FORMULA 1 2018 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING *** SPOILERS ***

Stroll....OUCH!

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I'm not sure what you're not comprehending here. Kimi had traffic in Q3, so that affects his time in Q3. By how much we don't know.

 

Forza Ferrari!!! The red boys looked comfortably fast today. I hope for a win tomorrow.

 

Debatable. We don't know the programs they ran in testing. Conditions throughout the day let alone different days changes plenty.

I've no doubt Kubica has lost some speed to before. His obvious handicap, age, no real time on the Pirelli's, new cars and so forth, **** no real racing except for Rallying in recent years. IMO a big driving force is the Stroll family, not wanting a too fast a teammate for Stroll as he can't have another year being a second a lap slower than his teammate. Sirotkin met the minimum points needed for an f1 license and wasn't too fast too blow junior out of the water...or so they hope now! The big bonus that Sirotkin brings a big bag of Rubles doesn't hurt either. Paul di Resta was hardly considered, I don't think he even tested? He of course was around half a second of Stroll after no time in the new cars, tyres, no nothing, just a handful of quali laps so he would prove too fast after half a mornings testing.

 

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-w09-no-diva-tyre-issues-1023175/?s=1

A bit of an evolution this car is. There is some Diva left lol

 

He was faster. End of. One tenth 2, a half or more etc. The watch did not lie and with minimal time in the seat. The word is talent. Lacking in both other drivers. That’s the real world.
—The Pole is set to feature in three practice sessions this year, and impressed in frigid temperatures in Barcelona as he finished with a best time of one minute and 21.495 seconds, Sirotkin only able to manage a 1:21.822 from his 52 laps.—

 

To make it clear, I don't think Kimi was robbed of a pole position. But I think Ferrari is doing it's best to make sure Vettel has the better chance of getting a podium. 2 weekends in the season and 3 questionable incidents for Kimi vs the team already.

 

Will Haas and Torro Rosso be fighting for 4th in the constructor's championship.

 

I don't think that STR will be able to survive the penalties unless their 3rd engines will last 16 or 17 races, maybe more.

 

Kimi went out last in the session. Normally the guy who is second in the team goes out first so they can relay the other guy his segment times. Kimi seems really upset this year in every interview. I wonder if it's the team or he's just had it with the press.

 

So Kubica managed to go 0.327 seconds quicker than a driver who had never driven an F1 car before, and who wasn't exactly rated as the next Senna/Schumacher? - Sorry, but that doesn't instantly make him the answer to any mid-field teams prayers!

 

Nothing. The 1500 bhp cheating party hounds need to lay low now and then, if third and fourth are considered laying low.

 

I think Haas has actually made progress with their car, but they are still figuring out the whole game. They have a decent chance of fighting with Renault for the entire season, I think...on the other hand, they could easily implode in spite of performance gains. Haas has never developed well...

STR seemingly has a good combination, but are going to fight penalties for component usage. That combined with dicey reliability from the power unit will scupper their chances...

Sauber is the new Marussia. Williams is going backwards quickly. STR will be penalized to the back of the class. Renault, McLaren, Force India, and Haas have a roughly equal stab at the midfield... the next few races should tell us more. Then... Ferrari, Mercedes, and RBR are fighting up front. There's a lot of hope for Team Red, but again, we need a few weeks to really see where this is going.

In summary: the once mighty have fallen (Williams)...the Phoenix might (or might not) be rising (McLaren)...the Horse is prancing (well, you know...)...the haven't I seen this movie before...? (Honda part deux)...AND... what ever happened to that one guy...? (Mercedes).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...at least until tomorrow.

 

Kimi was released onto the track by the team for his last run when he was all but guaranteed to be held up by slower cars.

Here is his end of session radio transmission:



Team engineer: "well done Kimi"
Kimi: "We did exactly what I didn't want to happen!.......Exactly!"

There's a reason why Kimi was so p:censored:ssed off at the end of qualifying - Because he feels the team screwed him over yet again for Sebastian!

 

that's what I've been saying....

 

But then Paddy and Claire said they made the decision purely on performance data ...

 

This ones in the bag for Vettel

 

Another lost season for McLaren and Williams. Paddy Lowe's first Williams is a complete clanger.

2 seconds adrift for the McLaren. Words fail.

 

There’s a big difference between a driver making a mistake (Seb) and a driver being sent out to deal with slower traffic. Why must Ferrari sacrifice Kimi’s qualifying to cover Seb? I just don’t know how Kimi keeps his head in the game. Yes, the money’s good but he clearly still has the desire to compete and to win.

They need to stop doing it. Even if a guy is the team’s designated #2, you’ve gotta keep him happy

 

Option #1....

 

Wow, what a quali session.

Congrats to Ferrari

Ghastly in the STR Honda starting 5th!!

Oh, and I'm back from a ban! LOL
Idk when "You might want to go get your hearing checked then" became a derogatory term.

 

Didn't get to watch live, and was really trying not to get any spoilers.. I succeeded and was more than pleasantly surprised! Forza Ferrari!!


Looks like the Ferraris are going to have a good battle this year, hopefully they don't pull a Austria or Spain 2016...

 

Hope Kimi will stick one up the inside at the start,he is racing for himself now ,its now or never.

He must be totally hacked off with the talk of Ricci 2019 in not to mention the never ending saga of putting Vettel 1st at any opportunity.

 

Kimi getting the shaft explained.