The Bahrain Grand Prix Forecast

Round 4 - Bahrain International Circuit

Laps - 57

Pirelli Compounds - Medium and soft tyres are available to the teams this weekend. According to Pirelli with temperatures likely to be higher than in China last weekend we could see tyres degrading a bit quicker, although this is tempered by the fact this is now an evening race.

DRS zones - There'll be two DRS zones, one along the start finish straight with the other between turns 10 and 11.

Weather - It's Bahrain, it's going to be hot! Even when the sun's gone to bed temperatures will still not dip below 26C.

TV - Live on Skysports F1 and BBC (lights out at 4pm)

Pick a winner - I've played it safe so far this year, tipping Lewis Hamilton to win at all three races. It's not a bad way to go, he's won two of those three and finished second in the other to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. But I'm going to go a different way this weekend and side with a second scarlet victory, but this time for Kimi Raikkonen. He's shown he's got the pace in this car, with a clean weekend it's time he proved the Scuderia have two top drivers. Despite the cooler evening conditions, it's still hot and this could play into Ferrari's hands.

Hot Topics:

A lot of people will be talking about Nico Rosberg's state of mind. He's had a tough start to the season and last weeks outburst about Lewis Hamilton backing him up into the Ferrari's just oozed paranoia. It can't be a good place to be knowing that your team mate is simply faster than you. Rosberg knows he's going to have to be clever if he wants to win this world championship but coming across as petulant and claiming your team mate is driving too slowly as you sit several seconds behind doesn't look good. A win will sort him out, but will it come this weekend? He was quicker than Hamilton here last year but lost out in a tough wheel to wheel confrontation. I don't think he'll be quicker this time.

McLaren about to unleash some performance. They believe they're getting a handle on the reliability side of the car after both cars finished in China, now they are looking to turn everything up, perhaps not quite to eleven but more than a few notches above not very much. They have some aerodynamic updates coming for Bahrain but there should be big upgrades ready for the first European race in Spain. Progress this weekend is if they have more than just the Manor's behind them in qualifying and maybe a point from the race. It'll be interesting to see if there really is as much potential in this car as the team seem to think.

Renault and Red Bull are still talking about quitting. There were several engine problems for Red Bull and Toro Rosso last weekend. Renault say they will be bringing a new specification power unit soon with more power. If that doesn't launch Red Bull into the battle for podiums this topic will run for a while yet.

Meanwhile ex Renault supplied team Lotus, now quite happily shacking up with Mercedes claim they have the fourth fastest car. That's not an unreasonable claim to make especially as Romain Grosjean got the team some points last time out with a comfortable seventh place behind the Mercedes', Ferrari's and Williams'. I think Pastor Maldonado will need to score some points soon too and have a run of races without getting involved in any incidents, otherwise Lotus may just go looking for someone else's money.

Max Verstappen. He's started his season well, he drove brilliantly in China. He's just generally a driver everyone is talking about. There will be a major result before the season is out.

Predicting the headlines:

Kimi Raikkonen triumphs for first time since 2013

What does Rosberg have to do to beat Hamilton?

Verstappen scores more points

Red Bull in trouble, threaten to quit

McLaren to score a point (if I keep saying it, I'll be right at some point).

Under the radar:

As Verstappen continues to shine it's worth pointing out what a decent job the other rookies are doing. His Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz has scored points in the opening two rounds while Sauber's Felipe Nasr has scored points in two out of three races. Even Will Stevens has impressed. Despite being with Manor and having a pay driver tag, he has out performed his team mate and sometimes by a significant margin. That's all you can ask for when your car is so far off the pace. Anyway, here's to the other rookies, let them not be washed away by the wave of hype surrounding Verstappen. It'll be difficult, because that hype seems completely justified.

The title chase:

Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg sit 13 and 17 points behind Lewis Hamilton respectively. What's significant about this is that it's not Lewis' team mate that's his main challenger.

No one expected Ferrari to be a significant threat this season, perhaps they won't be in the end, but at least for now they're keeping Mercedes honest on race day. But for as long as Vettel is ahead of Rosberg in the points they or rather he will be perceived as the main threat to Hamilton and Mercedes securing another championship.

This means Rosberg will very gently be pushed into a supporting role. Last year Mercedes were far ahead, but not this year, at least for now they have a fight. And if it's Hamilton vs Vettel then the team will gravitate towards a Hamilton title push rather than Rosberg.

It's already happening because Hamilton is making Rosberg look a bit average at the moment, in fact he's dominating him. The longer this goes on the more the team will become focused on Lewis no matter what they say about equal treatment. It's natural you will focus on the driver who will give you the best opportunity to win.

All in all it simply means Rosberg has to beat Hamilton this weekend. He doesn't have to win, just beat Lewis. In the form the #44 Mercedes is in, that's far easier said than done.

all photos taken from autosport.com