2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

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BMW went 3/4 of a sec slower in prac2, must have been fuel load and tyre wear testing.
Both McLarens went a few tenths slower, they too may be testing in the same way.

They do so many different tests, its so hard to read into Fri prac.
 
How awful did the STRs look? Buemi was driving a slippery banana! Very difficult to make any judgements, but I will anyway! RBR look quick. Force India look improved. BMW look very slow as do STR. McLaren and Ferrari are still midfield cars.

Buemi and Hamilton seemed to be sideways more often than not... Hamilton also had a lap where he went off at pretty much every other corner. Odd stuff.

At least we know the Nico and Fernando cars have good one-lap pace - but compared to what? Ah, the mystery.
 
:lol:


Also, new this weekend:

Renault presented tighter buttocks and a reworked nose so far: The droopy "we forgot the model in the oven and it melted" sidepods are gone in favour of something more Red Bull-esque, while the front wing, on top of the China changes, gains a set of cascades:

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Force India's ass now spews out air more efficiently, courtesy of a new interim double-decker. Highlighting-edit attached, green is the 175mm line, red is the new diffuser-ceiling:

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BMW's Mario Theissen, meanwhile, suggested both cars will use KERS.

Red Bull's rear was also updated, it seems: No double-decker yet, but the most radical single-decker in the field just got a small update.

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What do you think of turns nine and ten? They're probably the highlight of the lap since they're so important; turn nine in particular. You have to brake and turn at the same time to set the car up properly for turn ten. I think it's a lot like the twelve-thirteen-fourteen sequence at Sepang where no two drivers take the exact same line.

I'm still in two minds about Bahrain. I like the 8-9-10-11 section, but why does every straight of any length have to be followed up by a hairpin? Come on. My annoyance with Bahrain is more due to the fact that not only does it pale in comparison to the tracks we used to have on the calendar, but the tracks we still have on the calendar, like Spa and Monza. But then, at the same time, it's incredibly unfair to Hermann Tilke to compare what he's been contracted to design with 60+ year old circuits. And I'm not anti-Tilke in any way. I like Sepang and the Valencia street circuit, and I love Shanghai and the Yas Marina circuit. His reworking of Fuji isn't too bad either.

I think Bahrain is a challengining track in and of itself, but in comparison to the other stops on the calendar it is bland, boring, and personally I'm not a fan of beaches, which leads to an irrational hatred of circuiits with desert as a scenery (yes, that includes Zandvoort).
 
No form of criticism given to Tilke is unfair. He is not a race track designer. Just an architect who happens to design tracks. Ecclestone likes him. That's why he gets the jobs.
 
WHOOOO!!! I'm absolutely loving this circuit, can't you see the genius in the mix of those shiny F1 cars and the raw desert... oh well ;)
As for the race I predict the most exciting one so far this year, I know could be wrong, but I have a feeling ... no rain, great track layout, RBR fighting the Brawns, etc. 👍

As for those thinking you can read anything in first friday practice ... no, you can't, never will :P
 
The desert might be so hot the tires could probably melt :lol: not possible, but the cars will stick like glue and if that sand gets into the engine, you're done.
 
I have to say there are so many parallels to the last big rule change season in F1, 1998 or rather with the 90s in general.
First of all, we are back to having two privateer teams battle for the championship, both being based in the UK (from Williams and Benetton from the 90s). Secondly, we are back to possibly having another old Brit versus young German battle (like Hill versus Schumacher). Now we have Lola considering entry again (like the failed attempt in 1997, which was originally going to be 1998, stupid Mastercard). Also, we have a potential for a big grid line-up in coming years harking back to the late 80s/early 90s are we going to see pay-drivers and rediculously bad teams return?
There are many more minor parallels that I've noticed but forgotten now lol.

Although there has been a lot of crap going on and stuff that makes me sad for the future (like the most wins system for next year) I still can't help but get excited before each race.
 
