Poll: Bahrain Grand Prix 2022 - Race 1

[pastymuncher]

Oh dear, what a shame, just desserts and all that. Just watched the highlights and the rules have really stirred the pot. Who would have thought a Haas would finish 5th while the McLarens were only 14th and 15th? Alfa seems to have a decent car as well. Sadly Williams seem to still be struggling and the best thing about their car is that gorgeous dark blue. Zhou seems to have some talent, future races will tell if it's a one off or he's the real deal. When I look at the Alpine I see a Force India which is confusing as hell. Merc have a lot of work to do. With engines locked down surely Ferrari can't have found all this grunt from just the fuel as the commentators on C4 were implying?

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Surely to be consistent, they should delete the time regardless of whether or not he went quicker. Take away the potential for grey area and arguments...

Apart from Lewis and Rosberg throwing hats at each other... Max stepping up to Ocon etc. I'm sure there's been much worse that I can't think of, but yes it's a shame not to see that anymore?

Imagine if the cameras had never recorded that moment. That clip is part of F1 legend.

 

[Mr Jack]

Surely to be consistent, they should delete the time regardless of whether or not he went quicker. Take away the potential for grey area and arguments...

The rule is and, AFAIA, always has been "leaving the track and gaining an advantage". Double penalising a driver who has already lost time through a mistake or lock-up makes no sense but they seem to be taking your approach in Quali anyway.

The only time you see their true colours is when they are stressed and something is on the line.

I don't agree you see people's "true colours" at these times; all you see is that they're stressed.

 

[Scam]

The rule is and, AFAIA, always has been "leaving the track and gaining an advantage". Double penalising a driver who has already lost time through a mistake or lock-up makes no sense but they seem to be taking your approach in Quali anyway.

Fair point. But if leaving the track is not allowed, then it's not allowed. If we're talking about quali then where is the line for someone like Perez who might be on a half decent lap to put him P4, goes off due to a slight lockup (without gaining an advantage) so they let the time count. If that lap puts him into Q3 over another driver, should that be allowed? It means the stewards have to look at every single one, noting times for sectors etc. Surely it'd be way more easy to say "no you went off, lap time deleted". I dunno.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

With engines locked down surely Ferrari can't have found all this grunt from just the fuel as the commentators on C4 were implying?

They've changed the fundamental design. Instead of their old layout, they've gone with a design similar to that pioneered by Merc.

 

[englishpremier]

Yeah there are YouTube videos about the Ferrari power unit, and the decisions they were making last season about selecting one design over another. That combined with the extra cfd/wind tunnel times for being so poor previously was one of the reasons I voted for them (in the f1 pre season thread) to be a top team this season.

I think the RB is probably the quicker car though. We need to see running on a variety of circuits though first.

 

[jaybee]

Talk of the Merc engines being down on power, but Toto shakes it off by saying that he thinks more likely they are "over aero'd" with high downforce. Interesting.
Are the side pods purely for cooling? i.e. They house radiators and/or intercoolers? Or do the side pods actually perform the job of primary or additional air intake path for the engine?
Just thinking out loud about Merc and their small side pods and the repackaging of the engine.
It doesn't sound very Merc like to be down on engine power. Could they just be being very cautious with output power on Race 1?

Will be interesting this season to see the development and technical battle.

I know things will most likely change a lot, but imagine Haas and Merc improving just enough to make it a 4 way battle for the top!

 

[pastymuncher]

They've changed the fundamental design. Instead of their old layout, they've gone with a design similar to that pioneered by Merc.

I thought there was a ban on engine development though unless it is for reliability reasons. Ferrari seems to have taken a big step in performance so it couldn't have been for reliabilty alone?

 

[Armageus]

Talk of the Merc engines being down on power, but Toto shakes it off by saying that he thinks more likely they are "over aero'd" with high downforce.

Unlikely that they would ever say the engine was down on power when they have customers they are supplying - it's not a great selling point.

