2019 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, March 29 - 31

[langedweil]

Great stuff - and yeah, I thought the same when watching the tv: how come the Renault sounds so good in the McLaren? Maybe it also sounds good in the works car but I noticed it in the Macca.

Very different - and much better - sounding than all other engines.

That’s artificially done by a mic.
It’s mainly because in this hybrid era the engines don’t hit the 19.000/20.000 rpm; feels a bit sorry that because they sound like a sowing machine, the sound is beefed/pitched up to better it ..

So why only on the McLaren? Do they have a different mic setting /eq than the others?

Dunno, last year it was the Force India ..

[zoroastar]

Don't think Grosjean deserves a penalty there. It was the last corner and he was setting up for a lap. Also, the McLaren came from a long distance. Anyways, nice performance by Kubica and the McLarens.

Definite penalty! Norris came from a long distance because Grosjean was soooo slow right on the racing line! Drivers are expected to set up a lap and not get in the way of people currently on fast laps.

I don't know where he was supposed to go in such a tight corner. This isn't directly connected with the rules,but if he did move, his lap would have been ruined.

so instead, he ruins landos lap and almost causes a tremendous crash? its not really anyones fault but vettels for passing grosjean going into the last corner, but the stewards were right to hand out the penalty. maybe haas will decide to start giving their drivers info like that in the future. they dont seem to care about anyone but themselves over the last couple of years, and its not the first time its led to problems with other teams.

[Chuckjr]

LeClerc is the real deal. Vettel will have to dig deep against that kid all season. I've a feeling Charles is not as picky with the car set up as Seb, so he will have advantage in that department. Can he manage tires? It's great as nobody knows really anything about him. What a breath of fresh air.

The first corner will be a big determining factor for this race, and I think for the season if Charles can nab it first. Are his starts as good as Vettel?

Verstappen is going to wipe the floor with Gasley every race. It's going to be a beat down all season long.

Gasley will pound sand by seasons end.

[ringo]

Watching Charles from last year, i don't think he has many weaknesses. He may just control the race from lights to flag.
The only thing stopping him is Ferrari the pit strategy or a loose wheel nut.

Gasly will come around. There is something about the redbull atmosphere that isn't good for the second driver. The tend to coddle one guy and bash the other. Gasly probably is not settled in as yet, and i blame Marko. From last year Gasly looked very strong in the Torro Rosso, so i am surprised he isn't executing well.
Kyvaat is looking very good these days as well, now that Marko isn't breathing down his neck.

[zibby43]

AmuS Qualifying Analysis:

https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status ... 4167278597

Summary:

- Mercedes faster than Ferrari in every corner except turn 2

- Ferrari gained 4-5 tenths on Merc in the straights

That's in line with Juzh's video.

Lewis had a higher minimum speed than Lec at almost every corner. Lewis lost turn 2 because he had a worse turn 1 exit and that gave him a narrower line for turn 2 entry (as shown in the screenshot), forced Lewis to lift more and have more steering angle through T2.

https://i.imgur.com/ro54qHs.jpg

Nice observations. It's fun putting the analysis with the footage like that.

And thinks again to Juzh for the excellent video clips. Darn good effort there.

[makecry]

Watching Charles from last year, i don't think he has many weaknesses. He may just control the race from lights to flag.
The only thing stopping him is Ferrari the pit strategy or a loose wheel nut.

Gasly will come around. There is something about the redbull atmosphere that isn't good for the second driver. The tend to coddle one guy and bash the other. Gasly probably is not settled in as yet, and i blame Marko. From last year Gasly looked very strong in the Torro Rosso, so i am surprised he isn't executing well.
Kyvaat is looking very good these days as well, now that Marko isn't breathing down his neck.

Gasly looked strong in a few races. Apart from that all he did was whine and complain.

[zibby43]

Lewis says he can catch them in the race. I think he expects that when they dont have the DRS, they top speed trick wont be used for reliability reasons as the engine does go up a few hundred rpms higher than the others.

That's an intriguing notion. And also agree that Lewis seems very optimistic for the race tomorrow. Toto was pretty disappointed initially, but he got a bit more optimistic about the race pace later in the day.

Ferrari is going to be quick tomorrow. If they're quick and reliable, it's going to take a well-executed strategy from the team and mega drives from HAM and BOT for Mercedes to have a shot.

[geogate]

Great stuff - and yeah, I thought the same when watching the tv: how come the Renault sounds so good in the McLaren? Maybe it also sounds good in the works car but I noticed it in the Macca.

Very different - and much better - sounding than all other engines.

That’s artificially done by a mic.
It’s mainly because in this hybrid era the engines don’t hit the 19.000/20.000 rpm; feels a bit sorry that because they sound like a sowing machine, the sound is beefed/pitched up to better it ..

