2018 Bahrain GP Free Practice and Qualifying

**jragona** · 8th April 2018, 09:31

that's an amazing video, the middle part showing the gap between both cars is super cool - not seen that before. Really shows the relative strengths and weaknesses of each car. Interesting comparison.

The good news is Ferrari is faster over the majority of the lap, even with Merc's party mode...

**KimiBot** · 8th April 2018, 09:43

Originally Posted by icedeepan

So Seb's Q3 lap was 1.3 secs quicker than his Q3 lap in 2017. Bottas' lap was 0.8 quicker and Ham's was 0.6 quicker.

Our PU has improved big time!

and Kimi 1.4 s

**icedeepan** · 8th April 2018, 10:17

Originally Posted by KimiBot

and Kimi 1.4 s

The return of the iceman!

**mizf1** · 8th April 2018, 10:21

Originally Posted by mwk360

https://twitter.com/Gianludale27/sta...91961769177088

Bottas vs Seb fastest laps onboard comparison , very very very close , but in the hot temps Ferrari matches and is quicker on some straights

, mercs catch up quick on most corners and breaking zones

Ferrari are strong on the straights, even with Mercs 'party mode' we were pulling away

**PURE PASSION** · 8th April 2018, 10:28

Originally Posted by mwk360

https://twitter.com/Gianludale27/sta...91961769177088

Bottas vs Seb fastest laps onboard comparison , very very very close , but in the hot temps Ferrari matches and is quicker on some straights

, mercs catch up quick on most corners and breaking zones

Not really. Just watched it and Seb pulled away equally in the straights AND in breaking/corners !!!!!

**PURE PASSION** · 8th April 2018, 10:29

[AMuS] Ferrari 1st, Mercedes 2nd. On a power circuit. But that is not Ferrari‘s problem anymore. The team from Maranello has caught up with Mercedes in terms of engine power (one lap). Whether that also applies to the fuel consumption, the race will show

#F1 #BahrainGP

**mizf1** · 8th April 2018, 10:38

Originally Posted by PURE PASSION

Not really. Just watched it and Seb pulled away equally in the straights AND in breaking/corners !!!!!

The fact Mercs were killing us in the corners and braking zones in Oz, what Ferrari have done in 1 race is excellent. Hopefully after this race we learn more and China will be even better.

I always knew this car had the potential, it's about unlocking it. Barcelona testing we had not unlocked it hence why Mercs looked heavy favourites. Oz Seb was not happy either but seems like we are now understanding the car

**jragona** · 8th April 2018, 11:22

Originally Posted by mizf1

The fact Mercs were killing us in the corners and braking zones in Oz, what Ferrari have done in 1 race is excellent. Hopefully after this race we learn more and China will be even better.

I always knew this car had the potential, it's about unlocking it. Barcelona testing we had not unlocked it hence why Mercs looked heavy favourites. Oz Seb was not happy either but seems like we are now understanding the car

I think this race is all about setup improvements - which has been substantial. In China some updates are planned to improve the cornering/breaking instabilitiesthat are slowing the car down. China should be an interesting race.

**mardyrt** · 8th April 2018, 12:00

Guys, we are fast not because we made so huge power gain in engine, our engine is very driveable, and our car, mostly the sidepods are very narrow, its about 7 to 10cm narrower than Mercedes.
So, for Fd, which is Force of Drag, is Velocity squared times Area times density of air times coefficient of drag times .5.
So, if you reduce the area, it reduces the drag force a lot! This is exactly what we have. We fought the power deficit not just in one way, but we fought it two ways, one was improving engine power, second was reducing drag on the straights. Reducing drag is almost like adding more power to the engine.
I talked about this during our testing. I said our car will be fast on the straights! So, I am happy I was right for Ferrari! Forza Ferrari!
Like they say, Ferrari is a Dream, it is a red dream!

**Aberracus** · 8th April 2018, 12:03

I’m super worried about tyre degradation, I’m sure HAM will gonna try to do a one stop Soft - Med and going alll the time at 35.5 or something like that. I’m sure we can be faster, but we will not be so consistent.

My hope is HAM get entangled in traffic and overheats his car and his tires.

The other fast guy is RIC and he is much close to us.

Let’s hope we win today !

Forma Ferrari !!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Vettel165** · 8th April 2018, 12:21

We will see, we are in good shape for todays race, but in f1 anything is possible. Hope our car is reliable as it was in testing, and that we wont have any problems in the pits, then we can be optimistic. But still I wouldnt expect to much, but I hope for the best of course. Forza Ferrari, Vettel, Kimi.

**SilverSpeed** · 8th April 2018, 12:50

Yeah last year we had a good amount of DF but high amount of drag.

Now we still have the high DF amount but lost a pretty good amount of drag thanks to the higher sidepods again. So like it's been told here that's the same as adding horses to an engine.

Now if lil lewis gets caught in the pack then the engine will be turned down again and they have not build a car to follow, the build a car to get pole and race in clean air, so they are in panic mode atm since Ferrari have caught up now.

Also the soft tyres and the hot weather suits our car better just like last year, while Mercedes are kings on medium tyres.

Maybe last year was close even but due to our high drag chassis things looked not that way. I hope our upgrades at China en first big update at Spain delivers big time and we are away for the first time since they cheated their way with the V6 engines.

