2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

[Stevisiov]

I think it still is Brawn that is the fastest team qua race pace. As they said, Toyota and Red Bull have Brawn bagged in terms of one lap speeds, but when it comes to race pace, Brawn is still the team that is ahead of everyone else. Button definitly showed that, even if Vettel managed to pass Hamilton, I think he never would've threatened Button for the win. The Brawn car is just to formidable and stable, the onboard cam is a pleasure to watch when the car is a Brawn.

I think the RBR was faster than the Brawn even in terms of race pace, the RBR was stuck behind a slower Mclaren which cost a significant amount of time, then stuck behind Trulli.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I think the RBR was faster than the Brawn even in terms of race pace, the RBR was stuck behind a slower Mclaren which cost a significant amount of time, then stuck behind Trulli.

Bear in mind that Vettel was instructed to go easy on the tyres, which made him back off several times during the race behind Trulli and behind Hamilton. If he'd not been behind these two drivers, I still think he would've backed off of Button as well as the Brawn car is extremely generous towards soft tyres.

 

[Peter]

The Brawn must be really smooth, it has not spun out at all yet. It's not very tough on the tires and it hardly has loss of grip.

 

[zed300]

I think the Red Bull of Vettel, was probably as quick as Button's Brawn,but was not able to show it with average track position.
Ferrari score points YEH!!!
Nice drive from Hamilton too.

 

[Stevisiov]

Bear in mind that Vettel was instructed to go easy on the tyres, which made him back off several times during the race behind Trulli and behind Hamilton. If he'd not been behind these two drivers, I still think he would've backed off of Button as well as the Brawn car is extremely generous towards soft tyres.

It wasn't just the tyres he was saving. He was saving fuel behind Trulli, according to the RBR team boss Vettel managed to save 3 laps worth of fuel while tucked up behind Trulli, it wasn't because they had to, its more because they knew they couldn't get past him so they were trying to get a few more laps than trulli so they could leap frog him in the pits, which clearly worked. Had Vettel not been stuck behind Trulli he wouldn't have needed to save tyres, it was simply damage control.

 

[KSaiyu]

Meh, the early laps showed promise and there were some interesting KERS vs non-KERS battles but ended up falling asleep once the podium was sorted.

 

[Joey D]

You probably shouldn't have picked bahrain as your race of choice, track action is fairly uninspiring.

Its a great venue but it doesn't provide the most exciting racing.

Here in the US the only station that plays F1 is Speed and they show all the races live which typically means late at night or early in the morning. It's hard to watch a race and it dawned on me that it was on this morning when I got up. I don't really know why Speed doesn't broadcast the race at 2pm or something when more people can watch it.

 

[Ardius]

Wow what a good race (for Bahrain standards). Another commanding drive from Button, again well done and further proof that he isn't some lucky driver, he clearly has the marks for potential world champion.
Barrichello also had a great race in my opinion, once again being bogged down from qualifying 6th, being held up by all kinds of cars but still scoring important points for Brawn and continuing their statistic of 100% points finishes so far. Hope Rubens gets a win soon, he needs to start showing he can match his team mate in results.

Vettel once again brilliant, Toyota also good but not quite enough. Disappointing from Glock and a decent performance from Trulli. The Trulli train provided Button his win so I have no complaints about that

Ferrari finally score some points but are still 9th in constructors, will they score again? It will be a struggle, especially keeping in mind both Williams and Toro Rosso weren't anywhere today and they are more likely to be on other tracks - that leaves only the odd teammate and Force India that Ferrari can beat with some confidence but they will have a tough time fighting the likes of Alonso, Rosberg, Buemi, Kovalainen, etc for the last points positions.

McLaren have improved yet again...or should I say that Hamilton is really just the magic man he's meant to be? Kovalainen looking lost once again but Lewis really flying with what has to be a 6th or 7th best car. Well done for Lewis, he is providing a lot of the action on track at the moment. 👍

Williams no where once again, I don't know whether its the car, the drivers or the team's strategies but its not working at all. Certainly Nakajima is weak but I'm starting to wonder if Rosberg is all that or whether the car isn't as fast as first thought. Certainly the strategies are not up to scratch though.

Toro Rosso returning to familiar territory at the back again allowing Bourdais to finally beat Buemi. Nothing much to say, as well as Force India, not much improving going on.

