Lewis Hamilton returns to Bahrain four months on from winning an 11th race of a dominant 2020 season knowing Mercedes have plenty of questions to answer from an exciting-looking Red Bull.
It was another season to remember for Hamilton in a campaign disrupted heavily by the coronavirus pandemic, the Briton himself contracting the virus late in the season and missing the second leg of a Sakhir double-header a week later.
By winning a seventh Formula One world title, Hamilton levelled Michael Schumacher's all-time record and also surpassed the legendary German for overall race wins (now 95), and he is now going in search of history.
But the evidence in pre-season suggests Mercedes are set for a titanic tussle with Red Bull, whose exciting line-up of Max Verstappen – the 23-year-old many are tipping to finally go toe-to-toe-with Hamilton – and Sergio Perez will be out to lay down a marker at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
Many have suggested that F1's technical 2021 changes have redressed the competitive balance and certainly there was evidence to suggest as such at pre-season testing where Mercedes posted the lowest lap count of any team and Red Bull set the pace on two out of the three days.
We have been here before with Mercedes, though, where some have questioned whether their period of dominance – the Silver Arrows winning the constructors' championship seven years running – is finally over, only for the German manufacturers to turn it on when it matters.
This weekend should give us a clearer indication as to the strength of both teams, but that is by no means the only talking point on the grid...
LAST TIME OUT
Red Bull can certainly take heart from a strong end to the 2020 campaign, which saw Verstappen coast to victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a race in which Hamilton finished third after returning from his absence due to COVID-19.
In that race, Red Bull were not necessarily favourites but beat Mercedes in a straight-line fight for Verstappen's second triumph of the season – his first coming in round five at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Perez can also take plenty of confidence from the fact he triumphed at this circuit for the Sakhir Grand Prix a week after Hamilton's last win of 2020, with a power issue in Abu Dhabi meaning his final outing with Racing Point ended in a whimper.
Valtteri Bottas finished second ahead of Hamilton on that occasion and the Finn knows he has a lot to prove against a strong-looking Red Bull line-up, while McLaren cars finished in fifth and sixth and are fancied for another strong campaign after finished third in the constructors' championship.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN SAKHIR
There are plenty of sub-plots in play this weekend after a close-season of change in F1.
Most notable is the return of a legend and the arrival of a rookie aiming to emulate his great father.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is back, racing for the rebranded Alpine Team – formerly Renault where the brilliant Spaniard won his two titles.
Mick Schumacher, son of Michael, has sizeable shoes to fill and will start his career on the biggest stage with Haas alongside fellow F1 rookie Nikita Mazepin.
Sebastian Vettel has a new home after ending his association with Ferrari and will race for Aston Martin, who are back in F1 for the first time since 1960, while the Scuderia signed Carlos Sainz Jr from McLaren to line-up alongside Charles Leclerc for 2021.
McLaren consequently turned to amiable Australian Daniel Ricciardo to partner Lando Norris, with the team starting 2021 12 podiums shy of 500.
TOP FIVE OPTA STATS
- Vettel and Hamilton are the drivers to have won the most races at the Bahrain GP (four), and have taken the most pole positions (three).
- In 2014, Mercedes recorded the first out of their 70 one-twos in hybrid-era qualifying in Bahrain (Nico Rosberg first, Hamilton second). The Germans have achieved 78 one-twos; they are two wins away from reaching Ferrari as the team to have secured one-twos in qualifying most often (80).
- Mick Schumacher will race his maiden grand prix in Bahrain eight years, four months and three days after father Michael's final appearance in Brazil 2012. Both will have started in F1 aged 22 years old, but the younger Schumacher will have done so seven months and 16 days earlier than his dad.
- Sainz will be the third Spanish driver to race for Ferrari. In his maiden race for the Scudería, Alfonso de Portago failed to finish in France (1956), but Alonso won in Bahrain (2010).
- Verstappen has retired three times at the Bahrain Grand Prix (four in Sakhir), more than any other race in his F1 career. The Dutchman has the chance to win back-to-back grands prix in F1 for the first time after 120 races.
Manchester United 2-3 Nottingham Forest: Wood hits winner as Amorim's side lose again
Manchester United suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League following a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
Chris Wood's 10th league goal of the season in the 54th minute proved to be the winner as Forest climbed to fifth place – only two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Nikola Milenkovic put the visitors ahead with only 91 seconds on the clock as he headed in a corner from Elliot Anderson, but Rasmus Hojlund levelled the score for United 16 minutes later, following up after Alejandro Garnacho's initial effort was saved by Matz Sels.
