The Official 2010 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

NICO! :D


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

Promising start from Nico so far, and Merc are looking good!

HRT predictably struggling so far, at least their drivers got some timed laps in.

---

Not looking good for Red Bull either - already mechanical problems are limiting their track time.

---

X (@ed24f1)

In 2009 Nico was ahead in almost all practice sessions... race pace was another story...

---

raulgullon.com -
Wedding and Motorsports Photography.

It looks like Mercedes is better than expected. I knew they were going to be faster due to the updates, but still it is important to show your speed. Also Ferrari and McLaren look strong, but I hope the problems at Red Bull will disappear. I'm sure this will be the case, we will have a hard fight for pole position.

Also nice start of Force India. I hope they can score some points!

I think that was because Williams tended to be happy with lower fuel running. I don't think Ross Brawn does this.

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 7:20: First "for sure" heard, courtesy of Stefano
> Domenicali.
> 7:21: Second "for sure" heard, courtesy of Stefano
> Domenicali.
> 7:22: Third "for sure" heard, courtesy of Stefano
> Domenicali.


Exactly the same thing I was counting haha!

The "For Sure" Championship begins :D

hmmm, 11 seconds off the pace... so what in 6 laps they will be a lap down????

that's an eternity!.. i understand is the first time the car is running, but i wonder how much time can they gain to the front runners.. that, if the teams in front don't evolve and get faster.

Senna claimed that the car would be faster than Virgin and Lotus both, i guess he now should feel a bit more humble

imho if they stay 11 secs off it will be dangerous... it's like a car from another series, but anyways, nice to see michael up to speed there, those updates seem to have changed the speed on the car a bit.

Jenson in 1 session leaved a better impression than Kovalainen in 2 years... i strongly believe a lot of people will change the image they have on him, hopefully sooner rather than later

cheers, race will be breathtaking!

Slash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hmmm, 11 seconds off the pace... so what in 6 laps
> they will be a lap down????

No. Simple math would dictate 10-11 laps before they are one lap down.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Slash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hmmm, 11 seconds off the pace... so what in 6 laps
> they will be a lap down????
>
> that's an eternity!.. i understand is the first
> time the car is running, but i wonder how much
> time can they gain to the front runners.. that, if
> the teams in front don't evolve and get faster.
>
> Senna claimed that the car would be faster than
> Virgin and Lotus both, i guess he now should feel
> a bit more humble
>
> imho if they stay 11 secs off it will be
> dangerous... it's like a car from another series,
> but anyways, nice to see michael up to speed
> there, those updates seem to have changed the
> speed on the car a bit.
>
> Jenson in 1 session leaved a better impression
> than Kovalainen in 2 years... i strongly believe a
> lot of people will change the image they have on
> him, hopefully sooner rather than later
>
> cheers, race will be breathtaking!



It's too early to say.Jenson hasn't done a qualifying or race yet, Heikki was good during the practises also and actually in qualifyings many times faster than Lewis if fuel loads would be corrected, it was races that Heikki did not do well.

I do not think HRT will actually race, I think they will do quali but pull in after 1 lap of the race.

Does anyone know what went wrong for Bruno at the end.

You guys are forgetting the HRT car has done, since birth, about 4 laps including those it ran today.

Lotus out of the box was also that slow. As was Virgin.

This is a car that has literally ZERO mileage! They don't even know, besides on paper, if the thing can actually drive properly.


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

Hopefully Karun Chandhok will be in the car for FP3 tomorrow. They're going to fill up the back row and probably use the race as a test session, moving well out of the way as soon as anyone comes near them.

Looked like Bruno's rear right wheelnut flew off under braking. The front left was lifting a bit and the rear right looked wobbly like Alonso's did at Hungary 2006. He did well to save it actually, all things considered.

---

Circuit Thermalito

Liverpool Waterfront Circuit (WIP)

Look at Ferrari wheel detail

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2010 09:24PM by SAMF1.

Fincent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hopefully Karun Chandhok will be in the car for
> FP3 tomorrow.

He has to, if HRT is planning to run Chandhok... a driver must participate in at least 1 FP before the qualifying isn't it? or he can qualify anyway?

-------------------------------------------

That wheel nut looks like a bullet frankly.

And on the topic of HRT, I just watched the FP2 Session after coming back from college and it was hideous off the pace. Bit disappointing that Karun didn't a chance to get out in this session since it would've given him more confidence in FP3 tomorrow. Definitely agree with Fincent that they should just use it as an opportunity to test the car from top to bottom. However, they're massively off the pace we've just got to hope that they stay off the racing line as much as possible to stop any crashes from happening otherwise, the 107% rule might start to float around with teams.

Todt already wants to see it back, but reckons it can't be introduced this year because all teams will have to agree.

Yeah, just read about that. Well from that, it just seems that it's pointless to get new teams into the sport. I mean, don't get me wrong, new teams are fantastic and can bring a new array of ideas and features to the paddock. These guys signed up in War between FOTA and the FIA and thought that in a world like now, they can get through with just $40m budget. In these modern times, it's never going to work. So for Max Mosley, this was an utter fail since it hasn't helped the sport in anyway. Yet that is. If the 107% rule is brought back; it's going to be normal grid again. Which as I mentioned previously, wasn't the point of F1 these days.

P.S. - THE BIRD'S BACK! !

I don't see the point of reintroducing the 107% rule TBH. It's much more straightforward to have the grid determined by who has gone fastest/who's done a time and who hasn't. And anyway, the field is tight enough now that barring extreme cases like the HRT cars, no car that does a hot lap will need to worry about being within 107% of the pole time. The rule would be pointless.


Monza972 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P.S. - THE BIRD'S BACK! !

Yeah, I noticed last night as well! The forums weren't the same without Big Bird!!!
:P

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2010 10:56PM by EC83.

I think its worth pointing out that without new teams, including Sauber in this case, we would be down to a grid of 16 cars. F1 needs new teams to be viable, now more than ever. If Genii hadn't bailed Renault out it might have been 14.

It doesnt help that with the new extension to Bahrain making it a very long lap, it will exaggerate the gap between the new teams and the old.

---