Bahrain GP Thread - Contains Practice/Qualifying/Race Spoilers - Sponsored by Bernie's get rich Schemes

[Fernando]

First topic message reminder :



Having served up a fascinating battle in 2012 between Sebastian Vettel and both Lotuses, the Formula 1 circus arrives in Bahrain for round four of the Championship.

Mark Webber will be eager to bounce back from a nightmare weekend in China and prove a point to the world, whilst the pressure is on Mexican pair Esteban Gutierrez and Sergio Perez to deliver after disappointing starts to the season.

Kimi Raikkonen came close to victory last year and will be hoping to go one better and claim his second win of 2013 which would take the Iceman to the top of the Drivers' Championship

THE 2013 BAHRAIN GP IN A NUTSHELL
Track: Bahrain International Circuit. Permanent track.
Race start time: 1pm UK time Sunday (3pm local).
Laps: 57.
Track length: 5.412km.
DRS Zones: Two - Pit straight and backstraight, with separate detection points.
Driver steward: Mika Salo
Lap record: Michael Schumacher - 1:30.252 (Ferrari; 2004).
2012 pole: Sebastian Vettel - 1:32.422 (Red Bull).

FORM GUIDE
With Ferrari showing good race pace in China, the signs look good for the Scuderia in Bahrain. Between them, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have won five of the eight grands prix to date, although two of Alonso's wins came in a Renault, whilst Ferrari themselves have picked up the Constructors' trophy on four occasions.

2012 result: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus); 3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus); 4. Mark Webber (Red Bull); 5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 6. Paul Di Resta (Force India); 7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 8. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren); 9. Felipe Massa (Ferrari); 10. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes).

Last five winners: 2012: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2010: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 2009: Jenson Button (Brawn); 2008: Felipe Massa (Ferrari); 2007: Felipe Massa (Ferrari).

TYRE ALLOCATION
A week on from a race dominated by tyre degradation, Pirelli are taking the two hardest compounds in their range to Bahrain this weekend - the white-marked medium compound, which will serve as the option tyre, and the orange-marked hard compound, which will be the prime tyre. Thus, both compounds are a step harder than they were in 2012, with Pirelli having made a late change to the option compound.

The main demands placed on the tyres this weekend will come from traction and braking, whilst the circuit itself will be dirty, given its limited use throughout the year, coupled with sand blowing in from the desert. However, unlike in China, the GP2 Series are on the support card, meaning they will help clean up the circuit and lay down more Pirelli rubber.

These factors coupled with high ambient temperatures mean Pirelli feel "Bahrain is one of the most demanding tracks of the year in terms of longitudinal energy going into the tyres: especially under braking in turns one and 14, and traction in turn 10

Weather Forecast: http://www.enterf1.com/f1-weather/Bahrain.asp

Source: Sky Sports

[Bull]

well this sucks DRS failure thats the end of this race

Vettel wins cant wait for next race now.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

GO ON DI RESTA!

[mystiroakey]

my bet looks pretty stupid at the mo..

I admit.

oh well- i thought they may have had some race pace for once. Rosberg is falling like the world trade towers

[GSC]

Fantastic racing from the 2 McLarens.

Di Resta is about to come into the jaws of Raikonnen.

[GSC]

Rotten luck for Ferrari today

[mystiroakey]

Come on button catch webber lad

[GSC]

Really good drive from Perez, his tussles with Button the highlight of this race for me.

[mystiroakey]

Hamilton is smashing it!

come on lad take the RB

[GSC]

Di Resta about to fall into the clutches of Grosjean

[GSC]

And Grosjean up to 3rd.

[GSC]

Webber back up to 5th. Alonso and Perez closing

[mystiroakey]

PEREZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GSC]

More fantastic driving from Perez, takes Alonso.

[GSC]

Webber getting physical

[mystiroakey]

Ermm very interesting this race..

Great battles- great track this one

[GSC]

Webber not in any mood to cede

[mystiroakey]

LH has him

[mystiroakey]

insane racing by real racers today..

This is F1

[GSC]

Perez grabs Webber

What a drive

[GSC]

If Lotus can sort the qualifying, that is a very good race car.

Signs of life from McLaren. Perez with a great race.

Good recovery drives from hamilton and Alonso

[bogbrush]

Best race for a long time.

Superb move early on by Vettel on Alonso. Who says this boy can't race? Pity about the DRS, Alonso should have made the podium but for that.

