2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

[zeph]

Race Date: 06 Apr 2014
Circuit Name: Bahrain International Circuit
First Grand Prix: 2004
Number of Laps: 57
Circuit Length: 5.412 km
Race Distance: 308.238 km
Lap Record: 1:31.447 - P De la Rosa (2005)

2013 results:
RACE
1 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) 1:36:00.498
2 Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus-Renault) +9.1 secs
3 Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) +19.5 secs
4 Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +21.7 secs
5 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +35.2 secs
6 Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) +35.9 secs
7 Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing-Renault) +37.2 secs
8 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +37.5 secs
9 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +41.1 secs
10 Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +46.6 secs

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) 1:36.961 (avg. 200.938km/h)

QUALIFYING
1 Nico Rosberg 1:32.330
2 Sebastian Vettel 1:32.584
3 Fernando Alonso 1:32.667
4 Lewis Hamilton 1:32.762
5 Mark Webber 1:33.078
6 Felipe Massa 1:33.207
7 Paul di Resta 1:33.235
8 Adrian Sutil 1:33.246
9 Kimi Räikkönen 1:33.327
10 Jenson Button (no time in Q3)

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My predictions for the first two races have been waaay off, so I'm gonna go stick to my usual routine and call another win for Alonso [-o<

[oT v1]

Hoping for Williams that they have a good qualifying here, dry and less DF orientated so could be a podium

Merc's walk it.

[godlameroso]

The top finisher in Malaysia finished a little over a minute and a half off last year's winner. It was nearly three minutes in Melbourne. Let's see if the gap comes down this race.

[Juzh]

merc 1-2. Not much else to say, gonna be another dull race.

[Töm87]

I hope Rosberg is back in shape, or his car for that matter.
Anyway should be an easy one/two for Mercedes.

Behind that i really hope that Williams has a shot for a podium.

[Helios]

The top finisher in Malaysia finished a little over a minute and a half off last year's winner. It was nearly three minutes in Melbourne. Let's see if the gap comes down this race.

There was a SC-period in Melbourne tho, something we didn't have in 2013.

[iotar__]

It's going to be great this time, tyres will cause all sorts of problems for Merc, who am I kidding - even more in front, better layout than Malaysia for them
Lotus - top 10 - Grosjean had broken diffuser in the last 8 laps in Malaysia 1,5s per lap worth,
I'm stuck on betting on Williams and getting it wrong but this track will suit them, Aus - weird, Malaysia - too high-speed, Bahrain - perfect,

[SpecialCircumstances]

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/201638/1/h ... hrain.html

Horner expects the gap to Mercedes to be even greater. Which, now that Mercedes is not hindered by the tyres like last year, should not come as a surprise to anyone. I wonder what the gap will be in the last split in Barcelona.

[myurr]

I reckon Merc will have 1 - 1.5 second advantage in qualifying, and 1.5 - 2 seconds in the race. They'll drive to a target time in Q2 in order to preserve the tyres for the race before going for it in Q3. They'll also get through Q1 on the prime tyres, the only team to do so comfortably.

This race should offer a clear picture of the relative strengths of the cars as they'll all have a good baseline setup so should be getting the most out of the cars. Behind Merc I think that it could be quite tight between Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari with McLaren just a little bit behind.

[Sevach]

The top finisher in Malaysia finished a little over a minute and a half off last year's winner. It was nearly three minutes in Melbourne. Let's see if the gap comes down this race.

There was a SC-period in Melbourne tho, something we didn't have in 2013.

The start of the race in Sepang 2013 was in wet conditions.

Mercedes wins, Red Bull and Williams scrap for a podium place.

[n_anirudh]

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDeta ... yid=373742

Folks, lets us remember its a night race, so temps will be lower and tire degradation will be lower. I expect a "silver"wash again

[gray41]

I think Ferrari will be stronger than RedBull at this track, I'm predicting Alonso on the podium with the Mercedes pair.

[elMaestro]

Mercedes are surely going to dominate this race.

[SiLo]

Merc 1-2, Hamilton to be on it closely followed by Rosberg. Hulkenberg/Williams on the podium and possible 3-6th in qualifying too. Red Bull to be swamped by a lot on these long straights. Ric to crash at the first corner colliding with Malfunctionado.

[SpecialCircumstances]

I think Ferrari will be stronger than RedBull at this track, I'm predicting Alonso on the podium with the Mercedes pair.

If anything, Ferrari will be even slower.

Unless their big software update drastically improves things. Which could very well happen of course. Of course RBR/Renault will have new mappings as well so we need to see if their engines improve and by how much.