 

[Mr Jack]

I thought there was a ban on engine development though unless it is for reliability reasons. Ferrari seems to have taken a big step in performance so it couldn't have been for reliabilty alone?

The ban is in place from the start of this season. They could develop up to this point.

 

[chrcoluk]

Almost time!

Nice to see half of those who were done with F1 last season back here too, welcome back guys

I said I would be done if Masi wasnt fired, he is gone.

 

[SonicSW20]

I dont think any of it has made a blind bit of difference really.

The drivers disagree re: following other cars. I'd say out of anyone they're in the best position to judge that.

 

[StarShock]

Its worth noting that before the drivers would be on the radio complaining about losing traction is there was a car as much as 4 seconds ahead. Seems to me there was a lot less of that, and the drivers seemed far happier to get up close and personal all round the track.
That said for the most part in the race there weren't a whole lot of moments when a fast car was clearly out of position. So if the guy ahead is faster than you it doesn't really matter that you aren't hurt by dirty air. Hopefully over the next few races we'll see a lot more examples of head to head racing and can better judge if its made a difference.

 

[adam cool dude]

Talk of the Merc engines being down on power, but Toto shakes it off by saying that he thinks more likely they are "over aero'd" with high downforce. Interesting.
Are the side pods purely for cooling? i.e. They house radiators and/or intercoolers? Or do the side pods actually perform the job of primary or additional air intake path for the engine?
Just thinking out loud about Merc and their small side pods and the repackaging of the engine.
It doesn't sound very Merc like to be down on engine power. Could they just be being very cautious with output power on Race 1?

Will be interesting this season to see the development and technical battle.

I know things will most likely change a lot, but imagine Haas and Merc improving just enough to make it a 4 way battle for the top!

That would make sense if it wasn't for all customer powered merc teams also being rather rubbish. Hopefully they can sort it out quickly as then we might actually have 3 horse race which hasn't really happened for a good few decades.

 

[StarShock]

That would make sense if it wasn't for all customer powered merc teams also being rather rubbish. Hopefully they can sort it out quickly as then we might actually have 3 horse race which hasn't really happened for a good few decades.

Only just over 1 decade 2010 red bull mclaren and ferrari were all in with a shout. But yeah. Fingers crossed we get more more like that

 

[Jono8]

The drivers disagree re: following other cars. I'd say out of anyone they're in the best position to judge that.

I thought the reaction from the drivers was pretty mixed.

To me it wasn't any more/less exciting than before.

It is early days, but from a viewers perspective it was business as usual as far as I was concerned. The new regs have just replaced the Merc's/Hamilton with Ferrari/Leclerc.

 

[Jono8]

Fred Vasseur said that there was an issue with starts in the Alfa that they were looking at. Zhou also lost 4 places off the start.

I was alluding to the fact that he was always pony at them at Merc too. Maybe yesterday was a bit of both (him being rubbish and the Alfa being rubbish )

 

[Jono8]

Well, yes. But only in the same sense that Hamilton got a podium because both the Red Bulls went pop.

Well everyone from Perez backwards benefitted from that

 

[englishpremier]

It is early days, but from a viewers perspective it was business as usual as far as I was concerned. The new regs have just replaced the Merc's/Hamilton with Ferrari/Leclerc.

Agreed, but I also think that is due to a) testing there the week before b) the track itself

Next weekend should be an interesting one, being a power circuit will give us an idea of the new PUs.

 

[Jono8]

Agreed, but I also think that is due to a) testing there the week before b) the track itself

Next weekend should be an interesting one, being a power circuit will give us an idea of the new PUs.

I hope so. Willing to change my mind after a few more different tracks to see if it really has made a difference.

It annoyed me when the commentators wet their panties over the Leclerc/Max little battle, and started lauding the new regs, as though that has never happened before in F1....when Hamilton and Perez literally had a similar battle in the closing race of last season.