Renault again still being distinctly middle-of the pack material, neither slow nor fast. Just good enough to pick some points up but nothing special. Piquet finally finishes somewhat decently but he needs to keep it up. I'm not sure he can do it under all this pressure.

Lastly, BMW wow....lost for words indeed. I had thought they would be challenging for the championship like everyone else before this year. What a shocker and do I detect a hint of the old Sauber? No....Sauber weren't this bad. Horrible weekend and I'm so glad I got rid of the BMW engine in my fantasy team lol.

As for the race as a whole, it was boring after the pit strategies had played out but there was a fair amount of excitement of seeing who would feed out where and the first 5 laps were frantic indeed. The Webber onboard shots were crazy of the first lap! Almost like watching the BTCC!
Lots of action in the midfield, mainly Barrichello and Piquet, Alonso and Trulli, etc.

A standard Bahrain race but with some great action in the few moments there was some! Disappointed at still no Toyota win but maybe later, I can settle with a Button win

 

[Metar]

I wonder what Nico thought to himself when he swerved to the left at the start, sending Alonso into the grass - and still ended up behind him?

Its unlikely that brawn have made the car worse since last week.

Normally, I would never argue that point... But it appears that it happened this week: Brawn made their car "worse", in terms of pace, for Bahrain. Listening to Massa's radio, his engineer explained to him that the Brawn guys chopped off some rear bodywork in an attempt to improve cooling. The aero, therefore, was indeed worse than in the last races.

My statement assumed that the person in question had a good car to begin with, something the Ferrari F60 is not.

Surprise-surprise, the F60 is quite a decent car. Pace-wise, it was Q3-material all along - mathematically, that requires being faster than ten other cars... It's just that race-wise, they have nothing to show this year.

10th to 6th is good in the F1 world where overtaking is rare. Besides, he scored ferrari some points, something I expected Massa to do today.

It was unfortunate to see Massa's car sandwiched between his teammate and Rubens. Massa had no possibility of saving his wing - it was trapped between the rear wheels of the two other cars.

I think the key point to bahrain wasn't that the the brawn was the fastest, it was Button got past Hamilton and Vettel did not. Vettel was held up to his first stop, then that caused him to come out behind trulli who held him up on his second stint, then the last stint was on the slower tyres.

That's my opinion, too. Pace-wise, Vettel and Button were nearly equal (Button had a slight edge), but Vettel never had free air in the first two stints.

AlsoX2: Sweet defending over Barrichello by Piquet with such a heavy car, but that's as far as his performance goes.

Piquet was good this weekend - clean passes, brave defences, and, for a change, not a single error. His raw pace wasn't too bad, either...


And something old I had to correct:

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.

Alonso turned out to be running the same weight as the rest around him - that's part one. Part two is this: At China, the new diffuser was fitted during the night before FP3 - and mechanical failures during that session prevented any useful running: Alonso did exactly six laps to set it up. So while there were no major new parts for Bahrain, the Renault crew finally had the time to test and set it up properly.

 

[H20HYBRID_GT]

Doh, was I wrong ... the first 2 laps were exciting, but the rest of the race was pure boredom
But at least a nice result showing the current pace of the cars / drivers.

 

[Robin]

The first 4 laps of the race was excellent, then it went downhill from there. Nothing really happened and only Nakajima retired which shows there were very few people challenging for positions (usually leading to accidents). I was also suprised that no cars overheated because you would have thought that would be the major killer.

Did anyone else notice how the grandstands where half empty, I really dont understand why.

Happy for Button, nice to see the other midfield teams also doing so well.

Robin.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Okay, not the most exciting race of the year, but certainly a very important one. After the season opener where no-one was really sure what might happen in the face of all the new regulations and finished under the safety car and two wash-outs in Malaysia and China, this was an important race because it was the first where everything made sense.

I'm always happy when Button wins, though I do admit I was a little disappointed to see he didn't really have to fight for it, and the only man who put up a challenge was Lewis Hamilton. Not the Toyotas as expected; Trulli and Glock really threw away a chance to dominate here. I didn't think their strategy of running the middle stint on the harder compound was that bad of an idea, but I was a little stunned that Trulli couldn't catch Vettel when the German was on the softer rubber.

Did anyone else notice how the grandstands where half empty, I really dont understand why.

Bahrain have been having troubles getting bums on seats for years now.