So why only on the McLaren? Do they have a different mic setting /eq than the others?

my guess it more down to exhaust. The mic is supplied and operated by FOM, the mic position is within set parameters in regs.

[GPR-A]

I have a feeling that, Leclerc is carrying less wing than even Vettel, which shows in the mini sector comparison. On almost all corners, Vettel is faster than Leclerc. While Leclerc might be skiddy on straights, he might have difficulty in keeping the tyre life in race.

[GPR-A]

Merc was losing 2-3 tenths on the straight(s) in S1.

Ferrari seems to have retained it's inherent characteristic (as observed from winter testing) of putting heat quickly into the tyres on one of the most abrasive circuit on the calendar, where the down force demands are also quite lower, on a mid range compound (C3), in lowering temperatures of the night! That explains the ability to perform better in S1, compared to Merc, who seems to have moved away from such behavior to the opposite end where they can't put heat into tyres quickly enough, especially on the mid range compound. Could things have been different on softer compounds?

Nevertheless, we would see how this trend goes as the season moves forward.

Nico mentions (at 1m12s) that, almost everyone was struggling to put temperatures into the tyres as the track started cooling down much faster. While Red Bull struggled the most, Mercedes were also struggling to heat up the tyres. So, Ferrari managed to put heater faster than others.

[Yvesbeer]

Will this mean that Ferrari will struggle with tire degradation on the long runs?
Or did they just got it right on the softs?

I.a. RB and Merc struggle to get the soft to the working temperature window, that will equally mean less degradation of the tires in the race.

RB looked quite good on the long runs, so good hopes for the RB-fans. Except Gasly, he's struggling with the handing of the RB from start of the season.

[zibby43]

Merc was losing 2-3 tenths on the straight(s) in S1.

Ferrari seems to have retained it's inherent characteristic (as observed from winter testing) of putting heat quickly into the tyres on one of the most abrasive circuit on the calendar, where the down force demands are also quite lower, on a mid range compound (C3), in lowering temperatures of the night! That explains the ability to perform better in S1, compared to Merc, who seems to have moved away from such behavior to the opposite end where they can't put heat into tyres quickly enough, especially on the mid range compound. Could things have been different on softer compounds?

Nevertheless, we would see how this trend goes as the season moves forward.

Nico mentions (at 1m12s) that, almost everyone was struggling to put temperatures into the tyres as the track started cooling down much faster. While Red Bull struggled the most, Mercedes were also struggling to heat up the tyres. So, Ferrari managed to put heater faster than others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iazzYUW3rXQ

Nice spot. Enjoyed that LECLERC/VETTEL comparison as well.

Regarding tire temperatures: Is it going to be warmer tonight than it was for qualifying?

[CRazyLemon]

I personally am absolutely fed up of these one stop races. Pirelli is the worst thing to have happened to F1.

I also think they should just let the teams decide what compounds to use so that there are some strategy variations. The rules almost dictate what strategy teams must use!

When the compounds were softer and it was too unpredictable the outcomes when Pirelli started in F1 they had lots of complaints too, so it is the overall F1 who has dictated the tyre rules I would say, all to blame not only Pirelli

Talking about tyres and not the rubbish Pirelli had made from 2010-13. I have seen innumerable races from Goodyear and Bridgestone where 2 stop races were a norm without drivers having to drive to deltas.

Pirelli's incompetence is most magnified when it's wet. Whiting, and may that man rest in peace but the reason he had to deploy the SC when it was wet was because the tyres couldn't dissipate enough water. It might surprise you, but we have watched a multi million dollar sport for the past 7-8 years with very average suppliers and quality. Pirelli just does not cut the mustard.

The first step in the 2021 regs must be to look for a new tyre manufacturer.

I think many are forgetting the engine rules. It's the conserve your engine as much as possible formula that means the teams take it easy. Imagine Goodyear or Bridgestone on these cars now, I wouldn't see any difference in the result in terms of attitude to racing. No one is going to go out there and hammer on as fast as possible, it would just put too much strain on the PU's and risk grid penalties.

I agree on the wet weather tyre's though.

[Shakeman]

If the F1 official analysis is correct and Merc have .5s race pace advantage it should be an interesting race.

HAM for the win...

Can you link that F1 official analysis please?

Here you go.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 35XpI.html

[Mamba]

I think many are forgetting the engine rules. It's the conserve your engine as much as possible formula that means the teams take it easy. Imagine Goodyear or Bridgestone on these cars now, I wouldn't see any difference in the result in terms of attitude to racing. No one is going to go out there and hammer on as fast as possible, it would just put too much strain on the PU's and risk grid penalties.

I agree on the wet weather tyre's though.

I have to agree with this post. With only three PU's for the season, you can give the grippiest and most durable tyres to them and we still won't have quali lap after quali lap races. Increase the PU limit and even on Pirelli rubber we would have races where they don't lap six to eight seconds slower than quali.