Absolutely great fights all the way down, including McLaren letting their boys go at it toe to toe, as it should be.

Webber moves closer to the door, being shown up badly by Vettel.

[dyrewolfe]

Wow - that has to go down as one of the best Grands Prix I've ever seen.

People complain about the lack of overtaking in F1...not in this race!

The only disappointment was that we were robbed of a proper battle for the lead after Alonso's DRS failure.

As expected Rosberg went backwards shortly after the start...but not before a fantastic tussle with Vettel for the lead.

Disastrous race for Ferrari after a great qualifying session. Alonso did what he could but was always on the back foot without DRS. Involved in some magnificent scraps on the track...including one with Perez. Massa again hit by all the bad luck going , pushed back into the midfield with a puncture and never recovered.

Mercedes with mixed fortues. Rosberg suffering horribly with rear tyre wear, eventually finishing 9th after a 4-stop strategy. Good recovery drive from Hamilton to finish 5th after a fantastic scrap with Webber.

Brilliant race for Lotus after looking very poor in qualifying. Excellent race pace saw them come good towards the end of the race, on light fuel and fresh tyres. Sadly not good enough for Kimi to challenge Vettel for the lead but I'm sure he won't be too unhappy with 2nd. Great drive by Grosjean, scything through the field on fresh rubber to claim the final podium spot.

Mixed fortunes for Force India. An early collision with Massa by Sutil pretty much ruined his race. Di Resta looked very strong for much of the race and put in a mighty drive, only denied his first podium after being overtaken by Grosjean as his tyres were fading.

An odd race for McLaren too. Button who looked the stronger in qualifying, struggled for most of the race, but had some good battles with the Mercedes cars as well as his team mate. Faded badly at the end to finish 10th. Fantastic race for Sergio Perez who finally looked like a top echelon driver today. Involved in numerous scraps, fighting for places as if his life depended on it. Thoroughly deserved his 6th place.

[mystiroakey]

Special racing and when racing is allowed LH allways shines. Different league today in all fairness. also massive praise to perez

[GSC]

Little bit of LH tinted glasses there.

I'd go for Perez as driver of the day. Scrapped for everything and in the end it paid off. Stunning overtake on Alonso

[mystiroakey]

How could you not see that that was an awesome race by LH..

Your baffling me bud- Do you an issue with him or something?

Are you annoyed that he has dismantled your tyre wear theory or something!

[mystiroakey]

I suppose the difference is that i actually mentioned perez deserves praise as well. You cant do that in reagrds to LH

[GSC]

He had a good race no doubt. Awesome, not so much

[dyrewolfe]

Little bit of LH tinted glasses there.

I'd go for Perez as driver of the day. Scrapped for everything and in the end it paid off. Stunning overtake on Alonso

Alonso had no DRS though.

In terms of sheer racing spectacle I'd say its a joint award to Perez and Hamilton.

[mystiroakey]

So what more could he have done.

before the race you was saying he had zero chance in the race- He certianly outstripped your own expectations

[GSC]

He didnt overtake him in a DRS zone. Sure Alonso mightve come back at him but a great overtake nonetheless

[GSC]

I said he had 0 chance to win. He didn't get near it. Got his break of good fortune from Ferraris bad fortune and did well enough. Say it was a good drive, not an awesome one.

[CaledonianCraig]

Lewis had a solid race but lets not go any further than that as that is going a little OTT in my opinion. Drivers of the race for me would be between Paul Di Resta (although strike that as he was very solid but unspectacular), Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez.

[bogbrush]

I thought Rosberg pushed things to the limit defending, in particular early on, when he created the chance for Alonso on Vettel. Much better with aggressive driving though.

Very skilful driving by Vettel to get back from 3rd to 1st in those early laps, basically earning him the race. Obviously the driver of the day.

[mystiroakey]

So your saying Lh was lucky!

Are you going to apply this luck to perez as well. Or doesnt he quailfy

[Critical_mass]

Good race all round, shame Alonso had issues, same with Massa.

Tyres just didnt work for Nico which cost him lots of places, same with Lewis at the beginning, but Lewis came back on fire to snatch 5th.

Mclaren looked alot better this weekend, but Button just dropped off at the end. I loved the racing between Perez and Button - egging Perez on. Sorry but i think Button is being a little bit of a cry baby here, it was hard but fair, sure Perez clipped Buttons rear wheel, but Button did "hesitate" on the throttle despite being on it every previous lap - a little naughty. Button gave as good as he got. Good to see Perez finally get more punchy and hope it continues. Button needs to man up cos from this race it seems he struggled to deal with Perez and resorted to getting the team to try calm Perez down.

