2016 Bahrain GP thread

[AndyL]

A McLaren third in practice 2? What's going on here? OK, I know free practice doesn't mean anything, but still. Crazy town.

[AndyL]

Vettel's wheel problem in P2 was a strange one. He'd been out of the pits for at least 3 laps before the wheel nut came loose.

[AndyL]

KMag will start from the pit lane after missing a red light in the pit lane. Should have stopped for the weigh bridge but instead returned to the pit where the team worked on the car. Bad news for him, but Renault have not looked very competitive so far in practice so perhaps this mistake hasn't cost him too much.

[Tazio]

Quali is upon us dawgz, I'm going to give this session an honest chance to entertain me, but my expectations aren't that high!

I am interested to see if Mercedes was sandbagging in P3 :dork:

[Tazio]

Dang Renault bro sucks!
Haas is looking good in the early going! :eek:

[Koz]

Anyone got a link to live timings with sector times?

[Tazio]

Wow what's up with Perez eliminated in Q1

[Tazio]

Anyone got a link to live timings with sector times? Sorry I'm flying blind bro!

[Tazio]

Good job by Vandoorne, McLaren looking good!

[Tazio]

Q2, Go Rogro baby, Go Jense! :dork: ;)

[Koz]

Button out qualified by the noob.

[Tazio]

Wow this "Q" format has got to go! So sucks!

[Tazio]

Button out qualified by the noob.
Fred's been supporting him in a very unselfish way!

[Tazio]

This quali format totally sucks (more to come)!

[AndyL]

Any bets on how many minutes of empty track we'll watch at the end of Q3?

[Tazio]

Boss screwed up needs to get in a popper lap!

[Tazio]

Any bets on how many minutes of empty track we'll watch at the end of Q3?3 minutes!

[Tazio]

Oh yeah Boss baby!!

[Tazio]

3 minutes!
Nailed it!

[AndyL]

Nailed it!

No there was only 1 minute of completely empty track after everyone had returned to the pits :) Last time they had all been weighed and left the back of the garages before the chequered flag. This time there was still a driver in parc ferme when the clock hit zero. On that basis I think the FIA can now declare this new qualifying format to be an unmitigated success.

[The Black Knight]

What a lap from Hamilton. That was truly an amazing lap! Perfect at every apex and just knocked it out the park.

[Tazio]

No there was only 1 minute of completely empty track after everyone had returned to the pits :) Last time they had all been weighed and left the back of the garages before the chequered flag. This time there was still a driver in parc ferme when the clock hit zero. On that basis I think the FIA can now declare this new qualifying format to be a complete success.
I stand corrected. :)

[AndyL]

What a lap from Hamilton. That was truly an amazing lap! Perfect at every apex and just knocked it out the park.

Especially with the pressure of having made that mistake in the first attempt. He nailed it.

[Tazio]

Oh yeah Boss baby!!
Boss totally nailed the pole lap. Well played by LW.

[The Black Knight]

Exactly! That is what made it so good. Those are the things that separate the greats from the rest! Really what an awesome lap that was - unreal!

[AndyL]

I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. Could be a good one. There's very little between the two Mercedes and the Ferraris will surely be closer to them on race pace. If the red cars launch like they did in Australia it could be a real fight.

[Duncan]

Did anybody else notice the spectator walking out on track in FP2? Some guy with a backpack walking along the edge of the runoff area on the track side of the barriers as cars were going by. I thought it was really odd that nobody seemed to comment on it.

[The Black Knight]

Did anybody else notice the spectator walking out on track in FP2? Some guy with a backpack walking along the edge of the runoff area on the track side of the barriers as cars were going by. I thought it was really odd that nobody seemed to comment on it.

Yeah I did notice that alright. I found it a bit strange as well.

[Stan Reid]

Two surprises-Haas looks like they might be the real deal and Manor out qualified Sauber!

[Tazio]

Two surprises-Haas looks like they might be the real deal and Manor out qualified Sauber! Is it possible that they are a solid mid-fielder? :eek:
It is still way to early to tell. Getting Rogro was a brilliant move IMO!

