Bahrain Grand Prix 2015 - Race Thread

**Kyss4k** · 19th April 2015, 18:28

Originally Posted by Rob

just abit harsh. If he was worst he been lapped or DNF.

He did not have the worst car you know

. And as there were no crashes or some dumb moves... He has done the most mistakes and was the only one who damaged his car, didn't defend well and was not able to overtake on the other hand. But I'm sure he just woke up with his left foot.

**Nomore** · 19th April 2015, 18:29

Originally Posted by Avanti_Alonso

Very disappointed with Vettel. When at last we have A CAR, we don't have A DRIVER

i was thinking the same thing...dammit such a irony

last time we had it both 2000-2004...

**Hornet** · 19th April 2015, 18:29

Originally Posted by Kyss4k

It was not just one mistake. He damaged his wing in his 3rd off track adventrue in the race. Too much for my taste. And the Williams... Kvyjat and Nasr did not have problems with Massa. It is not Mercedes engine. It was... and you guys will eat me alive for that (and I like Seb, I really do)... but it was Sebastian today.

I agree Vettel did made several mistake. I was just saying the front wing damage exaggerated the consequence of his mistake. Had he rejoin at a slightly different part of the kerb, he might have been on the podium still despite those errors.

I might be the case as you say, but I just felt it probably isn't as I didn't see any difficulty for Vettel when accelerating out of the corner. He seem to get the corner fine, but Bottas still accelerated away quickly. Just IMO anyway.

**Stormy** · 19th April 2015, 18:30

Well Mercedes are definitely better then us, but i gotta say they are not to far away.
Vettel kind of fell under pressure in that duel with Rosberg and lost it. He should've won that duel with Bottas also. Poor performance by him.
On the other hand Kimi made a perfect performance and Rosberg fell under pressure there, he would've lost anyway because Kimi was way faster but still :D It was priceless to hear Rosberg on the radio shouting to his mechanics not to remind him about the gap :D
Cant wait for that new PU in Canada.

**KimiBot** · 19th April 2015, 18:30

Originally Posted by darkchild

Got to say, in Vettel's defense, team puts him in very tricky position. He is able to put monster laps in qualis, and then has objective to push Mercs as hard as he can and then undercut them. That way he is driving more on the edge and can't really take a care of his tires...Kimi drives his own race though. He gets into clean air more and he was pitted few laps after Vettel when it was optimal to pit, while Vettel had to sacrifice still good tires to undercut the Mercs which we did, but then Rosberg turned their quali mode or whatever and dropped 1 second lap advantage on one lap fresher tires.

Still a long way to go but what an amazing turnaround for the team! Bravo to everyone and congrats to Kimi, brilliant race! Good thing its Barcelona next in few weeks time because this car is yearning for some upgrades!

Great analysis. Kimi had a much easier race.

**darkchild** · 19th April 2015, 18:31

Originally Posted by steelstallions

SOO CLOSE, even Toto said that one more lap and Kimi would have won as both Mercedes cars had brake failure. I certainly like this year more than others, both Ferrari and Mercedes are lead by gentlemen and their managers speak like gentlemen, none of that sour grapes Mclaren taunts we used to get in the late 90's on wards when we were rising to dominance. With Mclaren on NO POINTS and one car not even racing AND Ron in charge so he cannot blame anyone but himself, i am liking this season

They are toying with us man...I never was into these sort of conspiracy theories, but when I saw Vettel doing 1:37 lap time (fastest of the day at the time) and then having 1.4 second advantage COMPLTETELY whipped out by Rosberg in one lap with no visible mistakes, I think they are really toying with us for most of the time. They have that mode or whatever where they can get 20-30hp more for a few laps and just cruise past anyone in sight. Its amazing we finished 2nd and 4th...

