Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Preview: Who's in the best shape, qualifying and race predictions

The first race weekend of the 2021 Formula 1 season is finally upon us and the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix promises to a thrilling calendar opener, so who do we think will steal the show? Read our preview to find out.

Bahrain 2020

A chaotic opening lap saw Valtteri Bottas lose four places in the first two corners as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen got away brilliantly, but Romain Grosjean's near-fatal crash saw the race immediately red-flagged.

Racing Point - now Aston Martin - had a horrid race as Lance Stroll span out early on before Sergio Perez, who was fighting of a seat in 2021, had a podium place ruthlessly snatched from his grasp by a mechanical failure just three laps from the end.

That gifted Red Bull's Alex Albon third spot as he joined teammate Verstappen in the post-race celebrations with McLaren 4th and 5th.

With the rest of the grid involved in some kind of drama, Hamilton showed his class with another flawless drive as the Brit maintained a comfortable lead and never looked out of first gear (metaphorically, of course) to add yet another +1 to his record number of race wins.

Who's in the best shape heading into the curtain-raiser?

After having his podium place taken away unceremoniously the previous weekend, Checo Perez went from last place on lap one to go through the entire grid and win the Sakhir Grand Prix with a simply sensational drive that Team Principal Christian Horner admitted ultimately earned the Mexican a seat at Red Bull, who dominated this year's testing.

It's always a hard one to judge with a number of questions being thrown around: Were Mercedes full on fuel? Were Mercedes running on a low engine mode? Can the Black Arrows bounce back?

The latter is the most intriguing question and is the one we all look forward to finding out the answer to. Pretty much every Formula One fan wants to see a season-long battle for both the Constructors and Drivers' championships and one man who isn't shying away from a fight is seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton.

"I think it's definitely going to be the hardest battle we've had so far. At the moment they are ahead. But we're down for the fight," the Brit told Sky Sports. "I think each year is a little bit of an unknown but of course more often we have a better feeling of what's happening with our car. It's massively exciting for us as a team. We are currently not the fastest.

"And how we're going to work together, how we're going to unite in order to get where we want to be... that, for me, I'm so excited of that challenge. And seeing some of the other teams close. I think it's going to be great for fans."

Hamilton added: "Year after year we're faced with these challenges and what's always encouraging and impressive for me is seeing the guys pull together.

Who will be best of the rest?

It seems, then, that Horner and Co. have got one over on Toto Wolff's men despite Mercedes being leaps ahead of the rest in 2020. But what about the other teams? As already stated, McLaren produced a cracking 57 laps to finish 4th and 5th in Bahrain last year and I envisage them being best of the rest again.

After switching to a Mercedes power unit, signing Daniel Ricciardo and some brilliant, unique engineering, Zak Brown's team are better prepared now than they have been for the best part of ten years. Ferrari will be looking to bounce back from arguably their worst ever season and Carlos Sainz will be eager to repeat his fifth-place finish from 2020 at his new employers, but I think Aston Martin will be a little too strong.

Still owned by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, newly-named Aston Martin caused quite a stir with their 'Merecedes 2.0' cars as their competitors called them during reports to and investigations from the FIA. With that drama behind them, though, and four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the cockpit for the first time, it will be interesting to see how competitive they are in the first true test of the new cars.

Alpha Tauri are always an underdog to claim some good points, as are Alpine who resigned Fernando Alonso alongside Esteban Ocon for the season. At the back of the grid, there could be a change as Williams' improvement appears to be continuing and, with Haas publicly focusing all development on their 2022 car already, the Americans will surely be bringing up the rear.

Podium and race winner predictions

Mercedes' troubles have made this a piece worth writing and it's extremely tempting to put the two Red Bulls first and second, but we simply don't know if the Black Arrows had their poker face on in pre-season testing. If they did, Hamilton and Bottas could well walk away with it but, if they are in trouble, Horner's new driver pairing could be in business.

And, to be honest, I reckon they will be anyway, but I don't think Verstappen will win it. Sergio Perez won the Sakhir GP using the outer track of this circuit and, in a much better car in 2021, the Mexican has every chance of surprising his teammate who should also be on the podium.

That, then, leaves the two Mercs to battle it out for a place on the steps and it's got to be Lewis. He was phenomenal round the inner circuit in 2020 and I simply don't see him not putting on a show again. It's a straight shootout between him and Perez for the win and pole position with the Mexican just edging it, in my opinion. So, to sum up:

1. Sergio Perez

2. Lewis Hamilton

3. Max Verstappen

This is written before Free Practice and Qualifying, so it could all change by Sunday and if it does i sincerely apologise for wasting your time. But no, Checo for the win for me!