F1 drivers were all ‘complaining’ about the same issue in unheard radio messages at the Bahrain Grand Prix

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The Bahrain Grand Prix presents a whole new challenge for the F1 drivers from the last race at Suzuka..

Max Verstappen claimed his first win of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix as he fended off pressure from the McLarens. After a sensational qualifying lap to take pole position, the Dutchman benefitted from having clean air in front to beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for victory.

F1 fans were furious with the dirty air issue as there was only one overtake in the top 10 all race. The Bahrain Grand Prix will present totally different track conditions and characteristics – which are music to the ears of McLaren.

Many ‘experts’ think McLaren will be quicker in hot temperatures – the next two races at Sakhir and Jeddah give the Woking-based outfit a great opportunity to command the field.

McLaren’s rivals will want to find a way to close the gap, with Ferrari bringing ‘serious’ upgrades to Sakhir to change their fortunes around. However, it appears all the drivers were struggling in Saturday’s practice.

Naomi Schiff says all the F1 drivers were complaining about a lack of rear grip during FP3 in Bahrain

Lap times during FP1 and FP3 are not very representative as the sessions were held during the day, when the track temperatures are hotter than what they will be in the evening. Tyre wear and grip were a huge issue in the earlier session on Friday.

To mitigate the problem, the FIA brought down the PSI levels on the tyres from 21 to 20. However, this did not stop drivers from making several mistakes during FP3, running wide and overcorrecting numerous times.

George Russell had an ‘uncharacteristic’ spin at turn 10 as he complained over his radio that he had the least amount of grip he had ever had in an F1 car. Speaking after the session on Sky Sports F1, Naomi Schiff revealed that the rest of the grid were having the same issue.

“We have a really nice little function of a WhatsApp group where we get all the radio messages from the drivers and to be honest, you couldn’t decipher one from the other,” said Schiff.

“They all were complaining about the same thing, grip issues, rear grip issues, overheating the tyres. There was a really uncharacteristic moment from George, it felt like he lost the rear a little bit in the beginning, tried to overcorrect and went around.

“The drivers don’t seem to have having any fun out there. The good thing is temperatures have dropped massively even right now from the beginning of the session.”

McLaren have a terrifying advantage over their rivals at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Despite the field noticeably struggling with grip, FP3 painted the same picture: McLaren have a devastating advantage over their rivals.

Piastri topped the times by over six tenths of a second to his teammate Norris. Charles Leclerc was the only driver inside a second of the Aussie’s time come the end of the session.

McLaren have been demonstrating their pace all weekend and it looks like no one has an answer to the MCL39 ahead of qualifying.

Damon Hill predicts a McLaren 1-2 as he snubs Verstappen from finishing on the podium. The Dutchman has looked off the pace to the Woking squad thus far in Bahrain, which could be bad news for his title defence.