Bahrain GP 2012 - Sakhir

[GrizzleBoy]

I think Seb and Ted explained it all. The RB8 exhaust finally came right after countless alterations over the course of ten weeks and four race weekends. The exhaust gases were finally going where Newey wanted them to go, into a layer between the diffusor and the wing air sealing the diffusor air off and making the downforce predictable. And not surprisingly with a predictable downforce Vettel once again masterly squeezed the potential out of the car to the last couple of thousands. All the talk about him not being able to master the car without exhaust blown diffusor was shown up for what it was worth, rubbish. Vettel simply is the master at instinctively exploiting the smallest nuances of performance in the car as long as it is predictable. Now that Newey has found the stability and a bit of performance he will be back to his old self. I predict the Vettel superiority over Webber to continue for the rest of the season. It may not be as distinct as last year but it will be there most of the time IMHO.

Probably would be best to do all that confident talking after the race.

[WhiteBlue]

Probably would be best to do all that confident talking after the race.

I never had any doubt that the RB8 could develop race pace. The problem was qualifying pace that compromised the grid position. So my worst concerns are now laid to rest irrespective of the outcome of tomorrows race and that justifies the optimistic outlook.

[ringo]

I am going to be bold and claim that this qualifying was an exception. Last week was an exception, all the stars aligned and Rosberg took it by even taking his team mate surprise. This week conditions worked out for Redbull. I feel like when we look three races and four qualifying, Mclaren is the fastest followed closely by Redbull.

Well looking on Webber's qualifying and not Vettel's over the season. I would say the mclaren is equally as fast as the bulls. I think also that the bull is a better race car.
Hypothetically if Vettel had Webber's comfort in the car, which is hard to drive, then i think it will always be a front row car.
The bull has one of the best race pace, giving it's dificulty to drive, and Webber's mistakes.

There is no clear cut best car this season. The mclaren is probably just the easiest to drive. It's race pace dominance is still questionable.

If we look from another point of view, Button isn't exactly making the Mclaren look like the best qualifying car either. And he's not on edge like Vettel in the bull, so the room for car potential is smaller.

The bull only needed to tweak it's exhaust to be more predictable. Let's see how fast it runs from the front.

[Unc1e_M0nty]

slowly getting fed up of drivers having to save tyres. drivers having to conserve during the race. drivers not being able to drive flat out. qualifying being about saving tyres. tyres wearing out after 10 laps. tyres destroying someones race because they couldnt get in the correct temperature zone.

Me too, it seems so unnatural for teams to build the fastest cars possible, have them driven by the fastest drivers in the world, only for them to drive at 90% throughout the race to save killing the tyres. Don't know what the answer is, flat out sprints tend to lead to domination by one team, at least this way we get good unpredictable racing.

On another note the grid looks just fantastic, can't wait for the race, it seems both Red Bull & Macca were surprised by their qually pace, both expected Mercedes to dominate.

Some cars have always favoured different tracks, this season is seems some cars favour different temps, who know what tomorrow will bring - just too tight to call but first car into turn one has a big advantage.

[Hail22]

slowly getting fed up of drivers having to save tyres. drivers having to conserve during the race. drivers not being able to drive flat out. qualifying being about saving tyres. tyres wearing out after 10 laps. tyres destroying someones race because they couldnt get in the correct temperature zone.

Me too, it seems so unnatural for teams to build the fastest cars possible, have them driven by the fastest drivers in the world, only for them to drive at 90% throughout the race to save killing the tyres. Don't know what the answer is, flat out sprints tend to lead to domination by one team, at least this way we get good unpredictable racing.

On another note the grid looks just fantastic, can't wait for the race, it seems both Red Bull & Macca were surprised by their qually pace, both expected Mercedes to dominate.

Some cars have always favoured different tracks, this season is seems some cars favour different temps, who know what tomorrow will bring - just too tight to call but first car into turn one has a big advantage.

Welcome to the FIA's future vision for Formula 1, Green...conserved, withdrawn...boring.

Its a shame anywho...

