What Reason could a team have to not take pole position?

[doopie2you]

The qualifiqation of Bahrain, was a shok to me. I didn't think Red Bull would get pole. But, what reason could other teams have to start on same tires as the top, but don't take pole? And choose for driving a little slower?

Could it be they are saving their tires for the race and try to drive on longer?

Let me know guys!

[Miguel]

The qualifiqation of Bahrain, was a shok to me. I didn't think Red Bull would get pole. But, what reason could other teams have to start on same tires as the top, but don't take pole? And choose for driving a little slower?

Could it be they are saving their tires for the race and try to drive on longer?

Let me know guys!

If for some reason you manage to blister the tyres on which you will start the race, you're basically dead. Well, not dead, but doing an extra pitstop for tyres is certainly not optimal.

[doopie2you]

The qualifiqation of Bahrain, was a shok to me. I didn't think Red Bull would get pole. But, what reason could other teams have to start on same tires as the top, but don't take pole? And choose for driving a little slower?

Could it be they are saving their tires for the race and try to drive on longer?

Let me know guys!

If for some reason you manage to blister the tyres on which you will start the race, you're basically dead. Well, not dead, but doing an extra pitstop for tyres is certainly not optimal.

Yes but i mean, Massa and Vettel are like 1 second quicker then the 4th place and the nit is pritty much close togheter. So, or Vettel got some kind of device that allows him to go SUPER fast or the other teams just take the change to put the set up of the car a little bit slower that way the car handles very good with heavy fuel lood and wears allot less. But they don't take pole. Because in that case i guess McLaren got the best car, because they are top of the list wichs are close togheter.

But what the hell, i don't know We will see tomorrow

[myurr]

I think the Red Bull and Ferrari are just quicker than the rest - they seem to cope with the bumps a LOT better than the McLaren, which looks too stiffly sprung for the circuit conditions. Part of that could be that RB and Ferrari have better systems for coping with the ride height adjustments due to changing fuel levels, so they can spring their cars a bit more softly. The Ferrari in particular looks very supple.

The rest of the field then looks very close behind those teams, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Mercedes and McLaren catch up with the other two within the next couple of races.

In the race, however, I think that Ferrari and McLaren will have similar pace (Ferrari will be the quicker but not by as much as in quali), and I think the Red Bull will be closer to McLaren's pace although they seem to chew their tyres a little quicker than the others. Mercedes will be there or there abouts but I reckon slightly behind the other three.

[Roger the knife]

"What Reason could a team have to not take pole position? "

I usually thought is was not being fast enough

[godlameroso]

The O.P. has a point, Q3 would require you to go as fast as possible but also to nurse the tires, otherwise they would have gone faster or as fast as in Q2

[Ciro Pabón]

... And choose for driving a little slower?

Choose? Oh, c'mon, doopie2you. "Yeah, my car was faster but I choose to start from the back, to show the world how fast I am. It's our new tactic".

[mach11]

i feel the teams starting from 7th or below will have a advantage towards the later half of the stage... clearly they are running on a completely different strategy when compared to the front runners....

but then even with various race simulations been practiced over the last month n half i feel there will be an upset caused by the teams starting from 5th or below...

[doopie2you]

Lewis Hamilton:
Q2: 1:54.707
Q3: 1:55.217

Sebastian Vettel:
Q2: 1:53.883
Q3: 1:54.101

Felipe Massa:
Q2: 1:54.331
Q3: 1:54.242

I see there is almost no difference for these 3 drivers between Q2 and Q3.
Hamilton has the biggest gap between his time in Q2 and Q3.

This could be because the track changes, tempature, wind speed etc.
But i don't know if the difference is because they have tried to save their tires

But i am a little dissapointed with the result, i was hoping McLaren it's rear wing solution would bring them more time.

[doopie2you]

... And choose for driving a little slower?

Choose? Oh, c'mon, doopie2you. "Yeah, my car was faster but I choose to start from the back, to show the world how fast I am. It's our new tactic".

Yes drive slower.

Because if you take pole on Saterday with a car that is very fast, but the set up would only let the car go fast when there is almost NO fuel in the car. Then the next day at the race the teams have a problem don't you think?

So maybe they would choose to set a set-up that allows them to drive longer on the same tire but that the car is a little slower in Qualifiqation

[segedunum]

The qualifiqation of Bahrain, was a shok to me. I didn't think Red Bull would get pole.

It wasn't a shock to most people who saw winter testing. They don't have the speed advantage they had last year, but I was a bit shocked the gap wasn't a bit bigger.

But, what reason could other teams have to start on same tires as the top, but don't take pole? And choose for driving a little slower?

None. Track position is still very important. The only thing you don't want to do is flat spot them during qualifying. That's a disaster that you will carry into the race.

[godlameroso]

Any guesses as to when the first pit stops will be made? I think those starting on the super softs will pit in about 7-9 laps at the most. Then do a long stint on the mediums until the last leg of the race when the track gets really rubbered in and they will switch back to the super softs due to the lightness of the car.

[mach11]

Any guesses as to when the first pit stops will be made? I think those starting on the super softs will pit in about 7-9 laps at the most. Then do a long stint on the mediums until the last leg of the race when the track gets really rubbered in and they will switch back to the super softs due to the lightness of the car.

i do agree... first round of pit stops somewhere between 10-15 i think... but the thing is will these engines last the whole race... the reason i ask this is because its completely different scenario when testing is going on... but in the race sometimes drivers tend to push hard.... i guess this season we can see a lot of engines blowing up or engine related problems towards the latter half of the race....

[doopie2you]

Any guesses as to when the first pit stops will be made? I think those starting on the super softs will pit in about 7-9 laps at the most. Then do a long stint on the mediums until the last leg of the race when the track gets really rubbered in and they will switch back to the super softs due to the lightness of the car.

i do agree... first round of pit stops somewhere between 10-15 i think... but the thing is will these engines last the whole race... the reason i ask this is because its completely different scenario when testing is going on... but in the race sometimes drivers tend to push hard.... i guess this season we can see a lot of engines blowing up or engine related problems towards the latter half of the race....

But why would the engines this season be any different to last season? I think the engines will not blow, escpiacialy because they were put down to 17.000 rpm last year. I mean for the techniek of formula 1 this is very low. They can go up to 22.000 if they want to i guess. So the live of a f1 engine is very long comparing to what they used to drive with.

[ESPImperium]

One crazy strategy that was suggested to me is the first pit stop could be as early as lap 4, then two 20-25 lap stints on the mediums for Bahrain. If youre going for a 2 stopper. One stop could see a pit stop on lap 12-19, loose the options, then primes for the remainder.

This would mean that the option is out the way quickly, and youve got off the grid with those tyres, meaning you dont have to see those tyres deteriorate, then youre on good rubber for the rest of the race if you have the pace and can look after the tyres well enough.

I think that strategy could be a reason.