EDIT: I have to confess that I no longer hate Lewis Hamilton the way I have for the past two seasons. I know the McLaren isn't what it could be, and after seeng his string of results with it so far, I'm developing a grudging respect for the man. I don't think I'll ever like him, but I don't hate him, and I think the main reason for it is that I no longer have to listen to James Allen getting so excited that he's in need of a tissue before the first corner.

 

[Peter]

I have to confess that I no longer hate Lewis Hamilton the way I have for the past two seasons. I know the McLaren isn't what it could be, and after seeng his string of results with it so far, I'm developing a grudging respect for the man. I don't think I'll ever like him, but I don't hate him, and I think the main reason for it is that I no longer have to listen to James Allen getting so excited that he's in need of a tissue before the first corner.

May I ask why you hate him? He's a really great, freindly driver who plays fair and plays with the leaders.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

May I ask why you hate him? He's a really great, freindly driver who plays fair and plays with the leaders.

Um, because for the pat two years we've had nothing but Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton rammed down our unwilling throats by James Allen. A little drizzle in Monaco, and suddenly he's the Second Coming of Ayrton Senna when Vettel's drives at Monza and Shanghai are far more deserving of the title. Not to mention that everyone becomes biased against the FIA and suddenly talk of conspiracy theories favouring Ferrari when Hamilton gets penalised despite the fact that Hamilton obviously screwed it up. And, of course, I'm a Button fan and have been since the first day of his career. But as soon as he looked to be in a rough patch and Hamilton appeared on the scene, a lot of Button fans jumped ship and went over to Hamilton. There are other things, too, like the obsessive Lewisteria and outcry when Hamilton "only" managed third in the 2007 British Grand Prix.

 

[Peter]

It's not his fault they love him. And need i remind you that Lewis nearly won the drivers title in his first year and won it the second. No other driver, not even Senna or Schumacher did that.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

When was the last time a driver started his career in a car that was not simply capable of winning the championship, but expected to be fighting for the title? I don't really care how you rationalise it, but I don't feel as if I'm under any obligation to hero-worship - or even like - the guy simply because of his ability. I've already cast my alleigances with Jenson Button, and it's been that way ever since he joined the sport; to a lesser extent, the same applies to Sebastian Vettel. I see no reason to go about changing any the drivers I currently support or dislike, and you are most certainly not going to change that with a few simple words about how great certain drivers are.

 

[Hyst]

If Lewis wasn't British, I'd probably like him, and for the reasons Dyr has already explained.

 

[niky]

I think it still is Brawn that is the fastest team qua race pace. As they said, Toyota and Red Bull have Brawn bagged in terms of one lap speeds, but when it comes to race pace, Brawn is still the team that is ahead of everyone else. Button definitly showed that, even if Vettel managed to pass Hamilton, I think he never would've threatened Button for the win. The Brawn car is just to formidable and stable, the onboard cam is a pleasure to watch when the car is a Brawn.

Also, noticed how the Brawn car outbrakes every other car on the grid? That pass over Hamilton really showed how good the brakes on the Brawn car are. AlsoX2: Sweet defending over Barrichello by Piquet with such a heavy car, but that's as far as his performance goes.

Not only that, but when they switch to the onboard cams, the Brawn's rear end is noticeably more tied down than, say, the Toyota's or anyone else's... only Vettel seemed to be running a car that's near as steady.

Note that while Lewis and Kimi were able to wrestle their cars up into the top of the leaderboard, they just didn't have the pace to stay with the fastest cars through a full race... Lewis had all but used up his tires by the end of the race and was starting to fall back, Kimi was under tremendous pressure near the end...

Interesting to see how that KERS-non-KERS battle worked out... KERS is definitely a disadvantage in cornering ability and overall race pace... over one lap, a KERS car can stay with a non-KERS car (as we saw in qualifying), but over the course of the race, that extra weight higher up in the car than ordinary ballast just eats away at the tires.

But man, that power boost is something... doesn't matter if you can outcorner the guy, if you're lined up side-by-side and he's got a huge boost of power out of the corner, there's no way you're beating him, except maybe by braking later into the next.

I think, to "encourage" more teams to KERS, the FIA should mandate that around 20-30 kgs of ballast on non-KERS cars should be placed up as high as possible... Maybe around the height of the drivers' heads.

