2015 Bahrain Grand Prix thread

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:06

Looks like the two Manors are having a nice ding-dong at the back there!

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:18

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:27

Button is commentating on his Twitter feed, which is quite fun. Tipping Raikkonen as the one to watch.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:33

Interesting that Mercedes managed to undercut themselves. I think Hamilton looks as if he's going to pull away again though.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:35

Gotta say Rosberg has looked good in to turn one, been nice and aggressive

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:46

Nasr does Massa!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:04

Vettel seems a bit out of sorts in this race.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:06

Vettel pits for a new wing.

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:06

Toro Rosso on their usual form again.

Massa is also not very good today.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:06

Vettel has gone messed it up!!

Alonso passes Raikonnen

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:10

Looks like that depressing podium-lock-out streak record won't be broken after all! Finally Raikkonen gets the upper hand and some of the better luck.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:15

Bad night for the Reverend.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:21

Sadly, I think there's a lot of false drama being talked-up on the commentary - Raikkonen has no chance of catching the Mercedes, alas.

I'd love to be proved wrong, of course!

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:30

The commentators are trying to keep a rather dull race interesting to be fair!

Fail from Rosberg!

tanel · Post by **tanel** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:37

And Kimi is at P2!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:39

If only that problem had occurred for Hamilton one lap earlier!

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:40

I woke up at 06:00 for this?

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:41

Ricciardo's engine blowing up just far enough for him to roll to the line

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:41

Dear oh dear Ricciardo engine blow out!!!

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:42

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Ricciardo's engine blowing up just far enough for him to roll to the line

His Renault did a Button.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:53

sswishbone wrote:The commentators are trying to keep a rather dull race interesting to be fair!

Fail from Rosberg!

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:I woke up at 06:00 for this?

Well, I enjoyed the race.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 19 Apr 2015, 16:54

Hamilton - brake by wire snag on the last lap and weaving - nothing like a teeny drama to big up an easy win.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:04

Gangsta Hamilton to Sir Jackie Stewart 'how ya doin' man?' So eloquent.

Post by **Ataxia** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:07

Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

Post by **mario** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:09

Spectoremg wrote:Hamilton - brake by wire snag on the last lap and weaving - nothing like a teeny drama to big up an easy win.

It could be that Hamilton was doing that to try and improve the airflow through the brakes by weaving about - he said that the brake by wire system had overheated whilst running behind the backmarkers. It looks like Rosberg might have also had the same issue with his car too, which seems to explain why he overshot the first corner and lost the place to Kimi.

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Ricciardo's engine blowing up just far enough for him to roll to the line

Well, whilst he did at least manage to make it over the line and secure 6th place, that was a pretty spectacular failure. Renault were worried about the possibilities of more engine failures, and it looks like a repeat of that piston problem they had in China that blew Verstappen's engine apart.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:17

Poor Kimi.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:18

Feel sorry for Rosberg not really getting any reward for the decent race he put in today. Then again it's 3rd at the end of the day.

Raikkonen deadpan on the podium saying "well obviously you're never happy when you finish 2nd". Oh dear Kimi, you make me chuckle sometimes.

I wonder how many engines people like Ricciardo even have for the rest of the year? Red Bull's weekend had a pretty OK result by this year's standard, but all through the weekend they've had problems with their drivers and car parts generally. They've only just taken 4th in the constructors, and now that Lotus is getting their act together, Red Bull may not even be safe in that position for long!

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:25

Rosberg has finished every single race of the season in the position he qualified.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:28

First race I've seen this year and I must say that I enjoyed it. It was a pretty good race. My only grudge comes from the sparks. They seem to have been made on purpose. Maybe that is because I know they are.

Finally, even in second, Rosberg looks completely broken. He is not even as close to Hamilton as he was last year ...

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:32

Ataxia wrote:Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

Thank you, Ataxia

Post by **mario** » 19 Apr 2015, 17:38

Rob Dylan wrote:Feel sorry for Rosberg not really getting any reward for the decent race he put in today. Then again it's 3rd at the end of the day.

Raikkonen deadpan on the podium saying "well obviously you're never happy when you finish 2nd". Oh dear Kimi, you make me chuckle sometimes.

I wonder how many engines people like Ricciardo even have for the rest of the year? Red Bull's weekend had a pretty OK result by this year's standard, but all through the weekend they've had problems with their drivers and car parts generally. They've only just taken 4th in the constructors, and now that Lotus is getting their act together, Red Bull may not even be safe in that position for long!

