2020 Sakhir Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Thread

[UnlikeUday]

Source - Imgur

[j man]

This is a fascinating experiment. I sense the potential for a bit of a farce though.

[JN23]

There’s the potential for a crazy race or a boring DRS train race.

[Lord Crc]

Doesn't look to different from the Scalextric tracks I made as a kid.

It's 2020, I'm taking a weird and/or boring race over no race.

[UnlikeUday]

Same barriers have been installed for this week's race:


Source - Imgur

[UnlikeUday]

Power elements used till now:


Source - Imgur

Waiting to hear what happens to Perez. I believe his MGU-K is toast so an engine penalty would be inevitable. It may ruin his chance for a good result but the circuit layout should be helped by his Mercedes engine & strong ongoing form!

[JN23]

Sounds like Perez will use an already used PU, so no penalty.

[cmax]

Started following f1 at the start of the 2010 season and as a Lewis fan. Haven't missed a race thus far and this approaching weekend looks somewhat surreal to me. Don't know who to root for.

[Mort Canard]

Started following f1 at the start of the 2010 season and as a Lewis fan. Haven't missed a race thus far and this approaching weekend looks somewhat surreal to me. Don't know who to root for.

No need to root for anyone. Just sit back and enjoy the race.

[kleefton]

Started following f1 at the start of the 2010 season and as a Lewis fan. Haven't missed a race thus far and this approaching weekend looks somewhat surreal to me. Don't know who to root for.

Me too, never watched an F1 weekend without Lewis participating in it. But never have felt more excited. There are a lot of interesting developments to follow this weekend.

[Covalent]

Started following f1 at the start of the 2010 season and as a Lewis fan. Haven't missed a race thus far and this approaching weekend looks somewhat surreal to me. Don't know who to root for.

I'm curious how you became a Lewis fan before you started following F1?

But I've been there, it's strangely satisfying not being a fan of anyone and just enjoying the race as a neutral!

[Steve_muzzy]

Think race will be fasinating. So much pressure in the midfield, a good result for McLaren, Tracing Point or Renault can swing things easily.

Nb poll.on imsta about how george will do, Lando pipes up pole and first

[Covalent]

Think race will be fasinating. So much pressure in the midfield, a good result for McLaren, Tracing Point or Renault can swing things easily.

Nb poll.on imsta about how george will do, Lando pipes up pole and first

I'm probably just old but what does that bold part mean?

[Steve_muzzy]

It means i typed too quickly. "It should say poll on Insta." Follow lando on Instagram (in fact follow several f1 drivers) you get lots of content.

[pokerman]

Started following f1 at the start of the 2010 season and as a Lewis fan. Haven't missed a race thus far and this approaching weekend looks somewhat surreal to me. Don't know who to root for.

I'm curious how you became a Lewis fan before you started following F1?

But I've been there, it's strangely satisfying not being a fan of anyone and just enjoying the race as a neutral!

It's not as intense though, I went through that period from 1994-2006.

[pokerman]

Think race will be fasinating. So much pressure in the midfield, a good result for McLaren, Tracing Point or Renault can swing things easily.

Nb poll.on imsta about how george will do, Lando pipes up pole and first

Yeah they're friends, Leclerc said similar, it's an interesting aspect of the weekend when a young highly rated driver gets his big chance.

[F1Tyrant]

Russell puts it on top 55.0! Well, well...

[F1Tyrant]

Oh my word! Bottas looks ragged.

[Bacus]

Well well Russell.
Bottas feels the pressure.

[mikeyg123]

Was not expecting that.

[JN23]

Early days and all that but

[Banana Man]

Is a 54.5 the fastest lap in F1 history?

[Schumacher forever#1]

Good day in the office for George. Bottas is STRUGGLING!

Where did Honda find all this engine power as well?!

And I assume Mclaren are doing their own thing... way down on timing screens.

[Battle Far]

Is a 54.5 the fastest lap in F1 history?

Yes

[Mort Canard]

Promising start for Russell in FP1. Valtteri's best lap was hampered by a bobble at turn 1.

Will be interesting to watch how Valtteri handles the pressure from George this weekend.

