The 2006 Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:34 pm

Snowy wrote: Surely Fernando has more fuel on board than Jenson Ed? Fernando was 8tenths quicker than Jense during the second session and that would suggest he felt very confident to go conservative on fuel. And we mustn't forget that this circuit really suits longer stints rather than sprints.

No doubt we shall see in due time.
Thanks for the coverage, we're still envious though

What we looked at is the pace of the cars in the 3rd session and it appeared that Ferrari were fastest followed closely by Renault whereas Honda and McLaren were visibly slower.
Of course that could be down to the performance of those cars and not the fuel load only!
However reading Massa's comments, he seems to indicate they think they are lighter than the others (perhaps only him

)

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:46 pm

Ed wrote:
What we looked at is the pace of the cars in the 3rd session and it appeared that Ferrari were fastest followed closely by Renault whereas Honda and McLaren were visibly slower.
Of course that could be down to the performance of those cars and not the fuel load only!
However reading Massa's comments, he seems to indicate they think they are lighter than the others (perhaps only him )

That would explain a lot if Massa is running light, because he really hasn't had enough experience in that V8 to be that close to Schui unless of course he is the greatest racing car driver the world has never seen

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:33 pm

Just one hour to go and then we'll know just how much fuel Farrari had to shed to get that pole, how deep the Honda was brave and how much Alonso has in hand.

You can either take the red pill or the green pill whichever

we're gonna see how deep the rabbit hole goes

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:08 pm

News just in

some teams noteably Renault have protested against Farrari's rear wing.

They say it's flexing, Charlie Whiting has looked into it and he reakons it's legal. Renault say they know how it works and it's interpreting the rules in a bendy way

Remember all that fuss about fuel tanks in Hondas. I wonder what will come of this.

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:15 pm

Any body get it right?

Quite good entertainment I'd say, didn't Nico do well?

Martin Brundle's man of the race. kimi was pretty mighty and both mclaren's made it to the end of the race

Jenson stuffed JPM (twice) didn't he?

And Fernando and Renault were unbelievably hungry and chewed up the Farrari and spat it out

Great opening GP I'd say.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:19 am

All of this is of course IMHO.
A bloody good race.
That Renault/michelin combo is a sweet little package. The angle of attack Alonso was using into the apexs (apexi?) was the difference.
Is it my warped mind, or is Alonso looking more like Peter Sellers every day?
Drive of the day. Kimi..no question.
failure of the day JB....Kimi made him look ordinary. JB is going to start getting a bit desperate, if he does not produce for Honda he simply has no where else to go.
Schuey has lost .100 of a sec a lap every lap. Still an incredibly gifted driver, now mortal.
Massa.....space cowboy ?.....if he had taken out Alonso..was there a big bonus waiting ? I Know....keep taking the pills.
Monty....is his heart really in it ?
Gremlin award...Barrichello/Fisi...deadheat.
Redface award .Toyota... they went in a different direction to Ferrari and Williams with the B tyres....and came back to the same path too late
Freshest engines For Sepang ? (not including replacements)
Barrichello, Webber, JPM,
The Mad Max award....those V10s are bloody quick.
Now everyone is raving about Nico......to a point I agree.....did Williams unleash the engine mapping to get constuctors points ?
The young Rossberg is a future WCD no doubt in my mind whatsoever.
He is very, very quick, HAS GREAT CAR BALANCE, AND IS AFRAID OF NO-ONE. The only reason I do not put him equal with Kimi for drive of the day is this stupid 2 race engine rule.
Do we send horses into the Melbourne Cup. Aintree Grand National, Ellerslie Cup, that Sand Thing in the USA.....(sorry Mfer it is getting late

) with hobbles on > Do we say to the Jockeys, save the horse we have to go around next weekend.
When IS mad max going to understand we want to see these guys racing FLAT OUT.
Heady dive of the day.....MW of course.....long fuelled, stayed out of trouble, did not stress the engine, gearbox etc.....I suspect he was bored stupid.
TYhe needless "nerf" award. Why does Ralf make contact with just about every driver overtaking him ?
Marx Brothers award.......were I connected to a certain team running Honda engines....seppuku would be the only honorable option.
Hot seat award....MW won it twice last year.....JV.
questions I would like answered.
the difference between MW and Nico's fastest laps
Same for JV and Nick
Same for JPM and Kimmi
Hardest driver in F1 award...DC. With Star and Bar.
IMHO

Ed · Post by Ed » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:25 am

Fernando Alonso wins the first race of the season ahead of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. Jenson Button, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Christian Klien made the top 8 - Full Results.

It was a very close race from start to finish with Alonso winning by just 1.2 seconds. Alonso starting from 4th got ahead of Button on the start and passed Massa on the first lap and chased Michael.
At the first round of stops, Michael who pitted first managed to maintain the lead however Alonso managed to take the lead by less than a car length following the second round of stops. It was very close.

