Poll: Bahrain Grand Prix 2019, Sakhir - Race 2/21

[pastymuncher]

It takes a special level of special. It was entirely predictable too. The usual suspects voting 4 or less. You could easily ban all 3 of them. The threads would be better for it.

It is great to see an F1 race rated so highly. Can’t remember the last time the majority were 8-9

I was the one who gave it a 4 and I am a Hamilton fan. It was a ok race, it wasn't a great race. People are over scoring it based on overtakes from a massively over powerful DRS. It's very little to do with driver skill apart from the few non DRS aided overtakes. LeClerc deserved the win and would have won comfortably if he didn't have mechanical problems. If he didn't have problems then Hamilton wouldn't even have come close to challenging him for the lead. I have been watching races since the early 80's and this would be nowhere on a list of great races. People are too easily pleased these days.

 

[Armageus]

People are too easily pleased these days.

Would have been a 4/10 from me, but:
+1 for Seb's moustache
+1 for Honda reliability
+1 for Mclaren performance
+1 for Grosjean failing to finish again

F1 hasn't been about racing for a while imo - but as entertainment goes, this race delivered imo

 

[Spuj]

But he's never been good in traffic. Those Red Bull days when he had the best car, started at the front and scampered off into the distance have flattered him tremendously, but even back then he had the reputation for folding or crashing when it came to wheel to wheel racing. He's not changed at all in that respect, but the difference is he's not had the relative performance advantage he had at that time.

Agree and disagree. I agree that he has never been one to handle pressure situations well, especially compared to other drivers on the grid, it just seemed to become more apparent last season. However there have been plenty of times over his career where he has had to deal with significant pressure, including cutting his way through traffic, solid wheel to wheel racing and has handled it very well.

I believe he/it has changed, he used to handle it better earlier in his career (I will emphasis the point not as well as other drivers, it's never been Seb's strong point) however over last season and into this it seems to be getting worse. Compounded by the fact that he is meant to be Ferrari's number 1 driver but now has an incredibly talented young man sat right next to him who will absolutely be a star in the future of this sport, I have a feeling it's going to get worse unless he can mentally deal with. As a fan it is hard to watch.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Gave it an 8 out of 10. Brilliantly entertaining, but that score is relative to today's generation of F1.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

DRS needs to go, hopefully with the new car designs. According to Brawn the current cars lose nearly 50% of their downforce when following another car. The new car design should only lose 5%. We've heard this before of course. I don't think F1 will ever get more exciting than this given its current direction.

 

[Steedie]

Who the hell gave the race a 1? A Vettel fan?

 

[Entai]

I was the one who gave it a 4 and I am a Hamilton fan. It was a ok race, it wasn't a great race. People are over scoring it based on overtakes from a massively over powerful DRS. It's very little to do with driver skill apart from the few non DRS aided overtakes. LeClerc deserved the win and would have won comfortably if he didn't have mechanical problems. If he didn't have problems then Hamilton wouldn't even have come close to challenging him for the lead. I have been watching races since the early 80's and this would be nowhere on a list of great races. People are too easily pleased these days.

I gave it a ten and that was purely compared to races over the last 5 years or so, basically the hybrid era.

Granted races 20, 30, 40+ years ago were far more entertaining, exciting, thrilling and had bucket loads more skill and bravery on show.

However, I reckon it's the same as trying to compare drivers of different generations, you just can't, far too many variables involved.

Compare like for like, and ok minus a few small reg changes over last few years basically hybrid car races are comparable to each other, and this by far was the most entertaining.

Not just for actual completed overtakes, but all the tried for ones that involved some incredible wheel to wheel racing at times, and all sorts of other incidents that culminated in a race where i was glued to the screen throughout, not once did I even think, Oh I will go get a coffee this is going to be the same for the next 10 mins, almost every lap had something happen.

As for DRS I like it, yes it needs a bit of tweaking now the cars appear to be a bit easier to follow after this year changes, but F1 needs something like it.

Indy has push to pass, so if we get rid of DRS maybe introduce a version of that instead, either way there needs to be something that gives it all a bit of a shake up.

 

[steve45]

Does that mean the engine is done or can components be replaced to fix it? It’s only 4 for the whole season isn’t it??

Well from what I read its a bit vague, one cylinder was not firing correctly, its not so much of a case of he's blown a cylinder. But I gathered that they likely wont know the full ramifications until the strip it down back at the factory.
I dont know the ins and outs of F1 engine but possibly spark or injector fault which would mean the block might be saved?

Have they upped it to 4? I thought that it was still 3 ICE for the season without incurring penalties.

