The battle has just begun

The ultimate speed formula is back here in Bahrain on the majestic desert track next to you after having a terrific season-opening round in Australia, with Valtteri Bottas claiming victory. As Hamilton has said, the Mercedes team will be on their toes this weekend as Ferrari will be sure looking for an opportunity to bounce back after being beaten in Australia. Ferrari’s fourtime world champion Sebastian Vettel, who finished fourth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Australia, will be seeking his third straight victory in Bahrain in Sunday’s race.

Like his new team chief Mattia Binotto, the German hopes that Ferrari’s disappointing Australian race was merely a blip. “In Bahrain, we have to ensure that we have understood and rectified the areas where we were weak in Australia, which therefore meant we were unable to fully exploit our car’s potential,” said Binotto. The two Ferraris, with Vettel fourth and new boy Charles Leclerc fifth, were a minute adrift of Mercedes in Melbourne, a gap that team boss Toto Wolff said he did not expect to see repeated.

“We’ve seen the potential of Ferrari’s package in Barcelona and we expect them to come back strong in Bahrain,” he said, adding that he believed Red Bull would also “be in the mix.” “Claiming a maximum 44 points from the first race was a fantastic result,” Wolff added.  “But the fight has only just begun. Ferrari will try everything they can to hit back and Melbourne showed that Red Bull should have something to say in the fight, too.”

The 5.4km Sakhir circuit is expecte d to be kinder to Ferrari than the semi-street track in Melbourne.  So as the second race of the 2019 Formula One season kicks off, there will be no shortage for excitement and thrills on track. What about off track then? Don’t worry, Bahrain is offering tonnes of opportunities to fans. Celebrations this year are going to be a massive spectacle with concerts, Live performances, Circus acts, extreme entertainment, F1 village beside offering plenty of chances for race fans to get up close and personal with their favourites drivers.