They look to have good straight-line speed and I reckon the two DRS zones
could help Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Where the race will be won
Saturday morning’s qualifying will be hugely important. Track position, I
feel, will be extremely important with less variation between the two
compounds of Pirelli tyre.
That said there are two DRS zones this time around as it was felt that the one
zone on the start-finish straight last season didn’t produce enough passing.
Now there is a second chance and with the rule on defending position having
been tightened up — a driver cannot move back on to the racing line if he
moves to defend — we may see some overtaking on the outside into Turn Three.
Sub-Plots
I will be very interested to see how my old team Williams fare this weekend.
After a winter of change — a new engine supplier in Renault, a new driver in
Bruno Senna, an all-new technical team, the departure of Patrick Head — this
is a big year for them and I’d like to see them restore some respectability.
The other team I’ll be watching with interest is Caterham (formerly Team
Lotus) who have ambitions to join the midfield. Will they leave Marussia and
HRT, neither of whom have done any pre-season testing, standing and relegate
someone else to the back?
Details
Saturday: Qualifying 5pm local time (6am GMT).
Sunday: Race 5pm local time (6am GMT)
Television
Qualifying: Sky Sports F1 HD (highlights: BBC2 1pm)
Race: Sky Sports F1 HD (highlights: BBC1 2pm)