2021 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, March 26 - 28

[NathanOlder]

Mercedes also went in.

I think they did a few more laps on the fastest lap.

Anyways, for Mercedes, understeer is good considering the way the car was handling 2 weeks ago. should be easy to add front end grip to balance it out. Although may be just the right way to go to protect those rear tyres in Bahrain.

They did the lap, went in and back out.

Yeah but they were in the pit lane for 30 seconds, so no fuel. then went out and did another 3 laps. Where as MAx did his 1 fast lap and didnt come back out.
I know it doesnt mean much, and its just an 'armchair expert opinion' but Merc certiainly did more laps on their fastest lap run.

[dans79]

Max to take pole and then romp away in the race.

Be interesting to see FP2, but in FP1 Max was 1 tenth quicker than Lewis, and had a big tow from Gio on the start finish straight. He was 1 tenth faster than Bottas in S2. And in S3 Bottas matched him. So I think 3 tenths is bigger than what it really is. More like 1 tenth , but fuel is unknown. As a Merc fan, I'm happy with how that session went. I expected Max to come out at the end and go 7 tenths clear.

FP1 is unrepresentative though, given time of day. Let's wait at least until FP2 to overreact before qualifying/race.

I think his point was that if Merc is struggling with the rear, the cooler weather will help them.

[godlameroso]

It looks like McLaren Ferrari Red Bull and Mercedes have formed their own group. The rest are just scrapping for points.

[djones]

I know it's only a 1hr session, but the lap count seems very low.

I've not seen any footage but people are saying Hamilton's car does not look to be handling well and is understeering hard. If that's the case and it's not fuel related, you'd surely expect him to have done more than 15 laps to try help the setup.

[Just_a_fan]

Personally I think the running Mercedes did in fp1 was more about testing what they thought the car needed setup wise based on two weeks of data analysis. It will be interesting to see if they can make tweaks and go faster for fp2.

Almost certainly the case, but where's the fun it it?

[_cerber1]

@LightsOutF1Blog

[dans79]

Personally I think the running Mercedes did in fp1 was more about testing what they thought the car needed setup wise based on two weeks of data analysis. It will be interesting to see if they can make tweaks and go faster for fp2.

Almost certainly the case, but where's the fun it it?

I've been called the fun police on a few occasions!

[Schippke]

Biggest surprise in terms of pace is Alpine at the moment... maybe they're running in a very reserved way, but that is a fair way down the tables, regardless of how you look at it. Yes, again FP1 so a lot of times are somewhat meaningless but would've thought they'd have been higher.

As already mentioned by plenty here... FP2 is where will start seeing the teams bring out more pace. Surely they'll do a quick qualifying simulation and spend most of the session on Race Simulations... not a lot of time to mess about now, with 60 minutes less on Fridays now!

[Juzh]

Personally I think the running Mercedes did in fp1 was more about testing what they thought the car needed setup wise based on two weeks of data analysis. It will be interesting to see if they can make tweaks and go faster for fp2.

Almost certainly the case, but where's the fun it it?

I've been called the fun police on a few occasions!

the track is like 2 seconds faster at night, everyone will gain loads of time.

[dans79]

Almost certainly the case, but where's the fun it it?

I've been called the fun police on a few occasions!

the track is like 2 seconds faster at night, everyone will gain loads of time.

I meant referentially to their competition!

[El Scorchio]

I still don't really get why they reduced the FP session times. It felt like something that didn't need changing, and the cost differential must be minimum.

[Schippke]

I still don't really get why they reduced the FP session times. It felt like something that didn't need changing, and the cost differential must be minimum.

I can only guess for 2 reasons, primarily to increase on track action in both sessions (which it will most definitely) with minimal quiet time on track, and potentially... to limit the amount of milage the Power Units have to endure with an expected 23 race calendar between Free Practice, Qualifying, the 3 expected sprint races and of course the Grand Prix.

Honestly doubt it has much to do with costs, as they'll be distributed elsewhere by the teams, budget cap or not.

[SiLo]

Forces the teams to do the same amount of work with less time. Means more mistakes, means more drama, upsets, surprises etc.

[dans79]

I still don't really get why they reduced the FP session times. It felt like something that didn't need changing, and the cost differential must be minimum.

you know they want to try and introduce variability, and fake drama for the super casual fans........

[El Scorchio]

I suppose it does make for less idle track time which is slightly better for the viewer.

But yes, I'm sure it's mostly in case they can make things more dramatic somehow....