Bahrain GP 2008 - post race comments

Originally posted by tahadar
I have read in two different boards that webber/RBR are under some sort of investigation, yet i cant find anything of the sort on an F1 news website. anybody have any info on this??

I didn't see anything that he could be under investigation for. Possibly speeding in pit lane? usually just ends up with a fine, nothing major.

one board said it was something to do with the floor of the car : might be a total BS rumor though.

Originally posted by King Stromba
Personally i think its just a circuit that suits massa, and one that doesnt suit raikonnen.

I dont think kimi was too upset in taking second on a track he openly stated he has had difficulty with.

I notice kimi is becoming more mature in his long term thinking for the championship, than he maybe was in the past. He is starting to calculate what he needs to do to win the big prize.

In the last few races i have started to see some 'alonso' in him.

Very insightful comments

He is also smiling a lot more and is warming up in press conferences - a happy driver is a well-motivated driver ;)

Felipe also seemed to have conquered mental strength issues, at least for this race.

Originally posted by cardin
Yeah, I get it. There's always something when Kimi's beaten. The wind, the brakes the setup the track.
When Felipe is beaten he's just being his mediocre self. Kimi's win in Malaysia was magnificent(pit stop overtaking and all) Today there was nothing between the two. See, I'm learning.

Go visit the KR vs FM scorecard thread to get a real hold of it. It's sickening. Last year's one even worse.

Originally posted by Spunout


You know the rule that all champs are seen trough rose-tinted glasses after they retire?

I am wondering how big the difference could be. So far Kimi has scored 19 points. In Australia, his engine failed. 1 point was the maximum, and KR got it only because so many cars retired before him. Who says Schumacher would have scored even one point? The last time MS raced in Australia, he planted it to the wall and scored 0 points. In Malaysia, KR scored 10 points. The last time MS raced in Malaysia, he was beaten by Massa. Then of course in Bahrain Kimi scored 8 points out of 10.

Who says Schumacher would have pulled off 3 perfect races, scoring 21 points in total - 2 more than Kimi has ATM?

BTW, it´d be lights out with that car reminds me of something. 2003. Lots of folks expected Ferrari whitewash, especially after MS & RB took 1-2 in quali, with 1-second margin to the rest. Then MS damaged his bargeboards in the race, followed by ramming into Trulli in Malaysia and spinning out under double yellows in Brazil. No 30 points out of 30 for Schu...

How can Schumacher fans know how this season panned out, had their hero choosed to continue his F1 career?



I´m puzzled

First off I'm not a schumacher fan but it's obvious he was better than Massa and most of the time quite a bit faster even when heavier. Raikkonen has been a tad overhyped as it turns out. I'm not ready to give these guys gold stars based on what I've seen so far this season.

I will. For Bahrain performance:
Felipe: three gold stars.
Kimi: two gold stars.
Kubica: one gold star.
Nick: a half gold stars.
Heikki: one third of a gold star.
The rest, including Alonso and Hamilton will be left out of gold stars, since they did nothing to impress me today.
Well, Jarno gets one third too, and a small toy train.

Michael could get one too, just because I have plenty and it suits well to the cowboy shirt style he so likes.
And Felipe's papa for papa-cam -appearance.

Great weekend for Massa, always on the pace. Subdued weekend for Kimi, must do better. Did he really have an ear infection? Kimi didn't look unhappy after the race, it seems like he was quite satisfied to take 2nd.

A weekend to forget for McLaren, especially LH. HK did better, but not great. BMW look stronger at the moment. They, rather than McL, may well take the spoils that are left from Ferrari this year.

It's really hard to say which team is going to be the best of the rest this year. Renault, Red Bull, Williams, and Toyota seem well mixed together.

Originally posted by Man of the race
I will. For Bahrain performance:
Felipe: three gold stars.
Kimi: two gold stars.
Kubica: one gold star.
Nick: a half gold stars.
Heikki: one third of a gold star.
The rest, including Alonso and Hamilton will be left out of gold stars, since they did nothing to impress me today.
Well, Jarno gets one third too, and a small toy train.

look deeper than points much ?

didnt think so

When Alonso is on the points, I am happy to give him silver or even gold stars, but he wasn't yesterday and thus no reason to give any. Renault should be a point-scoring car, especially in the hands of Fernando. And he hasn't taught Piquet anything. He was supposed to be a teacher to him. Piquet's low results lower Fernando's score too.

Doesn't it make a change to hear a driver own up to making a pigs ear of it..........................

According to 2006 San Marino, LH did the same as what Yuji Ide did on Albers.

LH should be evicted out of f1 and FIA should withdrawal of LH's driving licence!

Originally posted by newfoxworld
According to 2006 San Marino, LH did the same as what Yuji Ide did on Albers.

LH should be evicted out of f1 and FIA should withdrawal of LH's driving licence!

