2018 Bahrain F1 Grandprix

[Nitrodaze]

http://www.sportsbettingtips.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/bahrain-grand-prix-2017-betting-tips.jpg

The F1 roadshow heads to the floodlite desert track of Bahrain. The scene of the epic battle of will between Hamilton and Rosberg in 2014. Hamilton comes into this race bruised from a win that got away from him at Australia. The Mercedes team being reminded by Ferrari that they intend to spoil the party for the dominant Mercedes whenever the Petronas team is anything short of being perfect.

Although Vettel was third best all weekend at Melbourne, he lucked into a win due to the VSC and a software glitch on the bank of computers of the Mercedes pitwall. Vettel would take heart from this win and come into this weekend with the belief that Mercedes can be beaten. He certainly wiped the smile from Hamilton's face. But Hamilton shall be very determined to return the favour at this weekend at Bahrain.
The three long straight of Sekar would suggest that this is a track that would suit the Mercedes. But the overall lap suggest that Ferrari might have a toe in the fight for a win.

This is a race where a few teams are looking to better their performances at Australia. The Redbulls did not get a chance to show how competitive they are. Hence we should not rule out a surprise Redbull win this weekend. Especially if one of the Redbulls qualify in the first two rows of the grid.

Haas also have something to prove. They spectacularly dropped the ball in Australia. It is hard enough in the very tight midfield to be making that sort of costly mistake. So they would be very keen to finish the race without pitstop errors. Amid claims that the Hass is last year's Ferrari, which Stiener vehemently denies, l fully expect them to get in the hair of the Redbulls again. A situation that Ferrari no doubt are aware of, the utility of Haas harassing the Redbull gives Ferrari a free run at the Mercedes. If this situation continues till the end of the season, the title fight shall be a head to head between an unperturbed Ferrari and Mercedes.

That said who would you put your money on to win the race this weekend?

[N4D13]

I'm going to go with Seb to win this race after we've known that The Boss will be getting a 5-place grid drop.

[Duncan]

Yeah, the 5-place grid penalties are starting early.

Hopefully we'll see some more overtaking at Bahrain; I don't think we've really seen yet what the relative performance of the cars actually is. My sense is that Merc still has a meaningful edge, but I don't really know yet what the relative performance of RBR and Ferrari is, or whether McLaren actually has something this year.

Oh, and I'm hoping Haas has got their act together on pit stops. I must say this was a nice touch from Romain, though: https://twitter.com/F1/status/977928919134294017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fsport%2Fmot orsport%2Fformula-one%2Fromain-grosjean-captured-during-incredible-reaction-to-teammates-stuffup%2Fnews-story%2Ff7acfdada022586c6b6321074abb379c

[Tazio]

Oh, and I'm hoping Haas has got their act together on pit stops. I must say this was a nice touch from Romain, though: https://twitter.com/F1/status/977928919134294017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fsport%2Fmot orsport%2Fformula-one%2Fromain-grosjean-captured-during-incredible-reaction-to-teammates-stuffup%2Fnews-story%2Ff7acfdada022586c6b6321074abb379c
https://gfycat.com/NervousInfiniteArcticseal
:angel:

[A FONDO]

I'm going to go with Seb to win this race after we've known that The Boss will be getting a 5-place grid drop.

The reds looked strong yesterday but Bahrain has always been one of Vettel's poorest tracks.

All I hope for is a big amount of overtakes on this wonderful circuit.

[Mia 01]

And a win for Kimi if not he fave to let Seb by. We will see

[Tazio]

Kimi in the Ferrari is looking very good in Bahrain. Shame if he has to hand the win over to Seb for the second race in a row!

[N4D13]

With 4 minutes to the end of Q2, aside from Verstappen screwing up for the second race in a row, the most shocking thing is how McLaren seem to have dropped the ball. More than two seconds away from P1. And Gasly, with a Honda engine, is more than six tenths ahead of Alonso.

