2017 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, April 14-16

[godlameroso]

Race day is going to be extremely windy, around 20mph winds, the race conditions won't be anything like today or tomorrow which could mean the cars will be sliding and locking up brakes a fair amount due to cross winds and sand being blown onto the circuit. The temperature for the next two days will be slightly cooler than today as well.

[dans79]

Vettel might be sitting in P1, but Ferrari doesn't look that comfortable. Kimi with engine issues, Vettel with electrical & brare temp issues, even a little cursing over the radio.

[Bill_Kar]

Practice 2 was really really interesting.
I wonder how much will cost Vettel for not running race sim with SS (if it'll cost him any).
But I watched his laptimes on S, he seemed to have some pace albeit he was more up and down than stable laptimes*. That could be the brake cooling he needed and was talking all the time during both Practices.Will that be a problem on Sunday?

Now I didn't get a clear picture about Hamilton's pace on SS, he showed the same inconsistency as Vettel on Soft so I won't take my chances on that. Rai was enormously strong and seems that he is on average 2 tenths in front of Bottas.

Now about Red Bull, I compared Ricciardo and Hamilton and I observed some rather dissatisfying patterns. Ricciardo was something more than one second, on average, down to Hamilton.That is where we should concentrate, more than the results.

It's clear that Mercedes is faster in S1, Ferrari faster in S2 and S3 is neutral.

*I'm excluding the lap times behind Bottas

[Phil]

Hamilton had a quite significant flat spot on the SS he was on, as a result of the huge lockup during his QF sim when catching up to Hulk. Not sure how much that impacted his stimt simulation. He also had another similar incident with a Sauber later on the stint.

Regarding their times during FP1: considering the temps and the insignificance for this GP and the point you only have 4 power units that need to last the entirety of the season, i think most top teams were running very conservative, which might explain some of the times. The track is also rather dusty so maybe that was also a factor that narrowed the gap somewhat.

[nevill3]

Thank you for the link to the Pirrelli site, I love the info in this image

[ME4ME]

Thank you for the link to the Pirrelli site, I love the info in this image

https://d2snyq93qb0udd.cloudfront.net/p ... iew-EN.jpg

Look what I posted on Page1

[Bill_Kar]

Hamilton had a quite significant flat spot on the SS he was on, as a result of the huge lockup during his QF sim when catching up to Hulk. Not sure how much that impacted his stimt simulation. He also had another similar incident with a Sauber later on the stint.

Yeah, plus when running race sim he had an exit on turn 10, so those SS have absolutely nothing to give.
Bottas wasn't that much in the mix, Rai outpaced him on SS.Very unstable laptimes at first, but then stabilised after midterm of his simulation.Maybe adjusting his driving without the T-wing.

[digitalrurouni]

I guess it makes sense the SS have nothing to give because looking at that infographic by Pirelli abrasion is quite high!

[Bill_Kar]

I guess it makes sense the SS have nothing to give because looking at that infographic by Pirelli abrasion is quite high!

Well, I was referring to Ham's particular SS being rubbish but yeah, SS compound in general is bleeding here in terms of degradation. But it seems Teams won't avoid it, Mediums are well off the equation.

[Sieper]

Those T wings are so effective! You loose nothing when they snap off but the competition looses almost the entire P2. =D>

[iotar__]

Those T wings are so effective! You loose nothing when they snap off but the competition looses almost the entire P2. =D>

- After FW failure ban front wings, tyre fails ban them, driver ends up in the wall ban drivers, someone drowns ban water. How about banning annoying loudmouths like Horner?
- Ferrari is the quickest car, nothing new.
- Tyres showed signs of degradation and they're not pushing 100% ? Hold me, I'm fainting.

[Sieper]

second weekend in a row Carbon comes flying. But as you dislike horner this should be considered ok? Your arguments are weaker then weak, ban water?!?!

[ChrisDanger]

Pirelli's report after today's sessions:

http://news.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/ba ... 7-practice

Looks like no-one really used the mediums for very long while the longest stints on the softs and supersofts were both 26 laps.

[Unc1eM0nty]

How often do we see wing mirrors or bits of front wing falling off, yes T Wings are as ugly as a bag of frogs but this argument is weak.

[Sieper]

Never? By themselves? I don't think it is okay they can break off that easily. It seems not a freak incident but a real possibilty. For one there is a danger, especially If a tire does explode over the debris but also now 2/3 of a practice has been missed by another driver, doesn't seem fair to me.