History suggests the early battle between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton could swing back the way of the Ferrari driver at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
Vettel and Hamilton have won one race apiece in the opening two rounds of the Formula One season, both men claiming second in their other outing.
That leaves them locked together on 43 points heading to the desert track and, although both have triumphed there before, it is Ferrari who have dominated previously – potentially handing Vettel advantage.
Here we examine the top Opta stats ahead of the third race of 2017.
4 - Ferrari has the most wins in Bahrain (4), but its last one was Fernando Alonso's in 2010.
106 - Lewis Hamilton has now equalled Alain Prost's record of 106 podium finishes, but he still trails Michael Schumacher (155) by some distance.
11 - Only Schumacher (15) has gone more seasons in a row winning at least one race in Formula One than Hamilton (11).
4 - The last four pole positions in Bahrain have been for Mercedes. No team has more than them there. However, only twice in the last eight races in Bahrain has the pole-sitter won (Hamilton in 2015 and Sebastian Vettel in 2012).
43 - Hamilton and Vettel lead the World Championship with the same points (43); the last time two drivers were tied at the top was after the Spanish GP in 2012 (Vettel and Alonso).
2004 - Vettel's start this season is the best by a Ferrari driver since Schumacher in 2004 – when he won the title by 34 points.
3 - Bahrain is the only grand prix in which Alonso has the most wins (3), one more than Vettel, Hamilton and Felipe Massa (2 each).
13 - Max Verstappen gained 13 positions from his starting position in China; the most he has managed in a single F1 race.
60 - Alonso abandoned the first two races of an F1 season for the first time in his 16-year career in China. Of the current active drivers only Kimi Raikkonen has abandoned more (60).
23 - This is Valtteri Bottas' best start in an F1 season (23 points, 15 in Australia and 8 in China).
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