Ok race, not over exciting. I would like to see more races, like a European season with many races with a week off - week on, to kind of throw a wrench into things, show a team's mettle. These long waits between races makes it hard when one is rather slow. DC always seems to have these corner incidents...

Originally posted by Man of the race
When Alonso is on the points, I am happy to give him silver or even gold stars, but he wasn't yesterday and thus no reason to give any. Renault should be a point-scoring car, especially in the hands of Fernando. And he hasn't taught Piquet anything. He was supposed to be a teacher to him. Piquet's low results lower Fernando's score too.

Hardly talking about FA.
He went backwards even with the help of a push from LH

However MW went from 11 to 7 and you give JT the toy train.
Where is MWs train set ?
You have simply forgotten he was even on the track.
Not unlike the ITV commentary team and most of the F1 web sites.

Originally posted by juary

About Hamilton
It was so ridicoulus his protest against Sato and Fisi....please. He lost my respect.

Did you notice Alonso made the same gesture yesterday when he attempted (unsuccesfully) to pass Timo Glock?

Originally posted by Timstr11
Did you notice Alonso made the same gesture yesterday when he attempted (unsuccesfully) to pass Timo Glock?

I think those glasses exclude everything Alonso is doing ;)

Originally posted by sanjiro


Hardly talking about FA.
He went backwards even with the help of a push from LH

However MW went from 11 to 7 and you give JT the toy train.
Where is MWs train set ?
You have simply forgotten he was even on the track.
Not unlike the ITV commentary team and most of the F1 web sites.

You have a point there. My mistake, I am happy to admit that and apologize. You are right about forgetting him completely. He has been so absent in the past for various reasons, that he had become almost non-existent to me, impossible to evaluate. Three for the man. And a gold star. Mark would not be happy about a toy train, but he could get a garden elf which he can pass to DC.

Disaster for McLaren (one to forget for McLaren fans, that's for sure).
Encouraging for BMW.
Great race for Ferrari.

The lead never looked threatened though, so as an F1 'racing' fan, that was a bit of a letdown.

Originally posted by Timstr11
Did you notice Alonso made the same gesture yesterday when he attempted (unsuccesfully) to pass Timo Glock?

He has commented that Glock did nothing wrong and he was pissed about the car/himself. Not that Glock would see him as he was pulling far ahead of the winged Clio (half winged Clio at that).
I haven't read comments from Hamilton or McL about his own body language.
I still make a difference. Hamilton was passing guys in crap cars with top machinery himself and was behind them because of his own failings. Alonso couldn't get his tractor around an inexperienced driver on a midfield car while giving 100%. I'd be pissed too.

Hamilton was quite brave, tho... how many wrong buttons could he hit with all that waving?

If Lewis keeps up his poor form, the ITV buildup could be all about resurgent Honda and JENSON BUTTON.

Ahh that will be like a throwback to 2006

Originally posted by Henrik Brodin


I'm just saying that if the gap isn't bigger (in race trim) when Massa has a perfect setup and Kimi a mediocre, whatever the reasons, he might struggle to close the WDC standings.

usually when one driver beats his teammate than the car is "perfect"
then he gets beaten by teammate than the setup wasn't right, etc

Kimi's problem is that his qualifying is poor. Ex In Malaysia, if Ferrari wouldn't have been a rocket compared to the others he would have qualified 5-6th. No cookies for him in winning the race from that position.
Massa is inconsistent.

http://s008.wyslijto...223516352244017


Here something interesting: live timing in an AVI file (only 15MB).



As for the race, I hoped for Kubica making Ferrari's job harder, bot a (again) a good drive by him, he seemed to push when he needed not to be jumped by Heidfeld in the pits. Also, in the last stint he was catching Kimi rapidly, then Kimi responded by improving his times, but Kubica was still about 0.2 per lap faster, he also wasn't loosing time to Kimi during the first stint. Of course Kimi was heavier, and he didn't really need to push hard in the last stint, but it looks like BMW race pace is improving solidly. Nick had a very good race, with steady pace and some nice overtaking moves.

Other than that, what is up with Maclaren? Hamilton had a terrible start and than damaged his car, but Kovalainen was way off the BMW pace in the first two stints. After Malayisa a lot of people were writing bad Mclaren positions as a result of grid penalty, but the fact was they were pretty much at the pace of BMW. Now they seem to be slightly behind them (not to mention Ferrari).

Good drve by Button (as long as it lasted) but he wasn't faultless in the DC indicdent. Nice job by Fisi.

Qualifying in Spain will sure be interesting (but the race...)

Ferrari - profits from great starts, race pace isnt unbeatable, I believe BMW has big potential.
Massa didnt put foot wrong all weekend, great in Q, great start, very good pace, deserved victory.
Kimi was lost on Saturday, he accepted defeat against Felipe, he wasnt even angry with himself after qualy that I though he had to be heavier, it appeared he hadnt chance, since introducing F2008 I noticed he has struggled and in addition to it Bahrain isnt his track, all in all 8 points is the best news for Kimi fan from Bahrain.