[driveace]

Hope LW gets it off the mark tomorrow quickly .
And Vettel can finish 2nd too ,but brilliant lap at the end from Hammy,and Rosbergs face told it all .Dont cry Nico,and no dirty tricks tomorrow
Could Wheilin replace Rosberg next year if he is 2nd in championship again ?

[steveaki13]

Race start approaching. Hi guys:)

[Tazio]

'sup Steve?

[steveaki13]

Hi Taz.

Who is going to win? I am going for Lewis.

[andyone]

Hi Taz.

Who is going to win? I am going for Lewis.

same here. but im soo worried with the take off speed of the Ferraris

[Tazio]

Yes I'll go with Lewis

[steveaki13]

Seb out with a blown engine on warm up lap:(

[Tazio]

wow seb out :eek:

[Koz]

What happened to Lewis?

[The Black Knight]

What happened to Lewis?

I have to see the restart again but looked like a clumsy Bottas collected him into turn one

[gm99]

Hamilton will need to work on his starts...

[steveaki13]

Chaos....

Hamilton hit by a Williams, Palmer & Vettel out.

Chaos in the midfield

[AndyL]

Aaargh, my fantasy F1 team is cursed. The 2 drivers I added for this race have both retired before it even started, and one of the others got smashed at the first corner. My only hope now is for Wehrlein to win the race :(

[N4D13]

wow seb out :eek:
Ferrari broke the wrong car this time. I think they've forgotten how all reliability issues must affect Kimi and Kimi alone. :p

[Tazio]

NR running away with his thing!

[AndyL]

Grosjean's going to be on the podium soon.

[Koz]

Haas retired???

What a shame.

[N4D13]

I'm not so convinced that the move by Bottas deserved a drive-through penalty. Yes, it was clumsy but in all fairness, Lewis had left the door open and it's not unreasonable that Valtteri went for it.

[gm99]

Wehrlein in P6? That guy is truly impressive!

[dj_bytedisaster]

So basically you can punt off a Merc into the first corner and it will still finish second. Why are we even bothering to watch this? This is 2000-2004 all over again, although Fezza did meet resistance once in a while back in the day...

[steveaki13]

No way Bottas deserved a Pen. Both at a bit of fault and it was lap 1. You cannot apply normal rules to lap 1.

Anyway still chaos going on.

[Koz]

So basically you can punt off a Merc into the first corner and it will still finish second. Why are we even bothering to watch this? This is 2000-2004 all over again, although Fezza did meet resistance once in a while back in the day...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[dj_bytedisaster]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

That's a sound you emitted quite often between 2010 and 2013 ;)

[Koz]

Grosjean fighting Williams!! :D

[longisland]

OMG! HAAS passed Williams!!

[Koz]

That's a sound you emitted quite often between 2010 and 2013 ;)

Probably, but I am enjoying this race. You should too.

[Koz]

Grosjean cooked his tyres? Seems to be losing 0.4 per lap.

[N4D13]

Grosjean cooked his tyres? Seems to be losing 0.4 per lap.
He's on his second set of supersofts. It doesn't take a lot to cook them up.

[steveaki13]

Whatever tyres. That Haas is fast. 5th and catching Ricciardo.

Also we should all praise Manor. They have been at the back for years and many saying they were pointless. Now they are racing hard. Great stuff

[longisland]

OMG! HAAS passed a Redbull!!

[steveaki13]

Of course pre season I predicted a Haas racing for 4th place :D

[Tazio]

OMG! HAAS passed Williams!!
So far so good, Rogro is on for points!:)

[AndyL]

Also we should all praise Manor. They have been at the back for years and many saying they were pointless. Now they are racing hard. Great stuff

It's like a rocket on the straight, according to KMag! :)

[dj_bytedisaster]

Probably, but I am enjoying this race. You should too.

How can one enjoy this. The only one able to challenge the mercs is gone. In the Vettel days there were at least some opponents, Alonso mainly, especially in 2010 and 2012, as well as Button and Lewis in 2012.. Since 2014 it needs major disasters for Merc not to double-win. Where is the sense of achievement in that? It's completely pointless...

[steveaki13]

How can one enjoy this. The only one able to challenge the mercs is gone. In the Vettel days there were at least some opponents, Alonso mainly, especially in 2010 and 2012, as well as Button and Lewis in 2012.. Since 2014 it needs major disasters for Merc not to double-win. Where is the sense of achievement in that? It's completely pointless...

