Bahrain Race ***warning***spoiler***

Fisi's comments on the radio at one point when he realized he was having trouble with the car were pretty amusing. Sounded like "****ing ****, ****ing ****" Speed didn't cut the audio 1st time around but it was kind of unintelligible, the commentators said something about it.

 

Here's the list. 4 Bridgestone drivers in the top 10.

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Gaps/Laps Average Stops
1. 1 ALONSO Renault M 1h29'46"205 206.018 Km/h
2. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B + 0'01"246 205.971 Km/h
3. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M + 0'19"360 205.280 Km/h
4. 12 BUTTON Honda M + 0'19"992 205.256 Km/h
5. 4 MONTOYA McLaren Mercedes M + 0'37"048 204.611 Km/h
6. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B + 0'41"932 204.427 Km/h
7. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B + 1'03"043 203.635 Km/h
8. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M + 1'06"771 203.496 Km/h
9. 6 MASSA Ferrari B + 1'09"907 203.379 Km/h
10. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M + 1'15"541 203.169 Km/h
11. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M + 1'25"900 202.784 Km/h
12. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M 1 lap(s)
13. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1 lap(s)
14. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B 1 lap(s)
15. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M 1 lap(s)
16. 8 TRULLI Toyota B 1 lap(s)
17. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B 2 lap(s)
18. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 4 lap(s)
19. 23 IDE S. Aguri F1 Honda B 22 lap(s)
20. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M 22 lap(s)
21. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M 36 lap(s)
22. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B 57 lap(s)

 

I must have F1 telepathy: I woke up (yes, I actually slept last night) five minutes before the prerace coverage.

I'm with Labcars: less talk, more race. I know all the rules and regulations, and it's hard enough keeping my eyes open (at this hour) as it is.

I kind of feel bad for the Ferrari pit crew: you know they were kicking themselves for the mistake.

Did anyone else notice the commentators confused Rubens' car as Trulli's?

Rosberg impressed me, and Raikkonen was amazing again; he needs to leave Mercedes yesterday.

 

Looking at the Formula 1 site Lap Chart to check performance.

Kimi killed it
Massa Dropped it and fought it
Rosberg Kicked it

Villenueve Blew It!

 

www.f1live.com has the finishing order with tires. For future reference.

 

There's a big difference in difficulty with the McLaren passing Aguris, Toyotas, Midlands, etc, vs. Renaults and Ferrari. If Kimi qualified in the top 5, he would've easily placed 2nd if not 1st.

Nico was amazing. After pulling in the garage almost calling it quits, he gets back out and gets 2 point. Great passes on both of the RBR cars. Did he end up with Fastest lap? Williams looks like they'll have a great season.

The Speed TV commentators were blind. They can't distinguish cars. They couldn't tell the difference between the Aguri, Honda, Williams, and BMW Sauber cars. They seemed to be dead set that Nico was the one who spun out after the first corner of lap 1, but I'm pretty sure it was Heidfeld. The car was all white with blue side pods (BMW livery) and Heidfeld started 10th, but went back to 19th after a few corners so I'm pretty sure it was him. I don't think Speed did a good job commentating today.

They seemed to be so sure that MS was still doing a 3 stopper after fueling for the first time. There was no way he'd fuel for 21 laps and have to refuel twice more in the remaining 20 laps. They were so dumbfounded that he hadn't been on a 2 stopper the entire time. I think Nico was the only 3 stopper (other than Sato's 6).

 

JPM started 5th and finished 5th. I guess I'm saying that the McLaren is more-or-less equal to the Renault, Ferrari and Honda and not significantly better, which is not the impression you get from David Hobbs et al. I would think that if JPM is driving the dominant car in the field and he doesn't crash out in qualifying he should win going away.

I think you agree that the announcers are given to hyperbole and bad guessing though. I also believe Kimi is the fastest driver in F1.

 

I haven't seen the race, but I would like to know how many drivers ahead of Kimi faced blue flags. Why is everyone so enamored with Kimi's passing, as presumably he had the blue flags as long as he posted faster laps?

 

No, the blue flag is only shown to drivers being LAPPED.

You weren't by chance a flag marshal at Monaco in 2001?

