Bahrain is almost here

The preseason is over and the teams are arriving in Bahrain for the first race of the season, the waiting and teasing is almost over and we’ll get to see who has what for real.

Based on testing times it looks a little like the F1 world has returned to business as usual with McLaren and Ferrari a little ahead of the rest. The rest are led by Red Bull and Mercedes, with Sauber, Williams and Force India looking very competitive.

With the rule changes reading anything into pre-season testing times is probably more pointless than usual. Speeds with full fuel load and tire wear have become more important than the headline grabbing fast lap times.

The two biggest driver stories are clearly Schumacher’s return and how long the pairing at McLaren will play nicely together.

Love or hate him, Schumacher’s return to the grid can only been good. It’s a huge story in the most interesting off season in many years.

The cars will be starting with a comparatively huge fuel load, somewhere around twice as much as was carried at any point last year, somewhere around 165 or 170kg of fuel at the start. This means car set up will become much more of a compromise and conserving tyres and brakes become more important.

Like the drivers teams will have to adjust. Pitstops times and race strategy will change to become more reactive to what’s going on around them. Teams will be looking at the track 20 or 25 seconds behind their driver in order to get out and have a clear track to make best use of the fresh rubber. Unlike last year it will be possible to hold a driver out for a few more laps in order to get that elusive space.

I like the twist in the rules that the top 10 qualifiers start on the same tyres they qualified on. Go for a soft compound in qualifying, get a good grid place then be forced into pitting earlier than perhaps you’d like.

How will this differ when you compare wide open Singapore with the twists of Monaco?

As I’ve said, this could be a fascinating year with four world champions, really quick drivers like Vettel and Weber who want to join that club, and potentially 6 or 7 teams capable of competing at the sharp end.

Come Sunday evening we will know a lot more, we’ll find out who has been holding something back during testing and who flattered to deceive. This will be fun to watch.