Someone needs to do a better job. Or the rules will change to stop them as always seems to happen :)

[AndyL]

Has anyone found any live timing that actually works? The official one has lap times but no gaps, and I've found a couple of others with gaps but, but slow updates and no lap times.

[Koz]

Very slow stop for grosjean.

[steveaki13]

That said I do find the front of F1 boring at the moment. I mean not even half way and Rosberg has it won and Kimi & Lewis are likely to finish where they are.

Fun behind though.

[steveaki13]

Hammy has pitted for super softs.

[longisland]

HAAS passed Williams again!! Third time's a charm?

[steveaki13]

Now Kimi too.

[steveaki13]

Sauber on the verge of folding according commentators. :( I hope thats not true

[Nitrodaze]

What a Haas?
Incredible this team

[Nitrodaze]

The Williams are just so disappointing. Clearly not the 3rd best team by the last two races. Redbull has been a real surprise. The engine they spent the last year denigrating is paying dividends at the mo, wouldn't you say.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Vandoorne and RoGro are putting in epic drives. The two of them are really the saving grace of this race

[steveaki13]

Force India look poor here. Sauber going past them.

[longisland]

Nice team work from Williams. They neutralized Vandorn effectively.

[Nitrodaze]

What a great run for the Mclaren. It is great to Stoffel in action. What a great drive by the rookie. In the top ten at the mo.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Sauber on the verge of folding according commentators. :( I hope thats not true

Good riddance. After the shit that Kaltenborn pulled at Melbourne last year, I have no sympathy left for them.

[steveaki13]

I would say Wehrlein is doing a great job too

[Nitrodaze]

With 2 race win in the cards for Rosberg, can we begin to say that 2016 might be a Rosberg year?

[steveaki13]

and Kimi actually. Closing on Rosberg and pulling away from Hamilton.

[steveaki13]

With 2 race win in the cards for Rosberg, can we begin to say that 2016 might be a Rosberg year?

I think he has a great chance now. Having won the first two races

[Nitrodaze]

Great to see the Manor going so well. Wehrlein is clearly a talent and really makes the Manor shine

[steveaki13]

Kimi bit by bit hunting down Rosberg.

Hamilton well and truely nailed to 3rd today.

[Nitrodaze]

I think he has a great chance now. Having won the first two races
This season is different from 2014 where Hamilton was behind due to DNFs. This time, Rosberg just aced the starts better and Hamilton drifts to 7th due to bad starts. The advantage is clearly with Rosberg. Not due to raw pace but better race day performance.

[steveaki13]

Cant quite see what Mercedes or Lewis have done to challenge Kimi.

Hamilton now closer to the Red Bulls than Raikkonen. Strange strategy

[Nitrodaze]

Kimi bit by bit hunting down Rosberg.

Hamilton well and truely nailed to 3rd today.

That was a weird strategy for Hammy. It cost him time and chance for 2nd.

[longisland]

Oh Lord! HAAS pass the Williams on the outside!!

[steveaki13]

RoGro and Haas in 5th.... :eek:

Awesome :p

[Nitrodaze]

Hamilton one sec slower than Kimi due to body work damage

[Nitrodaze]

Vandoone with a chance of one point.

[steveaki13]

Wehrlein coming to pass some people late on. Good stuff from Manor. Haryanto not quite on the same level.

[N4D13]

Let's just not overblow Rosberg's WDC chances, shall we? This is only two races out of twenty and he's only 17 points in front of Lewis. One engine failure or an accident and he'll be 8 points behind him instead. Besides, in both races Lewis has been slightly faster in qualifying and has just been hampered by poor starts, which he will solve sooner rather than later.

[Nitrodaze]

Wow, A mclaren in the top ten. Vandoone is looking like a great hope for Mclaren in the near future. What a racer!

[AndyL]

Wow, A mclaren in the top ten. Vandoone is looking like a great hope for Mclaren in the near future. What a racer!

He did well, but how well is hard to determine with no team-mate to compare against for most of the race. He was lapping slower than Button before Button's retirement.