Hamilton for the Win and Vettel to crash out on T1

[ell66]

I think Seb and Ted explained it all. The RB8 exhaust finally came right after countless alterations over the course of ten weeks and four race weekends. The exhaust gases were finally going where Newey wanted them to go, into a layer between the diffusor and the wing air sealing the diffusor air off and making the downforce predictable. And not surprisingly with a predictable downforce Vettel once again masterly squeezed the potential out of the car to the last couple of thousands. All the talk about him not being able to master the car without exhaust blown diffusor was shown up for what it was worth, rubbish. Vettel simply is the master at instinctively exploiting the smallest nuances of performance in the car as long as it is predictable. Now that Newey has found the stability and a bit of performance he will be back to his old self. I predict the Vettel superiority over Webber to continue for the rest of the season. It may not be as distinct as last year but it will be there most of the time IMHO.

dont get ahead of yourself, this is just one race in unique temps and on a slightly different type of track, ill give it a few races to determine if RB truly have found speed in qually.

[Lycoming]

everything is difficult to read this year, because you get one thing even slightly wrong, ie. tyres, and suddenly you lose out a lot to everybody else because its so tight.

For me, the fact that Vettel is able to dominate Webber in qualifying again speaks the most, though I will reserve judgement until it happens a few more times.

[raymondu999]

Most of us don't realise Hamilton looked very pleased, now this can boil down to the fact if he has a good launch its better to start from P2 coming to Turn 1

He and his team engineer are smart smart cookies

Don't forget - P2 starts off-line. The dirty side is somewhat rubbish to memory. Did anyone see the GP2 start? How did the P2/4/6 boys start?

I hate sequences of corners that switch back at the start of a grand prix. Sigh.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

everything is difficult to read this year, because you get one thing even slightly wrong, ie. tyres, and suddenly you lose out a lot to everybody else because its so tight.

For me, the fact that Vettel is able to dominate Webber in qualifying again speaks the most, though I will reserve judgement until it happens a few more times.

Dominate? Seriously? Dominate is hardly what happened. 0.2s isn't dominating. Do you not agree? Let's not forget Di Resta held Webber up at the end of sector 2. Anyway, Mark didn't "dominate" Seb in Malaysia when he Quali'd 0.2s ahead. "Unusual circumstances" or not in China, Seb didn't even make it into Q3. In all but one race Webber has finished better than Seb, and he's out Quali'd him in all but one too. It's quite too early to talk about dominating because there's certainly none of that happening in F1 right now.

[Maelstrom]

Hamilton has a car this year that can match the Bulls and i'm sure later today he's going to give Vettel a hard time. My money is on Hamilton winning the race.

Vettel will find it difficult to just drive away this time and it will be interesting to see him in the race lead under pressure from Hamilton.

It will also be interesting to see Rosberg's race since he claims his car is set up for race pace. Is a podium possible?

[Lycoming]

sorry, dominate was a poor choice of word. I really just meant beaten. Though, you could argue that 2 tenths counts as dominating this year.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

sorry, dominate was a poor choice of word. I really just meant beaten. Though, you could argue that 2 tenths counts as dominating this year.

Yeah that's true, 0.2s is a lot this year. That said Mark out has Quali'd Seb by 0.2s as well. I mean I don't support RB, I just don't think as some do that Seb is back to actually dominating his teammate. I think we need more time to see because this year has been very up and down for many teams and there's no clear favorite.

Was just re-reading my post, sorry if I came off abrasive, totally didn't mean to.

[Lycoming]

Just noticed Maldonado takes a penalty for a gearbox change. Thats, what, 5 now, counting the one that forced Schumacher to retire in Melbourne?

Hamilton, Perez, Raikonnen, Schumacher and Maldonado...

That also covers 5 different gearboxes and all the engines except for the cosworth engine, so there isn't really a common factor. Seems the gearbox gods have decided this will not be a merciful year.

[raymondu999]

You mean gearbox penalties or gearbox problems?

[CHT]

Most of us don't realise Hamilton looked very pleased, now this can boil down to the fact if he has a good launch its better to start from P2 coming to Turn 1

He and his team engineer are smart smart cookies

Hamilton seems very pleased every time he beat Button in qualifying and race. Can see he was very happy with his race in Malaysia after Button crash out.