[Triumph]

Does anyone happen to know what causes the white light effect at the rears of the cars? They all seem to do it, but it's only apparent at racing speed.

It appears to come from under the rear light area - more of a light or flame in appearance, rather than dust or water vapour. I suppose it's possible that they do this all the time, but it's only visible in the night sessions. 15811582

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Starter]

Qualifying was interesting. Hamilton 4th before taking his penalty. He may be lucky to get any points in the race. Nice to see Haas do well again.

[journeyman racer]

Carrying on from my exchange between TBK and Nitrodaze in the Aus GP thread.

Firstly, TBK is obviously not going to acknowledge that Bottas outqualified Hamilton.

But more to the point, Ricciardo comfortably outqualified Verstappen.

The supposed talent Verstappen has is overblown. They guy is such a potato, he managed to do something that's almost impossible to do. That is, crashing on his own in Bahrain. I mean, count how often a single car crashes in Bahrain?

It's an antique piece. Not even Andrea de Cesaris would be able to crash on his own in Bahrain.

I acknowledge that Verstappen may have relative strengths to Ricciardo. But overall, Ricciardo≥Verstappen.

[N4D13]

journeyman racer, you usually are a very sensible poster, but I must say that lately you're looking a lot like an unreasonable fanboy. It's OK to appreciate Ricciardo, but you don't need to look down on other drivers to make him look better by comparison.

While I agree that Verstappen is a tad overrated, there's no denying that the guy has buckets of potential and that he could turn into a great if he manages to temper that hot head of his.

[Nitrodaze]

What a brilliant weekend for HONDA. Pierre Gasly is proving to be a real star. The next best new Redbull driver to hit F1 since Max Verstapenn. A Honda powered Torro Rosso qualifies fifth behind the senior team Redbull of Ricciado in fourth. This is simply sensational.

But what does this mean?

1. There is a new star on the grid
2. Ricciados shelf life at Redbull just got shorter
3. The Honda is better than most people think it is
4. Mclaren may have been too hasty on their decision on the Honda engine. Considering that both Mclaren powered by a Renault engine qualified outside the top ten and behind both Torro Rosso.
5. Gasly's Torro Rosso in front of the Haas, protects the Redbull from the Haas which gives Ricciado the chance to take the fight to Bottas and the two Ferraris.
6. The gap between the sharp end of the grid and the midfield is 1.1seconds which is big.
7. Mclaren is in a sticky situation in the midfield with Haas and Torro Rosso likely to regularly spoilt the party for them.
8. A new F1 star just sparkle through the grid brilliantly in the shape of Pierre Gasly

[Nitrodaze]

The really shocker is the Williams are at the rear of the grid with Sirotkin out qualifying Stroll. So much for the Paddy Lowe car which is looking like a fluke at the mo. The only way from this position is up, so l hope Williams would understand the problem with their new car and put in back where it belongs by the next few races.

[airshifter]

Does anyone happen to know what causes the white light effect at the rears of the cars? They all seem to do it, but it's only apparent at racing speed.

It appears to come from under the rear light area - more of a light or flame in appearance, rather than dust or water vapour. I suppose it's possible that they do this all the time, but it's only visible in the night sessions. 15811582

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

I haven't heard any real explanations about it, just theory tossed around. Looking at a couple freeze frame shots, I think it might be actual flame/glow exposed due to the darker track, and/or refraction of light off the exhaust gasses. There was one shot I looked at that had the "glow" farther back from the exhaust tip, as if it were just the light somehow being focused as it passed through the exhaust gas trail.

Now that I've added my theory maybe some technical type on one of the teams will tell me I'm wrong.




journeyman racer, you usually are a very sensible poster, but I must say that lately you're looking a lot like an unreasonable fanboy. It's OK to appreciate Ricciardo, but you don't need to look down on other drivers to make him look better by comparison.

While I agree that Verstappen is a tad overrated, there's no denying that the guy has buckets of potential and that he could turn into a great if he manages to temper that hot head of his.

