Official Round One :Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir - Page 4

tux1234 · 12 Mar 2010, 13:34 (Ref:2650297)

Is there a possibility that maybe HRT will look to skip the rest of these fly aways and seek permission to spend a few days testing?

diddy100 · 12 Mar 2010, 14:06 (Ref:2650320)

All this bad press by certain drivers etc about the new teams - we all knew it would take time and current pace is as per expected. If the the so called elite teams / drivers can't race and overtake the slower cars then there is a bigger problem. Remember Ken Tyrell giving his drivers a right roasting if they moved over and lost time to let cars past. The new teams need help and I feel the same they should have let HRT run a few installation laps before today.
We can't let F1 get like the Premier League with 4 top teams and the rest also rans - will we see Chelsea & Man Utd complaing about Hull etc saying they should not be in the same league as them !! Come on give the new boys a chance as F1 needs full grids

jab · 12 Mar 2010, 14:14 (Ref:2650323)

I've just been looking at the gaps between 1st and last in first quali sessions of the season since 1990 and it honestly doesn't look to bad. The track length is clearly distoring things

This is the pace in percentages from FP2 alone:

N Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:55.409
...
H Kovalainen (Lotus) - 104.73%
J Trulli (Lotus) - 104.84%
T Glock (Virgin) - 105.74%
L di Grassi (Virgin) - 105.87%
B Senna (HRT) - 110.02%

Now if this was equated to last year's Q1-topping time by Rubens at Albert Park

N Rosberg - 1:25.006
...
H Kovalainen - +4.025
J Trulli - +4.111
T Glock - +4.882
L di Grassi - +4.993
B Senna - +8.514

Essentially Lotus are only half a second off where Spyker were in 2007, which is a remarkable achievement considering they started from scratch and were only established in September whilst Spyker were using an updated old car having been racing for 16 years. And the Virgin has more speed to come when they stop having problems (Glock had another in FP2 and didn't run much but was faster than the Loti in FP1)

**chunterer** · 12 Mar 2010, 14:30 (Ref:2650341)

Considering this was their first actual running of the car HRT did a remarkable job. I was mightily impressed that Bruno got the car round on its first ever lap without it stopping.

There has been countless examples of more established or better funded teams not even managing that on a first run in the past!

That car looks damn good as well in that gunmetal greay and seeing that yellow and green striped helmet in F1 again, well......

As much as I would worry that one or two of these new cars could be mobile chicanes, I think the leading drivers should just belt up and get on with their jobs, they have such a speed advantage they shouldn't get held up in any case.

Rosberg was impressive in both sessions as was Button I thought, although JB's rear tryes looked to have quite nasty dark lines through them very early in his first session running? Didn't see much of the 2nd session so not sure if it was the same for him?

Not sure we've seen the best of the Red Bull's yet?

tux1234 · 12 Mar 2010, 15:11 (Ref:2650366)

Surely there is enough run off that if the lead battle was coming up to 1 of the newer cars they can just run off the circuit and let the leaders by?

fourWheelDrift · 12 Mar 2010, 15:16 (Ref:2650370)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tux1234

Surely there is enough run off that if the lead battle was coming up to 1 of the newer cars they can just run off the circuit and let the leaders by?

Or the leaders can just use the run off to drive round them!

Seriously though in other forms of motor sport there are multiple classes on track at once and much greater speed differences surely the 'best drivers in the world' can cope with the situation.

JamesH · 12 Mar 2010, 15:55 (Ref:2650390)

So, about 110% over a whole lap, lets say 10% down on top speed. That about 180 vs 200mph worst case. So a 20mph difference.

Just to put it in to perspective, Usain Bolt can run at over 25mph.....

jab · 12 Mar 2010, 16:02 (Ref:2650395)

It's more grip than top speed at this stage. From the onboard, the car was clearly a nightmare to drive into, through and out of the corners

Plus Bruno clearly wasn't pushing as hard as he could - obviously he doesn't want a prang and he's only ever driven an F1 car once before. So you have to take that into consideration - with a more experienced driver, you can take off another couple of seconds. A few races down the line and they'll be OK - it's just getting through this difficult first phase. Had they been running since January as planned, they would certainly be mixing it with the other new teams

tux1234 · 12 Mar 2010, 16:06 (Ref:2650400)

Nice to see the Lotus guys trim 3 seconds off their time from practice 1. I really hope both HRT cars make it to the grid on sunday, they deserve it for all the hard work over the past 2 weeks.

Last2LiftOff · 12 Mar 2010, 16:14 (Ref:2650409)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesH

Just to put it in to perspective, Usain Bolt can run at over 25mph.....

Yeah, but that's without the driver.

flor · 12 Mar 2010, 17:12 (Ref:2650453)

Quote:

Originally Posted by diddy100

The new teams need help and I feel the same they should have let HRT run a few installation laps before today.

the car wasn't even ready for a roll-out before today. apparently the car didnt even have any wiring before wednesday!

Last2LiftOff · 12 Mar 2010, 17:18 (Ref:2650456)

Quite right and IIRC HRT was the only car out there not plashing about all kinds of plank dust over that speed bump they call turn whatever-it-was, all sort of adjustments still to be had, seems to me.

kezza7 · 12 Mar 2010, 17:22 (Ref:2650459)

Quote:

Originally Posted by flor

the car wasn't even ready for a roll-out before today. apparently the car didnt even have any wiring before wednesday!

