2015 Bahrain Grand Prix thread

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 16 Apr 2015, 17:18

We're doing this one again, then? OK.

This is the tenth Bahrain Grand Prix, taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit, which is in Bahrain. Of the winners of the first nine Bahrain Grands Prix, six won the championship that year. So that's interesting.

Last time, this race was quite exciting, surprising many but meaning we are probably awaiting a decade of typical Tilke tedium to make up.

The race is held at twilight in an attempt to attract confused teenage girls. The start time is 18:00 Bahrain time, get a time zone chart to find out when it's on for you!

GP2 is also starting here, for fans of low-quality pay-drivers trying to attract attention for when Merhi goes back to WSR.

Drivers to watch in the F1 this week include Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, and the other 19 F1 drivers. Drivers NOT to watch include Mark Webber, Carmen Jorda, Bruno Senna, Luca Badoer, and anyone else not racing.

Will Hamilton continue to dominate? Will the Ferrari resurgence continue? Will Williams get where they are supposed to be? Will the Force India drivers remember they are supposed to be quite good? Will Toro Rosso continue to embaress Red Bull? Will Rosberg continue to suffer from the same Moaning Second Driver disease that befell Barrichello and Webber amongst others? Will McLaren sneak into Q2? Whither Manor?

BAHRAIN.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 16 Apr 2015, 17:28

I hate to be that guy, but can I just point out that this in fact the eleventh Bahrain Grand Prix? And of the winners of the first ten of those, seven went on to win the championship?

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 16 Apr 2015, 18:18

Maldonado saved the last year race. I hope he save the race again (not with a crash in this time).

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 16 Apr 2015, 18:20

GwilymJJames wrote:This is the tenth Bahrain Grand Prix, taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit, which is in Bahrain.

Lol. Bahrain sounds funny. Bahrain. Bah rain.. .. Bahrain. Trying to pronounce it in as many ways I can.
Bahrain. It sounds hilarious doesn't it. Bahrain, lol I'm gonna say Bahrain a few more times aloud.. ..
Bahrain. Bah.. Humbug.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Apr 2015, 20:21

GwilymJJames wrote:Drivers NOT to watch include Carmen Jorda.

Oh.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 16 Apr 2015, 22:15

GwilymJJames wrote:Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, and the other 19 F1 drivers

19?

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 16 Apr 2015, 23:15

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:
GwilymJJames wrote:Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, and the other 19 F1 drivers

19?

We all miss HRT.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 16 Apr 2015, 23:26

And so far nobody's questioned who's got the psychological edge over whom this weekend?
If only Jonathan Legard was here to explain which things are crucial this weekend (everything).

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 17 Apr 2015, 07:55

Rob Dylan wrote:And so far nobody's questioned who's got the psychological edge over whom this weekend?

The marshalls in Bahrain are feeling quietly confident they can out-perform their rivals from China, I know that much.

Speaking of which, Razta, are you appearing live this weekend?

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 17 Apr 2015, 09:08

Dj_bereta wrote:Maldonado saved the last year race. I hope he save the race again (not with a crash in this time).

Maldonado is the reason why we watch the F1.

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 17 Apr 2015, 09:23

Aguaman wrote:
Dj_bereta wrote:Maldonado saved the last year race. I hope he save the race again (not with a crash in this time).

Maldonado is the reason why we watch the F1.

In fact, Maldonado IS the F1

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 17 Apr 2015, 11:39

Rob Dylan wrote:And so far nobody's questioned who's got the psychological edge over whom this weekend?

One of those questions where the answer's so obvious that nobody's even bothered asking.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Apr 2015, 12:22

Warren Hughes wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:And so far nobody's questioned who's got the psychological edge over whom this weekend?

One of those questions where the answer's so obvious that nobody's even bothered asking.

Bernie thinks it's himself, but we all know it's HWNSNBM.

Oh. You mean active drivers? Will Stevens. Obvs.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 17 Apr 2015, 18:24

Vettel ends the day colliding with Perez and blaming the Mexican.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 17 Apr 2015, 20:32

On an optimistic note, the McLarens look great under floodlights!

Post by **mario** » 17 Apr 2015, 20:52

Dj_bereta wrote:Vettel ends the day colliding with Perez and blaming the Mexican.

It seems that Vettel has now backed away from his earlier comments, admitting that the problem was caused by a brake issue and offering an apology to Perez.

What is more interesting is that Tobias Grüner is claiming in AMuS that the real reason why Vettel couldn't brake properly is because his front wheel hadn't been attached correctly and that some of the other teams are complaining about the fact that Ferrari should be investigated for a second unsafe release (the first being in Australia).

Equally, Tobias is also claiming that Ferrari are already onto their second engine for this season - now, whilst not a major issue right now, it could perhaps start to hurt later in the season if they starting to have issues with stretching their engine mileage.
Mind you, at least it's not as bad as Renault - I believe that Kvyat and Ricciardo are both onto their third engines now. It's kind of remarkable, given how bad Honda's problems were before the season, that it's the two Red Bull drivers who have actually gone through the most engines in the opening races...

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 18 Apr 2015, 03:31

Man Bahrain looks pretty at night.

Another race weekend I might miss. Bummer but Lotus look in decent nick

Post by **Miguel98** » 18 Apr 2015, 12:34

Ah, Kvyat... Just... Wow. Damn, you're sucking hard. At this rate, Max will replace you before the season ends.

And more laughing at Kvyat. :lol:

Post by **Miguel98** » 18 Apr 2015, 16:04

So, Nico Rosberg continues to do his best impression of David Coulthard and Mark Webber. Or Eddie Irvine, for that matter. Well, time to make it official: Nico Rosberg is now a official number 2 for a reason.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 18 Apr 2015, 17:09

What happened with Maldonado and Kvyat? Horrendous qualify from the duo.

