Yahoo Autos Where To Watch This Weekend's Second Bahrain GP
Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix
Sunday, December 5th - 12 p.m. ET - ESPN
Last weekend's Bahrain GP was overshadowed significantly by Romain Grosjean's terrifying lap 1 wreck. His car broke in two and caught fire, but what matters is that Grosjean survived with only minor burns to his hands. With the next race at Bahrain, this on the so-called "Oval" layout that has more in common with a fast road course like Monza than any true oval, just a week later, Pietro Fittipaldi is filling in for Grosjean in this race.
A few days later, the the week got even more complicated. Seven-time and current series champion Lewis Hamilton announced mid-week that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and will begin self-isolation. With Hamilton out, Mercedes announced that current Williams driver George Russell would be his replacement for the weekend. Russell was considered an elite prospect when he joined Williams, and his position in Hamilton's championship-winning Mercedes makes him an immediate threat to win tomorrow's race.
Russell will be replaced for the weekend by Jack Aitken in a Williams car that is, as usual for the team in 2020, not expected to score points.
At Mercedes, Russell was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, but was outpaced by temporary teammate Valtteri Bottas in their qualifying runs today. Bottas will start on pole, but an incredible lap by Russell has him starting second on the grid by less than 3/100ths of a second. With the history Bottas has of poor starts from the front of the grid over the past few years, Russell will have a real chance to lead the race by the end of lap 1 tomorrow. No matter the result, he will be expected to score his first points of the season and compete for his first podium.
Without Hamilton at the front of the field, the starting grid looks a little bit closer than usual. Max Verstappen will start his traditional third, but he'll do so with a lap just 6/100ths of a second slower than Bottas. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start a surprising fourth after an impressive lap in the middle of Q3, while Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, and Carlos Sainz will each stake their team's claim on third in the constructor's championship from fifth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. With AlphaTauri taking the other two spots in Q3, Perez's teammate Lance Stroll makes Racing Point the only team fighting for third in the constructor's championship to start two cars in the top ten tomorrow.
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