The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

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Ataxia
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The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Ataxia »

I think I'd be right in saying that this is the first Bahrain Grand Prix thread coming directly from Bahrain. Possibly.

Anyway, like some kind of poor-man's Michael Palin, your intrepid erstwhile sometime writer is now gallivanting around the F2 paddock trying to look slightly professional. As if you didn't know.

I can bring you exclusive nuggets of information from the *checks Wikipedia* constitutional monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Such as, why are there so many carpet shops? Where are the best places to eat and - yes! - drink (for extortionate rates, a pint of Guinness costs about 7 BHD, which is about £12. Still not quite as bad as London prices...), and why does Manama sound like an excerpt from the Muppets theme song?

Actually, I don't know why. Next question.

Regardless, this weekend brings the 15th edition of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which has become something of a modern classic thanks to the addition of darkness and DRS, widely considered to be synonymous. Classic races at the Sakhir circuit include the 2010 "endurance" event (which bored the pants off of spectators with "that bit" which has never been used again in F1), the 2014 one where Hulkenberg had a podium place and, true to form, suddenly didn't, and the famous-in-GPR-folklore 2011 edition where...lots of things happened.

This year, things may or may not happen. More things will happen in Australia, that's for certain, but other than that I have no idea. I'm sure all the drivers will get their just...deserts.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by mario »

Ataxia wrote:I think I'd be right in saying that this is the first Bahrain Grand Prix thread coming directly from Bahrain. Possibly.

I think so - here's hoping that your posting goes well (and it'll be interesting to see what you make of some of the hot shots, such as Norris, in that race).

Ataxia wrote:This year, things may or may not happen. More things will happen in Australia, that's for certain, but other than that I have no idea. I'm sure all the drivers will get their just...deserts.

Well, one thing that does appear to be happening is that Honda are already having to introduce new MGU-H's and new turbochargers for Gasly to address a design fault that showed up in Australia when Gasly retired from the race (which was linked to the shock loading the car experienced when he ran wide and struck the floor of the car on a particular kerb). As for Hartley, some seem to be suggesting that he will also run the new parts in Bahrain as a precautionary measure.

To compound things for Gasly, it seems that, whilst the engine was still running when he returned to the pits, it suffered enough damage whilst he drove back for that to need to be changed as well (though Hartley's engine seems to be OK). https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hond ... o-1021470/
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Barbazza »

I will be flying over Bahrain on Saturday on the way to the home of Brendon Hartley (not literally his house, I'm not a stalker) though I doubt if this will be directly over the circuit and even if it is, not when there will be cars on the track.

This anecdote is about as exciting as yer average Bahrain GP.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by WaffleCat »

From what I've seen on the circuit's twitter, it appears the main grandstand caught fire yesterday or so.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

Um yeah, I looked at the Twitter thing too, and it does appear that things are really HEATING UP around the circuit before this weekend. These drivers are wishing their championship hopes don't go UP IN FLAMES. And if it was a security failure, I hope someone got FIRED.

But seriously, I hope nothing bad happened. Hopefully it's just a lot of hot air.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

Haas are showing pace in the "means nothing" FP1 in Bahrain. As I write this, Grosjean is 1st and Magnussen is 3rd.

And I'm certainly not complaining.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by good_Ralf »

One shouldn't jump the gun with this news but it looks like Vettel's had another slice of luck at Lewis' expense: https://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-1/bahrain-grand-prix/2018/lewis-hamilton-handed-five-place-grid-penalty-for-gearbox-change_sto6703302/story.shtml
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

The Mercedes livery looks really good with the Bahraini lighting. I've already said I don't like it that much in general, but best night livery: that's got to count for something.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

Both Honda-powered Toro Rossos outqualify both no-longer-Honda-powered McLarens.

Very possibly, there's an early contender for IIDOTR coming up, if tomorrow is a repeat performance.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Enforcer »

Meanwhile, it's shaping up to be a long season for Williams.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Aislabie »

Absolute scenes from Gasly; meanwhile I think we may have to start questioning McLaren a little bit if they keep doing that.

Although it may also bode well for RBR-Honda in 2019. That would add the dynamic of who Renault would bring in to replace Sainz. Bottas maybe?
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by dr-baker »

Enforcer wrote:Meanwhile, it's shaping up to be a long season for Williams.