Agreed. The fanboy fights should just go to private messages. It ends up with a bunch of back and forth that isn't subjective. While many of us like or dislike certain drivers when it degrades to kid stuff then it just spams up a thread for all of us.





Overall, some interesting stuff in qually. Honda power..... just wow. Unless it's a complete fluke McLaren might hate themselves as the season progresses. Mercs struggling with tire heat and lap times, Ferrari seem to have real pace, and it looks like Ricciardo might have a podium shot. Kimi seems to have real pace vs Seb, and qually might not be the saving grace. Great sessions for Gasly.

This might actually be an interesting race. I guess we will find out in a couple hours.

[Bagwan]

Firstly , I look forward to a good race , mainly because I don't know who will win .

Secondly , journeyman debates his opinion very well , so , rather than just calling him names , why not simply refute his points ?
This place is all about opinion and debate , so I find the idea of taking it to PM almost offensive in itself .

Respectful debate , ladies and gentlemen . We can do it .

Fair point to the idea that it can derail a thread , so perhaps a Ricciardo thread ?

[airshifter]

Firstly , I look forward to a good race , mainly because I don't know who will win .

Secondly , journeyman debates his opinion very well , so , rather than just calling him names , why not simply refute his points ?
This place is all about opinion and debate , so I find the idea of taking it to PM almost offensive in itself .

Respectful debate , ladies and gentlemen . We can do it .

Fair point to the idea that it can derail a thread , so perhaps a Ricciardo thread ?

Though I would usually agree and respect your opinion Bagwan, I see it more as trolling for an argument based on a thread that has already died. If anyone didn't wish to continue a debate there, why drag it into here?

And I actually quite like Ricciardo and Max both. If I were in a position to have one on a team, it would be a tough decision. One is more calculated, seasoned, and generally a bit more predictable on track. The other is younger, aggressive, a wet weather terror, and maturing with time.


But back to reasoned discussion at hand, would it be fair if I said Ricciardo was a complete potato for hitting the wall during qually in Baku and causing a red flag? I think it would just add flames to the fire, and would rather bring up that virtually EVERY driver at some point does something similar. I'm usually one to be all in for any [i][b]reasoned and sensible[\i][\b] debate, opinion and dialogue. But at times it seems that certain combinations lately are just getting away from any fact based debate and well into the grey area of opinions.

[Tazio]

Good morning all! I'm looking forward to a very interesting race. Beside the first twp rows we have very good potential for close racing throughout the field. Very interested to see how Gasly, and Magnussen go!

[longisland]

I’m flipping channels between f1 & motogp. It’s a wet race in Argentina & a race in a desert in Bahrain. I’ll be focusing on the midfield battle as usual for formula 1 while it’ll be a lottery in motogp. Enjoy the shows

[gm99]

The Haas award goes to RBR this time!

[Tazio]

What happened to Danny Boy?

[N4D13]

Hamilton is having a dismal first few laps today, isn't he?

Edit: he's making up the lost ground now. Anyway, it's relatively normal that he was doing poorly since he was starting on softs.

[longisland]

I’m pretty sure there’s a party mode in the Merc. Ham blasted passed 3 cars in the straight. Make no mistake, it’s a great pass but the performance disparity is just too big

[The Black Knight]

Lap 18 and the boys up front haven’t pitted yet which is very surprising. Fab overtake from Hamilton but I’d imagine party mode was on there. He might get Kimi in 3rd during the race but doubt it’ll go higher than that. Stroll last. Disastrous weekend again for them.

[Tazio]

Kimi man!

[longisland]

We just have the donkey candidates. Ferrari Pit Crew mishaps, Redbull car reliability issues & Williams painfully slow pace on track

[gm99]

Williams painfully slow pace on track

You could add Force India to that list, with them being the second slowest today...

[longisland]

You could add Force India to that list, with them being the second slowest today...
Not too shabby for a year old car with no Development

[The Black Knight]

Drivers of the day must be Gasly and then Vettel.

