2013 Bahrain GP - Sakhir

[Vasconia]

Interesting to see Alonso overtaking without DRS. Maybe an indication we don't need it anymore with KERS and these fantastic tires?

My thoughts exactly! Now we know that the cars can follow each other closely and if you are faster it is down to the drivers' skills to overtake. With the DRS F1 became very prdictable - when you close the gap to <1 sec everyone knows what will happen. Honestly it is not fun watching it.

Tyres help a lot but unfortunately some teams want harder tyres, so predictable races will be common in the second half of the season as it happened in 2012 and 2011.

I dont like DRS at all but if the tyres will be harder its the only solution if we dont wat to see dull races again.

[Vasconia]

I didn’t see the full race but it was a quite enjoyable one, I like the seasons with Pirelli because sometimes we enjoy a quite unexpected fun races(as it happened in Valencia). The battles between Alonso/Vettel/Rosberg, Perez/Button and Hamilton/Webber were F1 as its best! , wheel to wheel and giving almost no space, this is the F1 I really love and enjoy.

Vettel did an amazing race, his overtaking manoeuvre when he was fighting with Alonso was spectacular, and some people say this guy is not that good. I am not a fan of this driver but sometimes he did great things.

Poor Rosberg, he is fast but when the car is not so good he seems to be too inconsistent and mentally weak. Lewis is doing a great season.

Lotus needs a step forward on Saturday if they want to put Sebastian under pressure.

[Phil]

This might sound a bit simple - but I wonder where Rosberg would have finished if he had driven Lewis's race. I.e. no battling, preserving tyres, maximizing his strategy. Would that have been a podium? If I am not mistaken - Lewis was finished around 10 seconds behind DiResta, so Rosberg starting on pole, 9 places ahead (11 if you account for Lewis's bad start), I wonder where he would have finished.

Doesn't bode well for racing if basically what you're doing is driving a time-attack race, driving to delta to preserve tyres, but I do wonder... what would have been in possible. Or if Lewis was to start on his 4th place and driven the same way. He wouldn't have won the race I'm sure, but I would say a very good podium for sure... Anyone?


(I posted this in the Mercedes GP team topic first, but thought this might spark more discussion in this topic...)

[raymondu999]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuT31LtTmbU[/youtube]

[Maelstrom]

This might sound a bit simple - but I wonder where Rosberg would have finished if he had driven Lewis's race. I.e. no battling, preserving tyres, maximizing his strategy. Would that have been a podium? If I am not mistaken - Lewis was finished around 10 seconds behind DiResta, so Rosberg starting on pole, 9 places ahead (11 if you account for Lewis's bad start), I wonder where he would have finished.

Doesn't bode well for racing if basically what you're doing is driving a time-attack race, driving to delta to preserve tyres, but I do wonder... what would have been in possible. Or if Lewis was to start on his 4th place and driven the same way. He wouldn't have won the race I'm sure, but I would say a very good podium for sure... Anyone?


(I posted this in the Mercedes GP team topic first, but thought this might spark more discussion in this topic...)

I don't think it would have been possible for Rosberg to drive any other way. He drove to win and he didn't have the car for it. He had to defend against everybody and then try to win back the position. That destroyed his tyres. What else would he have done? If he drove conservatively at the start everybody would have overtaken him. He'd still not be on the podium in my opinion. Finished better? Maybe... but this is a very strange situation. Merc is the one car that can get poles but not even be in the top six at the end. Other teams are opting for not running in Q3 and preserving tyres and generally it pays off during the races. Merc, who are not doing so good on races are going for the pole positions.

[Mika1]

This might sound a bit simple - but I wonder where Rosberg would have finished if he had driven Lewis's race. I.e. no battling, preserving tyres, maximizing his strategy. Would that have been a podium? If I am not mistaken - Lewis was finished around 10 seconds behind DiResta, so Rosberg starting on pole, 9 places ahead (11 if you account for Lewis's bad start), I wonder where he would have finished.

Doesn't bode well for racing if basically what you're doing is driving a time-attack race, driving to delta to preserve tyres, but I do wonder... what would have been in possible. Or if Lewis was to start on his 4th place and driven the same way. He wouldn't have won the race I'm sure, but I would say a very good podium for sure... Anyone?


(I posted this in the Mercedes GP team topic first, but thought this might spark more discussion in this topic...)

I don't think it would have been possible for Rosberg to drive any other way. He drove to win and he didn't have the car for it. He had to defend against everybody and then try to win back the position. That destroyed his tyres. What else would he have done? If he drove conservatively at the start everybody would have overtaken him. He'd still not be on the podium in my opinion. Finished better? Maybe... but this is a very strange situation. Merc is the one car that can get poles but not even be in the top six at the end. Other teams are opting for not running in Q3 and preserving tyres and generally it pays off during the races. Merc, who are not doing so good on races are going for the pole positions.