 

[J1nxy]

Was an enjoyable race and I feel at least a little bit sorry for Leclerc but only a little bit

 

[drunkenmaster]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrari-blame-cylinder-failure-not-mgu-h/

So an engine issue then.

It's a bit strange to not call it an engine issue, but I think he means that if for instance the chamber fuel injector got blocked and not enough fuel was being pumped in so it was essentially running on 5 cylinders then you fix the tube and you fix the engine. An actual piston failure would likely have killed the engine immediately, ceasing up and causing it to crunch itself. If it means that the piston was moving just fine and not effecting the rest of the engine then maybe as said it just wasn't contributing power and he's effectively going to be 1/6th down on power, the exhaust has 1/6th less pressure so the turbo has less power to it and not enough excess power to use the mgu-h. I'm fairly sure in the race they told him there is no mgu-h so we all assumed mgu-h failure. but they may have meant not enough power to actually do any harvesting but explaining that on radio is longer and no need to distract the driver more than necessary.

If it's an ancillary thing like a failed tube or fuel leak to one cylinder then it should be fixable. Lots of bits in engines and gearboxes can be serviced and replaced, just not key parts. Lots of seals, tubes and general stuff can be replaced under supervision from an FIA dude to make sure they don't change anything important.

 

[Steedie]

Sure it's been answered already in this or another thread? But where's Ted Kravitz this year? Ted's notebook was almost the highlight of the GP weekend for me. Loved watching those. Has he been binned off?

EDIT - I decided to be less lazy and Google it, he's back from the Chinese grand prix

 

[Quartz]

One of the major reasons I rated the race so high was the coverage of the battles down the field. Those were great to watch.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Sure it's been answered already in this or another thread? But where's Ted Kravitz this year? Ted's notebook was almost the highlight of the GP weekend for me. Loved watching those. Has he been binned off?

EDIT - I decided to be less lazy and Google it, he's back from the Chinese grand prix

There was mention of his young child, but he has been very quiet? I actually miss his input.

 

[Flibster]

Sure it's been answered already in this or another thread? But where's Ted Kravitz this year? Ted's notebook was almost the highlight of the GP weekend for me. Loved watching those. Has he been binned off?

EDIT - I decided to be less lazy and Google it, he's back from the Chinese grand prix

Also working with FOM with a midweek show that is shown on Sky too.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

For once, I'd say that Grosjean wasn't at fault for the contact that led him to retire. Sure, he turned in but he was well ahead, it was the second corner of the start and he was way on the outside.

His behaviour in qualifying was very poor though. Why are Haas the only team not to give radio guidance to their drivers to tell them about drivers behind them during qualifying?

Yes I would agree technically but I just would have thought that a driver with a past record like his would be more cautious and controlled only 2 races into the season, particularly after the quali fiasco.

As an aside, I think Haas need to be made to change that policy. It's just plain dangerous.

 

[413x]

Would have been a 4/10 from me, but:
+1 for Seb's moustache
+1 for Honda reliability
+1 for Mclaren performance
+1 for Grosjean failing to finish again

F1 hasn't been about racing for a while imo - but as entertainment goes, this race delivered imo

So much this . It's not racing its entertainment. I only watch catch up so I cab skip through our turn off..no longer watch any preshow

The car management, clear A vs B division and push pass mean its more like Mario kart every year. That's fine,, but don't pretend it's racing

 

[jonneymendoza]

So much this . It's not racing its entertainment. I only watch catch up so I cab skip through our turn off..no longer watch any preshow

The car management, clear A vs B division and push pass mean its more like Mario kart every year. That's fine,, but don't pretend it's racing

define entertainment racing please?

 

[413x]

define entertainment racing please?

Artifical aids, drs, bigger kers boost the further down grid you are random weather events etc etc
Like touring cars with ballast. Things like that

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Artifical aids, drs, bigger kers boost the further down grid you are random weather events etc etc
Like touring cars with ballast. Things like that

Touring cars with ballast killed it for me. Handicap success, great. Pretty much the way of society these days though.

I don’t mind drs, as long as it isn’t an automatic win. If it helps get them side by side into the corner, I don’t mind it. It is just a bandaid though and masks a problem that will hopefully be fixed with the next big car design.

 

[413x]

Touring cars with ballast killed it for me. Handicap success, great. Pretty much the way of society these days though.

I don’t mind drs, as long as it isn’t an automatic win. If it helps get them side by side into the corner, I don’t mind it. It is just a bandaid though and masks a problem that will hopefully be fixed with the next big car design.

I guess it's really hard to balance. I'm quite a fan of double drs zones just to give the defender a chance to come back