Gasly - what a performance from him. Amazing really. Very impressive. I don’t know if Gasly was really good or Hartley really bad.

Bottas should have won that and slammed the car down the inside of Vettel in turn one on the last lap. He just tip toed instead. I wouldn’t be happy if I were the Mercedes team bosses.

Not a bad race for Bahrain.

[longisland]

Great race. 8.5/10. Great midfield battle, good last few laps battle in the front & awesome drive from Gasly. My vote for drive of the race. Great drive from Ericsson. First points in 5 years.

[truefan72]

...and this is why bottas is a #2 driver.
Just not quick enough nor does he have the guile craftsmanship or instinct to pass a very beatable vettel.
Its rather pathetic imo.
Alonso in the mclaren in the exact same position would have overtaken him.

[Tazio]

I thought Vettel had a pretty gritty performance. But yeah, Fred would have passed him, as would the Boss!

[gm99]

Great race. 8.5/10. Great midfield battle, good last few laps battle in the front & awesome drive from Gasly. My vote for drive of the race. Great drive from Ericsson. First points in 5 years.
In fifty races - five years ago, Ericsson wasn't even in F1. But I agree, great drive from him.
Williams & Force India the only two teams without points so far.

[longisland]

In fifty races - five years ago, Ericsson wasn't even in F1. But I agree, great drive from him.
Williams & Force India the only two teams without points so far.
Ocon is in 10th so 1 point perhaps. Donkeys
Williams, Ferrari Pit Crew, Redbull.

[A FONDO]

Pretty decent race actually, hope China won't be boring either in a few days.

[N4D13]

Bunch of thoughts here.

First, my driver of the race is Vettel for pulling a ridiculous number of laps from a set that Pirelli said would last only 30 laps. Gasly drove a fine race, but he was mostly unchallenged from the start and seemed to have a faster car than his pursuers, so it's difficult for me to rate him. It doesn't take anything away from the fact that he drove very well, but I believe it's too early to know whether this is a champion in the making. (On top of that, no one would be making a fuss about Gasly if the Bulls and Räikkönen wouldn't have scored DNFs, which would have left him in seventh place)

Second, overtaking looked really difficult here today as well. Either you had a significant laptime advantage or overtaking was essentially impossible. This helped create very large gaps between teammates who shouldn't be that far off in pace (e.g., Hülkenberg vs Sainz or Gasly vs Hartley). I'm particularly gutted that Sainz finished off the points while the Hulk was sixth - he's been beaten by his teammate twice so far, even though he doesn't seem to be very far off the pace.

Third, the midfield seems to be extremely close, which combined with the previous point means that qualifying and the start of the race are going to be even more critical this year. Whatever progress you can't make in the first two laps of the race, you won't be able to make at all barring pitstops, retirements or clever pit strategies. It also means that we might see a few more one-stoppers this year trying to rock the boat.

Fourth, Honda seem to have got a decent engine this time around, even if it's still looking rather unreliable judging by Gasly's retirement in Oz. Still, you need to ask how much of the performance comes from the chassis and how much from the engine itself - Toro Rosso were a full second behind Red Bull with a Renault engine. It could be all chassis, which means that the Honda engine is on par with Renault, but that would be rather surprising given their history.

Fifth, Red Bull are my donkeys of the race, for terribly obvious reasons. Alonso was spot on with his predictions hoping that McLaren might be able to take the fight up to them. Well, turns out even Williams did.

Sixth, as I've mentioned several times already in this forum, I would imagine that Merc must be ruing the decision to keep Bottas on for another year. Good thing they've got Ricciardo waiting on the wings (I'm not so convinced about Ocon, though).

[gm99]

Ocon is in 10th so 1 point perhaps. Donkeys
Williams, Ferrari Pit Crew, Redbull.

Yes, you're right of course. So only Williams without points so far this season.

[Nitrodaze]

...and this is why bottas is a #2 driver.
Just not quick enough nor does he have the guile craftsmanship or instinct to pass a very beatable vettel.
Its rather pathetic imo.
Alonso in the mclaren in the exact same position would have overtaken him.

