2018 Bahrain Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Thread

[JN23]

Ferrari seem to be a bit quicker that Merc at the moment, still quite early though.

[sandman1347]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

[kleefton]

Many strange developments here.
Merc more than half a sec off the pace.
RedBull a sec behind.
Honda only half a sec off RedBull and ahead of Mclaren.
Haas nowhere compared to Australia.
I don’t know what to think except everyone is running completely different programmes. Yeah must be it...

[Mercedes-Benz]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

[sandman1347]

It all fits with what we saw in Australia; where Ferrari were actually quicker in a straight line but Merc were better through the corners. It might be hard to believe but it's possible there is a new engine king in F1. That also helps to explain Haas's early form this year.

[lamo]

Red Bull fastest on race pace according to averages just announced by Crofty, couple of tenths ahead of Ferrari and 0.5+ ahead of Mercedes.

[UnlikeUday]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

Gasly is on a new engine.

[kleefton]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

Gasly is on a new engine.

Imo the gap in speed between Gasly and Hartley is big and it will become more evident as the season unfolds. I fear Hartley has no business being in f1.

[Lotus49]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

[lamo]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

Wouldn't they always be in that on Friday? As will all the teams. Mercedes dominated Friday in Melbourne, I am sure on low power mode too

[Mort Canard]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

Says Ferrari was in full "Party mode"!!!

[Lotus49]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

Wouldn't they always be in that on Friday? As will all the teams. Mercedes dominated Friday in Melbourne, I am sure on low power mode too

Yeah but he specifically said Ferrari were in a higher engine mode. And when asked how he knew he explained how they work it out using the GPS traces.

[Mercedes-Benz]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

Gasly is on a new engine.

But 1.7secs is huge difference and Hartley engine is only 1 race old. I think commentator said gasly likes this track and has won before. Australia was new for both. There are probably many reasons

[lamo]

Fair enough, he always tends to down play how far they are behind and always how far they are ahead.

Verstappen and Ricciardo available at 14/1 to win, crazy odds.

https://www.bet365.com/#/AC/B10/C205774 ... 717337/F2/

Just put £50 on each and I'm not even a gambler. Seems like great value.

[lamo]

This is definitely going to be a 2 or maybe even a 3 stopper, the tyre depredation on those long runs was huge. Cars seemed to lose about 1.5 seconds after just 10 laps. This will give great under cutting opportunities (unlike Melbourne) brand new tyre vs 15 lap old tyre is likely going to be a couple of seconds of lap time.

All in all, we should be in store for a good race here.

[sandman1347]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

Gasly is on a new engine.

Imo the gap in speed between Gasly and Hartley is big and it will become more evident as the season unfolds. I fear Hartley has no business being in f1.

Hate to say it but I fully agree. Hartly is not an F1-level driver. Toro Rosso have arguably the weakest lineup in the field (Williams and Sauber also in the running).

[pokerman]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

Wouldn't they always be in that on Friday? As will all the teams. Mercedes dominated Friday in Melbourne, I am sure on low power mode too

True but you sort of get the impression that the Merc engines were turned a long way down.

[pokerman]

I was pretty sure Mercedes will have advantage here but somehow Ferrari looking fast here. Also has TR drivers gap is really big. Is one driver using upgraded engine or car?

Gasly is on a new engine.

But 1.7secs is huge difference and Hartley engine is only 1 race old. I think commentator said gasly likes this track and has won before. Australia was new for both. There are probably many reasons

Hartley did Gasly by 7 tenths in Australia, just let us see how it plays out.

[pokerman]

Fair enough, he always tends to down play how far they are behind and always how far they are ahead.

Verstappen and Ricciardo available at 14/1 to win, crazy odds.

https://www.bet365.com/#/AC/B10/C205774 ... 717337/F2/

Just put £50 on each and I'm not even a gambler. Seems like great value.

£100 on bets and you're not a gambler?

[Altair]

Merc were in a lower power mode according to Toto.

Wouldn't they always be in that on Friday? As will all the teams. Mercedes dominated Friday in Melbourne, I am sure on low power mode too

They were running on bummer mode, which is a much lower power mode than all the others.

[sandman1347]

Hamilton taking a gearbox penalty apparantly.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... id-penalty

[kleefton]

Hamilton taking a gearbox penalty apparantly.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... id-penalty

Yeah. More and more its not looking like a hamilton weekend.

[pokerman]

Hamilton taking a gearbox penalty apparantly.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... id-penalty

Yeah. More and more its not looking like a hamilton weekend.

Nope but I guess at least you can pass around Bahrain.