Behind them Kimi Raikkonen managed to make it from 22nd and last on the grid into 3rd on a single stop strategy while Button managed 4th following a poor start. Montoya stayed out the longest before his first stop but only managed 5th in the end while Mark Webber finished 6th ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg who had to make an early pit stop for a front wing change while Christian Klien made the top 8.

Only 4 retirements with Fisichella who struggled early in the race and later retired, Villeneuve who suffered a spectacular engine failure while Albers and Ide retired with mechanical problems.

Looks like we'll have a great season

Ed · Post by Ed » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:33 am

Julian Mayo wrote:questions I would like answered.
the difference between MW and Nico's fastest laps
Same for JV and Nick
Same for JPM and Kimmi

Fastest laps:
1 Nico Rosberg 1:32.408
2 Michael Schumacher 1:32.523
3 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:32.534
4 Mark Webber 1:32.660
5 Jenson Button 1:32.729
6 Felipe Massa 1:32.739
7 Juan Pablo Montoya 1:32.771
8 Kimi R?ikk?nen 1:32.864
9 Scott Speed 1:33.108
10 Christian Klien 1:33.212
11 David Coulthard 1:33.376
12 Vitantonio Liuzzi 1:33.480
13 Jacques Villeneuve 1:33.694
14 Nick Heidfeld 1:33.772
15 Rubens Barrichello 1:33.840
16 Ralf Schumacher 1:34.112
17 Giancarlo Fisichella 1:34.320
18 Jarno Trulli 1:34.852
19 Tiago Monteiro 1:35.940
20 Takuma Sato 1:37.104
21 Yuji Ide 1:38.302

Good idea Julian. We'll try to add this for every race

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:42 am

I have to take issue with you over failure of the day, Jenson made JPM look like a pedestrian not once but twice

And I am sure he'll get a better sart in Malaysia and have a fresher engine his fastest lap time appears very conservative to me

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:25 am

All-in-all, it was a great race. Alonso still showed that he is the man to beat in '06, but M. Schumacher might have shown today that he's still a threat for WDC this year. Best performance of the day, though.....without question, it was Kimi Raikkonen; starts shotgun on the whole field and with a 1-stop strategy, makes it onto the podium. I just hope that McLaren figures out how to make their car reliable or it's a long, long season for Raikkonen and Montoya.

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:54 am

It's awfully quite out here

I'd have expected a little more activity

What gives?

Any explanation Ed?

Snowy · Post by **Snowy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:00 am

mlittle wrote: I just hope that McLaren figures out how to make their car reliable or it's a long, long season for Raikkonen and Montoya.

I don't think you have much to worry about Mfer, both Merc's made it to the end of the race and they were quick (in the right hands) weren't they?

I think the Honda of JB has more to give and I can't wait to review the live timing on the official F1 web site and get some insight into their real pace Jenson was very confident that he had the pace just not the luck with traffic.

It really is shaping up better than we could have possibly imagined

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:09 am

Snowy wrote:I have to take issue with you over failure of the day, Jenson made JPM look like a pedestrian not once but twice

And I am sure he'll get a better sart in Malaysia and have a fresher engine his fastest lap time appears very conservative to me

If that is the only bite I am going to get, I am going back to bed

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:36 am

Snowy wrote:I have to take issue with you over failure of the day, Jenson made JPM look like a pedestrian not once but twice

Yeah, I don't think Button boy did a too bad job, seemed quick and not afraid of overtaking.

I think next race will be very interesting and put this race into perspective. Most entertaining driver of the day goes to Nico, I am sure Williams had to redesign the cockpit to fit that boys balls in.

BlinkyBill · Post by **BlinkyBill** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:45 am

That was a great race, and in there are a lot of things to take away from it isnt there.

In terms of teams, yes, Ferrari are back, Mclaren look a lot better early on than expected, and Renault are as expected.

I was disappointed in Honda. They didnt seem to have race pace. JB says the cluth at the start was the problem, but they didnt seem to threaten anyone and suggest they would have gotten the same result with a better start.

But what suprises me of all is the continued talk of "4 teams in the hunt" and no talk of Williams. Mark was obviously looking after his engine. He sat back, watched his opponent and pounced when he had to. He had the 4th fastest time, with Nico the fastest. Those Cosworth engines are good. . . . whas the team just a bit worried about endurance? Will we see another cautious approach in super hot malaysia, followed by an onslaught in Australia for MW with a fresh engine. These guys could be a threat early on.

Team Mate Wars:

- MSchum v Massa . . . Massa know how to drive, just needs to learn how to do it for whole race distance.
- JPM v Kimi : very interesting that JPM was quicker than Kimi but was beaten. Was it just that Kimi's strategy was better for the conditions?? Looking forward to seeing them start at a comparable grid posy to see how they go.
- MW v Nico . . . 2 very different races for these boys. Nico was more enjoyable to watch, but MW arguably playing smart too. Good signs that the team has 2 top class drivers.
- JV and Nick . . . JV faster, but Nick seems the more capable of overtaking. Will be a good tussle this year.

And the track? Excellent. Lots of passing. A good day all in all.