Car setup for Bahrain...

[Sodemo]

I think Bahrain will be interesting for the reason that car setup balance will have changed since the 2005 race.

I am curious to see how much rear wing these cars will be running now they have lost a lot of the V10 grunt, will Torro Rosso be able to run more rear downforce?

In an Autosport interview during winter testing, Ross Brawn said that in 2005, they ran some 14 out of 19 races with max downforce settings, he said that in 2006, this number is likely to be around 7 of 18.

Given that the Bahrain surface is notoriously dusty, this may throw a double six, will they have to run more downforce to counter the lack of grip due to the dust, however to make matters more complex the actual track surface is very abrasive... therefore if there were no dust (in theory) they would have a lot of mechanical grip, hmm so many variables...

[neilap]

That is very interesting. I think most teams will go for something similar to last season though, since they all have to go with the same v8s. Cornering speeds I have read are actually quicker in some instances with the V8s too. I think its on the slower corners that the v10 show their prowess.

[Nicholosophy]

That's the thing though. With the decrease in speeds around corners, more rear wing is going to be required to generate the same amount of downforce (theoretically of course). The fact that the engines are now a set weight, have set centres of gravity and the like (correct me if I'm wrong there) will also mean that downforce requirements will change from previous years.

It will be interesting to see what is used this weekend. I don't think there will be that much difference but it could play into the hands of some driving styles and maybe not so for others.