Is Piastri now favourite for drivers' title?

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Venue: Jeddah Dates: 18-20 April Race start: 18:00 BST connected Sunday

Coverage: Live power commentary of practice, qualifying and title online and BBC 5 Sports Extra; unrecorded matter updates connected nan BBC Sport website and app

McLaren's Oscar Piastri closed successful connected team-mate Lando Norris successful nan title standings by winning Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Formula 1 now heads to Saudi Arabia for nan past title of a triple-header, from 18-20 April.

Before that, BBC Sport F1 analogous Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.

After 2 calm, controlled victories compared to Lando Norris' inconsistencies, is Oscar Piastri favourite for nan drivers' championship? - Monty

It is, arsenic Piastri said himself aft winning successful Bahrain connected Sunday, measurement excessively early to make immoderate conclusions astir nan measurement nan title will go.

What tin beryllium said is that Piastri has had an assured commencement to nan season, and astatine nan infinitesimal appears nan stronger of nan 2 McLaren drivers.

Lando Norris won successful Australia, but Piastri was correct pinch him until his unfortunate infinitesimal connected nan writer successful nan precocious ablution of rain.

Piastri was past fantabulous successful China, astir apt quicker than Norris successful Japan but messed up his last qualifying lap, and was superb successful Bahrain.

Norris, meanwhile, admits to struggling pinch nan McLaren car astatine nan infinitesimal and had a scrappy play successful Bahrain.

We explored nan move betwixt nan McLaren drivers, successful nan discourse of Norris' existent struggles, successful our post-race study piece.

McLaren person successful nan pipeline a improvement that they dream will lick nan problem Norris is having pinch nan car's deficiency of beforehand grip successful mid-corner. If it works, it could beryllium him who moves into nan lead position successful McLaren, arsenic he was past season.

It surely seems arsenic things guidelines arsenic if nan title conflict is betwixt nan 2 of them. As Piastri said connected Sunday, a accordant challenger to McLaren has not emerged.

In Australia and Japan it was Max Verstappen. In China and Bahrain, George Russell's Mercedes was adjacent best, and of people Lewis Hamilton won nan Shanghai sprint successful nan Ferrari.

But it is early days. The first information of upgrades has not emerged yet and that could make a large quality - look astatine really McLaren's Miami upgrade transformed their play past year.

And dissimilar past year, 1 driver has not created a monolithic lead successful nan championship, truthful it does stay a batch much unfastened than successful 2024 astatine this shape of nan season.

Lando Norris moved up from sixth connected nan grid to 3rd connected nan first thigh successful Bahrain and was fixed a five-second punishment for a mendacious start. Given nan advantage he gained, is simply a five-second punishment capable of a deterrent? – John

It's existent that Lando Norris did not look to suffer retired excessively overmuch from his penalty.

He managed to clasp his de facto 3rd position astatine nan first information of pit stops and was not that overmuch further down George Russell's Mercedes erstwhile nan title had settled down again than he had been earlier nan punishment was served.

But that is conscionable a little snapshot that does not afloat bespeak nan effect of nan penalty.

You person to carnivore successful mind that strategy played a portion here, and truthful did nan comparative gait of nan cars.

Norris stopped 2 laps earlier Russell, and nan undercut is ever very powerful successful Bahrain because of nan track's utmost demands connected tyres. That successful itself would person gained Norris clip - he'd astir apt person emerged up of Russell aft nan pit stops without nan penalty.

And erstwhile Charles Leclerc had stopped 7 laps later successful nan Ferrari, he was successful a position pinch a tyre advantage to walk Norris and push him down to 4th place.

The title past unfolded arsenic it did pinch nan information car.

Bear successful mind, too, that nan McLaren is nan fastest car successful nan field, which will person helped Norris dress up immoderate mislaid ground.

It would beryllium incorrect to tailor penalties to nan velocity of someone's car aliases effort to second-guess title situations. The punishment should beryllium nan penalty, and immoderate happens afterwards happens.

Why do you deliberation Lewis Hamilton is struggling truthful overmuch pinch Ferrari? – Simon

Let's return a measurement backmost and springiness this immoderate perspective.

In qualifying, Hamilton is 3-2 down truthful acold to Charles Leclerc astatine an mean shortage of 0.166 seconds.

Given Leclerc is regarded arsenic possibly nan fastest driver complete 1 thigh successful nan full sport, that's not excessively shabby for personification who is uncovering his measurement pinch a caller team, moreover if it is Lewis Hamilton. Bear successful mind, too, that Hamilton struggled successful qualifying against George Russell astatine Mercedes past year.

In nan championship, Hamilton is 7 points down Leclerc aft 4 grands prix and a sprint.

Then location is nan truth that Ferrari themselves person not had nan commencement to nan play they wanted.

They expected to proceed wherever they near disconnected astatine nan extremity of 2024, but McLaren person made much advancement and person a important advantage. Ferrari are successful nan operation pinch Red Bull and Mercedes down them.

Of course, Hamilton has precocious standards and he expects to beryllium nan starring Ferrari driver. He whitethorn aliases whitethorn not ever execute that, but this is what he said aft nan title successful Bahrain astir this adjustment to nan car and team.

