Bahrain GP 2013 - Race thread

[brembo man]

Is this a team photo? Where's the other driver?

http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/800x/e...l1321ap090.jpg

Wahrscheinlich handlet es sichum eine kombination beider elemente, Hass, Ungenbeten.

[vcs316]

Ferrari identifies cause of Fernando Alonso's DRS fault in Bahrain

Ferrari says it has identified an unprecedented mechanical failure that caused Fernando Alonso's DRS problem in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso was running second when his DRS flap jammed open early in the race.

He pitted for the issue to be rectified, but although Ferrari felt it had been fixed, it reoccurred as soon as he tried to deploy DRS again.

Alonso subsequently ran without DRS to the finish, eventually recovering to eighth.

A Ferrari statement said the cause of the failure had now been identified and resolved.

"Analysis revealed that the problem was caused by the breakage of a mechanical component within the system," it said.

"It's the first problem of its kind on this system seen in the three years during which it has been used.

"The failure is not something that causes concern for the long term, however, paying great attention to reliability must always remain at the highest level."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said the problem was a reminder that while Ferrari had started the 2013 Formula 1 season with a quicker car than for several years, it could not afford to drop the ball on reliability.

"We believe in our ability to be in the fight for the titles right to the end and this time, we have been in that fight since the start, which has not been the case for a while," he said.

"At the same time, we must be aware that in order to achieve our objectives, we have to be perfect in every area."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107029?

[F1NAC]

onboard alonso start to first pitstop

[Gerhard Berger]

onboard alonso start to first pitstop

Red Bull has incredible traction off the slow corners in that vid.

[EL_NANDO]

Ferrari identifies cause of Fernando Alonso's DRS fault in Bahrain

Ferrari says it has identified an unprecedented mechanical failure that caused Fernando Alonso's DRS problem in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso was running second when his DRS flap jammed open early in the race.

He pitted for the issue to be rectified, but although Ferrari felt it had been fixed, it reoccurred as soon as he tried to deploy DRS again.

Alonso subsequently ran without DRS to the finish, eventually recovering to eighth.

A Ferrari statement said the cause of the failure had now been identified and resolved.

"Analysis revealed that the problem was caused by the breakage of a mechanical component within the system," it said.

"It's the first problem of its kind on this system seen in the three years during which it has been used.

"The failure is not something that causes concern for the long term, however, paying great attention to reliability must always remain at the highest level."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said the problem was a reminder that while Ferrari had started the 2013 Formula 1 season with a quicker car than for several years, it could not afford to drop the ball on reliability.

"We believe in our ability to be in the fight for the titles right to the end and this time, we have been in that fight since the start, which has not been the case for a while," he said.

"At the same time, we must be aware that in order to achieve our objectives, we have to be perfect in every area."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107029?

Can I just flag up that autosport now have this certain amount of free views system before you have to pay to see more. For example, I can't read this article on their website at the moment. Might want to be careful about reposting their stories, don't want any legal hassle.

[Hornet]

Hopefully they improve the design, and perhaps flap it for the next 3 weeks to ensure it's truly reliable

I wonder why they don't do a test before the start of the race. Just allow the drivers to open it a few times when they arrive on the starting grid to prepare for the race, like how airplanes test all their flaps before they take off. Had we do that that day, we would have found out about it earlier, realize it's cannot be fixed, and told Alonso not to use DRS.

[zike]

Hopefully they improve the design, and perhaps flap it for the next 3 weeks to ensure it's truly reliable

I wonder why they don't do a test before the start of the race. Just allow the drivers to open it a few times when they arrive on the starting grid to prepare for the race, like how airplanes test all their flaps before they take off. Had we do that that day, we would have found out about it earlier, realize it's cannot be fixed, and told Alonso not to use DRS.

and why we did not change the RW?

[FFFerrari]

and why we did not change the RW?

Rear Wing change takes a lot of time, specially after the DRS came along. We are talking about tens of minutes so a broken rear wing almost always mean retirement from the race. Also, the flap didn't break at the first use.

[zike]

Rear Wing change takes a lot of time, specially after the DRS came along. We are talking about tens of minutes so a broken rear wing almost always mean retirement from the race. Also, the flap didn't break at the first use.

aha, ok tnx mate

[scuderia03]

I couldn't beleive McLaren's treatment of young Perez last week.. telling your driver to "toughen up" is one thing, then to actually criticise him for doing just that is completely hipocritical. Poor Perez, he had a great race and shouldn't need to apologise for getting Princess Button's high-heels a little dirty. Also, does anyone else here find Paul di Resta grossly overrated? He's been outclassed by all his teammates, and his racecraft is very weak, he basically waved the 2 Lotus' through!! Definately didn't deserve a podium.

[Corey]

Couldn't they just change the entire rear wing if the DRS is faulty on the old??

[scuderia03]

Changing the rear wing would cost more time than driving without the DRS, after the early tyre stop they should have sent him back out and told him not to use it again. That second unneccesary pit stop was costly

[Hornet]

I couldn't beleive McLaren's treatment of young Perez last week.. telling your driver to "toughen up" is one thing, then to actually criticise him for doing just that is completely hipocritical. Poor Perez, he had a great race and shouldn't need to apologise for getting Princess Button's high-heels a little dirty. Also, does anyone else here find Paul di Resta grossly overrated? He's been outclassed by all his teammates, and his racecraft is very weak, he basically waved the 2 Lotus' through!! Definately didn't deserve a podium.

To be fair, if Perez wants to race hard with his team mate, he has to make sure he can do it right. McLaren could have went home with zero points had Perez crashed a little harder into Button. At the end of the day, it is the team's job to ensure their drivers don't take each other out.

It may be true that McLaren allow their drivers race each other more than other top team, I don't know. But there's a limit to that, and you really don't want to see both cars coming into contact.

[scuderia03]

To be fair, if Perez wants to race hard with his team mate, he has to make sure he can do it right. McLaren could have went home with zero points had Perez crashed a little harder into Button. At the end of the day, it is the team's job to ensure their drivers don't take each other out.

It may be true that McLaren allow their drivers race each other more than other top team, I don't know. But there's a limit to that, and you really don't want to see both cars coming into contact.

That's a fair point, although if I was in Perez' shoes Id have done the same thing... Jenson was really starting to get on his high horse after the first 3 GP's, and seems to have Whitmarsh on his knees as well.. Perez showed great strength of character after the race, admitting his faults an taking it on the chin. While Jenson simply couldn't swallow his pride and called Serge a "dirty driver" and all, Jenson amd Whitmarshes conversation after the race was like that in a girls high school locker room.

Although I do agree that obviously you need to give your teammate the right level of courtesy on the track, and don't forget whos paying your salary!!

[shamim179]

Can anyone confirm that Alonso was instructed by radio not to use the DRS after the 1st failure but didn't listen/hear the message?