2020 Sakhir Grand Prix - Sakhir, Dec 04 - 06

[AMG.Tzan]

Bahrain has robbed many young drivers of easy wins! Maybe it's cursed for young drivers

Vettel in 2010
Leclerc in 2019
Russell in 2020

So have they found out how Russell got the puncture?? Aitken's debris maybe?

[Shrieker]

I have to say that I thought this layout was a success. It was a knucking futts race. More short go-cart layouts please.

All of the races mentioned in your post had sc/vsc periods which shuffled the field... So i say knee jerk.

[Sieper]

Yes, without the SC VSC here we would have had the two mercs (after Max got swiped by the overeager leclerc collecting Perez) drive off into the sunset. As that happened before race start already (sunset) that would accurately have described the race, over before it started). Nice block on Max and tank slapper by Bottas sealed the deal. Max carefully retreated but still had nowhere to go. A very frustrating race to see unfold (for me).

[grubschumi13]

Some Hamilton fans were hell bent on proving that Bottas is anything decent! I'm sure they're glad Russell did not win today. Bottas is there for a reason, to keep certain someone happy. It maybe a surprise for us, but Mercedes always knew how quick Russell was (is), yet he wasn't put in the car for next year. And people claim there is no #1/#2 in Mercedes.

Acrually most HAM fans want Russel. They have an appetite for HAM destroying stars.

That's not true, too many Ham fans here hoped Bottas would beat him and dare I say hoped Russell would not do well so it can show just how great Ham is. This is truth, we and many Ham fans know it in their hearts.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Not finished watching the highlights, but I'm out. First Leclerc wrecks the race for the win takes himself and Verstappen out. Now Mercedes just brain fart completely. Just draw the names out of a hat or something, what a joke.

These are meant to be the best drivers and the best teams in the world, today F1 should be ashamed.

[grubschumi13]

I very much doubt this will happen, unless Bottas kills it. But even then, i see Verstappen as the far more likely contender to take the lead, given the clean side. And then there is also the point that both Mercedes are starting on the mediums, while everyone behind them will be on softs.

Whoops!

Fair play. Bottas did mess up his start though. While he did, Russel had a very good start.

A few points from the race:

Russels first stint was very good, though Bottas was pretty much matching that. All in all, I feel Bottas was driving a bit messy, perhaps under a bit too much pressure of "having to beat Russel".

The 2nd stint, Bottas was quicker it seemed. Perhaps some of it was down to the engine problems, but Russel didn't seem to have them later, so who knows. Bottas was definitely catching though, but Russel was driving strong enough to probably keep him in bay (and Bottas simply lost too much by staying out long).

Unfortunately, the Mercedes tire mess up killed us all of a straight up match up between Russel and Bottas on equal terms. There's not much more to add - one had practically new tires, the other the old tires (that were cold). We all saw what kind of huge advantage new tires were after the pitstops (very powerful undercuts), so it would be unfair to judge the performance of either driver after that point.

Very rotten luck for Russel too with the puncture, but equally, Bottas had equally very bad luck too with his stop. Given their positions after the safety car, I'd say Russel came away quite good despite running a lap on the wrong tires and with having the right tires eventually.

All in all, a very good performance by Russel this weekend, I'd say a very messy performance by Bottas. Either way, I was never going to draw any conclusions between those two based on this track. It seems though Hamilton will be not driving in Abu Dhabi (he has medium to strong symptoms apparently), so it seems Russel will get another go on a much more technical circuit. I'd wait until that race for more data.

Anyway, very pleased for Perez to get his win. Very good race by him, despite being at the back of the field after lap 1.

I also felt really gutted for Vettel after his race. He had two stops and both were horrendous. Huge fail Ferrari. Also felt robbed because both Verstappen and Leclerc were out of the race. Too bad Leclerc wanted to win the race on the first lap. Also a big shout out to Verstappen - amazing race craft in the race leading up to his crash. They way he read the other drivers and backed out was really impressive. Too bad he was just in the wrong spot when Leclerc went in too ambitious and rammed Perez.

Bottas did gain 3 seconds on one lap and then 1.2 on the next lap just after the VSC which was unusual as Russell was 9 seconds clear of him and then suddenly 4 seconds out of no where.

[jz11]

on replay it looked like Rus was approaching pit entry when he was told about safety car, he even seemed to slow down and asked if he should pit, second later - PIT!PIT!PIT!
and they just were not ready for him, they were getting ready for Bottas, and then royally fumbled it, the thing I can't figure out is if Ferrari were proud or sad about it, either they showed how to, or were beaten by Merc again...

I was listening to Verstappens interview during the race with one ear and heard how he said something along the lines - why should anyone be that aggressive at a race start, and then promptly put blame on Leclerc - wise old Max, he sure knows what he is talking about...