Totally agree. He is clearly out at the end of the season. They missed Rosberg on this occasion. I think they would be looking for a replacement like Ricciado or even Ocon. I think either of these guys would have put the pressure enough to make the pass happen.

Good recovery by Hamilton but Vettel has extented his lead. It was not one of his good weekends you might say. But l think we should start to ask the question; Is Ferrari actually the team to beat this season. That said, it would be crazy to start writing off the silver arrow.

WHAT ABOUT PIERRE GASLY? Torro Rosso with a Honda powered engine in the hands of Pierre Gasly finishes fourth. Bettering the best Alonso in a Honda powered Mclaren could manage.

[The Black Knight]

Totally agree. He is clearly out at the end of the season. They missed Rosberg on this occasion. I think they would be looking for a replacement like Ricciado or even Ocon. I think either of these guys would have put the pressure enough to make the pass happen.

Good recovery by Hamilton but Vettel has extented his lead. It was not one his good weekends you might say. But l think we should start to ask the question; Is Ferrari actually the team to beat this season. That said, it would be crazy to start writing off the silver arrow.

WHAT ABOUT PIERRE GASLY? Torro Rosso with a Honda powered engine in the hands of Pierre Gasly finishes fourth. Bettering the best Alonso in a Honda powered Mclaren could manage.

Bottas hasn’t covered himself in glory the last two races. Hamilton has had horrid luck. Bottas luck has been fine and not managed to win a race. He really should have won today. How Ocon does this year against Perez will determine if Mercedes move for him. He needs to beat Perez. How convincingly he does this will determine Mercedes interest. Unless Bottas improves drastically, I’d put Ricciardo in the driving seat.

[Nitrodaze]

Great race. 8.5/10. Great midfield battle, good last few laps battle in the front & awesome drive from Gasly. My vote for drive of the race. Great drive from Ericsson. First points in 5 years.

Yea Ericsson would be over the moon. It was brilliant to see the Sauber fighting in the points. He has really carried the touch of the lead driver for the team.

[Triumph]

Further to my previous post about the mystery white glow at the backs of the cars, I think David Coulthard referred to it when he described the Ferrari as "breathing heavily", so perhaps it it oil vapour or faint smoke.

When I looked for the other cars doing it, I could only see it from the Ferraris, Haas and Saubers, so it's presumably a Ferrari characteristic.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Mia 01]

Congrats Seb, what a brilliant endurance race, not a fot wrong. Gasly, Toro rosso and HONDA, what a show!!!

[journeyman racer]

Well. I suppose if you can't criticise him for outqualifying Hamilton, then it's lucky for such critics are able to diminish Bottas because he didn't win the race.


journeyman racer, you usually are a very sensible poster, but I must say that lately you're looking a lot like an unreasonable fanboy. It's OK to appreciate Ricciardo, but you don't need to look down on other drivers to make him look better by comparison.

While I agree that Verstappen is a tad overrated, there's no denying that the guy has buckets of potential and that he could turn into a great if he manages to temper that hot head of his.

Feel free to quote specific lines from mine that particularly annoy. As a general opinion doesn't give me any insight as to what bothers you.

Regarding Verstappen. He's already consigned as an all time great, even though he's win just as many races as Thierry Boutsen. I'd rather applaud someone after the fact.

Consider the anticipation of Hamilton's career? Atfer Brazil 08, his fans and British media assumed without hesitation that he'd achieve the results he's achieved now. It's just they thought he'd achieve this results by the end of 13, not since 13!

That's six years of overwhelming Hamilton gushing, while Vettel blew away his stats, and Alonso banged in a series of seasons and performances that increase his reputation beyond even winning two titles did, and elevated him above Hamilton and Vettel, despite having never won a title with either of them there, despite whatever Hamilton's unexpected performances in 07 did to diminish his reputation.