I think that Ricciardo will be onto his fourth engine in Barcelona - I believe that he had to change one engine in Melbourne after encountering issues during the practise sessions, had to use another engine in Malaysia and, as Renault had feared, he's had another terminal engine failure here. They might be able to salvage the electrical systems, but those won't be much good if the pistons are disintegrating first...

Post by **tommykl** » 19 Apr 2015, 19:07

Ataxia wrote:Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

To be fair, even Monaco '82 would be improved by all these things.

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 19 Apr 2015, 19:09

RIcciardo is on his 4th (i.e. last) engine of the season when he goes out for Practice 1 in Barcelona. Which is the 5th race of the season. They're going to have to invent negative season points for Renault engine cars or paint in extra rows for the starting grid that go back to 50th place by the time Abu Dhabi comes around if the penalties for engine changes escalate (which I believe they do).

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 19 Apr 2015, 19:27

Ataxia wrote:Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

I don't need an overtake-a-lap overtakingfest, and I did like the strategy, but... strategy battles inherently leave most of the race with nothing, and if it becomes obvious who's going to win too soon, then you've ended up with a race where nothing happened.

Post by **Miguel98** » 19 Apr 2015, 19:30

The race was a good race. It was so much better after the snooze-fest it was Shaghai last time. Much better.

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 19 Apr 2015, 19:36

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:
Ataxia wrote:Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

I don't need an overtake-a-lap overtakingfest, and I did like the strategy, but... strategy battles inherently leave most of the race with nothing, and if it becomes obvious who's going to win too soon, then you've ended up with a race where nothing happened.

There were a couple of good fights for position down the field (6-13), but other than Rosberg passing Raikönnen and Vettel early on, Raikönnen exploiting Rosberg's almost-brake failure and Hamilton's pass on Raikönnen pretty much all of the passing in the top 5 was done via the pit-lane speed limit. One of the BBC commentators summed it up rather well: the most important parts of an event where you have to drive really fast are when the cars are completely stationary. That rankles a bit.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 19 Apr 2015, 20:24

Fetzie wrote:
UgncreativeUsergname wrote:
Ataxia wrote:Don't care what anyone says; race was great. Awesome backdrop, great racing, interesting strategies and tactics...what more could you possibly want? A huge inflatable elephant to fly over the stands? Toto Wolff to paint himself in tuna paste and run down the pitlane in a jockstrap? Bernie Ecclestone to ask the FIA to splice in a graphic of his daughters wearing bacon dresses on the start-finish line?

...okay, that last one works, but come on now. Some people moan about F1 so much, it's like they don't even really like the sport that much.

I don't need an overtake-a-lap overtakingfest, and I did like the strategy, but... strategy battles inherently leave most of the race with nothing, and if it becomes obvious who's going to win too soon, then you've ended up with a race where nothing happened.

There were a couple of good fights for position down the field (6-13), but other than Rosberg passing Raikönnen and Vettel early on, Raikönnen exploiting Rosberg's almost-brake failure and Hamilton's pass on Raikönnen pretty much all of the passing in the top 5 was done via the pit-lane speed limit. One of the BBC commentators summed it up rather well: the most important parts of an event where you have to drive really fast are when the cars are completely stationary. That rankles a bit.

I agree... I think

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 20 Apr 2015, 01:47

Does anyone else think Mercedes 'sacrificed' Rosberg in the last round of pitstops when they allowed Hamilton to pit first and get the undercut? Obviously they were so worried about losing the victory to Ferrari that they were willing to risk losing 2nd place, which is what ultimately happened.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Apr 2015, 06:06

Yup, another good race. Personally, Im finding the races this season reminiscent of some races in the 90s. Only a couple of guys in with a chance of actually winning but plenty going on elsewhere. Oh, and lots of whingeing and hand-wringing from elsewhere about "the state of the sport".

girry · Post by **girry** » 20 Apr 2015, 08:07

The silver car is the one with bad team spirit and Lewis involved, the red car is the one with good team spirit and Kimi involved (but perhaps playing the Massa role this time by), and the white cars are some way behind those two but ahead of the rest. Red Bull and Toro Rosso are easy to confuse because their on track pace is more or less equal.

...it more reminds me of the 2007 season, to be honest. Just that this year's Super Aguris are black/silver.