Jota Silva and Bruno Fernandes were denied by the woodwork during the first half before Morgan Gibbs-White made it 2-1 to Forest just two minutes after the restart.
Wood then planted a looping header past Andre Onana to double Forest's lead before United captain Fernandes then pulled one back just past the hour mark.
Ruben Amorim's side pushed for an equaliser, but Forest kept them at bay to collect the full points.
Forest now have 25 points from 15 matches, while United are in 13th place with 19 points.
Data Debrief: Wood makes Forest history
Wood's winner was his 25th Premier League goal for Forest and helped him overtake Bryan Roy (24) to become their all-time leading scorer in the competition.
Since Nuno Espírito Santo's appointment in December 2023, only Erling Haaland (21) has scored more non-penalty goals in the competition than Wood (19 – level with Cole Palmer).
Nuno became just the second Forest manager to win both of his first two league games against United, after Fred Earp in the 1909-10 campaign.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Amorim suffered two straight defeats for only the second time, with the first coming during his stint with former club Sporting in August 2022.
Crystal Palace 2-2 Manchester City: Lewis equaliser rescues a point for Guardiola's side
Crystal Palace and Manchester City shared the points in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
It was a result that extended the reigning champions’ winless away run to four league matches, while they have now won just one of their last nine matches in all competitions.
Palace caused Pep Guardiola’s side plenty of problems and merited a point that continues their recent upturn in form.
Daniel Munoz gave the hosts the lead inside four minutes, slotting past City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega from a Will Hughes pass.
But Erling Haaland ended a three-game Premier League goal drought and equalised for the visitors with a header after 31 minutes.
The two sides also shared a goal apiece in the second half, with Maxence Lacroix and Rico Lewis both hitting the target.
Lewis, meanwhile, was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 84th minute, just when City had finally wrestled control of the game.
But neither side were able to find a winner and following the draw, City remain fourth in the Premier League and eight points behind leaders Liverpool. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, climbed a place to 16th and are four points above the bottom three.
Data Debrief: City's away jitters continue
City went into the game having lost their last five games on the road in all competitions, and their poor away form did not improve after dropping two more points at Selhurst Park.
Guardiola's side have also conceded twice in each of their last four away fixtures. The visitors generated an xG of 1.41 from 12 attempts, which is only slightly better than the xG of 1.3 that Palace had from the same number of attempts.
Though Guardiola's side had four shots on target, one more than the hosts, they failed to find a winner and settled for the point.
Palace, meanwhile, are undefeated in their last four games in the Premier League.
Aston Villa 1-0 Southampton: Duran seals back-to-back wins for Emery's side
Jhon Duran scored the only goal as Aston Villa edged out the Premier League's bottom side Southampton 1-0.
The Colombian's first-half strike was enough to seal a hard-fought win for Unai Emery's side, who climbed to fifth in the table after back-to-back victories at Villa Park.
Villa, who ended an eight-match winless streak across all competitions with victory over Brentford on Wednesday, broke through in the 24th minute.
Duran – making his first Premier League start of the season – stole possession from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and burst away from Nathan Wood, before bending the ball into the net.
Southampton could not respond, failing to register a single shot on target, as their winless streak on the road in the top flight stretched to 15 matches.
With Brighton and Fulham not playing until Sunday – and Nottingham Forest in action later on Saturday – Villa leapfrogged the trio to fifth place on 25 points – 20 more than their opponents, who remain seven adrift at the foot of the table.
Data Debrief: A rare clean sheet for Villa
Villa's first Premier League home win without conceding since a 2-0 victory over Wolves in March moves them to within two points of the top four.
It was only a second clean sheet in 20 league games for Emery's side, who are unbeaten in their 12 matches against promoted teams under the Spaniard.
Duran settled the contest with his sixth goal from outside the box since the start of last season, a tally only bettered in the Premier League by Manchester City's Phil Foden (eight).
Following their latest setback, Southampton are just the fourth side to have five or fewer points after 15 games in a Premier League season, after Sunderland (five in 2005-06), and Sheffield United twice (five in 2023-24 and two in 2020-21).
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