**KimiBot** · 19th April 2015, 18:31

Originally Posted by Stormy

It was priceless to hear Rosberg on the radio shouting to his mechanics not to remind him about the gap :D

yes that was funny

**Ilsan** · 19th April 2015, 18:31

Originally Posted by Kyss4k

It was not just one mistake. He damaged his wing in his 3rd off track adventrue in the race. Too much for my taste. And the Williams... Kvyjat and Nasr did not have problems with Massa. It is not Mercedes engine. It was... and you guys will eat me alive for that (and I like Seb, I really do)... but it was Sebastian today.

I agree Vettel's performance was shocking.
But for Massa part, he carried some sort of car damages caused by Maldonado. Source: Pat Symonds on SkyF1

Does anyone else think Mercedes were a bit sandbagging in FP2 here and last week? Track conditions are always changing from Friday to Sunday but I feel we may have to be more careful before taking their long run performance at face value.

**Nero Horse** · 19th April 2015, 18:33

Seb has one bad race after having three perfect races and some people quickly use the opportunity to jump on his back and start the stupid comparisons with the ex-Ferrari driver from Spain...just pathetic.

I'm sure that Seb will bounce back in the next race and is back to his very best. This was just a bad day for him.

**Kyss4k** · 19th April 2015, 18:33

Originally Posted by KimiBot

yes that was funny

Remember Australia 2010?

**Giallo 550** · 19th April 2015, 18:34

Originally Posted by Stormy

He should've won that duel with Bottas also. Poor performance by him.

The commentators on NBC Sports were saying that they believed Ferrari put a different replacement wing on his car. That might explain why every time he got close, Bottas was able to pull away on the straights.

**KimiBot** · 19th April 2015, 18:34

Originally Posted by Kyss4k

Remember Australia 2010?

no, tell me

**stefa** · 19th April 2015, 18:35

Originally Posted by Avanti_Alonso

Very disappointed with Vettel. When at last we have A CAR, we don't have A DRIVER

Are you for real?!?!?!?!?!?

**mark p** · 19th April 2015, 18:35

What progress. I am disappointed with 2nd and 5th. 2nd was great but not being able to take a Williams was annoying. 12 months ago Force Indias were flying past. In reflection pretty awesome. Raikkonen just over 4 seconds off Hamilton after 57 laps and loads of new parts coming and 15 races left. Now looking at regular wins towards the end of the year. What a turnaround. 1st time Ferrari have had momentum chasing down the leaders since the late 90's.

**stefa** · 19th April 2015, 18:35

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

These are good times we're living in right now...watching Ferrari fighting for the wins and the garbage Macca crawling at the back getting lapped in every race...fantastic!

Priceless

**stefa** · 19th April 2015, 18:36

Originally Posted by Kyss4k

I could

But in my oppinion, he was worst of the field today. I wouldn't say it, if I wouldn't feel it that way. And you know really well, that I do say out loud, when I love somehing and when I "hate" something as well

**darkchild** · 19th April 2015, 18:36

Originally Posted by Ilsan

I agree Vettel's performance was shocking.
Massa carried some sort of car damages caused by Maldonado. Source: Pat Symonds on SkyF1

Does anyone else think Mercedes were a bit sandbagging in FP2 here and last week? Track conditions are always changing from Friday to Sunday but I feel we may have to be more careful before taking their long run performance at face value.

I dont think they were honestly...Its just that they have that few lap monster mode where they just push hard to get ahead and enjoy clear air while others fall back. It was actually amazing to watch our guys push as hard as they did today, thats the reason Vettel made his mistakes. He pushed more then that car could handle...

When he pitted for prime tires he dropped fastest lap of the race, then Rosberg pitted in next lap and got behind Sebastian for 1.4 seconds. By S2 he trimmed 1 second away...It is staggering the kind of speed they have with that mode. I guess Vettel pushed too hard and unfortunately got out, but they couldn't do a thing. Raikkonen was dropped by Rosberg the same way.

But hey, at least we are pretty close. Its not 60+ degree track and nobody gave us a chance after Malaysia, but we are good enough to make Merc to think about their strategies and tire life.