"A overmuch much affirmative day," Hamilton said. "The mediate stint, I felt really aligned pinch nan car. The equilibrium yet was successful a spot wherever my driving style seemed to beryllium moving successful that moment. We learned a batch this weekend, actually. More than nan different weekends.

"The cardinal is to effort to get backmost to it each weekend. The car really does require a different driving style and I americium slow adjusting to that. And besides set-up - I person been a spot each complete nan place, a agelong measurement from Charles nan past 2 weekends and slow migrating towards him.

"It conscionable feels truthful alien. We each get stuck successful our ways. (I thought) I needed to support driving nan measurement I was driving and make nan car travel to me, but it's not working.

"So I americium adjusting myself now to nan car. It drives truthful overmuch different pinch each nan controls we have. You person to usage them a batch different to what I had successful nan past.

"Just 1 illustration is I ne'er utilized motor braking before. Here you usage a batch of motor braking to move nan car. They are overmuch different brakes to what I had successful nan past. In nan past stint I had to usage nan rears to move nan car, and different times you person to put each nan weight connected nan front.

"Qualifying is not bully capable but if I get nan car wherever it was successful that mediate stint, and commencement delivering qualifying, hole that, I will person amended weekends.

"I will support trying. I will get location eventually."

What's nan fascination pinch sound and nan desire to return to thunderous sound volumes? I went to a GP successful nan 1990s and nan sound was unbearably loud. Why is it held successful specified precocious esteem? It's not for illustration nan coming engines are EV quiet. – Ash

This is simply a very pertinent and perceptive mobility successful nan discourse of the existent statement astir engines successful F1.

In a nutshell, what has happened is that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was pushing a return to V10 people aspirated engines earlier nan extremity of nan adjacent motor rhythm - possibly moreover arsenic early arsenic 2028.

That has now been kicked into nan agelong writer because a mostly of nan motor manufacturers were opposed, arsenic they were ever going to be.

The manufacturers, FIA and F1 will proceed to talk engines, while waiting to spot what nan caller rules look for illustration adjacent year. These proceed pinch 1.6-litre turbo hybrid engines, but pinch nan electrical constituent providing adjacent to 50% of nan full powerfulness output, arsenic opposed to astir 20% now.

There is nan anticipation of immoderate shape of simplified motor format being introduced, but apt not earlier 2029 astatine nan absolute earliest, and much apt 2030 aliases 2031, which is erstwhile F1 is owed for a caller motor look anyway.

This caller engine, it is now clear, will decidedly beryllium a hybrid. But it remains to beryllium seen what size it is, really galore cylinders it will have, whether it will beryllium turbocharged, and really large a proportionality hybrid will beryllium of nan full powerfulness output.

A V8, pinch aliases without a turbo, and hybrid successful nan region of 20-30% seems for illustration a reasonable-guess imaginable discuss arsenic things stand.

A turbo would make much consciousness successful position of efficiency, which is an important consideration, but it would person an effect connected nan engine's sound.

Noise is decidedly 1 of nan factors. A definite information of nan fanbase do romanticise nan ear-piercing sound of nan engines from nan 1990s and early 2000s.

But what is not clear is whether that is nan mostly aliases not, and really important a information it should be.

F1's fanbase has changed a batch successful caller years. There is simply a caller procreation of fans and nan number of females has importantly increased. On apical of that, much and much families are attending grands prix pinch comparatively young children.

Do this caller procreation of fans want a return to engines that are truthful large you request ear-defenders and cannot person a speech while nan title is going on? What astir nan firm guests supra nan pits?

It feels arsenic if definite group were making decisions based connected their ain prejudices from a clip that they happened to find appealing, without decently researching whether it was nan correct point to do.

It would possibly beryllium wise for F1 and nan FIA to investigation this efficaciously earlier forming immoderate patient conclusions, because it is clear it would beryllium incorrect to make assumptions.

For example, Fernando Alonso made immoderate absorbing comments successful this discourse astatine nan Japanese Grand Prix, which person fixed region for thought to nan powers that be. Or astatine slightest immoderate of them.

Alonso won 1 of his 2 titles driving a V10 and 1 driving a V8, and erstwhile he demonstrated his 2005 Renault astatine nan 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he intelligibly had a batch of nosy chucking nan car around. It was awesome to watch.

You mightiness expect Alonso, therefore, to beryllium successful favour of a return to those kinds of engines. But that's not what he said astatine all.

"I emotion nan the sound of nan V8, V10, and, you know, we each acquisition that, and it's astir apt 1 of nan champion memories I person from Formula 1 and 1 of nan champion cars that I drove," Alonso said.

"But nan world, successful a way, has evolved and changed, and location is simply a different exertion now.

"I will beryllium OK pinch immoderate nan athletics decides, but we request to beryllium observant not conscionable to return only nan romanticist broadside of it and conscionable be, you know, pragmatic, and understand that nan world is different now and nan early possibly is conscionable what we person now."

What are nan main differences betwixt qualifying set-up and title set-up and really do teams equilibrium nan two? – Glebe

Under F1's alleged parc ferme regulations, set-up changes aft nan commencement of qualifying are fundamentally banned, pinch very fewer exceptions.

If conditions stay nan same, teams tin set beforehand helping angles, and immoderate settings are connected nan steering instrumentality - specified arsenic differential and brake equilibrium - but thing else.

If nan upwind changes, that each goes retired of nan model and much changes are allowed.