Though I would usually agree and respect your opinion Bagwan, I see it more as trolling for an argument based on a thread that has already died. If anyone didn't wish to continue a debate there, why drag it into here?

And I actually quite like Ricciardo and Max both. If I were in a position to have one on a team, it would be a tough decision. One is more calculated, seasoned, and generally a bit more predictable on track. The other is younger, aggressive, a wet weather terror, and maturing with time.


But back to reasoned discussion at hand, would it be fair if I said Ricciardo was a complete potato for hitting the wall during qually in Baku and causing a red flag? I think it would just add flames to the fire, and would rather bring up that virtually EVERY driver at some point does something similar. I'm usually one to be all in for any [i][b]reasoned and sensible[\i][\b] debate, opinion and dialogue. But at times it seems that certain combinations lately are just getting away from any fact based debate and well into the grey area of opinions.

TBK and Nitrodaze made sweeping generalisations in the Aus GP that had to be called out. It had to be carried into here to highlight how insignificant pointless it was making such generalisations two weeks ago was.

To clarify my point. truefan was quick to diminish Bottas itt. I think you'll that truefan made similar criticisms of Bottas in last year's Bahrain GP thread. Something like that he's not up to it? Well, what happened in the following race?

[zako85]

I slightly cringed and shivered when I saw the accident during Raikkonen's pit stop. I rewound the "tape" to make sure I saw it right. It was clear that the Ferrari mechanic's leg, the one who was holding the rear left replacement tire, was broken (as in fractured) in one or two places because it certainly twisted in ways the legs of healthy humans don't when he was being run over by Raikkonen's car. I wish him to get well soon, and I am kind of pondering whether there is a need for more severe penalties for these types of incidents.

[N4D13]

I slightly cringed and shivered when I saw the accident during Raikkonen's pit stop. I rewound the "tape" to make sure I saw it right. It was clear that the Ferrari mechanic's leg, the one who was holding the rear left replacement tire, was broken (as in fractured) in one or two places because it certainly twisted in ways the legs of healthy humans don't when he was being run over by Raikkonen's car. I wish him to get well soon, and I am kind of pondering whether there is a need for more severe penalties for these types of incidents.
Mind you, there are already penalties in place to avoid this kind of thing, not that losing a car and potentially throwing away a double podium finish isn't enough of a penalty on its own. I don't think lack of penalties is the case. Instead, something should be done to reduce the risk of accidents happening. For instance, do we think that stuff such as Räikkönen's accident or the Haas' double DNF in Oz would have happened if there was a, let's say, 5 or 6 second minimum pitstop time? Of course this would take away the "fun" of people overtaking each other during pitstops, although truth be told, we hardly see any of these nowadays.


Feel free to quote specific lines from mine that particularly annoy. As a general opinion doesn't give me any insight as to what bothers you.
All right, here's one such line:


The supposed talent Verstappen has is overblown. They guy is such a potato, he managed to do something that's almost impossible to do. That is, crashing on his own in Bahrain. I mean, count how often a single car crashes in Bahrain?
Calling such an obviously talented driver a "potato" is beneath you. On top of that, it's not that hard to crash in Bahrain; you just need to pick the right corner, one with a wall next to it, and spin there. If I'm not very much mistaken, I recall a certain Lewis Hamilton doing just that several years ago as well.

[Rollo]

2. Ricciados shelf life at Redbull just got shorter

I reckon that number 3 will be on a red car next year; in place of a 7.



4. Mclaren may have been too hasty on their decision on the Honda engine. Considering that both Mclaren powered by a Renault engine qualified outside the top ten and behind both Torro Rosso.

Nah.

Honda would have been happy to play the bumbling game forever. It's in their DNA and proven in bikes.

[Nitrodaze]

I reckon that number 3 will be on a red car next year; in place of a 7.




Nah.

Honda would have been happy to play the bumbling game forever. It's in their DNA and proven in bikes.

