Lewis Hamilton has won the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading nearly every lap but 5 due to a different strategy for Raikkonen. The Finn finished second for Ferrari, passing Rosberg 3 laps from the end. The latter finished in third place.
A very confident Hamilton which has got the season already in his hands, arguably.
A very frustrtated and annoyed Rosberg whom remembers last race in China and last year in Bahrain all to well.
Hamilton has a clear calm mindset. Rosberg has an aggravated mindset. that means Rosberg will have a slight 'handicap'
compared to Lewis.
I can expect Rosberg to go 'drive for himself' and perhaps repeat a Monaco '14.
Race?
Ferrari probably stronger compared to China, not strong enough to beat Merc. I do expect Vettel to split the Mercs in qualification. I think Mercedes will do a better job in strategy. Only elephant in the room; Rosberg's attituted towards the team and Hamilton. This can and might even will affect Rosberg's race and, quite possibly, have on-track results. Read; not a Mercedes 1-2 thanks to a faulty mindset handling.
In all honesty, Mercedes imho didn't do a good job by telling Nico to 'act like a b*tch' to improve pace, so yeah, dear old Niki is going to have to put his finger in.
Hoping for a Max Verstappen finish again, this was just cruel to the poor guy who did an immense race in China. Not sure but i can imagine this being the first night race for the 'flying dutchman'.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
For Bahrain, the later start time is worse for the competitive picture, unfortunately, and also seems a bit odd given a normal start time is fine for European audience. Maybe a sign us audience is becoming more important?
Still, mark Hughes predicted Ferrari less strong in China but stronger again in Bahrain, so let's see.
Rosberg on pole last two years suggests it's one of his better circuits and if vettel could get in the mix it'd be fascinating.
i wonder if track temps will be higher then China.. Was it 40 at one point they said?
Id be surprised if Bahrain during night has track temps of that magnitude.
"If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother that person is a piece of sh*t"
SectorOne wrote:i wonder if track temps will be higher then China.. Was it 40 at one point they said?
Id be surprised if Bahrain during night has track temps of that magnitude.
Yeah I recalled the same. 40°C it was. But I honestly think it will be lower when it's dark.
When the race started in Shanghai, I remember Martin Brundle telling that, all the data that was collected on Friday was useless as the temperatures suddenly went far more than what they anticipated to some 40 degrees and the teams were expecting the temperatures to come down at later stages of race, which would help them to go on Mediums (couldn't understand how ?) So yes, it was unusually high for a Chinese GP.
SectorOne wrote:i wonder if track temps will be higher then China.. Was it 40 at one point they said?
Id be surprised if Bahrain during night has track temps of that magnitude.
f1316 wrote:The issue would have been if vettel had got ahead at the pit stop because of the slower pace; then the team would rightly have been annoyed, given the potential loss of a one-two. Still, didn't happen, so I'd say it's gamesmanship and that's gonna happen in a wdc battle.
For Bahrain, the later start time is worse for the competitive picture, unfortunately, and also seems a bit odd given a normal start time is fine for European audience. Maybe a sign us audience is becoming more important?
Still, mark Hughes predicted Ferrari less strong in China but stronger again in Bahrain, so let's see.
Rosberg on pole last two years suggests it's one of his better circuits and if vettel could get in the mix it'd be fascinating.
Track temp in bahrain was 27°C last year before the start of FP2 and falling. This will be another mercedes walk in the park. Tires will not be an issue. At least for them and ferrari. We've seen merc don't really struggle on options unless it's hell-like conditions.
The only real question remains whether merc's option rears will cope long enough for them to be able to go soft-soft-med. Given lower temps overall I'd say yes.
SectorOne wrote:i wonder if track temps will be higher then China.. Was it 40 at one point they said?
Id be surprised if Bahrain during night has track temps of that magnitude.
start of the race:
20 air - 46 track
end of the race:
20 air - 40 track
Still abnormally high for China.
Thanks!
So ideally for Ferrari they would need as high temps as possible to stay near Mercedes.
Edit: and thanks for the Bahrain temps. Yea Ferrari might have trouble with the Mediums but soft should run splendid netting them a solid and safe 3-4, possible 1-2 if Mercedes runs into problems.
"If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother that person is a piece of sh*t"
SectorOne wrote:i wonder if track temps will be higher then China.. Was it 40 at one point they said?
Id be surprised if Bahrain during night has track temps of that magnitude.
start of the race:
20 air - 46 track
end of the race:
20 air - 40 track
Still abnormally high for China.
Thanks!
So ideally for Ferrari they would need as high temps as possible to stay near Mercedes.
Edit: and thanks for the Bahrain temps. Yea Ferrari might have trouble with the Mediums but soft should run splendid netting them a solid and safe 3-4, possible 1-2 if Mercedes runs into problems.
I think the Mediums will be tough to get into Temps for Ferrari but if Softs are holding for some 20 laps for them in 1st stint i expect a 1-3 for Mercedes
Good thing about Bahrein from Ferrari perspective is that its much more rear tire limited, exact opposite of China where nobody had any significant problems with tires. Also Ferrari is bringing new updates to Bahrein but from where I'm sitting Merc advantage is simply to big for Ferrari to beat them tere. Although 2-4 could be a possibilty.
Mercedes will cake walk it again. They'll stay just ahead and match Ferrari pit stops. I hope Raikkonen gets a go at Vettel this time. I think the safety car ruined that in China. I'm also hoping McLaren will actually be able to race somebody.
How many races the engines need to last 4 or 5 this year? The Engine reliability means less running i believe and Bahrain is a Power Demanding Circuit.