Forza Ferrari!

**mardyrt** · 8th April 2018, 13:02

I always thought, Mercedes did not build a good chassis, they were winning because of engine or their trick suspension system that Ross Brawn helped to create.
Since then, they were riding the wave of the engine. Their chassis was not innovative, it looked the same as last year. Under the skin, there might be little changes, and new un-compromised suspension. Ferrari has a very big revolution, it was not an evolution, as they lengthened the chassis with a much better sidepod design which helped to reduce drag and a lot of it.

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 13:35

I hope they finish 1 - 2 keep bot and ric behind because they will both make it easy for hamilton to come back and possibly win with his alternate strategy, no need for kimi to rush and risk both ferrari's on start

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 13:38

Sky (Herbet) predicting a twist in the race. with dani ric causing an upset for ferrari. Says RB race pace will/might? be the star today

**bonzo** · 8th April 2018, 13:39

Originally Posted by mwk360

I hope they finish 1 - 2 keep bot and ric behind because they will both make it easy for hamilton to come back and possibly win with his alternate strategy, no need for kimi to rush and risk both ferrari's on start

Ham will have hard time passing Ric

**nani_s23** · 8th April 2018, 13:42

Originally Posted by mwk360

Sky (Herbet) predicting a twist in the race. with dani ric causing an upset for ferrari. Says RB race pace will/might? be the star today

He’s (Herbert) Hamilton bunny. He always predict that if Ferrari’s are at front only.

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 13:47

Originally Posted by bonzo

Ham will have hard time passing Ric

He might pass him with his alternate strategy and this track has giant straights with drs Mercs will pass, Renault are the slowest in speed traps

That dude Nani:He’s (Herbert) Hamilton bunny. He always predict that if Ferrari’s are at front only.

Brundle predicted this might be Kimi's year and he needs to fight seb from the start, im so stressing about the start. Paul D R has been making much more unbias less controversial comments, i hope he can commentate soon lol

**Rishu** · 8th April 2018, 13:48

Originally Posted by mwk360

Sky (Herbet) predicting a twist in the race. with dani ric causing an upset for ferrari. Says RB race pace will/might? be the star today

Seems more a wish than prediction. These modern cars don’t like to follow another car. It’s our race to lose, all looking good

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 13:49

Hamilton said they told him it was an engine penalty when he arrived Thursday... it was gearbox instead correct?

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 13:51

Originally Posted by Rishu

Seems more a wish than prediction. These modern cars don’t like to follow another car. It’s our race to lose, all looking good

I really hope so!

1 - 2 for ferrari at the end Please!

**nani_s23** · 8th April 2018, 13:59

Originally Posted by Rishu

Seems more a wish than prediction. These modern cars don’t like to follow another car. It’s our race to lose, all looking good

Yeah me too thought the same. Those sky people think in such a way that, all those 8cars ahead of Hamilton & the cars behind his car should crash each other so that Lewis can win it easily.

**nani_s23** · 8th April 2018, 14:05

Originally Posted by mwk360

He might pass him with his alternate strategy and this track has giant straights with drs Mercs will pass, Renault are the slowest in speed traps

Brundle predicted this might be Kimi's year and he needs to fight seb from the start, im so stressing about the start. Paul D R has been making much more unbias less controversial comments, i hope he can commentate soon lol

Ham can pass ric easily on this track. Renault car when kept under stress their reliability is vulnerable. Can’t run on full power mode consistently.

Martin brundle, Karun Chandok, Hebert, another guy I forgot his name are a Biased towards Lewis.
Even if he locks up, crashes to the barrier, crashes with anyone they say it’s not his mistake, it’s the car. or VSC comes out which hinders Lewis winning chances, they say ban VSC or SC & even medical car also. Such are those fools

**paolo lalli** · 8th April 2018, 14:05

There heads are in the sky.

**Kristof_F40** · 8th April 2018, 14:15

In my opinion Bahrain is a race that should be driven agressively on strategy because of tyre deg. It's a track with good overtaking possibilities so you shouldn't compromise pace.
Last year we went very agressive with Seb which was the right call (even though it almost cost us because of SC).
The difficult task we will have is on deciding strategy without compromising one driver to another.. I think we should pit one driver very early, so others can't do a proper undercut. RIC knows he has good race pace, so depending on the start and where he is, he will definitly try something.. Merc will want the victory, so perhaps they are going to try and pit BOT early so try the undecut and at the same time force Ferrari to pit early so HAM benefits more of clear track and longer stint...
So I think we should pit early, but ofcourse that will give away track position...

**mwk360** · 8th April 2018, 14:17

Originally Posted by nani_s23

Ham can pass ric easily on this track. Renault car when kept under stress their reliability is vulnerable. Can’t run on full power mode consistently.

Martin brundle, Karun Chandok, Hebert, another guy I forgot his name are a Biased towards Lewis.
Even if he locks up, crashes to the barrier, crashes with anyone they say it’s not his mistake, it’s the car. or VSC comes out which hinders Lewis winning chances, they say ban VSC or SC & even medical car also. Such are those fools

100% these lewis bootlickers are very annoying, but they have the better insight for details(even though bias) and broadcasting sadly