Also, Button's "skill" of being good at tyre management appears to have faded and being less relevant.

Was hoping Vettel wouldnt win but it was one of those races where he just walked away - i was expect Webber to come home in second, shame he didnt.

Finally, Di Resta, i dont normally rate him, but he did well in qualifying and the race.. and was hoping he'd make the podium but just didnt have the pace.

Have to say, i always thought Bahrain was a dull race, but for this season and last its being excellent.

[mystiroakey]

drivers of the day

1. LH AND PEREZ JOINT
2. Grosjean/raikonen- at the end of the day they have the equipment
3. Vettel

[GSC]

Oh come on. He wasn't going to be anywhere near Alonso, and probably not Massa either. Perez benefited as well obviously.

[mystiroakey]

Oh come on. He wasn't going to be anywhere near Alonso, and probably not Massa either. Perez benefited as well obviously.

so why did you not apply this luck to perez when you said he was the driver of the day then

[GSC]

Because I thoroughly enjoyed watching Perez scrap in inferior equipment.

[Bull]

drivers of the day

1. LH AND PEREZ JOINT
2. Grosjean/raikonen- at the end of the day they have the equipment
3. Vettel

V2's love for Hamilton still continues even if he was hardly involved ahahahha its a great laugh seeing him always backed here

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hamilton driver of the day? #headsgone

Perez or Vettel easily

[mystiroakey]

hardly involved mate he made the race an awesome watch. well him and perez!!

and yet you put perez top .. but you laff at that.. what excatly did perez do better than LH.

I think its clear that its LH V2 hate bud

[mystiroakey]

so you clearly put perez above LH- can you expalain how and why anyone would do that- given what we saw. How strange

[Critical_mass]

drivers of the day

1. LH AND PEREZ JOINT
2. Grosjean/raikonen- at the end of the day they have the equipment
3. Vettel

hmmm Sorry as it was such an eventful day and we expect that performance from Vettel and his car.. i wouldnt put Vettel in the top 3 drivers of the day.

Lotus as a team yup.. Perez was more impressive too which was a good show. Lewis's come back in the second half was also good to see. But you missed of Di Resta - as above i was impressed with FI all weekend. I think Di Resta deserves to be in the top 3 drivers of the day.


Going back to the Button comments - button ran Perez off the road on the exit of turn 4 into the quick right left. tut tut tut

[mystiroakey]

drivers of the day

1. LH AND PEREZ JOINT
2. Grosjean/raikonen- at the end of the day they have the equipment
3. Vettel

hmmm Sorry as it was such an eventful day and we expect that performance from Vettel and his car.. i wouldnt put Vettel in the top 3 drivers of the day.

Lotus as a team yup.. Perez was more impressive too which was a good show. Lewis's come back in the second half was also good to see. But you missed of Di Resta - as above i was impressed with FI all weekend. I think Di Resta deserves to be the drivers of the day.


Going back to the Button comments - button ran Perez off the road on the exit of turn 4 into the quick right left. tut tut tut

i put him 5th not top 3

[mystiroakey]

sorry i will also stick Diresta in there and all- tied with vettel

[CaledonianCraig]

Perez (on previous races form) improved greatly today and in my opinion the McLaren does not have the pace of the Mercedes as quali has clearly showed this season. That is why I, personally, would put his drive above Lewis. On top of that Perez made six place gains from his starting position compared to Lewis four.

[GSC]

6th for Perez in McLaren is a better result than 5th for Hamilton in a Mercedes?

Perez gained 6 places compared to Hamiltons 4?

Perez was involved in scraps all day and held his own against the likes of Button, Alonso and Webber?

Take off the rose tinted glasses mate, Hamilton was good but Perez was better for me.

[bogbrush]

hmmm Sorry as it was such an eventful day and we expect that performance from Vettel and his car.. i wouldnt put Vettel in the top 3 drivers of the day.

I'm surprised nobody credits Vettel for the stunning moves early on, especially on Alonso given he's supposed to be so great.

[GSC]

Aye Vettel had a very good race, pulled out a great move on Alonso when he needed it. Shame about Alonsos DRS and Kimis low starting position or we could've had a good fight up top.

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