George Russell at Mercedes, Jack Aitken at Williams and many more things ahead of the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix

The F1 drivers brace themselves ahead of a second weekend in Bahrain, this time using the outer layout of the International Circuit.

Fans have had a lot to take in from last weekend’s Bahrain race where we saw Romain Grosjean hit the barrier at 140mph on turn three. Luckily The Haas driver managed to escape the inferno that ensued and only suffered minor burns to his hands and feet.

Racing Point had a horror show last weekend as both of their drivers did not finish the race thus scored no points.Lance Stroll was flipped upside down after he made contact with Daniil Kvyat after the restart and Sergio Perez retired due to an engine problem that saw the back of his car go on fire late on in the race.

Red Bull scored their first double podium since Japan 2017 as Max Verstappen took second place and Alex Albon capitalised on Perez’s retirement to take third place.

Lewis Hamilton won yet another race in his Championship winning year, but his season has been cut short due to testing positive for Covid-19 which takes us to our first talking point ahead of this weekend’s race.

George Russell replaces Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the Sakhir Grand Prix

Every F1 fan has been routing for Mr Saturday as the Williams driver continues to search for his first points in Formula One.

The British driver started out near the back of the grid in 2019 when he joined Williams from Formula 2, but was unable to get any points from 21 races.

There has been an impressive improvement from the Mercedes Academy driver as he has taken the Williams car from Q1 knockouts to the brink of getting into Q3.

Due to Hamilton testing positive for Covid-19, Russell has the chance to challenge at the front of the grid and go into a race in a car that should dominate around the outer layout of the Bahrain circuit.

Jack Aitken in at Williams as George Russell replacement

Aitken has got potential and could be one for the future. He finished second in the GP3 Championship for ART Grand Prix, a long way behind his Williams teammate and Champion for that year George Russell.

It’s been a long journey for Aitken, but this weekend he finally gets his chance in F1. He will be replacing Russell in the Williams car, teaming up with Nicholas Latifi for the race in Bahrain.

It is yet to be confirmed whether this will be a two-race weekend feature for Aitken as everything falls on whether Hamilton returns back a negative test before the Abu Dhabi weekend.

The Campos Racing driver will race with the No.89 and it will be exciting to see what the Academy Driver can deliver in Russell’s absence and whether he can take the car into Q2 which may be a long shot.

Pietro Fittipaldi jumps into Romain Grosjean’s car in his absence

Fittipaldi will be the man who replaces Grosjean for the race this weekend.

Pietro Fittipaldi is the grandson of twice F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, he becomes the first grandson of a Formula One driver to become a Formula One driver himself.

His recent driving experience came in the 2019-20 F3 Asian Championship where Brazillian finished fifth.

The last race in the Asian Championship was on the 23rd February so it will be clear to see whether Fittipaldi is lacking the driving experience or whether he can adapt well to the F1 ways and prove his worth.

Regardless all eyes will be on him to see what he can do in the Haas car which has struggled all season, picking up just three points.

Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin announced as the new Haas drivers

The Schumacher name returns to F1 as Mick Schumacher, son of F1 Legend Michael, has been chosen by Haas to be a member of the team for 2021 alongside F2 rival Nikita Mazepin.

Both of the drivers are still in the hunt to grab the F2 crown this weekend as the season comes to a close.

Let’s start with Mazepin and why he has earned the seat ahead of the likes of Callum Ilott, Louis Deletraz and potentially Robert Shwartzman. The Russian brings in a skill set that clearly Gene Haas and Gunther Steiner liked.

He is a proven winner and has done so twice this season in Formula 2 he has also stepped on the podium six times this season.

This season compared to the 2019 F2 season has been completely opposite in many ways. The Russian driver drove for ART Grand Prix where as he only amassed 11 points and finished 18th in the Championship.

In the 2020 season, he has failed to score in only six races and has 162 points to his name, he currently sits in third place in the Driver’s Championship (43 points behind his teammate next year).

Moving onto Schumacher, His rise to F1 has been rapid, he started his career in single-seaters back in 2015 aged 16.

Within three years, he became F3 Champion, winning the Championship with 365 points to his name. Eight race wins, seven pole positions and 14 podiums later he was promoted into F2 for the 2019 season.

In 22 races that season, he only managed one win as he finished with 53 points which put him in 12th position in the Championship.

This year, we have seen a more mature Schumacher who has been a joy to watch and is definitely doing his family name good.

He’s only won twice this season, but he’s scored ten podiums this year.

Steiner has changed the approach for the next season, replacing experience with youth and talent that can flourish.

The two still need to decide the F2 Championship, but both Schumacher and Mazepin have signed a multi-year deal which will see them break out onto the F1 world

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