BMW - still underrated, clearly second best team at the moment. Kubica seems slightly better than Heidfeld this year, even in races he seems to enjoy 0,2sec. advantage.

McLaren - race to forget, they are third at the moment but they can bounce back. Im heavily annoyed with Lewis bashing all around here. Heiki is definitely as good as Lewis in Q (Lewis would pited in lap 17 or 18 I guess), lets see if he is able to match him in races as well. Im interested in how this teambattle will develop.

Toyota on par with McLAren (almost), Trulli was in second race in a row even steven with Heiki over first two stints. They are definitely clear leaders in middle pack.

RBR - great race from MW, that combo MW/RBR turned out as best of the rest after top 4 teams.

Williams - I for sure expected them to do better, its impossible to choose between Williams, Renault and Honda pace wise at the moment.

Renault is dropping further back, Alonso again SLower in clear air than NP, however we dont know how much he was handicapped after collision with LH, so its not possible to rank Renault properly yet as Alonso is benchmark there.

Honda - I would say in Bahrain on Williams level if not better, shame that JB couldnt show his speed.

Force India is just a little bit behind that bunch amid, Sutil lost race in lap 1, on the positive side he has improved, I would say 0,3 off Fisichela in Bahrain.

Super Aguri - Davidson clearly better than sato this time, he was slowed down by Sato for first two stints then he passed Sato and disappeared into distance. His fastest lap is better than Hamiltons one.

Originally posted by pedrovski
[B

Alonso: Dragging that pig around the circuit, using every inch of race track and on it the whole time. [/B]

and fisi beat him in laptimes

I think Piquet was good. I like his moved on Bourdais.

Originally posted by wingwalker
http://s008.wyslijto...223516352244017


Here something interesting: live timing in an AVI file (only 15MB).



As for the race, I hoped for Kubica making Ferrari's job harder, bot a (again) a good drive by him, he seemed to push when he needed not to be jumped by Heidfeld in the pits. Also, in the last stint he was catching Kimi rapidly, then Kimi responded by improving his times, but Kubica was still about 0.2 per lap faster, he also wasn't loosing time to Kimi during the first stint. Of course Kimi was heavier, and he didn't really need to push hard in the last stint, but it looks like BMW race pace is improving solidly. Nick had a very good race, with steady pace and some nice overtaking moves.

Other than that, what is up with Maclaren? Hamilton had a terrible start and than damaged his car, but Kovalainen was way off the BMW pace in the first two stints. After Malayisa a lot of people were writing bad Mclaren positions as a result of grid penalty, but the fact was they were pretty much at the pace of BMW. Now they seem to be slightly behind them (not to mention Ferrari).

Good drve by Button (as long as it lasted) but he wasn't faultless in the DC indicdent. Nice job by Fisi.

Qualifying in Spain will sure be interesting (but the race...)

Yeah barcelona is always borefest after first corner.

Incident missed by the FOM TV coverage:



This was on the second lap, and was due to oil on track in turn 7.

Source: Blog do Capelli ( http://blogdocapelli.blogspot.com/ )

yeah i was wondering why 2 nd lap was so slow. 1:37 from Massa worried from when I looked at live timing.

Average improvement in qualifying compared to last year:

1. Red Bull Racing - 0,536 s
2. BMW Sauber - 0,465 s
3. Toyota - 0,428 s
4. Williams - 0,372 s
5. Renault - 0,268 s
6. Ferrari - 0,131 s
7. McLaren + 0,138 s

Average improvement in the race compared to last year:

1. BMW Sauber - 0,647 s
2. Toyota - 0,461 s
3. McLaren - 0,340 s
4. Williams - 0,006 s
5. Renault + 0,040 s
6. Ferrari + 0,135 s
7. Red Bull Racing + 0,396 s

Originally posted by AFCA
Average improvement in qualifying compared to last year:

1. Red Bull Racing - 0,536 s
2. BMW Sauber - 0,465 s
3. Toyota - 0,428 s
4. Williams - 0,372 s
5. Renault - 0,268 s
6. Ferrari - 0,131 s
7. McLaren + 0,138 s

Average improvement in the race compared to last year:

1. BMW Sauber - 0,647 s
2. Toyota - 0,461 s
3. McLaren - 0,340 s
4. Williams - 0,006 s
5. Renault + 0,040 s
6. Ferrari + 0,135 s
7. Red Bull Racing + 0,396 s

AMuS conveniently left Force India and Honda out of the equation.

Average improvement in qualifying compared to last year:

Honda - 1,151 s
Scuderia Toro Rosso - 0,606 s
Force India/Spyker - 2,162 s
Super Aguri + 1,367 s

Average improvement in the race compared to last year:

Honda -0,756 s
Scuderia Toro Rosso - 0,459 s
Force India/Spyker - 0,787 s
Super Aguri + 0,361 s

(I don't know what AMuS did but what I've done is always look at both drivers, since we're talking about the teams here).