OMNISPORT

Mercedes made a strong start to the 2019 Formula One season in Australia but there will be plenty of expectation surrounding Ferrari in Bahrain this weekend.

Valtteri Bottas delivered victory for Mercedes in a one-two with Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari, seen by many as the team to beat after preseason testing, saw both their drivers finish off the podium.

However, the Scuderia's track record at Sakhir is excellent, making it the ideal circuit at which to bounce back.

Here we look at some of the key Opta facts ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

27- History is firmly on Sebastian Vettel's side as he attempts to atone for his disappointing fourth-place finish in Melbourne. No F1 driver has won more races in Asia (27), the Arabian Peninsula (7) or Bahrain (4) than the German, whose three pole positions at Sakhir are also the most of any driver. However, Hamilton could draw level with him should he top the timesheets this weekend.

3 - Vettel has led Ferrari to victory in each of the last two years in Bahrain. Should the prancing horse prevail again at Sakhir, it will mark the first time they have claimed three consecutive wins at a single GP since doing so in Belgium from 2007 to 2009.

2010 - Should Vettel not claim a podium, the German will have finished fourth or lower in the opening two Grands Prix of a season for the first time since 2010 - before he had claimed his first World Championship title.

3 - Mercedes are looking to extend a streak of their own this weekend. They have set the fastest lap at each of the last three races in Bahrain (one for each of Nico Rosberg 2016, Lewis Hamilton 2017 and Valtteri Bottas 2018); the best run for a team at Sakhir.

1-2 - The Silver Arrows also have the opportunity to clinch a race one-two in each of the opening two Grand Prix races of the season for the first time in their history and for the first time for any team since 1998, when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard did so for McLaren. 

1 - Bottas has won more races in 2019 (1) than in the entirety of last season and has the opportunity to win back-to-back GPs for the first time in his F1 career.

1,000 - The former Williams driver can reach 1,000 career points in F1 should he finish fourth or higher in Bahrain, becoming just the second Finnish driver to reach this milestone after Kimi Raikkonen (currently 1,820). Daniel Ricciardo (986) is just 14 shy of 1,000 points in his F1 career, and can surpass the figure with a podium finish at the Bahrain GP; he would become just the second Australian to reach as many points in the sport (Mark Webber - 1,047.5).