Bahrain GP 2010 - BIC

[Miguel]

I am puzzled, extremely puzzled. Everybody set a better Q2 than Q3 time! It seems to me that what the rules have managed is going from flat-out qualifying lap with fuel to not-so-flat-out lap on fumes. Look at the first laps in Q3! Everybody was affraid of shooting their tyres!

For some reason, I got the feeling that even Vettel was somewhat wary. Did anyone get the same feeling? I have a hard time understanding why they would do a slow lap on soft tyres rather than a fast one on hards. Maybe it's due to the extra grip on tomorrow's start?

EDIT: That was great stuff from Rubens at the BBC! He was asked "Rubens, one last thing. Michael is a few places ahead of you..." And Rubens inmediately said "And I have new tyres!!". Gotta love the man.

[roost89]

Certainly looks like an interesting race tomorrow. 6-8 drivers seem capable of winning. Also Looks like a 4 team race tomorrow. The only driver to increase his pace was Massa 1:54.331 Q2 and 1:54.242 in Q3. The rest were slower by a few tenths. And Harder tyre, going by Sutil, is 1 to 1.5s slower than the soft.

One thing I noticed about the FI (I think it was) it had more of the louvres behind the drivers head than the other teams.

It'll be interesting to see what the teams will start with tomorrow (not wanting to know before the teams roll onto the grid tomorrow though).

Looks like there could be a duel between FI and Williams, they're closely placed anyway.

edit: added Massa's times for clarity.

[MattyT]

Yep cant say Im a fan of the compromised setups in Q3. Its still not the flat out fast as they can go Q3 we were after!

[Miguel]

Yep cant say Im a fan of the compromised setups in Q3. Its still not the flat out fast as they can go Q3 we were after!

It's actually worse than fueled Q3! They were... conserving the tyres! What the heck? I hope it's just a Bahrain "feature".

[Fil]

The one thing i'm petrified of coming true now, is that P11 & 12 are far more advantageous than they were in 2009.

We'll see what the race brings tomoro, but should Rubens do some damage on the front 6-7 positions due to his advantaged tyre strategy, we'll see 2-3 guys not doing any laps in Q3 to have the same tyre choice advantage.

[MattyT]

Interestingly, only the HRT's would be out if the 107% rule was in effect (based on Vettels Q1 time, which I believe it would be if it were introduced. )

[roost89]

Nico says the option tyre (soft one?) "is simply a better tyre for the first few laps and first stint"

The one thing i'm petrified of coming true now, is that P11 & 12 are far more advantageous than they were in 2009.

We'll see what the race brings tomoro, but should Rubens do some damage on the front 6-7 positions due to his advantaged tyre strategy, we'll see 2-3 guys not doing any laps in Q3 to have the same tyre choice advantage.

I'm guessing that P11 and P12 are more advantagous. Rubens had a nice remark of "I have new tyres" and he's in 11th.

EDIT: That was great stuff from Rubens at the BBC! He was asked "Rubens, one last thing. Michael is just one place ahead of you..." And Rubens inmediately said "And I have new tyres!!". Gotta love the man.

Schumy is now in 7th. The spanner is Sutil he has hard (prime?) tyres. Might be a setup difference that requires them to have harder tyres as they may wear the softer ones down more quickly.

[warmandog]

Ok for my point of view this going to be a very interesting race to watch
7 positions for schumi is more than good considering " a man with 3 years out of f1, a new team, a car not designed to his driving style liking a younger teammate , the First Race of the season in a Circuit that his teammate always performed ok. "And still managed to be into 10 ten. At the first race of the year!!! That sounds promising from my point of view, it's just we are reading too much into this first race. And for sure forgetting that this is Schumacher.. The 7 times champion. None of the current drivers have this. And some of you still posting nonsense comments. Come on; just enjoy the start of this new season. And stop this schumi bashing
.
Let's wait for the race

Regards

Alex C.
Dominican Republic

[WhiteBlue]

I think that Sutil could be well placed with his hard tyres on P10. He can take a more agressive approach in the first 10 laps and that should give him an option to make some places while the soft runners will be struggling to keep their tyres from falling apart. In the end he should also have an edge with a lighter car on soft tyres. If he manages to keep out of clashes he could bring some good points home.

Massa beating Alonso was nice to see. Rosberg faster than Schumi was expected after the practise and Q1-Q2.

I think that Twobens will start on hard tyres.

[pipex]

The Force India looks strong. Poor guys at McLaren, their faces said it all...
Now we only need to wait until Red Bull implements the "stalling" rear wing and the season is over hahaha.

[Fil]

The Force India looks strong. Poor guys at McLaren, their faces said it all...
Now we only need to wait until Red Bull implements the "stalling" rear wing and the season is over hahaha.

Don't speak too soon. Quali is more detached from race pace than ever before.

Red Bull talk has been about their rear tyre degradation compared to everyone else.
If anything, Ferrari are looking the strongest for the race, going by their FP1 & FP2 long-run pace.


There's a very long race on tomoro that will shake up this grid quite heavily.

[manchild]

Q: Michael, you've qualified 7th, do you find that frustrating?

MSC: No, I've done it on purpose, to remind people that I'm 7 times WDC. Besides, I started feeling pain in my neck when they told me I've qualified 7th, so I don't know if I'll be able to race whole season.

[Pandamasque]

Is there anywhere a full list yet of who will eat which tyre at the start?

[NormanBates]

Is there anywhere a full list yet of who will eat which tyre at the start?

+1: I'd like to know what kind of tyres webber was using: the gap between him and vettel suddenly widened in Q3, so either he's wearing hards, or he made a mistake in his lap (or vettel just pulled a magic lap out of his hat of tricks)

[Pedro]

Is there anywhere a full list yet of who will eat which tyre at the start?

+1: I'd like to know what kind of tyres webber was using: the gap between him and vettel suddenly widened in Q3, so either he's wearing hards, or he made a mistake in his lap (or vettel just pulled a magic lap out of his hat of tricks)

I guess that just Sutil used primary tyres from top ten pilots.