Before the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend began, I posted five prediction polls on the Lights Out twitter account. How many of the questions did you get right? Find out below!
1. Will Bottas or Ricciardo be beaten in qualifying?
1. Both Bottas and Ricciardo have never been beaten by a team-mate in qualifying at the #BahrainGP. Will either of them be beaten by their team-mate in qualifying this weekend? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 28, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: BOTH WILL BE
CORRECT ANSWER: BOTTAS WILL BE, RICCIARDO WON’T BE
While Daniel Ricciardo seemed to struggle to get comfortable with his Renault throughout the practice sessions, he ultimately out-qualified team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who was a shock Q1 elimination. Qualifying eleventh and starting from tenth, Ricciardo maintains his 100% win rate over team-mates in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. It was Valtteri Bottas whose dominance over team-mates in qualifying in Sakhir ended this weekend. Lewis Hamilton qualified third, while the Finn could manage only fourth – but the margin was very tight. Hamilton out-qualified Bottas by 0.066 seconds, and the combination of the pair’s three best sector times gave laps which were separated by just 0.005 seconds!
2. Which “Formula 1.5” team will score the most points?
2. Which of the following teams will score more points at the 2019 #BahrainGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 28, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: HAAS
CORRECT ANSWER: ALFA ROMEO
Between them, these four teams scored only seven points in the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix. Haas showed promise in qualifying, even having the third fastest car overall. In the race, Romain Grosjean retired with damage to his floor following a first lap collision, while Kevin Magnussen could finish only thirteenth. Renault also left Bahrain point-less after both their cars retired at exactly the same time in the closing stages of the race. Instead, it was Kimi Raikkonen who scored six points for Alfa Romeo by finishing seventh. The team are now fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Sergio Perez scored Racing Point’s only point of the day by finishing tenth.
3. Where will Pierre Gasly finish?
3. Where will Pierre Gasly finish in the 2019 #BahrainGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 28, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: 5th, 6th or 7th
CORRECT ANSWER: 8th
After he failed to reach Q3 for a second race in succession, Pierre Gasly started the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix from thirteenth. In the race, he gained five positions to finish eighth, scoring his first points since last year’s Mexican Grand Prix. Only 26% of you predicted he’d finish that low in the Granc Prix.
4. How much faster will this year’s pole lap time be?
4. Last year's #BahrainGP pole time was a 1:27.958. How much faster will this year's pole lap be? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 28, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: OVER 1 SECOND FASTER
CORRECT ANSWER: LESS THAN 0.51 SECONDS
There wasn’t the drop in lap time which many expected over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Charles Leclerc equalled last year’s pole time on his first lap in Q3, then bettered that time by 0.092 seconds on his final lap to take pole. Only 9% of you thought the 2019 pole lap here would be less than half a second faster than its 2018 counterpart.
5. Who will lead the Drivers’ Championship?
5. Who will lead the Drivers' Championship after the 2019 #BahrainGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) March 28, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: VALTTERI BOTTAS
CORRECT ANSWER: VALTTERI BOTTAS
As almost half of you correctly predicted, Valtteri Bottas still leads the Drivers’ Championship after the Bahrain Grand Prix. Following Hamilton’s win, the Finn’s lead in the title race is now just one point – a result of the additional point he scored for fastest lap in Australia.
Let us know how you got on with this race’s predictions! There’ll be more at the next race, follow us on twitter to take part: @LightsOutF1Blog!