EDIT: I have to confess that I no longer hate Lewis Hamilton the way I have for the past two seasons. I know the McLaren isn't what it could be, and after seeng his string of results with it so far, I'm developing a grudging respect for the man. I don't think I'll ever like him, but I don't hate him, and I think the main reason for it is that I no longer have to listen to James Allen getting so excited that he's in need of a tissue before the first corner.

I'd hate to learn what is on that tissue...

-

I never really liked Schumi, either... he always came off as an arrogant arse, but I had respect for the man's ability and talent, both as an excellent, almost untouchable driver (in his prime) and as a team leader and development driver.

Alonso is the only person in the current pack who seems to have the same abilities as Schumacher, and furthermore, he's shown how incredible his pace is, even in an uncompetitive car.

-

Good race for Kimi and Lewis. After the last race, they need to show that they're both the A-drivers for their respective teams. I suppose, seeing how the cars lose pace over the race, the problems with tire wear from aggressive (read: fast) driving are a big factor with these KERS-cars, so their problems in the rain probably signify that they really are trying harder than their team-mates.

Kimi, in particular, needs to show Ferrari a good reason to keep him if they really do go all-out in courting Alonso.

Great race for Button... that Brawn is clearly a terrific car... but I have hopes for RBR... Vettel has shown, in the past, the ability to win with a middling car... now that he has a competitive one, there's a chance he could be neck-in-neck with Button for wins by mid-season... an outside chance, maybe, but a chance. He'll have to contend with the Toyotas and McLarens, though... this may be another season where the Trulli train has a significant effect on the outcome of the season.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Luca di Montezemolo has come out to explain what te hell is going on at Maranello:

"We have seen very badly written rules," Montezemolo said. "They are what I call grey rules, with different interpretations. And if teams that have won the last three world championships, like Renault, McLaren and Ferrari, an important team and car manufacturer like BMW and even Red Bull, have made one interpretation, it means that the rules are not so clear. So very unclear rules means different interpretations, means polemics and different cars in the field."

Translation: the other teams have been cleverer than us, so we're going to blame out poor performance on them.

"We have three different F1s on the grid. We have F1 competition between cars with KERS, F1 competition between cars with no KERS and a different floor, and thirdly competitors with no KERS and no floor. I think this is bad, and it is one of the reasons why unfortunately we are not competitive and we are forced to invest time and extra money at such a difficult moment, to make heavy modifications to our car."

I think he's twisting the facts here a little bit: the cars running KERS also happen to be the most disappointing cars of the season. Ferrari themselves have already proven that if you pull the system out, you don't go faster. And Red Bull have proven that the diffuser isn't the only thing that makes you go faster. It helps, but it's not essential.

 

[niky]

The diffuser issue is so over. Yes, the FIA wording of the rule and the unclear interpretation of it are partly to blame for the lack of pace of many teams, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

The KERS argument is valid, though... If your car is designed to package KERS, then you've already made compromises in the packaging of the car. It's not like you can just take the KERS out and fill the spaces left behind with something else.

That's why, IMHO, it's important to penalize non-KERS runners with high mounted ballast. If they're not going to design their cars around a KERS system at this point, they should be forced to put up with the same high center-of-gravity handicaps as the KERS teams.

It's only fair.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

That's why, IMHO, it's important to penalize non-KERS runners with high mounted ballast. If they're not going to design their cars around a KERS system at this point, they should be forced to put up with the same high center-of-gravity handicaps as the KERS teams.

It's only fair.

They'll just find ways around it that, while they don't offer and distinct advantage, they negate the disadvantage. Look at the positioning of the brake calipers on the Brawns: everybody else has them mounted on the side of the wheel rim, but the Brawn calipers are at the bottom of the rim, which lowers the centre of gravity. I can't imagine that four brake calipers would weight the same as an entire KERS unit, but the point is that clever design will negate any penalty they'd be given.

 

[niky]

Not any... but most. But working around high-mounted ballast would take time, time that would be better spent implementing KERS to avoid the penalty. You can't get around the fact that having ballast mounted high up in the car is just plain bad for the handling (which is what happened to Kubica when they tried to install KERS on his...)

Not that I'm entirely convinced KERS is a good idea, but I hate to see what it's doing to the racing having cars following two entirely different rulesets...

Come to think of it... when is the deadline for KERS implementation?

 

[Tired Tyres]

I think everyone has to use it next season. I'm not total sure about that though.

It is not acceptable this season to punish teams that don't run it because anyone with eyes that work properly has seen KERS runners use the system to either overtake or to defend themselves from being overtaken.