 

I don't believe they had blue flags for the Dubai race. I thought I heard FA complaining about not having flags for the backmarkers.

 

This is a really good point but I don't think that it follows that Kimi might have won. Kimi finished 19 seconds behind Alonso and 17-18 seconds behind Michael, which is credible but he most likely still lost ground throughout the race even taking into consideration his poor starting grid position and his one stop strategy versus Alonso's 2 stop.

How much time behind the leader does starting last on the grid place a driver? Does it take 10 seconds to get to the 1st grid position after the lights go out and all of the drivers start moving forward? Possibly less I would think. Now some of Kimi's lost time will come from just moving up through traffic and the backmarkers but, considering that he gained something like 10 places in the first couple of laps, I don't think that he was held up too much.

His one fewer stop probably saved him 24 seconds gross offset by the weight penalty of the higher fuel load for a net savings of what, maybe 10 seconds? If so, then that strategy pretty much offset time lost from the poor grid position. It seems to me that he finished pretty much where he would have even if he had started up higher in the grid. Michael was 18 seconds ahead of him and so Kimi might have caught him but still would have to pass him, which is not a given, at least with only a lap or two remaining when he finally caught up.

Kimi's performance in moving up through the field was largely because he lost less time versus Alonso and Michael than did everyone else. In other words, the field was moving back faster than he was.

He is a great driver, a superb passer and the McLaren is a fast car but I don't think that Kimi's performance in this race means that he would have run away with the race if he had started in the first couple of rows.

John

 

A great race, new rules are excellent for the show.

The peformance are very close ... good for the season.

Another Renault win !!!!


Cocoricooooooo ..........

 

well, what a thriller! pity it wansn;t a race win, but still, schumi looked satisfied and happy after the race. whatever it is, schumi and ferrari are back. i also noticed a lot of ppl screwing massa here. common guys...it's just his 1st race in a top team, i'm damn sure he has more pressure on his shoulders compared to schumi. he knws he needs to prove some things to squash the rossi rumours. common....yesterday, when he put the car on the front row, he was like a god here...and today he's being crucified...give him space..a little time as well...

 

I say he would finish in the top two only because of his all-out driving style. It seems to me he's not concerned with nursing the car for the next race (when on 1st race engine). I wouldn't be surprised if his engine blows sometime next weekend because of the way he drove today with that much fuel.

Had he qualified in top 5, I think he would've been on a 2 stopper like the others and with the lighter weight, thus a top 2 finish. I see what you mean about having 1 less pit stop kinda made it like he started top 5, but the top 5 runners in the first lap can easily pull out ahead of the others compared to them again at mid race. But all of that is just imho.

 

This is awful, I'm on spring break and can't get speed channel where I'm staying. I was dying knowing the race was on without access to watch it. Now it's even worse after reading everything everyone posted because it sounds like it was an exciting race. I am jealous of you all.

Mark

 

Uhh, I think this is a dramatic oversimplification with a lot of misunderstanding I would bet that Kimi was held up a lot - there were many times he was sitting behind a car for a lap or two waiting for a chance to pass, at a few seconds per occurrence. Also, he was WAY heavy on fuel in the beginning, so the idea that he "saved" 24 seconds by giving up one stop doesn't hold water. If that was the case, why would any driver do more than the minimum number of stops? He had tires that were beat up more than the others and he was pig-heavy with fuel, and he still managed to spank most of the field and come to 3rd place. Had Kimi not had the accident in qualifying, he would certainly have been the most likely winner. Check his lap times when he was light on fuel vs. Alonso. IMO he would have ran away with the win.


Regarding the result...I don't see how some of you can say MS has mellowing with age? The guy had a crap season last year and doesn't want to throw the whole thing away in the first race. He was pushing hard - he almost passed Alonso with a few laps to go, and he was seriously fast - thats not the sign of an mellowed out driver. The man is FAST.

I dont know whats up with JPM - he can't seem to TOUCH Kimis performances - ever, and I just dont know why. I think hes a good driver but I'm thinking maybe McLaren isnt the place for him, maybe hes not gelling with the car or something, I dunno.

Rosberg drove a fantastic race but don't you guys think its just a LITTLE premature to call him a future WDC and how Ferrari should snatch him up? Come on - lets see how he does in other races and other situations. I'm baffled at how someone can have a single good race and suddenly they're as good as Schumacher and they can have a couple of bad races and suddenly they are ready for the knackers yard.

