2019 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, March 29 - 31

[GPR-A]

Does anybody know why Kvyat didn't have a 2nd run in Q2? He looked fast and could have been in Q3. Congrats to LeClerc, top performance. Something was wrong with Seb's car though, he seemed pretty cautious (maybe because it was his only run). Fingers crossed for an amazing race tomorrow.

Actually, when I looked at the replays Grosjean was indeed in the way of Norris. Seems pretty similar to Vettel and Sainz in Austria last year. Sorry for arguing about it

Leclerc is very quick. Vettel had the problem that in Q2 in his first run he ended up in traffic and had a big Lock up so he had to go out again and that meant he lost his second set of red tires for Q3. So just one run in Q3 and then you have to be a bit more cautious as that lap then HAS to be it.

Someone like Vettel requires a calm atmosphere around him to deliver his best. He was messed up by the team in Q2 by putting him in bad traffic and sort of put him off the rhythm.

[GPR-A]

Ric was better. He was on different tires most of the weekend and when it matters he pulls out the quick time. He always does that. I will go as far as to state it is a tactic of his, try to get into the mind of your teammate. It certainly worked today, Hulk sounded broken.

If Ric's time is the best Renault time, then they are around 7 tenths slower than McLaren! We know that is not the case, based on Winter Testing (hazy, but still) and of course Melbourne. Renault and McLaren are closely matched.

[zibby43]

After hearing Toto’s comments, I think it might be an easy 1-2 for Ferrari tomorrow barring any reliability issues.

[NathanOlder]

Anyone notice the resemblance of Mattia Binotto and Dr. Wright of Sim City on SNES

Heheh! Binotto's hairstyle reminds me of Mr. Burns in The Simson's.

But Mr Burns only has a small anount of hair around the side. Bald on top ?!

[hollus]

They are all having huge setup issues, and drivers randomly hit or miss the sweet spot in particular sessions. Let's not forget that the way the front wing works has been radically changed and with it car balance, ride heights, etc. And so far the teams had Australia with no corners and Bahrain with practice at different temperatures than Q and race to figure it out.
They are all guessing how long it takes to warm up the tires, how long tires will last in the race and how hard tires can be pushed.
I think cars will stop being 1 second out of position from now on.
But for this weekend, awesome chaos with parachute rear wings and kilometers of DRS zones, with the top teams roughly on inverse race pace order.

[dialtone]

Does anybody know why Kvyat didn't have a 2nd run in Q2? He looked fast and could have been in Q3. Congrats to LeClerc, top performance. Something was wrong with Seb's car though, he seemed pretty cautious (maybe because it was his only run). Fingers crossed for an amazing race tomorrow.

Actually, when I looked at the replays Grosjean was indeed in the way of Norris. Seems pretty similar to Vettel and Sainz in Austria last year. Sorry for arguing about it

Leclerc is very quick. Vettel had the problem that in Q2 in his first run he ended up in traffic and had a big Lock up so he had to go out again and that meant he lost his second set of red tires for Q3. So just one run in Q3 and then you have to be a bit more cautious as that lap then HAS to be it.

Someone like Vettel requires a calm atmosphere around him to deliver his best. He was messed up by the team in Q2 by putting him in bad traffic and sort of put him off the rhythm.

I think instead he's taking it easier because the championship is long still and rather than making stupid mistakes to get the pole he's making the best out of the situation he was in. Banking a lap up front was far more important than attempting to get pole and starting from 10th instead. This year going through traffic won't be like the last 3-4 years so mistakes are very costly.

It's only one race but his radio message was very calm, on point and seemed to point out that he worked on keeping his cool in stressful situations, unlike last year with all the spins.

[Sevach]

Does anybody know why Kvyat didn't have a 2nd run in Q2? He looked fast and could have been in Q3. Congrats to LeClerc, top performance. Something was wrong with Seb's car though, he seemed pretty cautious (maybe because it was his only run). Fingers crossed for an amazing race tomorrow.

Actually, when I looked at the replays Grosjean was indeed in the way of Norris. Seems pretty similar to Vettel and Sainz in Austria last year. Sorry for arguing about it

Leclerc is very quick. Vettel had the problem that in Q2 in his first run he ended up in traffic and had a big Lock up so he had to go out again and that meant he lost his second set of red tires for Q3. So just one run in Q3 and then you have to be a bit more cautious as that lap then HAS to be it.

Someone like Vettel requires a calm atmosphere around him to deliver his best. He was messed up by the team in Q2 by putting him in bad traffic and sort of put him off the rhythm.

No doubt that didn't help, but i do think Leclerc has shown more pace today, Vettel subsequent runs always came up a little short of the times Charles had done in the first try.

Still Vettel got the position his car deserves which isn't bad.

On another topic i really would like that graph comparing slow,mid and fast corners(and straights) but from today's Q.

[iotar__]

Does anybody know why Kvyat didn't have a 2nd run in Q2? He looked fast and could have been in Q3. Congrats to LeClerc, top performance. Something was wrong with Seb's car though, he seemed pretty cautious (maybe because it was his only run). Fingers crossed for an amazing race tomorrow.

Actually, when I looked at the replays Grosjean was indeed in the way of Norris. Seems pretty similar to Vettel and Sainz in Austria last year. Sorry for arguing about it

Leclerc is very quick. Vettel had the problem that in Q2 in his first run he ended up in traffic and had a big Lock up so he had to go out again and that meant he lost his second set of red tires for Q3. So just one run in Q3 and then you have to be a bit more cautious as that lap then HAS to be it.

- he could have lost a full second and still would have been safe with one run in q2
- they don't add two q3 times , there's nothing preventing him nailing a one fresh tyres run, especially with the margin the best car gives, very limited competition (Mercedes weren't in contention) and 30+ million walk on water wages. I guess there's always something.

[zibby43]

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

[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.

[siskue2005]

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

Not on straights but in the first sector....mostly to do with switching on this increadibly narrow operating range pirelli tyres

[dialtone]

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

Not on straights but in the first sector....mostly to do with switching on this increadibly narrow operating range pirelli tyres

C3 tires is the same as the soft tire from 2018. And they have the exact same temperature range of 105-135 C.

2018 tires temperature range


2019 tires temperature range (from https://press.pirelli.com/whats-new-wit ... a-1-tyres/)


The difference is in the tire blankets and drop in downforce which makes it harder to put temperature in the tires.

[MtthsMlw]

https://twitter.com/LukeSmithF1/status/ ... 77318?s=19

[Sulman]

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.

Tyres are being a bit annoying this year. Virtually every driver has has experienced form which has mystified them, just not apparently in testing.

[bonjon1979]

Apoligies if it's been posted earlier but does anyone have any stint comparisons from FP2?

It strikes me that Mercs only real chance is on strategy and how Ferrari's tyres hold up.