[Race] 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix

[chillibowl]

another week another race and while many may not like the track it did offer up one of the best races of 2014 and one of the better battles of recent years.

given Nico's post China comments and considering what went down here last year i feel like we have the first 'must watch race' of the year.

also i am curious to see what magic the Ferrari's can manage given the heat of Bahrain and Ferrari's possible advantage in its tire usage relative to the Merc's.

here is a race preview from mikejohnno via the Formula 1 subreddit on Reddit (here). lots of good facts to be found here.

highlights from the above preview if you dont feel like reading it, the first lap battle between NR and LH and one summarizing the rest of their epic battle. again credit to the original posters (whose names can be found via the link).

http://gfycat.com/UnpleasantBiodegra...tchshepherddog

https://gfycat.com/GenuineRegalBurro

again here is a link to the BBC's preview (here). again its a collection of mostly pointless facts! im not sure why this bothers me but for whatever reason i feel insulted by it so naturally i thought i would share it.



enjoy the weekend!

[cos]

Button's FP2 time - 1m39.209s
Vandoorne's GP2 pole time - 1m39.237s

Ouch.

[fergus_r]

Originally Posted by cos

Button's FP2 time - 1m39.209s
Vandoorne's GP2 pole time - 1m39.237s

Ouch.

Not fair for comparison at all, Button sat out the entirety of FP1 with a problem on his first lap and then pulled over after just three laps in FP2.

They got the car out in the end and he did 12 more laps but I don't think times were really important to him or the team at that stage...

Better looking at Alonso, who had a relatively trouble-free day and completed 22 laps in FP2 with 1m36.191s, good enough for 12th.

Of course, the doom-mongers like to avoid that last bit and look at the worst in every situation.

[canamman]

I think Nico Ros. has to get poll to have a shot
at beating Hamilton. Then get a flawless start.
I know its stating the obvious but Mercedes has
him handcuffed otherwise. I am more curious to
see how Hamilton makes his moves while in 2nd
place. Its been that long and I have forgotten.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by canamman

I think Nico Ros. has to get poll to have a shot
at beating Hamilton. Then get a flawless start.
I know its stating the obvious but Mercedes has
him handcuffed otherwise. I am more curious to
see how Hamilton makes his moves while in 2nd
place. Its been that long and I have forgotten.

If Mercedes are 1-2, even if Mr Hamilton is second.. the two are likely to be running different strategies on tyres... so it should make for an interesting race...

If Mr Rosberg doesnt show some assertiveness soon, he will be too far behind to make any difference...

[Wardy.]

Place your bets now, will Jenson make it to the end of the race?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Apart from last year's GP, which produced an absolute corker of a race, Bahrain usually never fails to disappoint. One of my least favourite GPs.

I was hoping Vettel would get pole, just to liven things up and he nearly did but he's at least on the front row with Lulu and Kimi's in third spot, like at Malaysia.

[canamman]

And the fans went crazy for the same three in quali.
The ultimate in what could possibly happen next!

[MoMedic9019]

P1-Hamilton
P2-Vettel
P3-Bottas

There is your podium.

[Lancsbreaker]

Due to the Beeb chopping away from Bahrein immediately after qualy finished to go to some piddling footie match, I didn't see any post-race interviews, but I imagine poor little Nico wasn't too happy?

[canamman]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Due to the Beeb chopping away from Bahrein immediately after qualy finished to go to some piddling footie match, I didn't see any post-race interviews, but I imagine poor little Nico wasn't too happy?

Nico was not happy. Said he lost his rhythm during the 2nd session
due to tire strategy for the race yadyada. Lewis was confident as ever,
Vettle sat there with a wry smile happy he is making ground on
the Mercs.

For entertainment purposes only, I would like to see Hamilton get a rear
puncture , come in for a change, then battle his way back through the
pack.

Buttons trials should be interesting. What a mess.