[Zoue]

Hamilton taking a gearbox penalty apparantly.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... id-penalty

Yeah. More and more its not looking like a hamilton weekend.

Nope but I guess at least you can pass around Bahrain.

yeah, and I suspect Mercedes haven't shown their hand as yet. If they prove to have a similar speed advantage to Melbourne then starting 6th won't be a massive handicap here. I shouldn't write Hamilton off just yet

[moby]

If Hamilton is starting from 5 down, there is not a lot of point in screwing his engine to fight the top 3.

He was possibly working on a tyre saving setup to jump into the top group at pit time without taking 'Life' out of his engine.
If he qualifies behind the Ferraris and RBR + team mate, he can start 11 with free choice of new tyres.

[kleefton]

If Hamilton is starting from 5 down, there is not a lot of point in screwing his engine to fight the top 3.

He was possibly working on a tyre saving setup to jump into the top group at pit time without taking 'Life' out of his engine.
If he qualifies behind the Ferraris and RBR + team mate, he can start 11 with free choice of new tyres.

Good point. It will be interesting to see what their approach will be.

[lamo]

Reliability won Hamilton the title last year, first issue since Malaysia 2016 so you can’t complain.

2018 has started like 2016 though, driving well but losing races because of circumstances. My Verstappen and Ricciardo bets are looking better and better

[lamo]

Reliability won Hamilton the title last year, first issue since Malaysia 2016 so you can’t complain.

2018 has started like 2016 though, driving well but losing races because of circumstances. My Verstappen and Ricciardo bets are looking better and better

[Mort Canard]

I hope Valtteri can step up to take the fight to the Red Team.

Would also not mind seeing RBR and Haas having banner weekends, but I doubt that either will seriously challenge the prancing ponies.

Edit: It also occurs to me that Lewis and Valtteri have not shown their real speed yet this weekend. In fact Toto said after P2 that they had not run in a "high mode" this weekend.

The length of time they have to nurture these power units means that sandbagging is probably going to be way race weekends are going to be run this year. None of the top teams will really show their hand till Q2 or Q3, and then only for a lap or two. Practice sessions could end up being run at 90-95% all year long.

[funkymonkey]

I hope Valtteri can step up to take the fight to the Red Team.

Would also not mind seeing RBR and Haas having banner weekends, but I doubt that either will seriously challenge the prancing ponies.

Edit: It also occurs to me that Lewis and Valtteri have not shown their real speed yet this weekend. In fact Toto said after P2 that they had not run in a "high mode" this weekend.

The length of time they have to nurture these power units means that sandbagging is probably going to be way race weekends are going to be run this year. None of the top teams will really show their hand till Q2 or Q3, and then only for a lap or two. Practice sessions could end up being run at 90-95% all year long.

Nobody has really turned up the engine. With the engine restrictions this year and this being Bahrain with its dusty hot weather, drivers wont run the top setting until Saturday. We are more than a second off from the 2017 pole times.
We will see Friday's times left in dust come qualifying.

[UnlikeUday]

Gasly really impressed!

[KingVoid]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

I basically disagreed with you on this topic all of last year, but even I’m starting to change my mind.

Ferrari ran a barndoor rear wing around Melbourne to compensate for their lack of rear downforce, and they were still slightly quicker than Mercedes down the straight.

What I will say is that Mercedes have better fuel economy than Ferrari, some rumours say that they can start the race with 10 litres less fuel onboard.

As it stands right now Ferrari don’t understand fully their chassis. They were losing a lot of time through the corners in Melbourne. They appear to be better here in Bahrain, but still not where they want to be.

[Zoue]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

I basically disagreed with you on this topic all of last year, but even I’m starting to change my mind.

Ferrari ran a barndoor rear wing around Melbourne to compensate for their lack of rear downforce, and they were still slightly quicker than Mercedes down the straight.

What I will say is that Mercedes have better fuel economy than Ferrari, some rumours say that they can start the race with 10 litres less fuel onboard.

As it stands right now Ferrari don’t understand fully their chassis. They were losing a lot of time through the corners in Melbourne. They appear to be better here in Bahrain, but still not where they want to be.

weren't TR still pretty high on the speed traps? Doesn't make their PU more powerful than others.

Merc are still able to turn up the wick when they want to and it's not just forumers who say that. It's not aero they are switching on, that's for sure. The reason Ferrari were faster down the straights is just setup, in the same way that TR were.

[TheGiantHogweed]

Pleased to see Tom Clarcson on the Channel 4 coverage. He's one presenter I've missed since Channel 4 took over the BBC. Although he was still with the BBC on radio 5 live I think. Hopefully he will stay on Channel 4. I like him as a reporter in the pit lane.