Yeah, this is going to be a painful season to watch.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Aguvazk »

Aislabie wrote:Absolute scenes from Gasly; meanwhile I think we may have to start questioning McLaren a little bit if they keep doing that.

Although it may also bode well for RBR-Honda in 2019. That would add the dynamic of who Renault would bring in to replace Sainz. Bottas maybe?


Why not Ricciardo to Renault and Sainz to RbH? If Renault wanna be a championship contender, they need a no 1 driver (sorry hulk) and Ricciardo wont be really a wd contender in Ferrari or Mercedes (and red bull with Verstappen)
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Samster »

Enforcer wrote:Meanwhile, it's shaping up to be a long season for Williams.


Starting to think this will be the season Williams finally finish last in the WCC.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Waris »

Williams... Four years ago they had a front row lockout and finished 3rd in the WCC, now they're propping up the back of the grid. What a shambles. It's painful to watch indeed. I think even having Kubica as a driver would not have helped them much this year.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by mario »

Waris wrote:Williams... Four years ago they had a front row lockout and finished 3rd in the WCC, now they're propping up the back of the grid. What a shambles. It's painful to watch indeed. I think even having Kubica as a driver would not have helped them much this year.

From what Mark Hughes was saying during the pre-season tests, the current Williams car looks like a bit of a disaster and looked just as bad whether it was Kubica, Stroll or Sirotkin driving it - it sounds as if they have a lot of problems with an unstable front end. Kubica might even be slightly relieved given that the poor performance of this car sounds like it could be something of a career killer - at the very least, it probably would have made some fans think that Kubica wasn't up to scratch if he couldn't do any better.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by AdrianBelmonte_ »

Aislabie wrote:Absolute scenes from Gasly; meanwhile I think we may have to start questioning McLaren a little bit if they keep doing that.

Although it may also bode well for RBR-Honda in 2019. That would add the dynamic of who Renault would bring in to replace Sainz. Bottas maybe?


I can't see that lap from Gasly as nothing but a total fluke, i guess both Toro Rossos will drop a number of places today, also McLaren needs to work on that 1-lap pace, it's their weakest point
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

A career-killer? Is it time to update our career-killing cars thread again?
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Warren Hughes »

Red Bull, this has not gone well
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Londoner »

One thing's for certain, the internet is going to be a wasteland this evening as the Hamilton and Verstappen factions declare war on each other.

Meanwhile, can someone have a word in the ear of these midfielders that they are, you know, actually allowed to defend against Hamilton, rather than just meekly let him breeze past. :facepalm:
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Enforcer »

East Londoner wrote:Meanwhile, can someone have a word in the ear of these midfielders that they are, you know, actually allowed to defend against Hamilton, rather than just meekly let him breeze past. :facepalm:


Lewis' MO when he's down the grid after qualifying has always been to divebomb his way past everyone. The midfielders know this and don't bother defending against him because they'll either lose a load of time and get passed anyway eventually, or he'll crash into them.

Best driver in the world though and all that.

EDIT: Also Pierre Gasly.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Paul Hayes »

Nice to see lots of people with reason to be happy - Toro Rosso and Haas scoring big points, both McLarens scoring for the second race in a row, even Sauber scoring. Feel a bit sorry for Williams, though, looks like a tough season for them. After a while when it seemed they might be on the way back up, sadly it does look as if they are going all Lotus-in-the-90s again.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Benetton »

Didn't expect Gasly to unreject himself this year. What a superb effort. Also big props to Ericsson.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

McLaren are third in the Constructors' Championship - and yet, I suspect they'll be as sick as the proverbial parrots watching a 22-year-old almost-rookie (who looks like he should still be wearing a school uniform with short trousers at that) powered by their old clunker of a Honda engine beat them to a better result than they could manage in three years with a double World Champion in one of the cars.

As for Williams... who was it who said this might finally be the year they finish bottom of the table? That might be worth a bet. I'd still say Sauber have the slowest car out there, but if Marcus Ericsson can score points in it, Charles Leclerc will surely also score on more than one occasion, and it'll take a fluke of Baku 2017 proportions to get Williams ahead of them. Even at this stage I reckon Toro Rosso have done enough to finish ahead of Williams, and Haas surely will score a sackload more points in the next few races.

