2016 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix

[Bram Hengeveld]

Wasn't Button just running on low fuel? If that's his real pace McLaren have made a huge jump. Maybe Alonso took the GP2 engine with him?

 

[David O'Reilly]

Just been watching some FP2 onboard of Rosberg and because it's dark you can see the wheel easier, I never realised how important the brake balance must be on these cars. On a lap he goes from 53% to 61% and anywhere in between. Quite interesting to watch he could do with a button box!

Equally in RF2 this track requires big bias shifts.
And they all got a low fuel run done.
The lap delta from low to high fuel / primes etc was 6 or so sec.

 

[ionONE1]

Verstappen: "Off course you want to be 9th or 10th instead of 8th .. " Formula 1 2016

 

[paracletus]

qualifying was carp again, but those cars are damn quick on 1 lap now:
2014 bahrain 1:33.185 (NR)
2016 bahrain 1:29:493 (LH)
nearly 4 seconds quicker. how the hell did they do it.

Looks like LH will get a penalty for reversing now though ... :/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35952334

 

[Philip Heck]

Not only that. This is the fastest lap ever on this track.
Previous one was Mark Webber in FP in '05 with 1:29.5. And that was using a V10 engine.

 

[Tume]

Hats off to Stoffel for the excellent qualifying effort!

Still, race to come, but nevertheless.

 

[Blkout]

I know its only practice, but that Mclaren pace looks pretty promising

McLaren had great pace in Australia too before they got bit by the new qualifying format. I believe McLaren will place in the top 10 a lot this year but I think it may still be early to think they can challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. Although based on what we've seen this year so far, it's going to be very competitive for spots P5-P10.

 

[Omer Said]

What a nice race again. This new tyre regulations indeed made the races so much varied and exciting. The strategy battles were fantastic. Congrats to HAAS for yet another superb weekend.

By the way, there are rumours that say Sauber might quit after this race. Would be a great shame, but Kaltenborn's absence and pitcrew without chairs support these rumours.

 

[Alex McRacing]

Surprised by Haas again, the car looks really easy to drive just like the Lotus that Grosjean had in 2012-13, Vandoorne and Wehrlein were also pretty good. I think Rosberg had more up his sleeve again. I hope we get to see a battle between the two Ferraris and the two Mercedes for the first time this season in China.

 

[Alex McRacing]

What a nice race again. This new tyre regulations indeed made the races so much varied and exciting. The strategy battles were fantastic. Congrats to HAAS for yet another superb weekend.

By the way, there are rumours that say Sauber might quit after this race. Would be a great shame, but Kaltenborn's absence and pitcrew without chairs support these rumours.

They better not

 

[Tume]

Yep, amazing stuff by Haas (could go better for Gutierrez though, even if just top 10).

Also Vandoorne on points and Wehrlein putting up a fight in his Manor. Need to keep an eye on all these

Looks disastrous for Ferrari though in terms of reliability... would be nice to have both cars finish, not just one.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Not only that. This is the fastest lap ever on this track.
Previous one was Mark Webber in FP in '05 with 1:29.5. And that was using a V10 engine.

But V10 cars used to qualify on high fuel load, on low fuel they are probably a lot quicker, the only example i can give is the 2004 chinese GP, pole was like 1:34.xx and Schumi did 32.2 during the race.

 

[Philip Heck]

That's why the 05 quali lap was 1:32.xxx and Webber's time was set in Free Practice as I clearly stated...

 

[David O'Reilly]

Some great things happened in that race.
My highlights;
Great start and great drive from Rosberg under the new all manual system.
Kimi on the Podium, one for the fans.
Grosjean. I love this guy! where can I get a Haas sticker for my sim rig?
Wherlein and Manor beating other cars, nice one guys.
Van Doorne showing that sim racers are actually just as good as F1 drivers

My low-lights;
I frankly am tired of the one eyed british commentators and their Hamilton worship.
I mean what seems to be the standard narrative of "the workmanlike Rosberg vs the genius of Lewis". It continued even after Nico beat Hamilton in the qualifying battle for the 2014 season. I mean am I the only guy that saw that happen?
5 in a row! I mean how lucky is Nico going to get in 2016.
I actually think that if Nico wins the WDC there will still be guys like Ben Edwards (Race commentator) saying that Hamilton had such rotten luck and Rosberg was (in essence) gifted it.

After his bad start made him vulnerable to attack into T1 and his bad choices led to damage it becomes all about "his heroic fight with a mortally wounded car, if only it was undamaged, Nico handed the win yet again!"
It seems to have infected the FIA stewards now too.
Hamilton got a bad start (its all down to the driver now remember). It put him backwards into the melee with cars behind him that got good starts. He failed to cover the apex of T1 and left the door open for Bottas who had plenty of overlap. IMO Hamilton needed to either cover the apex with a defensive entry or alternatively leave space.
Bottas is then penalised.
It seems its illegal to overtake Hamilton.

Sorry but it's just how I feel.
The queue for Hamilton fans to attack me is now open and in fact I am looking forwards to it. Who will be first?

 

[Blkout]

@David O'Reilly

Disagree with most of your post but its obvious you strongly dislike Hamilton. I can live with that though, everyone has their disliked drivers. Hamilton is still a great driver but there's no shame in losing to Rosberg. Before you heap such great praise on Nico though, he managed to LOSE the championship to Hamilton all by himself twice. He may win it this year and if so, good for him, but lets not pretend that Hamilton isn't a great driver because he's come up short recently.

