My prediction for a Kimi win looking good. Mercedes are definitely going to be in for a long race, not very good race pace there. Unsure about Red Bull.
I missed most of that cos I had to turn the radio off for a phonecall. Was the Force India genuinely quick?
Well, I thought it would be Ferrari Vs Lotus before today and nothing has happened in those practices to change my mind
Excluding the 2013 rookies for obvious reasons, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil, Pastor Maldonado, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Pic have raced in Bahrain but never scored points. • No one has won the Bahrain GP from lower than the first four grid spots. • No one has led the entire race in Bahrain: Vettel was in a position to do so in 2010 when his Red Bull suffered spark-plug failure. • In the eight Bahrain GPs to date, nine different teams have finished on the podium: Ferrari (nine times), McLaren (4), Renault (2), Toyota (2), Red Bull (2), Lotus (2), BAR (1); BMW Sauber (1), Brawn (1).
I missed second practice, but it looks like Raikkonen is the one to beat when you add the best sector times for each team: Lotus - 1:33.880 Red Bull - 1:34.030 (+0.150) Ferrari - 1:34.044 (+0.164) Force India - 1:34.524 (+0.644) Mercedes - 1:34.554 (+0.674) McLaren - 1:35.111 (+1.231)
Good point.. But had Alonso not crashed out of Malaysia, he'd have bagged a decent amount of points and would no doubt be leading the WDC and by default the WCC... Could be damage limitation this week for the Red Bulls, still think over the season they're the team to beat.
I would say Webber is a better driver than Grosjean and Massa and thats what will count for Red Bull. But of course.... Multi 2-1 gate...
Autosports take: In summary regarding Lotus versus Ferrari, the Enstone squad has revealed more of its hand – and it looks a very good hand. Ferrari may have a comparably good one, but the Scuderia has not fully shown it yet. Red Bull could be hanging on to the battle, particularly if it can get track position by setting pole – which looks highly feasible. But staying there might be something of a stretch against two cars that appear to have a tyre-usage advantage. Neither Massa nor Romain Grosjean appear to be performing at the same level in the desert as their respective team-mates so far. At Red Bull, Mark Webber's running was too interrupted by niggling problems to get a representative picture. Which leaves us with Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel as the most likely frontrunners. Where does last week's pole-winner Mercedes figure in all this? It was around 0.5s adrift in low-fuel running and both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg then completed Raikkonen-length runs that were a long way off in both raw pace and tyre degradation. This looks set to be a difficult weekend for the Brackley boys. Force India actually appears to be in stronger form than Mercedes in terms of long-run pace even though it would likely be a stretch to outqualify the silver cars. Out on track Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil look very at home in a car with great balance and a lot of high-speed grip. This is a weekend of great opportunity for the team. Given this, McLaren's Jenson Button and Sergio Perez may be struggling to make it into Q3. The car appears less happy here than in the previous two races and for the team those Barcelona upgrades cannot come quickly enough.
That about sums it. Race no 4 then 15 to go. At best jenson will be about 50 points behind after this weekend. 2 race wins, but reality nearer 4 wins behind. Mclaren have thrown it away this year...some bad decisions have been made. Disappointing.
Whitmarsh talking least week about how Malaysia vindicated their approach really pissed me off. Jenson didn't even sound overly optimistic about their Spanish upgrades and if they're not competitive there they well as well throw it in the bin and look to next year.
Reading the Martin Whitmarsh interview at the press conference he doesn't sound too positive either. Referencing the lack of testing ability to get it right and almost distancing himself from the factory saying 'we in field' will make the most of it in the meantime. There could be some reckoning within the team this season. I hope they sort it but I am doubtful. A poorly designed car on top of the classic Mclaren mistakes that seem to dog them does not bode well.
