Official Not606 Bahrain GP Chat and Predictions

Silver Arrow Domination Do We Prefer It To Cattle Domination?
The Great Sand Battle Begins.

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TYRE ALLOCATIONS: SOFT+ MEDIUM

TV TIMES (UK)
4th FP1: 12:00
4th FP2: 16:00
5th SP3: 13:00
5th Q: 16:00 (NEW QUALIFYING TYRE FORMAT TO BARE IN MIND)
6th ARMAGEDDON: 16:00

57 Laps.
Latest Winner

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: Sebastian Vettel 2013
Latest Pole Position

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: Britney 1:32.330
Last Year Fastest Lap: 1:36.961
Most Wins: Alonso
Most Wins (Team): Ferrari

PREDICTION LEAGUE
Happyal,di Fredsta!,
51LV3R8RR04, Bert the homosexual poof, BrightLampShade, Ched999uk, Coasterboy, EternalMSC, Justjazz, Nh-f1,RoadRunner,WestCoastBoogaloo, ElBando, BelieveiveLewis, Hanshotfirst, PitlaneCharlie, The Iceman, AllsaintsChris, Dhel, EddieSquidd, PacoMontoya, JonnyBaws, JustJazz, Sgt.Bhaji.
(x2) Correct (x1) Correct​

 

I've went for Rosberg again.
He's only ever been out qualified once here, in 2006, he's quick, consistent and this is one of the more boring races on the calendar, think he'll be determined to win after today's race.

 

Voted Rosberg, is only fair that they take it in turns

 

Has to be Hamilton. If Red Bull do catch Mercedes it will be a few months away yet, if both Mercs finish it will be another dominant 1-2. Hamilton's had Rosberg's number so far this season and I expect that to continue.

I thought it was pretty pointless holding this at night but given the amount of testing here I'm pleased they are, it will invalidate a lot of the data they collected. There's been some great racing here the last two years so hopefully it will be more lively than the first two races.

 

Race starts 6pm local time. Normally it starts at 3pm.

That sort of climate usually means fairly stable temps so I imagine the air temperature will only be at most 5-7c less than the 3pm start. What will be much less of course will be the track temperature and how warm it 'feels'. I believe the track temperature is normally in the region of 40c+ so at night I expect it to be in the mid to high 20's?

 

Got to be Lewis for me. Nico has just gone on record in saying Lewis was to quick for him, and for those who was watching the race closely will have seen that the tyre marbling was a lot less than in previous seasons, this says reduce tyre wear. With less down-force making the 2014 cars being more about driver skill over relying on grip, all things say this is Lewis Hamilton territory and there could be ominous signs ahead for Nico and the rest this season.

 

Has to be Lewis just seems to be on a roll at the moment, but because of reliability I'll go for Nico as a safe bet.

 

Don't think in 3 years I have ever noticed a poll where only two options are chosen.

 

Mercedes are just too dominant, this is worse than the RBR domination. In trying to stop one era of domination, the FIA have made an even worse one, bravo Mr Toad.

 

2 races in, 2 winners, 5 different podium men.

Its early days, I accept its looking bad but its early days in a rapidly developing formula. Give it till Barcelona (where the mercs will probs be 3s ahead )

 

It won't be a dominant season, Red Bull will catch up, Mclaren and Ferrari will improve and Williams too. Yes they are well ahead now but I'm sure that by Barcelona that it will be closer. From a racing point of view, I'm sure that will improve too once teams are completely on top of reliability and have confidence to push hard.

 

Brawn GP, got caught by RBR. After what seemed the impossible task. Look how much Vettel has caught them already, Ricciardo being the test mule again.

 

RBR catching up depends on Renault, LH is faster but NR more consistant and less liable to choke.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

That statement isn't fair.... Red Bull, Renault, Williams, Ferrari and all the teams had the same time as Mercedes to prepare for this season. It isn't like Mercedes were the only team preparing while the others were at the beach or something..they all had the same time to prepare. Mclaren wrote off their season early last year and should have had the best car this year. At the end of the season Mercedes were still pushing so all the teams had the same time...don't blame FIA if some teams didn't get it right from the get go. We know what Red Bull problem was..they pushed the envelope too much in terms of packaging and had serious cooling problems and instead of dealing with that they blamed Renault. But if they had not been so aggressive with their packaging they wouldn't have had most of the problems they had in testing. They took a chance and it didn't work right away but they are not very far away. So don't blame FIA if Mercedes did their homework. Yes I would like to see more exciting racing with the top guys mixing it up throughout the race until the flag, but that. Isn't so right now because the other guys didn't do their work so they have to work harder and speed up their development..maybe we will see others competition later this season when they catch up to Mercedes..if they do catch up. I don't think Merdedes will be mucking around with development ..they will be going all out to stay in front.

 

We haven't seen Rosberg in a title challenge, so we have no clue how he might cope. Plus I'd hardly call Hamilton a choker nor call Rosberg consistent given his ability to vanish.


And just generally:
Hamilton has one race win under his belt. I don't think it's time to throw the towel in for everyone else. RBR are making steady progress, so it would be folly to count them out. RBR/Vettel fans should be behind their team and fully support them rather than being so defeatist. They can't win all the time... But they'll always be in the mix.

In supporting any sport, we always have rough spells. Don't expect Merc to have it their own way for too long.

 

If Hamilton hits 10 in a row (which isn't going to happen) then it'll be worse than RBR. Yes the racing is still as dull as dishwater but it isn't better/worse than RBR dominance.

 

I totally agree

 

Some engines will be at the end of their lives at this race. Hamilton retiring in AUS may be a benefit for him for the rest of the season

 

I have gone for Nico but like most can't see past Lewis walking away subject to car reliability. On a separate note, I acknowledge the interesting transition of the sport, but that aside this is one of the worst starts to a season I can recall. The ultimate pace of the cars (both one lap pace and race pace) isn't there - in fact it's painful - and thats the pace of the leading Mercs.

Fair play to Merc and both of their drivers, but this is a formula now running akin to GP2. It's pretty much processional which considering the rule changes is a diss appointment to say the least. I hope this race is different but I can't see it myself - the Indy Lights was far more entertaining.

 

Lewis' strongest period is usually around the european stint and as proven by stats his form fades towards the end, other than that they're pretty equal in the early stages.

Nico I've seen being weaker to Lewis in Europe bar Monaco and equal in some, then his form stays the same until the end and starts to capitalise around Lewis' fading self.