2016 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX: RACE ***SPOILERS***

Toto Wolff had it at @ 1 second per lap and said there was nothing Hamilton could do about Kimi ahead of him due to the damage.

 

+1 on Williams. Hard to understand their tactics at all.

 

It was quite the demolition derby today!

I hope he can keep it going. Mercedes seem to have the reliability over Ferrari to ensure another championship, so I'm (also) rooting for Rosberg to get his 1st WDC. Hamilton is a talented driver but isn't very likeable, so I can't say watching him win a 4th title would make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Exactly. Channel 4 asked Hamilton after the race what he needed to do to improve his results this season and he said "I just need to keep doing what I'm doing". I thought that was funny, as he clearly needs to improve his race starts.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Nice one Kimi, next time kid. Congrats to rosberg, if I'm going to wish for anyone to win other than a fezza, it's rosberg to beat Elton. Two from two, how long before the tears start. Keep at it rosberg, he'll crack if you keep in keeping on

 

Just think... if Vettel hadn't had an engine failure, Ferrari would have probably kept Hamilton off the podium. That's a cheery thought!

All the best,
Andrew.

 

He will need to build up a big enough lead towards the end of the season so that all the pressure is on Hamilton to score max points. The pressure certainly shifts as the season progresses and it will be critical to for him to keep a big enough gap.

I like Hamilton, but I feel that Nico has put in more work and is focused on winning the title. Hard work and dedication tends to result in proper rewards, and it would be nice to see Rosberg pick up a championship.

 

The three stories were

Ferrari still being very unreliable but run fast when they run
Grosjean / Haas doing remarkably well for their first 2 races
Hamilton will not win the world championship now. Nico is the team's guy this year.

 

Second race in a row with a very lucky escape for Hamilton. He must watch out not to run out of luck too soon. Putting blame for such an incidence at the start on Bottles was misplaced imho.

Lettuce keeps impressing and Haas totally does. This is a team that is two races old and they outrace Williams!!!

The first couple of laps were too much for my nerves.

I wonder if Hamilton indeed is outpaced by Rosberg and hasn't realized it yet. He might want to retire and focus on his singing 100% instead and not get side tracked by this stupid racing in between...

 

And a pleasant observation is that there seems to be no 3 leagues any more.
There is Mercedes and Ferrarri and then the rest is one rest, not a midfield and a bunch of hopeless teams. It was good to see Manor actually racing.

 

Absolutely epic race. Really, really good.

Haas mighty impressive again, but the more I look at the car the more I think it's a 2015 Ferrari with 2016 suspension and engine...All legal though, and just as a garagiste they're approaching F1 properly. 18 points in 2 races. Mclaren has done 11 points over 11 races...

Bottas penalty was absolutely bull****. Hamilton turned in on him, yet Bottas got the penalty. Appaling.

Vettel desperately unlucky. Raikkonen ballsed up the start, but great recovery. Could he have won? Not sure how much time it cost him regaining the places...in any case, he'd have been right where bottas was if he did a normal start so his bad start actually saved him I guess .

Was the damage really 8 tenths or a second a lap? I doubt it. Damage didn't look that bad, couple of fins from the bargeboard gone wasn't it? Just a way to make Lewham feel better about his race IMO.

 

McLaren and Red Bull used to be those 3rd and 4th teams. McLaren is still a long way off from being competitive. Red Bull is suffering from the Renault (TAG) engine.

McLaren: 788 F1 races = 1 point
Haas: 2 F1 races = 18 points

 

The guy who makes the least mistakes and fends off the Ferrari challenge is the "team's guy". It's early in the season yet, but I think you can say that right now Rosberg best fits that description.

This is a w.h.y.d.f.m.l. sport...much like RBR in Vettel's last year, the team will go with the hot hand.

 

Same here.

 

+1

Loved him smiling during the action, even though his car was over taken! Good stuff.

 

Vandoorne, how impressive was he? Doesn't really know the car/tires etc, flew in from Japan so no time to adjust, and did all his homework he could on the flight down. He's not allowed to not race in F1 IMO, highly impressive in junior series and impressed today.

 

Kimi Räikkönen haastattelu kilpailun jälkeen Bahrainissa


Anyone speak finnish?

 

Totally agree

And, it makes Johnny Herbert's claims that Alonso is over the hill rather interesting.

 

Haven't read into his comments, bur will say this:

I still rate Alonso highly, but I fully understand if he's not really fully committed into extracting everything out of that at every single drive...he's had a terrible year in 2015 with the car breaking at every opportunity, now reliability seems a little better but the car is barely in the points, they're being beaten by a team completely new to F1.

Alonso isn't stupid, he full well knows the chances of Mclaren being team #1 next year are absolutely tiny. hell...even a team that can fight for podiums and the occasional win is incredibly hard right now. And he's already stated, when he left Ferrari, he didn't want to waste time coming 2nd or 3rd.

My prediction: No Alonso in China, stoffel will race again of course, and this will be Alonso's last season in F1.

 

I start to come round to that idea myself.

Something else puzzled me with Ron Dennis signing Alonso, and choosing to retain Jenson Button. Both were/are excellent drivers at the end of 2014.

But why signing them when the next car needed sorting for over one season. It's not even completely fixed now in 2016!

Why McLaren needed 2 highly paid drivers like Alonso and Button, to pedal a car so unreliable, qualifying at the back of the field, and conking out regularly? That's a bit of a waste of talent.

It didn't make sense to spend $50M a year on 2 experienced drivers, when Magnussen and another GP2 hotshoe could have achieved exactly the same, at a fraction of the price, whilst gaining experience.

Unless it was Honda that insisted on having 2 top drivers.

 

Just finished the race. Another snoozer. Nico looks primed to win the title his race form is superb this year.

 

I don't think anyone thought Honda had so much trouble getting the engine done...and of course with the token system they couldn't even improve their cars reliability, let alone performance.

 

I think Honda covered the driver salary

 

Honda wanted Alonso, not Ron.

I think this will be Alonso's last year in F1. The pressure will mount and he's got an attitude problem with the team he's covering up for political reasons.