So HRT have worked that hard - they deserve a place on the grid.

Remember today was only a shakedown. I'd wipe 2 seconds off that by the end of tommorow (if both drivers can get some good running done), still a long way off, but nowhere near as bad. Remember, the race is purely a test session for HRT.

Purist · 12 Mar 2010, 17:34 (Ref:2650468)

I'm not sure why there's a great deal of surprise over Nico Hulkenberg putting in a good time; he was virtually unstoppable in his championship season in A1GP. Now Petrov, that is a pleasant surprise to see him get the Renault up there.

kezza7 · 12 Mar 2010, 17:50 (Ref:2650479)

Cant't wait for quali tomorrow.

We can finally see who's fastest!!

tblincoe · 12 Mar 2010, 18:37 (Ref:2650507)

Funny that all the focus is on the new teams when there's a pretty good storyline going on at one of the Big4. Red Bull's going through some pretty major difficulties with the RB6 at Bahrain. Listening to Vettel talk about the car's handling sounded like it was an absolute nightmare.

I would've thought that RBR was the last of the Big4 to suffer from major handling issues due to the amount of carryover from the RB5. Lack of testing mileage showing? Surely Valencia's layout lends itself to the first 2/3 of the lap at Bahrain...

strider · 12 Mar 2010, 18:52 (Ref:2650520)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jab

It's more grip than top speed at this stage. From the onboard, the car was clearly a nightmare to drive into, through and out of the corners

Plus Bruno clearly wasn't pushing as hard as he could - obviously he doesn't want a prang and he's only ever driven an F1 car once before. So you have to take that into consideration - with a more experienced driver, you can take off another couple of seconds. A few races down the line and they'll be OK - it's just getting through this difficult first phase. Had they been running since January as planned, they would certainly be mixing it with the other new teams

I can't give you a source, except that I found this very candid comment from Bruno on Facebook

Quote:

"i think it has been in a bad crash and not repaired properly"

Jean Todt also wants to go with the 107% rule, but not until next season.

**Adam43** · 12 Mar 2010, 19:08 (Ref:2650541)

Based on practice 107% is OK for Lotus and Virgin. The only car that set a time and failed was Senna.

Sodemo · 12 Mar 2010, 19:10 (Ref:2650545)

I thought Schumacher was going to change his hemlet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam43

Based on practice 107% is OK for Lotus and Virgin. The only car that set a time and failed was Senna.

Of the new teams, I think HRT are most likely to not last the season, so it might not be much of an issue.

Sodemo · 12 Mar 2010, 20:53 (Ref:2650607)

Also, having watched the FP1, the HRT car looked a right handful, oversteer and understeer in bucketloads, mainly oversteer.

mac · 12 Mar 2010, 20:56 (Ref:2650611)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tblincoe

Funny that all the focus is on the new teams when there's a pretty good storyline going on at one of the Big4. Red Bull's going through some pretty major difficulties with the RB6 at Bahrain. Listening to Vettel talk about the car's handling sounded like it was an absolute nightmare.

I would've thought that RBR was the last of the Big4 to suffer from major handling issues due to the amount of carryover from the RB5. Lack of testing mileage showing? Surely Valencia's layout lends itself to the first 2/3 of the lap at Bahrain...

I would have thought that reliability in general is the biggest concern for Red Bull at the moment. They have had various issues throughout winter... and now both cars have problems on the first day of official practice...

duke_toaster · 12 Mar 2010, 21:00 (Ref:2650614)

The fastest lap of a Hispania so far this weekend is actually only less than two tenths faster than the GP2 Asia pole time ...

tblincoe · 12 Mar 2010, 21:03 (Ref:2650615)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac

I would have thought that reliability in general is the biggest concern for Red Bull at the moment. They have had various issues throughout winter... and now both cars have problems on the first day of official practice...

Agreed - however, its the substantial handling imbalances, brake issues, etc. that have me puzzled.

Sodemo · 12 Mar 2010, 21:19 (Ref:2650628)

I see FOM have changed the on screen timing graphics and they look awful.

What was wrong with the old ones exactly?

jab · 12 Mar 2010, 21:25 (Ref:2650636)

Quote:

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

The fastest lap of a Hispania so far this weekend is actually only less than two tenths faster than the GP2 Asia pole time ...

That's an achievement in itself

Bruno reckons they can knock 5 seconds off pretty easily

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I see FOM have changed the on screen timing graphics and they look awful.

What was wrong with the old ones exactly?

I like 'em. I think they look a lot better than the old ones. What don't you like?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
[Race] Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, Round One, Sakhir	Jamesy-18	Formula One	15	9 Mar 2010 19:33
[Official] Formula 1 2009 Race 4 - Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix	Chatters	Formula One	175	7 May 2009 18:16
The Bahrain Grand Prix	Kicking-back	Formula One	40	4 Apr 2005 06:27
10Tenths F1 Results Prediction Competition. Round 3. Bahrain Grand Prix	Kicking-back	Predictions Contest & Fun	47	1 Apr 2005 08:24
Grand Prix in Bahrain	Cobra	Formula One	28	24 Mar 2003 22:01