Or in place of a number 77 :-)

Mclaren's Eric's face told a different story after the race. That said, l would love to know what Mclaren's pac e problem was.

[Starter]

Mind you, there are already penalties in place to avoid this kind of thing, not that losing a car and potentially throwing away a double podium finish isn't enough of a penalty on its own. I don't think lack of penalties is the case. Instead, something should be done to reduce the risk of accidents happening. For instance, do we think that stuff such as Räikkönen's accident or the Haas' double DNF in Oz would have happened if there was a, let's say, 5 or 6 second minimum pitstop time? Of course this would take away the "fun" of people overtaking each other during pitstops, although truth be told, we hardly see any of these nowadays.
That's one possible solution. Make it maybe 5 seconds. That's double what some teams do now, but still enough to have a better chance of not having more of Sunday's error. And 5 sec is still short enough to not affect the out comes and positions too much.

[Bagwan]

Damn , you guys !
This doesn't happen often enough to change anything .

It's not that I don't feel for the poor cat with the broken leg , but let's not react in a "knee jerk"(notice , don't pardon the pun) way .

I'd bet that he tried very hard to attain that position and takes huge pride in the speed of his team .
And , I'd bet he would be horrified to think he had any part in taking away that pride for his crew .

They should ask him .

[Tazio]

I think Fred deserves a shout out. Not likely to last but he occupy s 4th place in the drivers championship,and very quietly moved from 13th to 7th in Bahrain!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgh2wcECJng

[Nitrodaze]

I think Fred deserves a shout out. Not likely to last but he occupy s 4th place in the drivers championship,and very quietly moved from 13th to 7th in Bahrain!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgh2wcECJng

I just cringed when l tried to commend that performance. It was such a waste of a pure talent. He should he hassling the back-end of the sharp end of the grid and threatening to get on the podium at the slightest opportunity. 7th was not anywhere near his best position last year. It was a frustrating weekend at Mclaren.

[Tazio]

. 7th was not anywhere near his best position last year. 7th is close to 6th no? :confused:
This season Fred has 16 points after 2 races. He totaled 17 in the entirety of the 2017 campaign! :stareup:

[Big Ben]

It was a rather entertaining race even though the end result was disappointing. Bravo ragazzi, grazie mille, mama mia, pizza carbonara, Toto Cutugno, coco di mama. What an annoying creature :rolleyes:

[Nitrodaze]

7th is close to 6th no? :confused:
This season Fred has 16 points after 2 races. He totaled 17 in the entirety of the 2017 campaign! :stareup:

I suppose there is always a silver lining. But we sort expected a Mclaren onslaught on Redbull and occasionally getting in the hair of Ferrari or Mercedes. What we have so far is a damp squid. Even Fred says Mclaren have to raise their game.

[Tazio]

I suppose there is always a silver lining. But we sort expected a Mclaren onslaught on Redbull and occasionally getting in the hair of Ferrari or Mercedes. What we have so far is a damp squid. Even Fred says Mclaren have to raise their game.
I was not commending McLaren. The fact that the car is buried in the midfield makes Fred's racing look that much better, and reason to give him credit ! :bulb::bulb:

[Bagwan]

Why not commend McLaren , anyway ?
They are light years away from where they were with Honda , and using a whole new engine they just got .

They'll get it sorted as they get to know it better .

I wasn't really expecting them to be dicing right at the front right away , so I think the term "damp squib"(that's the term , by the way . It's the Williams that's the "squid") is a little harsh .

[Nitrodaze]

Why not commend McLaren , anyway ?
They are light years away from where they were with Honda , and using a whole new engine they just got .

But are they? The so called Honda Engine just put Gasly's Torro Rosso into 4th in Bahrain with Alonso just managing 7th after what was a very tough race for Mclaren. Their testing was poor with tons of reliability issues and their actual pace is well short of the benchmark set by Redbull. Pacewise they clearly behind Haas and Torro Rosso is threatening to spoil their party as well.

We can try to put a brave face on it, but on the facts, they are not looking good.