[pokerman]

They need to sort out the track limits on turn 8, it's the trickiest corner on the track and what some drivers are doing is just a joke,

[Battle Far]

Well Well...

It's only FP1, blah, blah, blah

Do we need to reassess the performance of Bottas

or

Hamilton?

[pokerman]

Well Well...

It's only FP1, blah, blah, blah

Do we need to reassess the performance of Bottas

or

Hamilton?

Not sure how serious you are but apparently Bottas damaged his car.

[Battle Far]

Not sure how serious you are but apparently Bottas damaged his car.

:-J

[Mort Canard]

Stroll in 11th and Perez in 12th.
Sainz in 13th and Norris in 16th.

Both teams have some work to do.

[Battle Far]

I'm certain that neither Racing Point nor Mclaren will be that far down this afternoon.

BTW, did I see correctly that Jack Aitken recorded his 0.4s slower than Latifi lap on Hard tyres?

If so that's pretty impressive

[Schumacher forever#1]

Well Well...

It's only FP1, blah, blah, blah

Do we need to reassess the performance of Bottas

or

Hamilton?

Not sure how serious you are but apparently Bottas damaged his car.

Has there ever been an instance this year that Bottas hasn't made the excuse of car damage, other drivers, his black overalls, or a flying tortoise for his slow pace?

[Schumacher forever#1]

I'm certain that neither Racing Point nor Mclaren will be that far down this afternoon.

BTW, did I see correctly that Jack Aitken recorded his 0.4s slower than Latifi lap on Hard tyres?

If so that's pretty impressive

Aitken > Latifi
=> Aitken = Russell > Bottas
=> Aitken = Russell = Hamilton

[pokerman]

Well Well...

It's only FP1, blah, blah, blah

Do we need to reassess the performance of Bottas

or

Hamilton?

Not sure how serious you are but apparently Bottas damaged his car.

Has there ever been an instance this year that Bottas hasn't made the excuse of car damage, other drivers, his black overalls, or a flying tortoise for his slow pace?

This comes from Wolff, he damaged his floor.

[pokerman]

I'm certain that neither Racing Point nor Mclaren will be that far down this afternoon.

BTW, did I see correctly that Jack Aitken recorded his 0.4s slower than Latifi lap on Hard tyres?

If so that's pretty impressive

Not sure but he damaged his soft tyres which meant he missed half the session so I'm guessing that the gap could have been closer.

As a matter of interest Aitken was teammates with Russell in F2 and got gapped in qualifying by a similar margin by Russell which Latifi is presently getting gapped by.

[Mort Canard]

I'm certain that neither Racing Point nor Mclaren will be that far down this afternoon.

BTW, did I see correctly that Jack Aitken recorded his 0.4s slower than Latifi lap on Hard tyres?

If so that's pretty impressive

Looks like Aitken on hard tires and Latifi on Mediums for their fastest laps.

[JN23]

They need to sort out the track limits on turn 8, it's the trickiest corner on the track and what some drivers are doing is just a joke,

I think Verstappen was told on the radio that it’ll be monitored from FP2 onwards

[Battle Far]

Yup, Aitken set his time on hards, Latifi on mediums, everybody else on softs.

I saw Russell and Norris race at Silverstone in 2018, both were visibly quicker than the others, Norris even pulling off a superb double overtake while recovering from a poor qualifying.

Aitken was 11th with one win that year, however he was much more competitive in his second year with 3 wins and 5th in the championship.

Russell, like Norris is special, I hope we get a chance to see him race at Abu Dhabi too, I suggest a better view of his ability will come there rather than from this, admittedly fun, Mickey Mouse track.

[F1Tyrant]

Do we need to reassess the performance of Bottas

or

Hamilton?

I think Hamilton drives within his own ability and simply dials it up based on the level of opposition. Hence his gaps to teammates are reasonably similar statistically. He finds a comfort zone and stays there.

I expect we would see the 2007, 2015 or 2018 Hamilton again if Russell was promoted.

[mpls2]

Bottas version 2.0 needs a patch maybe its time for V2.1