirellisport

Bahrain GP Weekend Schedule

Don't forget everything is a day earlier than normal. So Practice sessions start on Thursday, Quali on Friday, Race on Saturday!

Schedule image shows TRACK TIMES!

For full schedule including F2 & F3 series visit:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.formula-1-gulf-air-bahrain-grand-prix-2024-timetable.Ew65oxdOdqxlil2DFngCz.html

Rear wings!👀

#BahrainGP: moderate load levels💡
✅Acceptable drag on the 4 straights
✅Good traction, braking and cornering➡️Tyre wear under control!👌

RedBull/McL: Medium-high load🔼 (less top speed, more grip)
Merc/Alpine/Aston: Medium▶️
Ferrari/VCARB/Williams: Medium-low🔽

TOP SPEEDS - FP1

🔴Ferrari still 13km/h off their 2023 quali

🟠McL used a very conservative deployment setting on the main straight: NOR was 11km/h slower than RIC there (299 vs 310km/h), but slightly quicker on the back straight (307 vs 306km/h)

⚪️Haas didn't use the DRS

MINISECTORS FP1

🔵RIC vs 🟠NOR vs 🟢ALO

🔵RIC was quickest on the main straight and for most of the last straight (T13 to T14).

🟠NOR dominated the twisty section from T4 to T8, and got the best top speed on the back straight.

🟢ALO was quick out of T2 and in the second sector
(Keep in mind that the Aston was on mediums, as shown in the image).

SECTORS - FP2📊

Hamilton and Russell were quickest in🟥Sector 1 (two straights connected by a chicane) and🟨Sector 3 (medium-speed corner, straight, medium-speed corner)

McLaren, Aston and Ferrari were quicker in the twisty🟦Sector 2

Best top speed: Haas (319km/h)

LONG RUNS (Average Laptimes on🟥Softs) - FP2

🥇Red Bull 96.8
🥈McLaren 97.0
🥉Ferrari 97.2
4️⃣Merc 97.2
5️⃣Aston 97.5
6️⃣Williams 97.7
7️⃣RBs 97.9
8️⃣Haas 98.0
9️⃣Alpine 98.0
🔟Sauber 98.1

During their stint, RedBull produced the fastest single lap, too.

I wrote a very detailed article on the sessions so far, analysing each team's quali- and race-pace, explaining HOW that performance was achieved and what this could tell us concerning engine modes💡

Become a page supporter and read it!🏎📊👇

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/bahrain-gp-race-preview

Remember to choose your GridRival lineup and your star driver! A few hours to go 🔥

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TOP SPEEDS - FP2

Haas fastest as in the pre-season tests: probably on a higher engine mode, but the car likely has low drag as well

Telemetry suggests that RedBull and Ferrari had lower engine modes (severe clipping); the opposite for Mercedes

Engines are still detuned!

Notes on #BahrainGP F1 Quali !👀

-VER improved his pole by 0.529s: the RB20 is the car to beat✅
-Ferrari got closer, and race pace looks much improved🔥
-PER: no improvement
-Disastrous Alpine📉
-Field is tight: less than 1s 1st to 20th in Q1!👌

What’s YOUR opinion?🤔

Every team improved their best laptime over 2023, but some much more so than others!

Most Improved: 🟠McLaren✅
Least Improved: 🟣Alpine❌

RedBull is the 2nd least improved team, and Verstappen was helped by a huge tow: the field is closer to them than last year!

💡The RB20 is NOT invincible (in qualifying):

Leclerc's Q2 lap would have given him pole, and his braking and slow-speed cornering were better!

VER gained on the main straight thanks to a tow (in green) and in the subsequent corner.

Then, Leclerc steadily recovered over 0.3s!