[bella]

Originally Posted by canamman

For entertainment purposes only, I would like to see Hamilton get a rear
puncture , come in for a change, then battle his way back through the
pack.

this would be epic. he's so lit at the moment you know it'd be spectacular.

[S griffin]

Alonso, mega effort

[Razzzor]

I'm confused by Rosberg's excuses. Didn't he do the same strategy as everyone else.... one used set and one fresh set used in q3? What have the tyres he used in q2 got to do with it? He had a fresh set, he was 0.6s down. That's not strategy that's just a poor lap.

He was saying he didn't push the tyres from q2 hard enough or something because he'd be starting the race on them? Surely he'll be starting the race on the fresh set he did his quali lap on.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

I'm confused by Rosberg's excuses. Didn't he do the same strategy as everyone else.... one used set and one fresh set used in q3? What have the tyres he used in q2 got to do with it? He had a fresh set, he was 0.6s down. That's not strategy that's just a poor lap.

He was saying he didn't push the tyres from q2 hard enough or something because he'd be starting the race on them? Surely he'll be starting the race on the fresh set he did his quali lap on.

The way I understood it was that one of the Q2 sets are to be a race set (not starting set) so he drove much more conservative in Q2 and that caused him to loose his "groove" (my words) in final qualifying. The team did want both drivers to go easy on the tires in Q2.

I can't say if it is a good or valid excuse. I can say he didn't call anyone out other than himself with respect to his final position.

Richard

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

I'm confused by Rosberg's excuses. Didn't he do the same strategy as everyone else.... one used set and one fresh set used in q3? What have the tyres he used in q2 got to do with it? He had a fresh set, he was 0.6s down. That's not strategy that's just a poor lap.

He was saying he didn't push the tyres from q2 hard enough or something because he'd be starting the race on them? Surely he'll be starting the race on the fresh set he did his quali lap on.

I sometimes find it difficult to keep up with new rules that are introduced by the FIA because they get amended so often, or they get dropped because they are unpopular with one team or another, etc. But, didn't the FIA, in the last year or so, bring in the rule that the teams would be provided with an extra brand new set of tyres solely for the purpose of using them in Q3. This was to ensure that all ten cars should be able to participate in the final qualifying provided that there was not a mechanical/electrical problem. They then hand to hand back the extra set of tyres to Pirelli after the end of qualifying.

I am not one hundred percent on this, but I think the Q3 cars have to start the race on the tyres that they set their fastest lap on from Q2, whilst all the other cars can start on whatever tyre that they wish.

[mikuni]

I'm not sure about having a fresh set for Q3, but they do get a set of tyres they can only use in the first 30mins of P1 to encourage some early track time.

The use of the Q2 tyres for the race was the change they made to encourage the teams to run in Q3. What they had was teams making it through to Q3 (top 10) and then conserving tyres, however in Q2 the teams are still desperate to set a good time, so will always push the tyres. This does play into the fast teams hands though, as Merc can ease a quick lap out of the tyres and begin the race on better rubber than the other cars around them. In Nico's case he went so easy on the tyres (nearly a second behind Lewis) that he lost his rhythm and couldn't pull it together in Q3 to set a decent time. Hamilton knocked out a 1:32 in Q2, got his eye in an knocked out another in Q3. Sure his tyres aren't as good, but he's on the front row.

So, Nico has the best tyres. Will it count for anything?

[bjohnsonsmith]

That's bad luck for Massa.

Quite a frantic start. Kimi gets up to third, putting Rosberg into 4th.

[Iceman13]

Very aggressive driving by Rosberg when overtaking the Ferraris.

[bella]

i hate to pull this line but if that was hamilton ther'd have been outrage and if it was a gp2 race he'd have a penalty...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Massa and Maldonado, racing down the pit road two wide.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Vettel really messed that up.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rosberg makes a mistake under breaking and Kimi's up to second.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Lewis. Good to see Kimi finish second, capitalising on Rosberg's brake issue.

[Peter Mallett]

Um, where is everybody?