Post by **mario** » 18 Apr 2015, 17:52

Dj_bereta wrote:What happened with Maldonado and Kvyat? Horrendous qualify from the duo.

The radio traffic from the pit wall suggested that Maldonado had some sort of engine issue, which would appear to justify his poor performance in qualifying.

As for Kvyat, it looks like it was driver error rather than a mechanical issue - he's had a clumsy weekend (the way he let the car roll into a gravel trap in FP3 was just silly), and it looks as if he is struggling badly within Red Bull right now.

Miguel98 wrote:So, Nico Rosberg continues to do his best impression of David Coulthard and Mark Webber. Or Eddie Irvine, for that matter. Well, time to make it official: Nico Rosberg is now a official number 2 for a reason.

At least Coulthard was happier to accept that he was slower than Hakkinen and therefore the onus was on him to improve his performance.

On his current performance, Mercedes have no need to designate Rosberg as a second driver given that he is falling into that position by himself. After all, if Vettel proves to be the greatest threat to Hamilton's pursuit of the WDC, Mercedes will come under pressure to throw their weight behind Hamilton's bid to secure the best results for the team - it's imperative for Rosberg to start winning a string of races soon, as much for his own motivation if nothing else (he increasingly sounds like a beaten man even at this stage of the season).

razta · Post by **razta** » 18 Apr 2015, 19:43

CoopsII wrote:The marshalls in Bahrain are feeling quietly confident they can out-perform their rivals from China, I know that much.

Speaking of which, Razta, are you appearing live this weekend?

nope.. not this year.. I've got too much on my plate, work and "real life" lol

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 04:22

It's nice to see that it looks as if Mercedes will at least be kept honest by Ferrari this weekend. Or more specifically, Hamilton by Vettel, at any rate. Had a dream last night where Hamilton was punted off at the second corner in this one, although I doubt that will happen in reality!

razta · Post by **razta** » 19 Apr 2015, 05:14

Paul Hayes wrote:It's nice to see that it looks as if Mercedes will at least be kept honest by Ferrari this weekend. Or more specifically, Hamilton by Vettel, at any rate. Had a dream last night where Hamilton was punted off at the second corner in this one, although I doubt that will happen in reality!

I really hope that happens.. Vet and Ham off.. Rosberg cruises to his first win of the season.. and get's his confidence back.. as does Raikkonen to P2..

Post by **mario** » 19 Apr 2015, 05:43

razta wrote:
Paul Hayes wrote:It's nice to see that it looks as if Mercedes will at least be kept honest by Ferrari this weekend. Or more specifically, Hamilton by Vettel, at any rate. Had a dream last night where Hamilton was punted off at the second corner in this one, although I doubt that will happen in reality!

I really hope that happens.. Vet and Ham off.. Rosberg cruises to his first win of the season.. and get's his confidence back.. as does Raikkonen to P2..

It might depend to a certain extent whether Vettel can get a good start off the line or not - it seems that those starting from 2nd on the grid tended to make poor starts in all of the support races, and tended to lose out to 3rd place. If Rosberg gets ahead of Vettel early on, I can see Hamilton trying to bolt away from the pack in the opening laps to try and create as much of a gap to manage as possible, hoping that he can use Rosberg as a buffer to secure a gap between himself and Vettel.

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 19 Apr 2015, 09:34

razta wrote:
Paul Hayes wrote:It's nice to see that it looks as if Mercedes will at least be kept honest by Ferrari this weekend. Or more specifically, Hamilton by Vettel, at any rate. Had a dream last night where Hamilton was punted off at the second corner in this one, although I doubt that will happen in reality!

I really hope that happens.. Vet and Ham off.. Rosberg cruises to his first win of the season.. and get's his confidence back.. as does Raikkonen to P2..

Will Rosberg cruise to victory? I think Raikkonen might be a threat for that one, if the above happens.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:13

What odds you reckon for Alonso to break points duck this weekend? That Mclaren looks random in terms of pace, sometimes great, then off

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:15

"We need to really address seriously costs" - Bernie Ecclestone to Eddie Jordan.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:17

Well if that's the case stop charging over the odds for the races!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:31

No matter how many times I hear it, I still find it unreasonably odd that Claire Williams calls her father "Frank".

I imagine it's probably because coming up through the team she didn't want to create an atmosphere of her being any different to anybody else, so called him what everyone else called him, but still...

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:34

And Button has yet another problem with his car.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:38

Paul Hayes wrote:No matter how many times I hear it, I still find it unreasonably odd that Claire Williams calls her father "Frank".

I imagine it's probably because coming up through the team she didn't want to create an atmosphere of her being any different to anybody else, so called him what everyone else called him, but still...

I've been thinking that for the past five to ten years. If she referred to him as dad, we would all know to whom she was referring.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:39

Meanwhile, on Sky, Ron Dennis takes Martin Brundle stupidly literally:

"Your motor's broken?"
"No no, it's not the engine..."

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:43

"We looked at the data on the KERS and it was not clean" Ron

SODOMISED ELECTRONS!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCGO_jikBtM

GEFAFWISP or else!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 19 Apr 2015, 14:53

I wonder whether the BBC and Sky are both desperately scrambling to try and get Button as a commentary box guest?

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:02

Button fails to start, Massa pitlane start!! crazy!!

Carlos Sainz 5 second pen for exceeding recconassaince time? WTF? Never heard of that one!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:02

sswishbone wrote:Button fails to start, Massa pitlane start!! crazy!!

And on top of that Sainz has a penalty for an infringement nobody knew existed before.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:05

Ballsy start from Raikonnen!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:05

Kvyat almost got overtaken by a Manor...

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Apr 2015, 15:06

WTF is Maldonado doing?