 

[Alx^]

@David O'Reilly whereas I agree in general. T1 was a racing incident if it'd be anyone else but Hamilton involved imo, and I'm also sick n tired of the fanbois doing the TV coverage, but I don't think it's any different to how it was in the Mansell days or Damon Hill. I suppose they're Brits and think Brits want Brits to do well.

 

[David O'Reilly]

but lets not pretend that Hamilton isn't a great driver

and who said otherwise?
I have a Lewis 2007 hat I purchased b4 he even turned a wheel in F1, I watched hin in GP2.
Nowhere I have said he is not a top driver.
My focus in this post is that Rosberg is also very very good and I get tired of the one eyed comparisons that would have you think its very one sided in that team.

For the comments of the experts of the press corps you would not think that he saw off Schumacher on his return, outqualified Hamiton, took it to the final race in 2014 and despite losing (due to severe engine issues BTW) he finished the race like a man.
He doesnt moan, whine and make excuses like Hamilton.
Yes I dislike Hamilton. For me he has become Formula Ones Mr T. The gold, the jets, the rockstar selfies.
But given yes he is a very good driver. Up there with Rosberg.

Also feel free to critique the other points since you disgaree with "Most" of the post. There must be heaps left you have let me get away with.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Lewis should have stayed behind Rosberg on T1, he keeps trying to fix his bad starts on the first corner and it just destroys his races.

 

[Blkout]

and who said otherwise?
I have a Lewis 2007 hat I purchased b4 he even turned a wheel in F1, I watched hin in GP2.
Nowhere I have said he is not a top driver.
My focus in this post is that Rosberg is also very very good and I get tired of the one eyed comparisons that would have you think its very one sided in that team.

For the comments of the experts of the press corps you would not think that he saw off Schumacher on his return, outqualified Hamiton, took it to the final race in 2014 and despite losing (due to severe engine issues BTW) he finished the race like a man.
He doesnt moan, whine and make excuses like Hamilton.
Yes I dislike Hamilton. For me he has become Formula Ones Mr T. The gold, the jets, the rockstar selfies.
But given yes he is a very good driver. Up there with Rosberg.

Also feel free to critique the other points since you disgaree with "Most" of the post. There must be heaps left you have let me get away with.

I disagreed with most of your post as it relates to Hamilton but I addressed most of it by summing up that its obvious you dislike him. I don't really see the media claiming that Nico got lucky the last 5 races but when Hamilton is the defending two time champion and beaten Nico twice now for the championship, I think its fair the media is going to be doing a lot of comparisons between the two. I don't know which broadcast you were watching but I watched the NBC broadcast in the US and David Hobbs even picked Nico to win in Bahrain even though he was mocked about picking Hamilton so much last year. Hamilton sure seems to catch a lot of flak from the media about his lifestyle, his focus on racing and his recent underperformance so its not like he's going unscathed in losing. I suppose the other part I disagree with is that it was somehow Hamilton's fault that Bottas ran into him. Bottas got a penalty because quite frankly, it was his fault. Hamilton's line was fine but Bottas tried a bit of an overly aggressive move that ended up hurting both of them. Those things happen in racing though so there's nothing more to say about that.

I'll address one more thing in your most recent post. Certainly you're not implying that Nico doesn't make excuses when he loses. Dare I remind you that he blamed a gust of wind for losing the lead in the USGP in 2015 in the final few laps giving Hamilton the championship. I was there at that race and there was no gust of wind, but the track was still damp and it looked like he hit a damp spot on the track and lost traction momentarily. But its not fair to say Nico doesn't make excuses because he does too. To be honest, I'm not driving those cars, the drivers are so who am I to say if any of those "excuses" are legit or not.

 

[David O'Reilly]

I suppose the other part I disagree with is that it was somehow Hamilton's fault that Bottas ran into him. Bottas got a penalty because quite frankly, it was his fault. Hamilton's line was fine but Bottas tried a bit of an overly aggressive move that ended up hurting both of them.

Indeed it is the British press that are annoying me. You might be getting a better fairer lens where you are.
I am Australian but live in the UK.

On the Lap 1 turn 1 contact I dont blame Hamilton entirely. I agree with the other 2 posters above in that it was a racing incident. (Alex Prescott) and that Hamilton should have just followed Rosberg (Qazdar Karim).
Instead Hamilton was going for the angle to get a better exit / drive / attack on Nico out of T2. This means a more acute exit angle from T1. It wasnt conservative or defensive considering 22 cars behind him and his poor start. He crossed over hard to the right and that exacerbated the proximity of Bottas IE left Bottas no room. Bottas in turn, had the right to attack. The apex was open and he had achieved overlap. Hamiltons early apex and acute exit angle left him nowhere to go.
Hamilton made a sweet attacking move when it was a very bad time to do it.
The fact that Bottas collected not Hamiltons rear diffuser or even rear wheel but in front of his side pod supports my view. Bottas was under control and would have made the corner if Hamilton was not there. It just would have been smarter to not "close the door".
If it was 2 lesser know drivers it would have been a racing incident.
So IMO its 50/50 blame = racing incident.

Oh and I dont think it was Nico who blamed a cross wind.