Bahrain F1
 

Fans of Raikkenin, me among them, should be pleased at how well he ran today
at practice, Although maybe he runs better when he stays under the radar and quietly works his way to the front from a 7th and 8th starting place.

Looks like Lotus is one of the best at conserving tires and seems more and more emphasis this year on keeping good tire management will win races.

We'll see how quali goes, maybe some surprises yet. Ferrari strong also and RB always there too!

Glad they are going back to Europe next race. Some good ones coming up.

+1
Kimi in his usual. He's coyly mentioned this in the prior races. No doubt all teams focus on this but for now Lotus seem to be the 'lightest' on tires.

Thoroughly enjoying this season, again!
Big Iceman fan as well... Hope Lotus has the $$$ to keep him for next few seasons especially the new regs next year. Lotus will need an experienced pilot for the new cars...
He's my dark horse favorite for DWC this year, behind (ducking) FA SmileWavy

Anywho, lots to keep an eye on this race:

So, can McLaren finish on podium? Not likely ...
Will Checko suffer like Hekki did for not instantly producing his first year at a big team? Seems like its a 50/50 chance of ruining your long term at an A team racing career in F1 for a young driver who lands a top shelf ride and doesn't produce the results the team wants... Is it only at McLaren where this happens to young drivers like this?

Will Hamilton continue his podium streak? Probably.. Hope so!

Will Kimi continue his mastery of the Pirelli tires and a podium? Probably... Hope so!

Will Red Bull continue to miss the set up on strategy? Probably not, I suspect they will get it right this weekend...

I could go on and on but, like I said, thoroughly enjoying this season and the NMC coverage!

Thanks for the weekly threads YP SmileWavy
Cheers!

A good quali, I wont give away who did what, but I think it's an interesting grid and should make for a pretty good race. As I said before, a good race for me is Vettel and Alonso 20th and 22nd.

With a little luck Force India could be right up there come race day.

Yes, should be interesting race.

Funny. That track looks like a string of black tar just randomly tossed out in a desert. Besides the teams its looks almost deserted. Not much of a crowd as far as I could see.

Doesn't even look like there are any grandstands. Strange place for a race, just a
money grab for Ecclestone. A made TV race.

what a great race!!!!

Civil unrest has been a big issue in Bahrain.......I'm sure this year they just hid it better....

Were there no grandstands?

Help, I'm lost and wandering in the desert . No wait is that turn #6 Ok I got it now.
As already mentioned, Weird and ugly site for a track.

Now that we are used to seeing Red Bull and Vettel to dominate, It was otherwise a very good race.

Some high lights for me.
Nico containing Vettel for a few laps. It was sure to change once the DRS came to play.
Diresta and force India being near the front to begin with and really mixing it up with the front runners, sorry to see his team mate knocked to the back so early.

Watching Perez duke it out with anyone near by, ballzy

The Iceman being, well cool under fire. nice car/self control.

Bummer both Ferrari's fighting damage thru the race

I'm surprised and stoked with the extent of coverage we are getting from an American network NICE JOB NBC SPORTS!!

How do you guys like the side by side coverage during the adds?

Cheers Richard

Fun race. Great first couple of laps, then aside from Vettels parade a lot of action in the pack.

I'm already tired of Red Bull......

Amen!!

It was a good race but not a great one. Would have been much better if Alonso had not had rear wing/drs probs. Yes, very tired of Vettel/red bull.

Good races back in the pack. Minimal NASCAR action.

Did anyone else feel some of the aerial shots made the course look more like a video game than a real race track?

Great idea, poor execution. They are wasting valuable screen real estate with the bounding box around the commercial and ad windows - you can't really focus on either.

I'd rather they give a timing and scoring feed on the left (no on-track video) and then the commercial on the right. They could use a bigger window for the ad, and you'd have real-time info on what is going on.

I had the same feeling. Almost surreal landscape. Hard to believe people actually live there.

My wife walked in the room and said the same thing. It looked fake, like how they recreate a plane crash.

We've had it in Canada for a couple of years and I absolutely LOATHE it, they definitely time it so that the commercial split occurs when there is something interesting happening, so you are tempted to watch the 'effin thing, and then they waste all the screen real estate so you really can't see dick-all.

Guaranteed they will come up during pit stops or passing maneuvers...

I think they ought to leave the race on full screen and then put a box strategically in a corner...sort of like picture on picture, switch the sound to the commercial and then there is a chance I might actually pick up something that they are tryign to sell.

I personally have just started skipping over the commercials anyway (I always record on my PVR) and these are no exception. I also have started noting who advertises and make sure to avoid those products. Any vendor who endorses the kind of shenanigans that these ads are will not get my business....

Dennis

Re BIC, you guys never seen sand before? Nearly all gulf countries besides Iran have the same landscape.