171 replies to this topic

[Richard T]

Moving on to Bahrain and Red Bull and Vettel still in command at the top but Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes fast approaching. In 5 days we might have a new leader of both championships.

Here is your Session times (UK)

FP1 - 08:00 to 09:30
FP2 - 12:00 to 13:30
----
FP3 - 09:00 to 10:00
QU - 12:00
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RACE - 13:00


(Current) Race winners
---
Alonso - 3 wins (2005, 2006, 2010)
Massa - 2 wins (2007, 2008)
Vettel - 1 win (2012)
Button - 1 win (2009)

[Shiroo]

I expect Lotus to get double and everyone will make similar doom calls like it was with RBR after Malaysia and with Ferrari after China.

[Cyanide]

I expect Lotus to get double.

Sure hope that was sarcastic.

Lotus is still favorite though, but only with Kimi. Can't see Romain getting his minerals together anytime soon.

[Grundle]

Seeing as Lotus strong points are traction and Tyre deg,,
I agree with the post above.
Vettel pole, worse deg than Kimi. Kimi wins. Alo third.

[slmk]

I think Hamilton could get pole, or a front row start. I don't expect Mercedes to challenge on race pace, though. Interesting to see how Ferrari will fare there.

Think Lotus should be good for the win. RBR should be good as well.

Edited by slmk, 15 April 2013 - 11:33.

[Buttoneer]

An early reminder that if you wish to discuss how the political issues this year will affect the race, you can do so in a separate thread; http://forums.autosp...howtopic=183910

Purely political discussion on the region, unrelated to the race, should be in The Paddock Club forum.

We would appreciate it if members would report those who stray off topic in this thread.

[Richard T]

I think Alonso wins this one!

[Jon83]

I can see Vettel taking pole again here with Lotus and Ferrari offering a great challenge during the race. I'd also expect Grosjean to be more in the mix this race.

I'm not convinced that Mercedes will be very strong but Hamilton will always put a car where it perhaps shouldn't be! Alonso and Massa have been good round here in the past and hopefully, will be once again.

I really enjoyed this race last season.

[Diablobb81]

I've read that Heikki will drive Friday for Cat. Does anyone know more?

[Jon83]

I've read that Heikki will drive Friday for Cat. Does anyone know more?

There was a lot of talk about that over the weekend. I think Ted Kravitz suggested this as the team apparently want someone with experience to test their new parts.

No idea if this is more than just a rumour though. I'm not sure what he has to gain from it and it would be a bit of a kick in the teeth to their current drivers.

Edited by Jon83, 15 April 2013 - 12:34.

[ArkZ]

Ferrari's record at this track is incredible, 50% of all wins are from reds. Fernnado Alonso and Felipe Massa are leading drivers in history of this GP.

[Longtimefan]

So..

Who's going to win round four of the 'International Tyre Lottery Racing Series'?

[JeanTodt86]

I think that Vettel could take the pol, but not necessarily, Mercedes is also fast, and I expect Ferrari to be on first, possibly row. For the race, however, I think that the fight for the top step on the podium is going to be between Lotus (Raikkonen), and Alonso. They have the best race pace and, the tyre degradation is not that bad, compare to others

[krapmeister]

I hope that Ricciardo can have another stellar qualy like last year and a good race result like last weekend in China

[encircled]

Dat Dust.

[kosmos]

With the Hard and medium in this race, I expect a close fight between the top 4 teams.

[Alfisti]

Fernando has to be a raging hot favourite here, the car is great on it's rubber and the track suits them.

[ferrarijon123]

With the Hard and medium in this race, I expect a close fight between the top 4 teams.

Isn't it the soft and hard? I'd expect the race to be similar to China just with Red Bull being more competitive. I reckon Hamilton for pole and Alonso for the win.

[Lotusseven]

I hope that Ricciardo can have another stellar qualy like last year and a good race result like last weekend in China

I hope so too, but I think he won't.

[JeanTodt86]

Isn't it the soft and hard? I'd expect the race to be similar to China just with Red Bull being more competitive. I reckon Hamilton for pole and Alonso for the win.

It is soft nad hard for Bahrein.
Ferrari is going to be fast there. Their balance between tyre degradation and performance of the car is better then others.

[kosmos]

Isn't it the soft and hard? I'd expect the race to be similar to China just with Red Bull being more competitive. I reckon Hamilton for pole and Alonso for the win.

Medium and Hard according to this:

http://www.pirelli.c.....ress Release)

[Clatter]

Isn't it the soft and hard? I'd expect the race to be similar to China just with Red Bull being more competitive. I reckon Hamilton for pole and Alonso for the win.

Yes, unless there is a change made beforehand. Not sure if they are allowed to change the choice or have time to make the change if requested.
http://www.formula1....13/2/14265.html

Edited by Clatter, 15 April 2013 - 13:53.

[kosmos]

Clatter that info it's from February, check my link, it's a press release from today, they say Medium and Hard.

[surbjits]

Rosberg pole.

1. Alonso 2. Kimi 3. Vettel.

[Diablobb81]

So Pirelli changed the tire allocation without publicly informing anyone?

All is well.

[ferrarijon123]

Medium and Hard according to this:

http://www.pirelli.c.....ress Release)

Ahh right thanks for the link. Yeah I took the information from the February press release. Don't understand why they've changed it though?

[Clatter]

Clatter that info it's from February, check my link, it's a press release from today, they say Medium and Hard.

Wonder when that change of mind was made then.

[kosmos]

The expected lifespan of the hard tyre, when it comes to wear, should be 15-17 laps, whereas the medium tyre should last for approximately 13 to 15 laps.