[Nitrodaze]

Let's just not overblow Rosberg's WDC chances, shall we? This is only two races out of twenty and he's only 17 points in front of Lewis. One engine failure or an accident and he'll be 8 points behind him instead. Besides, in both races Lewis has been slightly faster in qualifying and has just been hampered by poor starts, which he will solve sooner rather than later.

That said, it is results that counts. Hamilton has been having troubles with the car since Mexico 2015. Whatever the reason for his problems, Rosberg is making the most of it. But you have to ask why Hamilton is having start problems. He did look good in his practise starts.

[Nitrodaze]

He did well, but how well is hard to determine with no team-mate to compare against for most of the race. He was lapping slower than Button before Button's retirement.

Considering he had to fly in from Japan at short notice, out qualified Button and carried the sole Mclaren hope for points to 10th position. This is definitely a great showing.

[steveaki13]

Give Nico credit. He has been faultless really so far. 2 wins and his best chance yet.

Nico Rosberg done well. Composed and just done what he needed too.
Kimi Raikkonen was terrific. Passed people early and was fast enough to keep the Mercedes in sight.
Lewis Hamilton was OK after a collision. He passed people in a damaged car but felt like he was not able to push enough.
Daniel Ricciardo was good to secure 4th
Romain Grosjean was sensational. What a tremendous start to Haas season
Max Verstappen did a good job too, he always seems to be towards the front.
Felipe Massa was solid, but sadly the Williams is getting slower and slower.
Dani Kyvat done OK nothing more.
Valtteri Bottas was a bit messy today. Incident and then not fast.
Stoffel Vandoorne drove a great first race to score a point on his debut
Kevin Magnussen done a good job from the pit lane to pass people and work up to 11th.
Marcus Ericcson was solid in an average Sauber. Showed some real fight out there.
Marcus Wehrlein was brilliant. A cut above his team mate and can actually get the improved Manor amongst the other cars. 13th place a great effort.
Felipe Nasr started 21st and so done OK to overtake some cars.
Nico Hulkenberg was poor. Even if most of it was how slow the Force India was.
Sergio Perez was poor too. Force India in real problems
Rio Haryanto done a good job to be amongst the racing early on. Just not quite good enough to stay with the field.
Carlos Sainz had terrible luck all day.
Esteban Gutierrez was good while running but was very unfortunate to retire.
Jenson Button had no real chance to show anything. Another terrible race for him.
Jolyon Palmer. So unlucky to have a problem. I think he may have raced K Mag & Stoffel for 10th.
Sebastian Vettel. Such a shame. A DNS and robbed us of a better race. Ferrari seem to have some issues.

[The Black Knight]

So basically you can punt off a Merc into the first corner and it will still finish second. Why are we even bothering to watch this? This is 2000-2004 all over again, although Fezza did meet resistance once in a while back in the day...

Lewis finished 3rd

[zako85]

Give Nico credit. He has been faultless really so far. 2 wins and his best chance yet.

Indeed. Some people assume that Nico won "by default". But in reality both times he run a very good flawless race. Yesterday, he had a fantastic start, while Hamilton had a mediocre start. (Don't they get to practice this part a lot?) Anyway, Rosberg deserves big credit here.

[zako85]

Wow, A mclaren in the top ten. Vandoone is looking like a great hope for Mclaren in the near future. What a racer!



Wow.10, 20, or 30 years ago Ron Dennis probably wouldn't have believed that every top 10 finish is actually great. My view of McLaren-Honda these days is .. mediocre. Praying to win a point? Is this what McLaren was about?

[Nitrodaze]

Wow.10, 20, or 30 years ago Ron Dennis probably wouldn't have believed that every top 10 finish is actually great. My view of McLaren-Honda these days is .. mediocre. Praying to win a point? Is this what McLaren was about?

A marathon win starts with a first step. Mclaren will rise again and fly their flags high. Just imagine where Jenson would have ended up if he didn't have his DNF. Possibly 6th or even 5th. It is looking good, something is beginning to work. Reliability is still an issue, but that Honda engine is showing some hairy chest now. The next evolution of this engine would certainly be there or there about the Ferrari.

[Koz]

Reliability is still an issue, but that Honda engine is showing some hairy chest now. The next evolution of this engine would certainly be there or there about the Ferrari.

Is it though?