We may actually be living in interesting times.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by mario »

Enforcer wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Meanwhile, can someone have a word in the ear of these midfielders that they are, you know, actually allowed to defend against Hamilton, rather than just meekly let him breeze past. :facepalm:


Lewis' MO when he's down the grid after qualifying has always been to divebomb his way past everyone. The midfielders know this and don't bother defending against him because they'll either lose a load of time and get passed anyway eventually, or he'll crash into them.

Best driver in the world though and all that.

EDIT: Also Pierre Gasly.

To be honest, you could probably replace Hamilton's name with that of quite a few other drivers on the grid - I mean, some of the moves Ricciardo's pulled over the years feel rather "dive bomb"esque.

A race of somewhat mixed emotions for many, I suspect - as dinizintheoven notes, on the one hand they will be heartened by the fact that they are already much further up the field than they were before, but on the other Gasly's performance will be something of a bittersweet note for them.

Mind you, on the other hand Hartley was nowhere near where Gasly was, whilst Vandoorne didn't seem to struggle too much against Hartley - so it remains to be seen whether Gasly's performance really is a true reflection of the potential of the car and the engine, or if it turns out to be something of a one off fluke. After all, Gasly did have to change most of his power unit before this race, so he's already likely to be looking at a couple of penalties later on in the season.

Further down, whilst Haas must be pleased with Magnussen's performance, Grosjean's performance was rather lousy. OK, the car was damaged during the race, so there are mitigating circumstances, but he was poor in qualifying and there was that rather bizarre moment where he seemed to be letting Magnussen through, only to then very nearly take him out when he turned back in on him.

As for Sauber, well, Ericsson's performance today was pretty decent, and it does suggest that the team might have a few opportunities to pick up points over the year - the fact that he also thoroughly beat Leclerc might also give him a bit more credit in the paddock too.

As for Williams, well, things went about as poorly as the pre-race build up suggested - it was noted that Williams were the only team whose lap times were worse than 2017, and indeed their lap times were barely better than they were in Q1 in the 2016 race. Now, there are those who are keen to throw the drivers under the bus, but the car is fairly lousy too - I think that there will be a lot of alarm bells going off at Grove now, and Lowe might be starting to come under pressure.

Ferrari, too, must find today a rather difficult day - Vettel's win means he already has a useful lead over Hamilton in the WCC, thanks to some fairly good fortune in the past few races, but on the other hand that accident in the pit lane with the mechanic - and it is being reported that he's broken two bones in his leg might be raising a few concerns within the team about potential pit lane mistakes. One detail that has been noted is that Haas and Ferrari both use the same traffic light system, so the fact that we've had three accidents in the past two races might prompt a bit of concern at Ferrari: it might also start drawing some unwanted attention from the FIA too. Looking beyond that, that accident also means that Kimi wasn't around to take points off Hamilton either, whereas Bottas was more of a threat to Vettel and threatened to take the win off him at the end.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Alextrax52 »

I agree with Londoner in that it could be made more difficult to climb through the field. While I don't expect Bernoldi's on Coulthard's every race at least try and ruffle some of the feathers of the big teams and give us some laughter. The way Hamilton passed Gasly in particular was very hard to watch with the Frenchman not even moving to defend an inch

Has this race proved that Bottas is lacking that killer mentality which seperates the good drivers from the great ones? I guarantee if Hamilton was in that position he'd have had a proper go at Vettel not caring if the move came off or not. Mercedes needed Bottas to take those crucial 7 points away from Seb but he lacked the bravery. Still after the miserable start in Australia outqualifying Lewis even before the penalty was applied here will give him a lift before China

Some excellent performances behind starting with Gasly who was driver of the weekend without a doubt. I think that's only a 4th top 4 finish in Toro Rosso's history and the 2nd in dry weather running. Seeing both cars outqualify both McLaren's brought a sense of schadenfreude to my face. Hartley would probably have scored too without his penalty and considering both cars were knocked out in Q1 at Australia that's some turnaround. Then again the midfield is so tight early doors that these situations may happen a lot

A word on Marcus Ericsson who delivered a real feel good moment to score for the first time since Italy 2015 and would surely be the leading IIDOTR if not for Gasly. Of course one must take into account he only did 1 stop (something only the 3 podium men made work too) but it's not like he was being monstered by anybody late in the race only losing out to Vandoorne indicating that Sauber have an improved motor car. Ericsson has also shown up well against Leclerc early doors although Charles will probably take charge when he's settled in fully