[wesley123]

Not finished watching the highlights, but I'm out. First Leclerc wrecks the race for the win takes himself and Verstappen out. Now Mercedes just brain fart completely. Just draw the names out of a hat or something, what a joke.

These are meant to be the best drivers and the best teams in the world, today F1 should be ashamed.

You literally only named two things and based the whole fields performance on that, wth.

Turns out people can make mistakes, who knew?

[i70q7m7ghw]

Not finished watching the highlights, but I'm out. First Leclerc wrecks the race for the win takes himself and Verstappen out. Now Mercedes just brain fart completely. Just draw the names out of a hat or something, what a joke.

These are meant to be the best drivers and the best teams in the world, today F1 should be ashamed.

You literally only named two things and based the whole fields performance on that, wth.

Turns out people can make mistakes, who knew?

Most people just benefitted from the DNFs & mayhem ahead of them. What the heck is Albon doing in that Red Bull? Where was Norris all race? It was just such an unsatisfying race, not my kind of motorsport. Some people seem to get a kick out of random upside down races, I certainly don't.

EDIT: To cap it all off, it was the photocopy car that won the race, legal or whatever the hell the judgment was earlier in the year, not a great look for F1 if you ask me.

[f1316]

Albon is not good - if he does the slightest thing well, the commentators proclaim him to be strong in races, but there’s so much proof to the contrary.

If he stays in the car next year, Red Bull will have chosen him over not one but two races winners from this year - they had the option to get the only people, other than Max, to break the Mercedes monopoly - which, if it happens, would be just mind-boggling.

[littlebigcat]

Not finished watching the highlights, but I'm out. First Leclerc wrecks the race for the win takes himself and Verstappen out. Now Mercedes just brain fart completely. Just draw the names out of a hat or something, what a joke.

These are meant to be the best drivers and the best teams in the world, today F1 should be ashamed.

You literally only named two things and based the whole fields performance on that, wth.

Turns out people can make mistakes, who knew?

Most people just benefitted from the DNFs & mayhem ahead of them. What the heck is Albon doing in that Red Bull? Where was Norris all race? It was just such an unsatisfying race, not my kind of motorsport. Some people seem to get a kick out of random upside down races, I certainly don't.

EDIT: To cap it all off, it was the photocopy car that won the race, legal or whatever the hell the judgment was earlier in the year, not a great look for F1 if you ask me.

How did you make it past the Schumacher years?

[i70q7m7ghw]

How did you make it past the Schumacher years?

Do you mean when the best driver was winning in the best car?

A couple of changes needed for next year:

Put Perez in the Red Bull, Albon out.

Put Russell in the Mercedes, Bottas out.

And for the next race, put Leclerc on ice to cool that hothead of his. This guy is the future of Ferrari? The boy needs to go sit in a dark room and have a word with himself.

[jjn9128]

Russell DSQ? He had one of Bottas's tires. Is that an automatic disqualification?

Brundle said in the race they have 3 laps to rectify it to escape a penalty which they did.

someone who knows the rules?!

24.4 b) The only sets of tyres which may be used during an Event are those which are defined in Article 24.2(a).
Any driver who uses a set of tyres of differing specifications during the race may not complete more than three laps on this set before changing them for a set of tyres of the same specification. A penalty under Article 38.3(d) will be imposed on any driver who does not change tyres within three laps. For the avoidance of doubt, a set of tyres of differing specifications will not be considered when assessing the number of specifications used during the race

[Jolle]

You literally only named two things and based the whole fields performance on that, wth.

Turns out people can make mistakes, who knew?

Most people just benefitted from the DNFs & mayhem ahead of them. What the heck is Albon doing in that Red Bull? Where was Norris all race? It was just such an unsatisfying race, not my kind of motorsport. Some people seem to get a kick out of random upside down races, I certainly don't.

EDIT: To cap it all off, it was the photocopy car that won the race, legal or whatever the hell the judgment was earlier in the year, not a great look for F1 if you ask me.

How did you make it past the Schumacher years?

Some people are never satisfied... if Merc is winning its boring and when they have some 80ies Ferrari style pit stops its a sham...

Once again Perez proved his best trade: take the opportunity when it’s there, that gave him podiums in the past and now finally a win!

[f1jcw]

Well, Mercedes at an all time low status in my eyes.
It seems like they actively sabotage every driver but their PR goldmine minority favorite. Everything just so he can appear in a better light. Riding the all holy BS black struggle train. It seems likely that they stab the tires that are not Hamiltons at this point.
It's not believable that the long time champion team can be so sh*t to not even deliver a borderline competent race.

Wow.

If we disregard most of the foul stuff, he seems to forget 2014 and 2016 when they swapped Lewis team, when his car set on fire in qualifying and when his new engine let go in Austrialia, Malaysia and other places