The Newey designed Red bull is still worth keeping an eye on as the season develops. Especially seeing it's dry-running pace is good, and yet to add a fancy diffuser.

I'll be honest; with the fundamental change is car design forced by the '09 regulation changes I actually expected the Red bull to pull a surprise, and be leading the way in 2009.

Adrian Newey is usually an utter genius when it comes to vastly new car designs. The fact that he "missed" the double decker diffuser amazes me (that is to say, he may have considered it, but thought it too controversial). It will be interesting when they finally have it on the car. Though no doubt it's effectiveness will be compromised by fundamental aspects worked into the front wing, that can't be changed on that car.

I feel F1 has lost it's spirit to some extent. After a long time of watching it, this is the first season where I have the little personal interest in who wins. Nonetheless, the technical intrigue of the season is the sort of thing that has always fascinated me.
 
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Adrian Newey is usually an utter genius when it comes to vastly new car designs. The fact that he "missed" the double decker diffuser amazes me (that is to say, he may have considered it, but thought it too controversial). It will be interesting when they finally have it on the car. Though no doubt it's effectiveness will be compromised by fundamental aspects worked into the front wing, that can't be changed on that car.

Erm, well, Red Bull allegedly submitted a "double-decker" design to the FIA to see if it was legal so yeah, he didn't "miss" it.

I feel F1 has lost it's spirit to some extent. After a long time of watching it, this is the first season where I have the little personal interest in who wins. Nonetheless, the technical intrigue of the season is the sort of thing that has always fascinated me.

Thats crazy! I'm so glad we have gotten rid of the bloody manufacturer teams winning all the time! Already this season is better than the past 10 or 12 years!
 
My slight ambivalence towards the crown doesn't stem from manufacturer teams hitting hard times. It's more a culmination over the years of needless meddling and rule changes; most of which do nothing to change the spectacle as they are supposed to do, but are desperately trying to recapture the "spirit" the sport had in the 90's before they changed the cars in '98, and the qualifying thereafter.

Can you honestly say the current qualifying format is better than the 12 lap limit we used to have, further to that; does the format we have now cost less than the 12 lap format we used to have? (this being the primary reason for changing a perfectly good forumla)

I have no problem with them limiting engine development as a method of cost cutting. For all the money sunk into F1 teams, it is desireable that Formula one should produce some applicable technology to road cars/safety, I just don't think KERS is the way to go about it. This is already proving to be a highly cost-inefficient "white-elephant".
 
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What's the update on the Red Bull diffuser?

Todays Practice will be good to see.

I can't see Ferrari being involved in Q1 as they are being left behind in bolt on parts, but Spain should be the turning point for this proud F1 contributer.

Qualifying should be a close ordeal for most of the teams as McLaren and Force India find more grip and pace.
 
Hamilton's just gone a second quicker than.........Kimi?

Am I in the right year??




!) mins left and Alonso last Piquet better than mid???

What is going on???

So many questions.:lol:



That was the most unpredictable practice since the beginning of the season!
 
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wasn't an FIM superbike race rained out in Qatar last week? I seem to remember Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner battling it out in the dark over 10 hours after the race should've started or something.

remember folks, ANYTHING can happen. Sometimes, it rains even in the desert.
Just to anyone who's honestly saying "there is no chance of rain in Bahrain this week".
 
What the...

Is Alonso running light again or has he found some magical pace in the Renault? He's currently 3rd in Q2 with Piquet 15th in Q2... And Raikkonen 2nd in Q2...

*EDIT* Wow, Toyota just crushed the competition with a 1-2 in Q3. I'm astonished about this. This is their first pole since 2005, and on top of that, a 1-2 combo. Since the gap was so big (0.6 seconds with P1 for Trulli and P3 for Vettel), I'm expecting Toyota, and especialy Trulli to run relatively light. I'm expecting Buttin to run heavy, and Barrichello uber-heavy. I really, really, really hope Toyota can pull this off tomorrow. Who know we might get to see a third team achieving a 1-2 race result, I really hope it for them. The team has been working so hard since 2002, it's about damn time they'd got where they are now 👍
 
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Darn. Vettel was so close!

