PWP: Make your calls and hear from ‘The Strategist’

Pit Wall Predictions is back for 2023 and this year it’s better than ever before!

Brought to you by our friends at Gulf, PWP is our free-to-play strategy game. Think you could call the shots? Prove it by making the correct decisions on eight scenarios ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

You’ll earn five points for every correct prediction you make and you can track where you rank against other Williams Racing fans in the leaderboard.

What’s more, you’ll even unlock a new badge for playing for the first time in 2023 and you’ll get another one if you achieve a perfect 8/8 round.

Get your first predictions of the season in by following the link below, or continue reading to hear from The Strategist.

“Who is The Strategist?” we hear you cry. Well, we can’t tell you. What we can say is that they are a top-secret individual, hidden inside our Grove headquarters with one mission: giving our PWP insights ahead of every round.

The Strategist will give you helpful pointers for each question, helping you make the best decision. Do you back their tips or will you make your own decision? That is up to you.

So, what does The Strategist have to say about the Bahrain Grand Prix? Let’s find out…

During the 2022 Bahrain GP, Alex made his first pit stop on lap 13, switching from soft to medium tyres. Last season, there were only two drivers who didn't start the race on the soft compound. If the grid follows the same pattern this year, I would back our No23 to box between laps 11-20 once again.

Ultimately it will depend on if the team chooses to split the strategy, but again, looking back at how many of the grid started on soft tyres last year, I would predict Logan to follow Alex into the pits around the 11-20 lap mark.

Alex pitted before Nicholas Latifi during the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, and I'm predicting Albono to do the same again. With his experience in managing the tyres, he will give the team a good understanding of how the compounds are working, allowing our pit wall a chance to assess the race and determine how they give Logan the smoothest experience on his F1 debut.

At this stage, we have very little idea how the FW45 compares to its competitors on the grid. This will become slightly easier to understand after qualifying on Saturday, but I’m going for P11-P15 when we make our first stop, battling in the midfield and trying to get ahead.

In 2022, our drivers made three pit stops each during the Bahrain Grand Prix. With the high track temperatures and tyre degradation, we could well see 5+ stops once again. Good job my friends in the pit crew have been getting lots of practice in during the winter months.

We saw one full Safety Car during last year's Bahrain GP and we have seen 13 Safety Car deployments in 19 races at the Bahrain International Circuit since its debut in 2004. With that in mind, I think it's safe to suggest there would be at least one Safety Car deployment this Sunday.

Every car on the grid, including Alex, ended on the soft tyre in 2022. With that in mind, I would suggest the soft compound might be seen again on the chequered flag.

It's hard to predict against Logan also ending the race on soft tyres. Who knows if the entire grid finishes on the exact same compound again? I’ll be picking soft tyres here, but will you follow my decision or go against me?