 

[mipuumal]

It's not his fault they love him. And need i remind you that Lewis nearly won the drivers title in his first year and won it the second. No other driver, not even Senna or Schumacher did that.

No, but JV did.

 

[Ardius]

It's not his fault they love him. And need i remind you that Lewis nearly won the drivers title in his first year and won it the second. No other driver, not even Senna or Schumacher did that.

The hate is more towards everything but Lewis himself - the corporate rubbish he (at least used to) say in conferences, James Allen, rediculous fanboyism when it came to penalties, being basically given the best racing career by McLaren up through the categories...and so on.

Lewis' personality and skill behind the wheel seem to be top notch and he provides much of the entertainment in the races. But its just the way he is presented by everyone else which ruins his image, he should stop listening to other people telling him what to say and what to do (I'm not referring to Liegate here, just in general) and speak out a little bit more with his own opinions and thoughts.

Having said that, Lewis really is helping himself a lot by impressing with that middle-of-the-road McLaren and not losing his racing spirit. Very much like Alonso dare I say? Perhaps Fernando rubbed off on him.

I think I'll go with the Murray Walker excuse of "its hard to compare different eras of drivers as the cars, teams, rules, circuits, etc are very different and all contribute to each drivers success". I don't think Hamilton compares to Senna at all just yet as Ayrton had many more qualities which made him a hero than just being a damn good driver.

 

[Hyst]

I think it's also a desperation on all of our parts to label someone 'the next Senna'. The only Senna ever was Ayrton himself, and Bruno will be the next Senna in only a literal sense. People need to appreciate what they have, and not compare them (quite unfairly) to, as Ardius/Murray Walker says, different drivers of different eras with different equipment on different tracks.

Lewis is who he is. I don't like Lewis, and that is entirely due to the fact he's been shoved down my throat for the last two years. You do not have to like someone to respect them, and I respect anyone who can show what he's shown in the past. You can do a lot of things accidentally - winning a Formula One WDC is not one of them, and as Lewis became the 30th name on the list last year, I can no longer disrespect him, as much as I would like to.

 

[zujo 19]

For me boring race, can not wait Monaco...

 

[bicycleshorts]

The hate is more towards everything but Lewis himself - the corporate rubbish he (at least used to) say in conferences, James Allen, rediculous fanboyism when it came to penalties, being basically given the best racing career by McLaren up through the categories...and so on.

Lewis' personality and skill behind the wheel seem to be top notch and he provides much of the entertainment in the races. But its just the way he is presented by everyone else which ruins his image, he should stop listening to other people telling him what to say and what to do (I'm not referring to Liegate here, just in general) and speak out a little bit more with his own opinions and thoughts.

Having said that, Lewis really is helping himself a lot by impressing with that middle-of-the-road McLaren and not losing his racing spirit. Very much like Alonso dare I say? Perhaps Fernando rubbed off on him.

I think I'll go with the Murray Walker excuse of "its hard to compare different eras of drivers as the cars, teams, rules, circuits, etc are very different and all contribute to each drivers success". I don't think Hamilton compares to Senna at all just yet as Ayrton had many more qualities which made him a hero than just being a damn good driver.

This is a good post to show why people hate him.

If you hate the hype - fair enough, hate the hype and the people who created that hype - don't hate the guy stuck in the middle trying to race. Of course the current "best" (referring to him being the reigning champion) will have some silly sunny day fans. You can look at any other sport to see that is the case - Chelsea in the Premiership a few years ago rings a bell . It's good, however, to see that people who do dislike his media circus still regard him as a genuinely quick driver.

With regards to the "conspiracies" - it's always the case with conspiracies that there is enough proof to support a claim and not enough proof to disprove it. Just try to put forward your case for events and if they don't listen - they're already lost. If you're lucky you might get a good debate with good reliable sources .

My opinion is that he's a very fast driver who will always push the car as much as possible - sometimes too far in search for performance (as we saw in China).

I'm enjoying him fighting in the middle of the pack more than when he was racing with Massa last season.

 

[PeterJB]

If Lewis wasn't British, I'd probably like him, and for the reasons Dyr has already explained.

Same here. All my friends say that I'm supposed to only support Button and Hamilton because they're British, and that is whats started making me hate those two drivers. The whole 'British Hero' thing really bugs me.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

The whole 'British Hero' thing really bugs me.

Me too and I'm not British.