Villeneuve again shows how he sucks donkey balls. He was outqualified by his teammate, outpaced by his teammate and as he often does, he beats the crap out of the car (so I've heard) until it blows up. Then, laughably, we see him bidding farewell to the team to get outta there before the race is even over. LOL. The guy is a chump and an embarassment to himself and the sport.

Good race overall but I wish MS had won - he really came so close. If he had just gotten the pass on FA coming out of the pits it was his win, or if Massa hadn't had an off.

Speaking of Massa I think you guys are being a bit harsh. No doubt the team was on the radio telling him to overtake FA, and he tried to the point where he had an off. He's still a better fit at Ferrari than Barrichello, IMO.

 

Fantastic race and a fantastic season ahead of us with four teams so close to each other.

Luckily the next race is already next Sunday. Can't wait.

PS: Where can I sign up for the Nico fanclub? I think he is even better than his father.

 

Rosberg was great and will be fun to watch. His old man was one of the best personalities in F1. Watching him close-in and pass in the last laps was fun. Hopefully he'll keep that edge as he matures during the season and during his career.

 

I didn't say that he saved a net 24 seconds, I estimated that he might have saved 10 seconds after taking into account his heavier fuel load. He must have saved something otherwise they wouldn't have done it.

You're right, he certainly lost some time as a result of being held up. The question is whether it was more than 19 seconds.

John

 

Well I guess its all academic/opinion but I think he would have had the lead by a good margin. If he qualified, I bet it would have been in the top 3 and I think he showed he had the speed to outpace Alonso and Michael. It would not have been 2 laps up on them but I think he would have pulled out a multi-second lead.

When Kimi has a good race with no issues, he seems to win by large margins. Of course, were he to be in the lead, no doubt he would sandbag as much as possible to save the engine, so I think he would have won by a few seconds.

 

The bashing will never stop...

JV outdrove NH today. He had a great pace, JV and the beamer showed good potential. He was looking good for 7-8th place.

Fastest lap:
Villeneuve 1:33.694
Heidfeld 1:33.772

 

Great race overall.

The new qualifying format is much better than the hot laps of last year.

Rosberg suprised the crap out of myself with a gutsy drive.

And Kimi's drive from the back to 3rd was the best of the race.

Ferrari looked much better than last year but i think they still have a little work to go to truly take it to Renault.

 

Kimi once again demonstrates that the McLaren is really good at passing back markers. But it's a bit tougher up front.

Massa held Alonso up for all of one corner? Does anyone see what Rubens contributed, now?

 

All you need to do in order to be better is run a faster lap? So I guess Nico Rosberg was the "true" winner?

Who qualified better? Who had the better result? Who had the better average lap time? Answer- Heidfeld. Because he's a better driver and performer than that hump, JV.

If it was the other way around, we'd be hearing "Oh but JV is new to the car" and "oh he just needs time to get used to it". When its the other way around and JV is outperformed by someone who has less experience, the JV apologists fall silent.

Whats his excuse this time? He's been there for 2 years now and he was shown up in qualifying AND in the race by his new teammate.

Not bashing you - just bashing JV.

Look at last year - MS is by far the best driver on the grid but even he could not do much with a sub-par performing car. On the other hand, even a mediocre driver can have a good result in the best car. In 97, JV had the best car BY FAR and he eeked out the win. I heard quotes from his team saying they thought he would have won by a larger margin that year. He's not a great driver as has been proven hundreds of times - he was lucky and in the right place at the right time.

 

Kimi was amazing today. I want to see him shine this season. He moved from last to 3rd. I don't care who you are, if you try to take anything away from his performance today you are just simply hating on him. Noone can say what would have happened if he was up towards the front of the grid, but I expect to see Kimi dominate this season like he could have last season with a good car.

Michael was pretty consistant but he didnt do anything spectacular, he was driving really good but I think Alonso was the better driver between the two today.

My thoughts are that the season will be a battle between the top 3 we saw on the podium today. I think Kimi is really strong and he gets my vote for finsihing the season in 1st, then Alonso and Michael (not sure who will do better).