[pokerman]

Reliability won Hamilton the title last year, first issue since Malaysia 2016 so you can’t complain.

2018 has started like 2016 though, driving well but losing races because of circumstances. My Verstappen and Ricciardo bets are looking better and better

Reliability helped I'm not sure it was THE factor why he won the title?

[pokerman]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

I basically disagreed with you on this topic all of last year, but even I’m starting to change my mind.

Ferrari ran a barndoor rear wing around Melbourne to compensate for their lack of rear downforce, and they were still slightly quicker than Mercedes down the straight.

What I will say is that Mercedes have better fuel economy than Ferrari, some rumours say that they can start the race with 10 litres less fuel onboard.

As it stands right now Ferrari don’t understand fully their chassis. They were losing a lot of time through the corners in Melbourne. They appear to be better here in Bahrain, but still not where they want to be.

weren't TR still pretty high on the speed traps? Doesn't make their PU more powerful than others.

Merc are still able to turn up the wick when they want to and it's not just forumers who say that. It's not aero they are switching on, that's for sure. The reason Ferrari were faster down the straights is just setup, in the same way that TR were.

Whenever Mercedes were quicker on the straights last year that was proof they had the better engine, Spa comes to mind, some were happy to overlook the low downforce set up on the Mercedes it seemed.

Did not the poster infer that Ferrari ran more downforce in Australia?

[Zoue]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

I basically disagreed with you on this topic all of last year, but even I’m starting to change my mind.

Ferrari ran a barndoor rear wing around Melbourne to compensate for their lack of rear downforce, and they were still slightly quicker than Mercedes down the straight.

What I will say is that Mercedes have better fuel economy than Ferrari, some rumours say that they can start the race with 10 litres less fuel onboard.

As it stands right now Ferrari don’t understand fully their chassis. They were losing a lot of time through the corners in Melbourne. They appear to be better here in Bahrain, but still not where they want to be.

weren't TR still pretty high on the speed traps? Doesn't make their PU more powerful than others.

Merc are still able to turn up the wick when they want to and it's not just forumers who say that. It's not aero they are switching on, that's for sure. The reason Ferrari were faster down the straights is just setup, in the same way that TR were.

Whenever Mercedes were quicker on the straights last year that was proof they had the better engine, Spa comes to mind, some were happy to overlook the low downforce set up on the Mercedes it seemed.

Did not the poster infer that Ferrari ran more downforce in Australia?

that wasn't the only proof, not for most people

It's a wonder drivers and TPs talk about Merc power when it's not true, isn't it?

[pokerman]

My read on the situation is changing. I'm really not convinced that Mercedes have an engine advantage over Ferrari anymore. To me their advantage seems to be aero now. With Ferrari making a more radical change to their aero philosophy they probably have more room for development and will probably develop faster. But in terms of engine performance and power, they don't seem to be at a disadvantage to me. They will be very competitive tomorrow IMO.

I basically disagreed with you on this topic all of last year, but even I’m starting to change my mind.

Ferrari ran a barndoor rear wing around Melbourne to compensate for their lack of rear downforce, and they were still slightly quicker than Mercedes down the straight.

What I will say is that Mercedes have better fuel economy than Ferrari, some rumours say that they can start the race with 10 litres less fuel onboard.

As it stands right now Ferrari don’t understand fully their chassis. They were losing a lot of time through the corners in Melbourne. They appear to be better here in Bahrain, but still not where they want to be.

weren't TR still pretty high on the speed traps? Doesn't make their PU more powerful than others.

Merc are still able to turn up the wick when they want to and it's not just forumers who say that. It's not aero they are switching on, that's for sure. The reason Ferrari were faster down the straights is just setup, in the same way that TR were.

Whenever Mercedes were quicker on the straights last year that was proof they had the better engine, Spa comes to mind, some were happy to overlook the low downforce set up on the Mercedes it seemed.

Did not the poster infer that Ferrari ran more downforce in Australia?

that wasn't the only proof, not for most people

It's a wonder drivers and TPs talk about Merc power when it's not true, isn't it?

It strikes me that people use whatever they can use.

[Mort Canard]

Please someone teach Rachel Brookes to speak so Americans can understand her. Don’t have any particular problem with understanding Crofty or Lazenby.

[Black_Flag_11]

Please someone teach Rachel Brookes to speak so Americans can understand her. Don’t have any particular problem with understanding Crofty or Lazenby.

What is it about the way she talks which makes it difficult?