BAHRAIN GP Race Day ******SPOILER******

It was a decent race. The mid pack racing was good. Massa was really happy on the podium, even conducted the Italian national anthem for a second and I thought Kimi was going to fall asleep on the podium. I am so relieved Massa held it together and did not make any mistakes. One corner overrun and LH would have been by him.

 

Ferrari still has concerns on their gearbox (did well today!) and this will allow them to take a look at it.

 

Glad that Kimi matched Alonso in points again.

Is McLaren going to have an inhouse fight between its two drivers and Kimi can profit from it? Hopefully.

Great job from Heidfeld. He took a lot from Kubica's glory.

 

I am wondering the same thing. LH has little pressure compared to FA. Maybe it will force FA to push so hard he will make a mistake even though FA has shown he is a top notch driver that does not make mistakes.

 

I'm half surprised Massa didn't start the interview by saying, "To the Italian press: Neener neener neener!".

I think Hamilton and the other rookies have an advantage from not having to adapt to the new spec tires. Kimi and Alonso seem to be getting caught out by the reduced grip. And Massa should go kiss the B-stone rep: that lock up early in his first stint would have vaporized last year's tires. That tire abuse may be why he wasn't able to pull away from Hamilton until the second stint -- on new tires.

A three-way tie for WDC lead going into the four week break: Bernie couldn't have scripted that better if he'd tried.

Yes, Massa is still five points behind, but that gearbox issue at Albert Park really cost him. Yes, he came in behind "Quick Nick" in Malaysia, but so did the current champ today. The beemers look to be for real, and Nick is writing himself a good resume.

Massa has to improve his overtaking -- he can win from the front, but he has to be able to come up from the back, too, if he's going to compete in seasonal points. But then, we haven't seen Hamilton doing much of that either. Experience does count.

Interesting to see the new owner of Aston Martin standing with Hamilton's Dad. (Although he might have to leave Ron Dennis bleeding in an alley somewhere to get Lewis away from him, at this point.)

Now let's see who Alonso blames for his result. (Or if he might learn that he doesn't have to be a jerk to win.)

 

i think, it was one of the most boring races ever. hardly any passing at all. aside from nick's awesome move on Fred.

good race by massa, and credit to LH. i think this kid is serious. he's full of confidence, and prepared to take the car to the limit.

i must say, Kimi caused a Ferrari 1-2 when he was caught napping at the restart after the SC.

 

+1

 

Quick Nick has finished 4th in all three races thus far. I'm dying for a podium.

 

That also applies to any number of naysayers here on this board. He will never be a #1, but he is a damn good #2 ...

 

Massa is a marvelous driver, but is he a racer?

 

Good job by Massa to take the win.

Excellent job by Hamilton to keep the podium sweep going. He was faster than Alonso all weekend. This was the first track that Lewis had prior experience on - Malaysia and Oz were new to him. So think we can see more good performances from him from now on.

Kimi was caught napping on the re-start - he lost something like 20 car lengths to Alonso. He also muffed up turn 1 at the start - letting Alonso by. He seemed really tentative in the first part of the race. Not a good sign. The Ferrari seems very nervous tucked under the wing of another car. Far more than say a McLaren or BMW.

Good racing by Nick Heidfeld and DC. Like the Speed team mentioned - it was like the DC of old - good wheel to wheel stuff. Good overtaking by Trulli as well.

 

But it's still too soon to get out the crow cookbook, isn't it?

 

i think DC deserved a point at least today. so did nico.

 

Hamilton is a good racer but one has to wonder why he pushed so hard to catch Massa when there was little chance to pass him even if he caught him. This was not good seeing the smoke coming from his engine all day knowing that this is his engine in spain.

For those who say it was a boring race, well the actual race in F1 is usually boring if you dont follow the whole weekend and all the news leading up to the race. Its even more boring when your guy or team dosnt win.

 

i wasn't sarcastic. and perhaps 'dissappointed' is bit exagerated. I guess I was just expecting him to do some awesome overaking moves on LH these past two races. don't get me wrong.. i think its a fantastic start still.. way better than last year.

 

lol... I noticed that.

 

So far Massa: 2 poles, 1 win. Kimi: 1 pole, 1 win. In fact Massa took the triple this weekend(pole,win,fastest race lap). I agree that Kimi is a better driver but Massa is driving better in that car right now. Save for the last weeks blunder. And no, lets not get into a yet another Kimi v Phil tangent . Great job by Quick Nick too! Glad he took points from Fred. I agree on Bahrain, what a boring track in a boring part of the world.

 

"Save for the last weeks blunder"? That's just Massa. You can't take the good without the bad. You have to take everything. His poor and good performances. Kimi - 3 podiums. Massa - 1 podium. Kimi has been the better driver thus far going by # of podiums and driver points.

 

Well done felipe i guess......... but you have only fixed your f**k up from sepang, so now you are back at zero after being in the negatives for the first 2 races.

His season starts now, after all it is his first podium of the year vs Kimi's 3.

 

I think it was an oil overfill situation. Not a problem really.

 

I thought Nick Heidfeld did awesome today. He stayed with Alonso and Kimi while there was a gap stretching behind them. He pulled off an excellent move on Alonso which made me leap out of my seat!

I thought DC was having a great race, starting from the back and blasting through the field to 7th place. Unfortunately the car didn't hold up, but considering the problems he's had lately, he deserved a couple points. Mark was running well also.

Trulli did well, passed the Renaults easily, and held off Fisi at the end. Funny that Flavio's driver couldn't pass the one that he sacked earlier.

Lewis Hamilton, what can you say? He's simply amazing, no question about it.

 

+1

I'd even like to see Nick take his maiden win this year. I think it is great to see that he was nearly a written off at the end of 2004 and just barely got a drive at Jordan in 2004. And now look at him. I've always felt he was a bit overlooked, probably down to his, let's say, low profile character wise.

Allthough, these days with his beard, sloppy haircut, huge sunglasses and tight fighting race-underwear, makes him look like a 70's pornstar. Him speaking English with a German accent doesn't help either

Anyway, looks like we've got ourselves an epic battle on our hands. There's just no telling in who will win the 2007 title. Ok, it'll be either a Ferrari or a McLaren driver, but between the four of them, it could be anyone. Wouldn't it be hilarious of Hamilton took it? It could be possible. The way he overshadowed the reigning champion this entire weekend, proves he has a clear shot at it.

 

Poetic Justice: Trulli in the Toyota beats out the driver that replaced him at Renault.

McLaren *did* let Lewis go for the win. And Massa beat him in qualifying and straight up in the race.

(While Kimi had to rely on pit strategy to get back around Alonso after letting him by earlier.)

And Quick Nick (defending his job) gets by the reigning WDC.

The Moral Of Our Story: Never dump a driver because of team politics or one bad day.

 

I'm just pissed that we now have to wait 4 whole weeks for another GP. I liked this race, I thought it was more exciting than Melbourne and Malaysia.