Williams. Oh god where do you begin. 20 years ago was the start of their fall from the top with the groove tires and narrow cars but even then they managed some podiums and came 3rd overall. On this early evidence I honestly can't see Williams scoring a point unless we have a chaotic race. I agree with Mario that while their drivers aren't electric talents the car is clearly a dud to the point that it's the slowest in the field by some margin. I felt for the drivers being passed left, right and centre during the pitstop cycles which signals there's a mountain to climb

Finally I hope that the Ferrari mechanic will recover quickly and be back in the paddock soon as we never like to see that in F1 and it's times like this that you realise how dangerous it is because of how effortless it looks. But I wonder if it would be better to bring back the lollipop man that we had in the 2000's because obviously the biggest difference between that and a traffic light system is the lollipop man can actually see if there's a problem creating a potential danger. Given some of the wheel disasters we've had in the 2010's (Mark Webber Germany 2013 anyone) and the fact that this was the 2nd time this weekend that Raikkonen had an unsafe release in a bad pit stop would it decrease the risk to bring the lollipop back?
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Spectoremg »

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:
Aislabie wrote:Absolute scenes from Gasly; meanwhile I think we may have to start questioning McLaren a little bit if they keep doing that.

Although it may also bode well for RBR-Honda in 2019. That would add the dynamic of who Renault would bring in to replace Sainz. Bottas maybe?


I can't see that lap from Gasly as nothing but a total fluke, i guess both Toro Rossos will drop a number of places today, also McLaren needs to work on that 1-lap pace, it's their weakest point

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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by good_Ralf »

As good a race as that was, sadly I get the feeling that with Seb winning again, this championship will be nothing more than a two-horse race between Hamilton and Vettel once more, instead of a close fight between drivers from all three teams. Especially given how Bottas and Verstappen have shown some inconsistency and it's clear now Red Bull's reliability issues have followed on from past seasons. And yet again, Raikkonen's having the smaller share of the luck at Ferrari in spite of his improved pace.

Still, that race had loads of awesome moments, I really hope the midfield remains this close across the whole season.

I agree Hamilton passed some of those cars a little too easily with DRS, but I could just as well argue that if faster cars like Hamilton get stuck in the midfield, they'd lose crucial time against their rivals upfront and that would possibly deny us even more exciting racing later on in the race. A potentially unpopular and unoriginal opinion from me, but that's my 2¢ for ya.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

A tense strategic battle up front with a great culmination, and lots of short-term action with the rest of the field to keep the former from being boring. And multiple drivers deserving of IIDOTR. This made up for Australia and more.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Ataxia »

Good lord, what a week it's been. I only caught the first few laps of the F1, to be honest I don't think I could handle any more excitement...
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by mario »

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Finally I hope that the Ferrari mechanic will recover quickly and be back in the paddock soon as we never like to see that in F1 and it's times like this that you realise how dangerous it is because of how effortless it looks. But I wonder if it would be better to bring back the lollipop man that we had in the 2000's because obviously the biggest difference between that and a traffic light system is the lollipop man can actually see if there's a problem creating a potential danger. Given some of the wheel disasters we've had in the 2010's (Mark Webber Germany 2013 anyone) and the fact that this was the 2nd time this weekend that Raikkonen had an unsafe release in a bad pit stop would it decrease the risk to bring the lollipop back?

I have seen a few individuals here and there advocating for bringing back a mechanic with the lollipop board, but thinking about the sequence of events in this particular race, I am not sure if that would have made any difference.

For a start, we have seen similar incidents occur with mechanics using a lollipop board - going back to the 2010 Italian GP, where HRT were still using a conventional lollipop board, we saw a mechanic being knocked to the ground (thankfully with only minor injuries) because the person with the lollipop board did not see them and gave Yamamoto the signal to go.

Another issue is the fact that the person who holds the lollipop board has to stand some way to the side of the car in order to monitor traffic in the fast lane and to make sure he is out of the way of the driver. Because of that, that mechanic has a fairly poor line of sight towards the opposite corner of the car, since that will be partially obscured by the cockpit and engine cover - when accidents tended to occur, I believe that it was more often down to problems on the far side of the car that were out of the line of sight of the lollopop man.