**Kyss4k** · 19th April 2015, 18:37

Originally Posted by KimiBot

no, tell me

https://youtu.be/araB6zAku-o?t=10s

**Giallo 550** · 19th April 2015, 18:38

Originally Posted by darkchild

Got to say, in Vettel's defense, team puts him in very tricky position. He is able to put monster laps in qualis, and then has objective to push Mercs as hard as he can and then undercut them. That way he is driving more on the edge and can't really take a care of his tires...Kimi drives his own race though. He gets into clean air more and he was pitted few laps after Vettel when it was optimal to pit, while Vettel had to sacrifice still good tires to undercut the Mercs which we did, but then Rosberg turned their quali mode or whatever and dropped 1 second lap advantage on one lap fresher tires.

Still a long way to go but what an amazing turnaround for the team! Bravo to everyone and congrats to Kimi, brilliant race! Good thing its Barcelona next in few weeks time because this car is yearning for some upgrades!

I have to agree with this as well. If anything, it showed that he was pushing the car to its limits, which indicates that Ferrari is still not quite there yet.

**darkchild** · 19th April 2015, 18:38

Originally Posted by Giallo 550

The commentators on NBC Sports were saying that they believed Ferrari put a different replacement wing on his car. That might explain why every time he got close, Bottas was able to pull away on the straights.

Yea there was something weird about that. Its not that he didn't push its that he pushed as far as he could and then lost on straights. Maybe too much wing on the car or whatever, seemed a bit weird with the traction...

**ClaudiuCojo** · 19th April 2015, 18:39

Originally Posted by darkchild

They are toying with us man...I never was into these sort of conspiracy theories, but when I saw Vettel doing 1:37 lap time (fastest of the day at the time) and then having 1.4 second advantage COMPLTETELY whipped out by Rosberg in one lap with no visible mistakes, I think they are really toying with us for most of the time. They have that mode or whatever where they can get 20-30hp more for a few laps and just cruise past anyone in sight. Its amazing we finished 2nd and 4th...

I agree, Mercedes PU has a little bit extra and they can use it when they have to. It was depressing too see Vettel defenseless against Rosberg 3 times during the race. I also think we also might have run too much wing today(visible during the race, Vettel unable to defend or to attack) ...

Also surprising too see Vettel having such poor degradation on the softs(maybe a setup issue ?).

**Ilsan** · 19th April 2015, 18:39

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

Seb has one bad race after having three perfect races and some people quickly use the opportunity to jump on his back and start the stupid comparisons with the ex-Ferrari driver from Spain...just pathetic.

I'm sure that Seb will bounce back in the next race and is back to his very best. This was just a bad day for him.

Yeah, I see they are having a field day.

They have been patiently waiting for quite a time to get this chance!

**Nero Horse** · 19th April 2015, 18:40

**Aberracus** · 19th April 2015, 18:40

Can we stop making excuses for Vettel, he is human, he make mistakes, I hope he recovers for next races.

**stefa** · 19th April 2015, 18:41

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CC-BxjaUkAI8_r2.jpg:large

There must be some mistake with VB tires, or he should get some kind of penalty for not using both type of tires!

**stefa** · 19th April 2015, 18:41

Originally Posted by Aberracus

Can we stop making excuses for Vettel, he is human, he make mistakes, I hope he recovers for next races.

**fratelliferrari** · 19th April 2015, 18:43

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

Seb has one bad race after having three perfect races and some people quickly use the opportunity to jump on his back and start the stupid comparisons with the ex-Ferrari driver from Spain...just pathetic.

I'm sure that Seb will bounce back in the next race and is back to his very best. This was just a bad day for him.

Well said Nero Horse!

**IulianFerrari** · 19th April 2015, 18:43

Great job from Raikkonen today. He always looked good in Bahrain and today was no different. Don't be to harsh on Vettel, it wasn't his day. Only problem for the near future is that Hamilton is running away with the title and we can't stop him. If we get better during the season we will for sure dread loosing so many points to him now.