[TomNokoe]

Long straights are gonna hurt Red Bull. If its Medium and Hard I reckon Mercedes have a real chance at victory. Looks very tight though. I hope they only have one DRS zone, two would kill it.

[Borko]

Yeah, quite a few longer straights, I hope they do affect Red Bull and Alonso wins again.

[aray]

Vettel for pole...Alonso,Vettel or Kimi for win....

[TomNokoe]

Yeah, quite a few longer straights, I hope they do affect Red Bull and Alonso wins again.

There's the pit straight, the straight between 3&4, between 10&11 and the back straight where last year in quali Hamilton in his McLaren hit over 300kph on 4 separate occasions. Although was DRS assisted.

[Atreiu]

Alonso, Vettel, Raikkonen with lots of crossing over strategies and no real racing.

Edited by Atreiu, 15 April 2013 - 14:55.

[BernieEc]

So Pirelli changed the tire allocation without publicly informing anyone?

All is well.

Can they do that?? I also heard they might be changing the makeup of the tyre compounds from Barcelona (Is this true) I would have thought all teams needed to agree this before any changes.

[TomNokoe]

Can they do that?? I also heard they might be changing the makeup of the tyre compounds from Barcelona (Is this true) I would have thought all teams needed to agree this before any changes.

They said any changes will be minor I think... only real changes I've heard is the extra rookie Friday running, with slightly harder tyres than usual. Its funny how they can produce these durable tyres at will but leave us with grated cheese on race day. Pirelli are very stubborn.

[SpaMaster]

Is that a typo or do they mean it? If someone is changing a decision they made earlier like this, they should explicitly state it.

[BernieEc]

According to ESPN, there will be talking about an evolution of the Pirelli tyre this week-end in Bahrein, which could be introduced for the Spain GP in Barcelona. seems like Bernie and Niki are pushing hard to make this happen. IMHO Show is good this year, but the true spirit of racing has been taken away with the pirelli era. Even Jb was talking about endurance race in China. http://fr.espnf1.com...ory/105622.html (sorry source in french).

Got this from the Mercedes thread.

[kenkip]

Its going to be tight but I think Alonso will just have it if he controls the race like China,i was really really impressed with on Sunday,I now get all the hype about him.
That RB9 though is still a superb race car,the pace Seb showed at the end of the race was scary and if there is a team that can unlock those Pirelli's its Redbull.
I am sure Ferrari is well aware of that though,thats why every podium is important now.My (wild) prediction
Qualy-Vettel,Hamilton,Alonso,Kimi,Webber
Race-Alonso,Vettel,Kimi,Hamilton

[kenkip]

By the way,can anybody post the tyre strategy break down for last year's race for comparison's sake please?Thanks.

[Diablobb81]

By the way,can anybody post the tyre strategy break down for last year's race for comparison's sake please?Thanks.

http://www.f1fanatic...gies-pit-stops/

[SamH123]

Is that a typo or do they mean it? If someone is changing a decision they made earlier like this, they should explicitly state it.

I don't think it's a typo because if it is they make the same mistake in the table below as well: http://www.pirelli.c.....ress Release)

So it definitely looks like meds and hards

[redbull1654]

I think lotus and red bull will be the fastest on that track.We saw last year that red bull has got the best traction on the grid,and thats all about on this track.Off course the tyres will be a major factor but i am really hoping for a win for vettel.
The best before the 3 weeks brake would be 1. vettel 2.kimi 3.webber,please come on.

[Shiroo]

actually soft and hard was better for everyone else EXCEPT Lotus & Ferrari. Now these 2 might be able to run alternative strategy like Med Med Hard, or Med Med Hard Hard if 3 will be not enough. While everyone else will run Med Hard Hard Hard most likely.

Soft aren't racing tyre and it doesn't matter for who, even for Lotus and Ferrari they are pretty quali tyre

[SpaMaster]

Both the above posts make good points.

[Msaman]

It's gonna be between Alonso and Kimi .
I do not think Mercedes stand a chance in 30+ degree.
RB might do something but I dont think they can win it just coz of tyre degradation.
It's gonna be a interesting one for sure.
So bring it on

[SpaMaster]

^ About Mercedes: All this talk on FRIC suspension and its ability to be kind on tyres is fine. But that is for a normal team. Mercedes has been an inherently tyre-eating team. It is extreme. This suspension alleviates that a bit. That by no means makes them a race-trim car. It has helped them from not being a trash-after-the-qualy car. May be they desperately need it and hence they pursued it more than others. I waited for China for one last confirmation. I was convinced their car still sucks in race, even though they had great one lap pace throughout the weekend. It would be no different in Bahrain. I would be surprised if Mercedes makes it into even podium in Bahrain.

[vlado]

Fernando has to be a raging hot favourite here, the car is great on it's rubber and the track suits them.

I agree.

The Ferrari has always gone well here, and I am not sure why... I mean the cars change a lot every year, and yet, the red car is always competitive in Bahrain.

[redbull1654]

I agree.

The Ferrari has always gone well here, and I am not sure why... I mean the cars change a lot every year, and yet, the red car is always competitive in Bahrain.

Last year they weren"t.

Edited by redbull1654, 15 April 2013 - 18:13.

[Vesuvius]

Kimi and Lotus are favourites, hot air suits for Lotus and tyres will be the key like last year, this will be the first hot race this year as all the first three failed to produce one.

[Goron3]

Last year they weren"t.

Yeah but we all know about the early 2012 Ferrari