The 2014 Bahrain GP preview: Everything you need to know about this weekend's race!
Form guide
Sebastian Vettel has won the previous two races in Bahrain, but Red Bull unreliability problems made it impossible to tell how quick the RB10 might be around the Bahrain International Circuit. During the eight days of pre-season running at the venue, it was Felipe Massa who set the overall pace for Williams.
2013 result: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus); 3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus); 4. Paul Di Resta (Force India); 5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 6. Sergio Perez (McLaren); 7. Mark Webber (Red Bull); 8. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 9. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 10. Jenson Button (McLaren).
Last five winners in Bahrain: 2013: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2012: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2010: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 2009: Jenson Button (Brawn); 2008: Felipe Massa (Ferrari).
Tyre allocation
Pirelli will bring the white-marked medium and yellow-banded soft compounds to the Bahrain Grand Prix - the same compounds that were used at the season-opening race in Australia.
The Italian manufacturer say that the race will be "one of the most severe circuits of the year in terms of tarmac roughness" and also also predicting "a temperature drop of 15 degrees" as the sunsets in the desert.
"Bahrain is a circuit where we've done two recent tests, so we go there with a lot of knowledge of the track, which we certainly benefit from," Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said.
"We know that there's a big traction demand and that's why we're bringing the medium and soft tyres. Temperatures at the start of the race should still be reasonably high. We've noted a very big drop in temperature though as soon as the sun goes down: a variation that can be as big as 15 degrees.
"Managing that very wide range of temperatures to get the best out of the tyres is going to be one of the biggest challenges for the teams throughout the weekend. This should make it quite tactical in terms of strategy, so it should be a very interesting race from that point of view."
Sky Bet odds
After a dominant victory from pole in Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton is the man Sky Bet are backing to take victory in Bahrain at Evens and team-mate Nico Rosberg available at 9/4.
Check out the full range of odds here.
