The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

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Bahrain '18 - Driver of the Day

Sebastian Vettel
0
No votes
Valtteri Bottas
0
No votes
Lewis Hamilton
0
No votes
Pierre Gasly
2
100%
Kevin Magnussen
0
No votes
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 2

cmlean
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The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:56 pm

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 2nd round of the 2018 season taking place in Bahrain between the 6th and 8th of April.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Bahrain click here, to register in the competition click here

Picks for Bahrain close at the start of Saturday practice

The event timetable for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 14:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
2nd Practice 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 15:00 local time - 12:00 GMT
Qualifying 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:09 pm

This weekend has the F1 circus returning to Bahrain for round 2 of the 2018 world championship.

Given the right circumstances, this should be a Mercedes benefit. With the ability to turn up the horsepower, Hamilton should be on pole.
Sebastian Vettel could be the cat among the pigeons with his ability to extract the most out of his Ferrari. From what I have read, he is not yet comfortable in this season's car. That said, Kimi seems right at home.
Valtteri Bottas is a bit of an enigma. I want to see him do well but he is sort of like Vettel and doesn't seem at home in the car at this time.
Next should be the battle of the Red Bulls. I still feel the lack of straight line speed will be their undoing.
Surprise performances by the Haas team in Australia and the lack of results should fuel their desire. The cars seem fast at this time of the season closely followed by the McLarens.
Now we venture to the slightly disappointing part of the grid. Force India, Renault, then maybe Williams, Toro Rosso and then Sauber. I would like to see this bunch mixed up but we will see.

These are my meanderings, what say you?

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by Tim » Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:13 pm

Despite Vettel's win in Australia, this year Hamilton has an easier fight on his hands than last year!

Had Bottas been up there or Vettel running second, Hamilton (or possibly Raikkonen) would have won. Vettel was fortunate and you have to be way too fortunate for the same to happen again.

I think it will be Hamilton Bottas then Ferrari and Red Bull mixed (in Australia Ricciardo was actually quicker than Raikkonen later in the race ...

Haas lost some big points in Australia and as the season progresses they will be caught by the likes of McLaren and Renault due to faster development! but I think they will still be ahead in Bahrain with McLaren close (if we are to believe that they have a huge update in Bahrain)

I feel sorry for the downfall of Williams, this is the second most successful team in F1 history yet now they adopt a pay driver policy not for one but both their drivers ...

Force India... despite what they say, the problems surrounding their owner must have affected their preparations for this season and hence their drop ... the Renault powered cars improved argument is rubbish, they have a Mercedes engine!

Toro Rosso ... they are now the Honda guinea pigs ... enough said

Sauber... 15 years ago they were what Haas is today, good to seem them still running but are becoming the Minardis of F1

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by Tim » Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:24 pm

Comparing the popular picks in our 10 'n' Pole competition for Bahrain this year and last .... what a contrast!

Win: Lewis Hamilton 75.61% vs Sebastian Vettel 12.20%
Second: Sebastian Vettel 65.85% vs Lewis Hamilton 14.63% vs Valtteri Bottas 9.76% vs Kimi Raikkonen 7.32%
Pole: Lewis Hamilton 90.24% vs Sebastian Vettel 4.88%

Yet last year it was

Win: Lewis Hamilton 51.21% vs Sebastian Vettel 38.65%
Second: Sebastian Vettel 41.06% vs Lewis Hamilton 38.16% vs Valtteri Bottas 9.18% vs Kimi Raikkonen 5.31%
Pole: Lewis Hamilton 67.15% vs Sebastian Vettel 24.64%

I don't recall a race in the past where the popular pick for Pole was over 90% for a single driver, that is how much the feeling is about Mercedes (and Hamilton specifically).

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:08 am

Things will swing around when we hit Europe in relation to favoritism.

As the teams move closer to home, little updates will bring Ferrari and possibly Red Bull closer to Mercedes.

I am disappointed with Force India after such strong seasons over the last couple of years.
And Williams lack of performance in 2018 may also recover to some extent.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:08 am

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:31.060	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
2	1:31.364	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
3	1:31.458	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
4	1:31.470	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
5	1:32.272	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
6	1:32.516	Romain Grosjean	  Haas 
7	1:32.779	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
8	1:32.885	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
9	1:32.971	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
10	1:33.104	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
11	1:33.223	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
12	1:33.278	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber 
13	1:33.364	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 
14	1:33.379	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	1:33.467	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams 
16	1:33.497	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
17	1:33.508	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
18	1:33.662	Sergio Perez	  Force India
19	1:33.794	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
20	No Time		Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen had an electronics gremlin which caused his session to end after 2 out laps.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:13 am

FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:29.817	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
2	1:29.828	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
3	1:30.380	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:30.472	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
5	1:30.745	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:30.751	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
7	1:31.220	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
8	1:31.232	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
9	1:31.282	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
10	1:31.422	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
11	1:31.591	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
12	1:31.601	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
13	1:31.809	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
14	1:31.868	Sergio Perez	  Force India
15	1:31.969	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
16	1:32.372	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
17	1:32.382	Lance Stroll	  Williams
18	1:32.474	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
19	1:32.733	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
20	1:32.908	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
Marcus Ericsson had an off out of turn 2 but returned to the pits to clean up and resume the session.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:28 am

Practice 2 is in the record books.
This session is held at roughly the same time as qualifying and the race so is more indicative of what should happen in the following days.

Ferrari seems to be really quick and, more importantly, stable throughout their lap.
Mercedes could be hiding their aces but they don't seem to be as stable in their laps. This is highlighted by the off tracks and occasional locked brakes throughout the session by both drivers.
Red Bull have their program back on track following the electrical gremlins in Max's car in session 1.
Toro Rosso, with Pierre Gasly, was the biggest surprise in the session finishing the session in 8th.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:56 pm

Word through that Hamilton has a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:45 am

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:29.868	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
2	1:30.393	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	1:30.452	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
4	1:30.691	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
5	1:30.719	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
6	1:30.781	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
7	1:31.144	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
8	1:31.200	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
9	1:31.438	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
10	1:31.445	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
11	1:31.460	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
12	1:31.513	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
13	1:31.554	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
14	1:31.564	Sergio Perez	  Force India
15	1:31.737	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
16	1:31.859	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
17	1:31.860	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
18	1:32.047	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
19	1:32.463	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
20	1:32.865	Lance Stroll	  Williams

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:56 am

Qualifying Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Qualifying	Driver		  Team
1	1:27.958	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	1:28.101	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	1:28.124	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:28.220	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
5	1:28.398	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
6	1:29.329	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
7	1:29.358	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
8	1:29.570	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
9	1:29.874	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
10	1:29.986	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
________________________________________________________
11	1:30.105	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
12	1:30.156	Sergio Perez	  Force India
13	1:30.212	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
14	1:30.525	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
15	No Time		Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
_______________________________________________________
16	1:30.530	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
17	1:31.063	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
18	1:31.414	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
19	1:31.420	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
20	1:31.503	Lance Stroll	  Williams
Hamilton takes a 5 grid place penalty into the race and should start in grid position 9
Max Verstappen crashed into the outside barrier of turn 2 in Q1. He was classified in Q1 with the 4th fastest time.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:34 pm

Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
3	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
5	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
6	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
7	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
8	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
9	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
10	Esteban Ocon	  Force
11	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
12	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
13	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
14	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
16	Sergio Perez	  Force India
17	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
DNF	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
DNF	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
DNF	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
Perez crossed the finish line in 12th but had 30s added to his race time for passing on the formation lap.
Hartley crossed the finish line in 13th but had 30s added to his race time for failing to retake his original starting position before reaching the safety-car line on the formation lap.

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by Tim » Tue Apr 10, 2018 7:07 pm

That was a good race from Ferrari and Vettel who managed to last on worn tyres ... they gambled and it worked. Felt sorry for Raikkonen though!

I was suprised by the lack of pace from Hamilton ... yes he started with a penalty but he recovered quickly. His one stop didn't work at all!

I think though that Bahrain suited the Ferrari more than Mercedes unlike in Australia where it was the other way around. I think Mercedes still have an edge and that will show in the next race where they usually do better (Mercedes won in the last 4 years!)

Gasley impressed me most, getting the Toro Rosso Honda ahead of all those including the 2 McLarens was an achievement. I doubt anyone thought Honda can recover this quick ... lets hope they continue to show improvements. On the other hand McLaren were disappointing after a worst qualifying than Australia particularly after stating that they have big upgrades coming!

There was some good overtaking and that is always a good thing

China is just around the corner so we'll see :-)

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain GP Thead

Post by cmlean » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:21 pm

I really have to agree with Tim.

Vettel drove an excellent race and the strategies of both the Ferrari of Vettel and the Mercedes of Bottas could have resulted in a victory for either. The closing stages were one for the history books.

Hamilton suffered through his 5 place grid penalty and. although his start was spot on, his position on the track left him with nowhere to go once his launch was complete. I think that he realizes the value of amassing points throughout the whole season so he took his safe passes when they were presented to him. The tangle with Verstappen could have ruined his day but Verstappen was the one to endure the pain of a no point event.

Gasly was my Driver of the Day. A cool head on young shoulders in the way he fought back after the pass by Magnussen really set up the rest of his race.

Bring on China.

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