Vettel was very fast in Q1 and Q2, but in Q3, nobody was really able to answer the pace of the Toyotas hence why I suspect Vettel running a god lot of fuel heavier than the two drivers in front of him...
 
Is Alonso running light again or has he found some magical pace in the Renault? He's currently 3rd in Q2 with Piquet 15th in Q2... And Raikkonen 2nd in Q2...
Alonso's got to be running on fumes again. He started in Shanghai with just enough for ten laps, and since that was a week ago, I seriously doubt Renault's engineers have managed to come up with a solution to the problem.

*EDIT* Wow, Toyota just crushed the competition with a 1-2 in Q3. I'm astonished about this. This is their first pole since 2005, and on top of that, a 1-2 combo. Since the gap was so big (0.6 seconds with P1 for Trulli and P3 for Vettel), I'm expecting Toyota, and especialy Trulli to run relatively light. I'm expecting Buttin to run heavy, and Barrichello uber-heavy.
Makes sense. That's the way they've been playing it for the past three rounds.

I really, really, really hope Toyota can pull this off tomorrow. Who know we might get to see a third team achieving a 1-2 race result, I really hope it for them. The team has been working so hard since 2002, it's about damn time they'd got where they are now 👍
I think the devil is going to be in the details again. If you'll recall Sepang, when Glock was running second and inherited the lead from the pitting Rosberg: when Glock made his stop, the heavier Button was able to lay down some astonishingly quick laps and put enough of a gap between himself and Glock that when he came out, the Brawn was still in front of the Toyota. If Brawn can pull that off tomorrow, it's going to be very difficult for Toyota to reel them in. Brawn can go faster than anyone while carrying more fuel, and the Sakhir circuit seems to suit Button's style as a lot of the corners flow into one another. Barring a mistake, I think Button will be hard to catch. But this is where the devil is in the aforementioned details: it depends on the difference between the Toyotas and Button. The greater the difference between the two, the more time Button is going to have to open a gap between himself and Glock, Trulli or whoever is in front of him assuming he's up-front for the first round of stops.
 
Man... crazy.

Is this right? The top ten cars are separated by less than a second in Q2... and eight of those by just four-tenths...

That'll make for some exciting racing tomorrow.

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Light load or not, good first pole for Trulli this season... wonder how long the Toyotas will be able to keep Vettel bottled up behind them...

Interesting to see Ferrari-Renault-McLaren just 4/10ths off Vettel's fastest lap of qualifying (Q2's where it's all at), and just 2/10ths off of Toyota... and about even with Brawn. This isn't looking good for Button's title hopes, but hey, he had his fifteen minute's worth... :lol:

I think this illustrates one of the most important changes of the season... testing limitations... having to do so much of the set-up work and testing during practice itself is having a great effect on the racing itself. I love it. 👍

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Did Kimi have a bad off in Q3? How'd Massa outpace him? Or are they loading him uber-heavy for the race?
 
Given what Button was saying after Q3, the Brawn's may be carrying less fuel than most suspect.
 
Bit annoyed, more because I got up at 7 after 2 hours of sleep to watch the qualifying and promptly fell back asleep. Good stuff from Glock though :sly:.
 
Good qualifying, annoying about Webber though. Kind of makes a bit of an anti-climax to tomorrow.
 
Unless foolish strateges are implemented the Q1 contenders should take the points.

I suspect Lewis,the 2 Brawns and Vettel are very similar in fuel loads, with Ferrari and Rosberg carrying a fair few more laps. The Toyotas and Alonso running a short first stint.

Webber will be praying for a timely safety car or two, just to reach a possibility of points.

Sutil and his crew chief should be a little more professsional, and know exactly who and how far, any car is behind. Justified penalty.
 
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