The Official Bahrain Grand Prix 2009 Thread (*spoilers*)

Even Ferrari seem to have improved somewhat. If they don't shoot themselves in the foot here they could well land their first points, the car is far more competitive with KERS than without. The major thing to watch though will be reliability.

From what I hear there doesn't seem to be too many problems with tyres in Bahrain...The softer compound seems to last a bit, despite the high temperatures.

car weights : [fia.com]

eek for Brawn!!

What a lap from Lewis though!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

thanks, i was just looking for that!

excellent lap by Trulli to beat Glock by 0.3 with extra fuel on board! looking very good for Vettel as well


also, Sutil penalised: [www.formula1.com]

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X (@ed24f1)

Good God, those Toyotas are on fumes...:O Perhaps the Toyota 1st victory isn't as assured as we had thought...

Only declared weight, but once again the Beamers are by far and away the heaviest.

I would say Vettel and Button still strongest for win but then again I am not discounting Lewis for getting infront of both at first corner, and Alonso in front of Jense.

If Jense ever did need a good start tomorrow is the one! If he loses a posistion to well anyone his race is over!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

yes, i wouldn't be surprised if Lewis or the Ferraris jump up a few positions with KERS


btw, i've said this before, but we haven't had a big 1st corner pile-up at the front of the field for a long time. it has to happen sooner or later

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X (@ed24f1)

Well he'll have trouble keeping Hamilton behind with KERS, although Lewis is heavy, but thankfully for him Alonso isn't running it so the nearest KERS runner behind that is Massa. I'd say Button will get a good start tomorrow, reckon he'll be 3rd coming out of Turn 1, but nobody's going to outpace those Toyotas unless they make a mistake; there's pretty much two J-Cloths sitting on the front row.

Having said that, Trulli's worried about his brakes. Watch that one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2009 05:50PM by The Lopper.

Hamilton did a good job and has put himself in a good place to take advantage of KERS. Toyota's turn to use fumes and prayer to get the car around the circuit!

Based up on fuel loads, Vettel looks to have the strongest pace for the win tomorrow. Impressive stuff

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The Lopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well he'll have trouble keeping Hamilton behind
> with KERS, although Lewis is heavy, but thankfully
> for him Alonso isn't running it so the nearest
> KERS runner behind that is Massa. I'd say Button
> will get a good start tomorrow, reckon he'll be
> 3rd coming out of Turn 1, but nobody's going to
> outpace those Toyotas unless they make a mistake;
> there's pretty much two J-Cloths sitting on the
> front row.
>
> Having said that, Trulli's worried about his
> brakes. Watch that one.

Not so sure about Toyota really. From Friday they do have pace, but still not as quick as RBR or Brawn in the race I dont think.

The difficult one for them is Glock. Does Trulli let him by to go off because he is an early stopper or will Glock have to sit it out behind Trulli? Could ruin his race really.

But atm Vettel is strongest for the win. He has Button in between the KERS car of Lewis and should still be out of reach, the straight is not long enough, however Button is not out of reach lol!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I agree, I don't think Toyota are the fastest, but they're there or there abouts. What I do think is that they're so light they should be able to get away over the opening laps. Thing about them is, this is Glock's real chance. After two races out of three starting from the back, he's on the front row tomorrow. He's faster in the race than Trulli; I dunno what it is about Trulli, but he just goes off in the race. So it's got to be his mission to get by Trulli at the start. And if he's faster and stuck behind, I do hope Toyota let him by, because he will force his way by otherwise and that could spell disaster for them. Glock's a real racer, not afraid to barge past people.

Vettel is definitely the danger man, along with Hamilton. If Glock gets past Trulli I reckon he can outpace him, but if Trulli leads away and holds up Glock...that plays right into Vettel's hands.

I feel its Glocks' win tomorrow - Trulli is difficult to get past, and that will jus tplay into Timo's hands.

If Glock can turn back end grid starts into point results, tomorrow it is a no brainer, he has to be favourite to win!

Biggest worry is Vettel's start I think, if Vettel and Glock get the 1-2 into turn 1, then it will be an amazing scrap for them two.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Nah, Vettel should be getting overtaken into turn 1 by Hamilton.

I thought the Brawns still had the fattest car up near the front. Rubens must be disappointed - Button's getting his head in front of him this season.

The only saving grace for the Toyota's with their fuel load is that the McLaren ought to clear everyone else into turn 1. I still think Glock will struggle to finish higher than 5th or 6th, but Trulli has a good shot at the win.

Never thought I'd be thinking this at the start of the season, but Hamilton's not looking bad for defending his title - he's moving forward rapidly.... depending on the outcome of liegate of course. :P

redbull have they first win with a 1 & 2 finish....i hope toyota can do the same, love to see win they first race

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2009 07:22PM by SAMF1.

Never thought I'd be thinking this at the start of the season, but Hamilton's not looking bad for defending his title - he's moving forward rapidly.... depending on the outcome of liegate of course. :P

The rumour is 30WCC points, but how will Lewis get punished? I mean, though I do beleive the whole situation has been blown out of proportion he did lie and so only WCC points to be docked would be wrong imo.

But you are right. He is driving so well so far this season and puts to doubt his ability in a slower car. Clearly any car, any time he has what it takes.

Its funny how alot of poeple only a few days ago would have handed the title to Button! It is not looking so rosey anymore and it looks like Lewis is trying to hold that trophy as hard as he can! lol

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

chet Wrote:
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> But you are right. He is driving so well so far
> this season and puts to doubt his ability in a
> slower car. Clearly any car, any time he has what
> it takes.

I wouldn't go as far to say that. I still think he looks nervous compared to last year. He's getting more confident in the car, but he still doesn't seem to have full faith in that back end.

I wouldn't say he's proved himself in an inferior car yet either. He spun twice trying too hard in Shanghai, and got beaten by his teammate (who's ironically looking worse now the car is improving than he did when it was poor) as a result.

And he's still not been in a midfield dogfight.

If he was where he was without KERS then I'd be singing his praises a bit more.

I agree. It all plays into Lewis' hands pretty well if another different team is taking the win every weekend.

PF1 reports Mclaren are expected to receive a 2 race ban it seems.