[N4D13]

So much for all the Toro Rosso-Honda hype from Bahrain. They're 15th and 17th in Q1, the latter being Bahrain star Gasly.

[Nitrodaze]

So much for all the Toro Rosso-Honda hype from Bahrain. They're 15th and 17th in Q1, the latter being Bahrain star Gasly.

I would not vread too much into that. The rain through the nigh and the low temperatures gave must teams a hrad time with setup. Torro Rosso like Mercedes could not find the sweet spot for Qualifying. Their race pace would reveal a difference story on race day. And feel the Honda engine had nothing to do with Torro Rosso's bad form. It was simply out of window tyres issues and chassis configuration short fall.

[N4D13]

I would not vread too much into that. The rain through the nigh and the low temperatures gave must teams a hrad time with setup. Torro Rosso like Mercedes could not find the sweet spot for Qualifying. Their race pace would reveal a difference story on race day. And feel the Honda engine had nothing to do with Torro Rosso's bad form. It was simply out of window tyres issues and chassis configuration short fall.
Yeah, but why are we assuming that the Toro Rosso-Honda combination is a cracker when they were worthless in Oz and also China qualifying? The car can't be a dog if they got a 4th place in Bahrain (helped by the Bull's and Räikkönen issues, of course), but surely the other teams dropped the ball quite a bit as well?

[Nitrodaze]

Yeah, but why are we assuming that the Toro Rosso-Honda combination is a cracker when they were worthless in Oz and also China qualifying? The car can't be a dog if they got a 4th place in Bahrain (helped by the Bull's and Räikkönen issues, of course), but surely the other teams dropped the ball quite a bit as well?

Quite true, but that car in its sweet spot seem quite good. It has to be, to best of the rest in the presence of Renault, Mclaren and Haas in Bahrain. It is not in its sweet spot in China and Gasly said so.

[Nitrodaze]

What do everyone think of the Verstapenn's failed overtake that resulted in his tyre puncture? It seemed quite reckless and wasteful to the team to me.

[N4D13]

To continue the previous discussion, as a seasoned armchair engineer, I would point out the tyres as a possible reason for the wild performance variations we're seeing for some teams. There are new tyres for this year and the teams are much closer, so an issue with the tyres can easily turn the best of the rest into the bottom-feeder.


What do everyone think of the Verstapenn's failed overtake that resulted in his tyre puncture? It seemed quite reckless and wasteful to the team to me.
Well, I think that's just Verstappen at his reckless best/worst. The latter word we only choose depending on whether the pass sticks or not. He's a driver who always puts in high-risk moves and he's cherished for it, but it doesn't quite work all of the time.

I also believe that Hamilton had a significant part in the accident. He's someone who isn't intimidated by the chance of having an accident during an overtake, as we saw with Rosberg in Belgium a couple of years ago and Barcelona in 2016. As with Verstappen, sometimes it makes him hold a position, while others it earns him a crash or makes him limp back to the pits.

[Nitrodaze]

To continue the previous discussion, as a seasoned armchair engineer, I would point out the tyres as a possible reason for the wild performance variations we're seeing for some teams. There are new tyres for this year and the teams are much closer, so an issue with the tyres can easily turn the best of the rest into the bottom-feeder.


Well, I think that's just Verstappen at his reckless best/worst. The latter word we only choose depending on whether the pass sticks or not. He's a driver who always puts in high-risk moves and he's cherished for it, but it doesn't quite work all of the time.

I also believe that Hamilton had a significant part in the accident. He's someone who isn't intimidated by the chance of having an accident during an overtake, as we saw with Rosberg in Belgium a couple of years ago and Barcelona in 2016. As with Verstappen, sometimes it makes him hold a position, while others it earns him a crash or makes him limp back to the pits.
I think Hamilton and Vettel have got fedup with Verstapenn's antics and are putting him in his place. Hamilton in Bahrain and Vettel in China. The whipper snapper would think twice when attempting an overtake of the big boys next time l think.