Well it's good to see the car has the pace in Q, now they have to focus on race pace. By the way Bahrain isn't that representative for Mercedes, the circuit doesn't suit the car at all. Same situation with Red Bull in China.

[strad]

iotar__
-2
Easy enough to see why you have a minus rating

[Ral]

I don't know if this has been discussed yet, I couldn't find it if it was.

But I was wondering why Force India didn't put Paul DiResta on a normal 3-stop. He was lying 2nd on lap 7 after Alonso had to make his emergency stop. If nothing else, it would have ensured he wouldn't drop behind the slower degradation-sufferers like Rosberg/Webber/McLarens. He also would not have lost out to Grosjean. Especially if FI had faith in their own pace - and given Sutil's pace in clear air that seemed warranted - surely from a genuine 2nd on the road, that would have made sense?

[Shrieker]

@Phil,

http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... 49#p427649

[ringo]

And we have now had two races where considerable parts of front wings have been removed, yet cars were not slowed down. So there could be a question of the benefits of all the add-ons.

Indeed. Armchair fans get all excited about a twiddly bit here or there. Some fans berate their team (yes, some people think of it as "their" team) for not bolting on a copy of the wing used by the most recent winner.

Then when it comes to the race we see cars run an entire race with missing end plates with little discernible difference.

I think if the drivers are really driving at 80% maybe when a wing brakes off and drops performance by 2%, they just drive with a little more effort to give back the 2%.
If we were in bridgestone tyre days, we would be seeing the effects of a missing endplate i feel.

[Kowalsky]

Hello to all from a newbie.
I've watched once more initial laps of this race and I've found that Fernando's DRS was still open from lap 4 or 5 till the first stop. Could anyone confirm, whether it was like that?

[Phil]

I think Lewis was lucky this race with the penalty. Had he started in 4th, he would've had to race hard like Rosberg did, finish the tyres and be forced into a 4th stop, thus ending up around 9th-10th. Instead, he just nursed the tyres trundling behind the midfielders first half of the race, which payed dividends later on.

The top 5 finishes Merc. had at the three opening races were all on merit, but this time they got a somewhat lucky top 5, especially with both Ferrari's hitting problems. Merc. clearly have a long long way to go before they can genuinely challenge the top runners in all conditions.

Thanks for pointing this out to me Shrieker!

What made me write my post is that I think Lewis's pace was quite good - at least during the second half of the race. Lewis and Rosberg show two different attempts of how to complete the race. One worked, the other didn't. I think in the first part or first two stints, Lewis went backwards as well. He started in 9th, was quickly 11th (I think following a bad start) and then found himself in 13th for quite some time if I am not mistaken. Rosberg on the other hand was able to defend his 1st position for a few laps, before gradually falling backwards.

It's harder to coast if you have the quickest teams right up your neck that's for sure - vs. Lewis, who was right in the pack of the midfielders that probably coudn't go faster than him anyway. I just wonder, what if Rosberg hadn't pushed as hard as I'm sure he did and not defend his position? He would have been passed easily by the cars behind him that's for sure, but perhaps he would have had less issue with his tyres and come 2nd half of the race, would have been rather competitive, just like Lewis? I think if he had driven Lewis's race, he would have at least been looking at 4th - at the very least in front of Lewis simply by starting further up the grid.

Perhaps my point is that the Merc in its current condition requires this - being hard on its tyres especially in the first half of the race, it's absolutely mandatory to drive them without pushing too hard. Then as the race progresses, the pace returns and be more competitive. I think the way Rosberg drove, he compromized his race and strategy in the first half of the race.

[korzeniow]

Hello to all from a newbie.
I've watched once more initial laps of this race and I've found that Fernando's DRS was still open from lap 4 or 5 till the first stop. Could anyone confirm, whether it was like that?

Yes, it was. That's why Alonso had to stop additional two times.

What I find interesting in this is the fact that Alonso didn't have to retire the car. Last year Schumacher had to retire from a race (was it Canadian GP?) because his DRS got stuck open.

but the Mercedes had diffrent DRS design at that time, the hydraulics were hidden in the endplates, but all other teams have simpler design with the accutator in the middle of the rear wing.

Mechanics can shut the flap down manually when needed

[iotar__]

iotar__
-2
Easy enough to see why you have a minus rating

Since you haven't quoted anything I have no idea what you mean. Who cares or plays this kindergarten "voting" stuff anyway? Why don't you vote if 2+2 = 4? You might be surprised with results. You only need to at look many incredibly nonsensical and based on nothing ideas that are thrown time and time again by owners of dozens of those points to see how much they're worth. I can send you my "voting history" if you're so interested.

Why don't you string couple of sentences together that make any sense instead of throwing some cryptic remarks.


.

[Kowalsky]

Yes, it was. That's why Alonso had to stop additional two times.

Does driving with open DRS outside DSR zones break any regulation?