In this situation, it may have also been difficult for somebody with a lollipop board to tell what was going on because the mechanic in question was crouched over the rear tyre with his leg in front of it. His body position would have potentially made it difficult for a mechanic standing in front of the car to tell at a quick glance that anything was amiss, so that might not have prevented this accident from occurring.

So far, it is also notable that all of the incidents that have occurred so far this year have either occurred for Haas or for Ferrari, and Haas is known to use the same traffic light system as Ferrari do. That would suggest to me that there is more likely to be a specific common system that both teams are using that is responsible for these accidents - possibly with the lights system, but possibly also with the design of the axle that is resulting in problems with the wheel nuts jamming (which, in retrospect, might explain Haas's problems in Australia if they were using the same system).
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by sswishbone »

Kudos to Vettel for hanging on but one has to wonder if Bottas has now condemned himself to a number two driver role? That race should have been his but squandered it.

Also spare a thought for that mechanic, bleeding hell that was awful to watch!
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

That was the first race in quite a while I've ended with a big smile on my face. There were a lot of positives to get out of that, even if it does appear that it's going to be another Vettel-Hamilton championship. There were unusual results, much of the spotlight was on the underdogs and the smaller teams, and there was a great sense of triumph over adversity.

Forgetting the bigger picture of the championship, especially seeing as this was still only the second race (of 21 (groan)), I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Good job Formula 1.
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by dr-baker »

Rob Dylan wrote:That was the first race in quite a while I've ended with a big smile on my face.

It was the best race since the second BTCC race at Brands Hatch on the same day. That race was enough to put a smile on any spectator's face. http://www.itv.com/btcc/races
watka wrote:I find it amusing that whilst you're one of the more openly Christian guys here, you are still first and foremost associated with an eye for the ladies!
dinizintheoven wrote:GOOD CHRISTIANS do not go to jail. EVERYONE ON FORMULA ONE REJECTS should be in jail.
MCard LOLA
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Ataxia
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by Ataxia »

mario wrote:
Ataxia wrote:I think I'd be right in saying that this is the first Bahrain Grand Prix thread coming directly from Bahrain. Possibly.

I think so - here's hoping that your posting goes well (and it'll be interesting to see what you make of some of the hot shots, such as Norris, in that race).


Now I've had time to catch my breath (having been running on an hour of plane-sleep yesterday...) let's get right into it.

If you didn't watch this weekend's F2 races, go and watch them now. I'm not condoning illegal recordings, but where there's a will...

Norris was just quick off the bat all weekend; we had an inkling that this was coming when we tested at Le Castellet, but he was untouchable in the feature. The big question is whether he can do the same when he's not on pole in Race 1, because he wasn't quite able to overcome Sette Camara in the Sprint...

...speaking of whom, what an improvement over last season! Sure, he won a race then, but he's looking even more mighty this year. Carlin have got their sh*t together with the new car, certainly.

RUSSIAN TIME, however, didn't; pre-season, they were nowhere. Markelov spent most of the tests unhappy, and Makino spent most of them either in the garage or struggling with the clutch. They've really turned it around, and Artem looked oh-so-comfortable when hacking his way through the field on Saturday. Quali pace is a bit of an unknown for him, but Tada grabbed eighth so it's certainly there.

Russell and Aitken had a bit of a mixed weekend, but I'm confident they'll both find a rhythm. I worry that Jack's too "nice" to keep a consistent challenge against George, but they're both excellent.

De Vries had a bit of a rough one, just couldn't seem to get his head around the tyre deg, but he should certainly be a factor in the championship battle if PREMA can get it together.

Maxi Gunther and Arjun Maini both look like they've made the transition with ease; sure, Maini didn't score, but he's been consistently quick in pre-season and if he can sort qualifying out, he'll be right up there.

I'm just happy that the field's so strong this year...
Mitch Hedberg wrote:I want to be a race car passenger: just a guy who bugs the driver. Say man, can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we gotta keep going in circles? Man, you really like Tide...
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Re: The 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

Post by TomWazzleshaw »

Biscione wrote:"Some Turkemenistani gulag repurposed for residential use" is the best way yet I've heard to describe North / East Glasgow.
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