2018 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, April 6-8

[djones]

i don't know whether he just did not have the pace to keep up with Vettel or if it was another fluke by the Merc strategists who told him to drive to a delta completely ignoring the possibility of Vettel not stopping anymore but he should have done better given the pace Lewis extracted from that car

I get the distinct feeling that Merc are actually trying to do the season on 3 engines while everyone else around them aren't.

Very feasible and easy for them to get caught up in trying to make the Mercedes brand look reliable.

But I don't think the pace today was about low engine modes. They just got it totally wrong and were idiots to think the ONLY thing that can happen is another pit stop from Vettel. Hamiltons tyres were probably good for another 15 laps and he should have used that life in going faster from about lap 40.

Maybe they thought it was an easy 1-2 (with Vet pitting again) and did not want Hamilton to be all over the back of Bottas at the end.

[f1316]

I’m not going to say anything about Ferrari and Vettel - the bad sports can say it all for themselves.

If you want to take a shot at some then do it, don't hide behind vague generalized comments!

Why would anyone want to take shots at each other? That’s precisely my point.

[Oehrly]

On TV it looked like the gap between Vettel and Bottas was actually getting larger again in the very last DRS zone while Bottas had DRS. Has anyone else noticed that? Did I just misread those small numbers? Else that would be very interesting.

[dans79]

Why would anyone want to take shots at each other? That’s precisely my point.

That seems to be the mo around here lately.

[Just_a_fan]

Anyway RAI had green light when he started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBu9Z3-wpB4

Watching a different video and seeing the lower leg bend between knee and ankle. Poor chap, hopefully they got some strong pain relief in to him quickly.

[dans79]

Very feasible and easy for them to get caught up in trying to make the Mercedes brand look reliable.

But I don't think the pace today was about low engine modes. They just got it totally wrong and were idiots to think the ONLY thing that can happen is another pit stop from Vettel. Hamiltons tyres were probably good for another 15 laps and he should have used that life in going faster from about lap 40.

In general their methodology seems to always leave little time to attempt an overtake. IMO you want to catch someone with 5 to 10 laps to go, not 2. It gives you more times to set-up a good overtake.

[Chene_Mostert]

Ferrari needs to calm down during pit stops.
All in all a good weekend.
Well done to Honda & STR!

[Vasconia]

One interesting point ist that after four seasons where Mercedes has a qualy dominance and also being fast on Sundays, only that sometimes ferrari was faster, we face a race where Ferrari was faster on qualy but not during the race, its pretty curious if you ask me

[bonjon1979]

i don't know whether he just did not have the pace to keep up with Vettel or if it was another fluke by the Merc strategists who told him to drive to a delta completely ignoring the possibility of Vettel not stopping anymore but he should have done better given the pace Lewis extracted from that car

I get the distinct feeling that Merc are actually trying to do the season on 3 engines while everyone else around them aren't.

Very feasible and easy for them to get caught up in trying to make the Mercedes brand look reliable.

But I don't think the pace today was about low engine modes. They just got it totally wrong and were idiots to think the ONLY thing that can happen is another pit stop from Vettel. Hamiltons tyres were probably good for another 15 laps and he should have used that life in going faster from about lap 40.

Maybe they thought it was an easy 1-2 (with Vet pitting again) and did not want Hamilton to be all over the back of Bottas at the end.

Or Ferrari are just a bit quicker at this track. Gonna be a good season, no clear favourite

[Mr.G]

Starting to think they can make it to the end now seb much faster than bottas so why pit now. Bottas struggling to make those tyres last, this is an exciting one for sure.

I'm not sure they can pit Vettel due to them having to deal with an injured mechanic.

I'm quite sure they should have a reserve mechanic for this kind of situation.

Doesn't they haw two crews? For each driver?

[Chene_Mostert]

One interesting point ist that after four seasons where Mercedes has a qualy dominance and also being fast on Sundays, only that sometimes ferrari was faster, we face a race where Ferrari was faster on qualy but not during the race, its pretty curious if you ask me

You would only be able to compare race pace if they were on a like for like strategy,

[MtthsMlw]

[media]https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status ... 9899251713[/media]

[ripper]

Anyway RAI had green light when he started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBu9Z3-wpB4

Watching a different video and seeing the lower leg bend between knee and ankle. Poor chap, hopefully they got some strong pain relief in to him quickly.

Yes I saw the video, but I didn't link it here because it might hurt someone. Very painful... poor guy. Maybe it is time to change something on pit stops?

[Vanja #66]

One interesting point ist that after four seasons where Mercedes has a qualy dominance and also being fast on Sundays, only that sometimes ferrari was faster, we face a race where Ferrari was faster on qualy but not during the race, its pretty curious if you ask me

Ferrari had everything under control until that unfortunate stop for Kimi. Seb had a lot of pace, those tyres were off the cliff, but he managed to defend. If that car was as fast as Merc, he would have Hamilton on his back by the end of lap 57.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Anyway RAI had green light when he started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBu9Z3-wpB4

Watching a different video and seeing the lower leg bend between knee and ankle. Poor chap, hopefully they got some strong pain relief in to him quickly.

Yes I saw the video, but I didn't link it here because it might hurt someone. Very painful... poor guy. Maybe it is time to change something on pit stops?

Unless, a standard time for tyre change is set, something like 5 second minimum time to change tyres, the situation is going become nightmare. if the pit lane speed was revised to ensure safety, surely the stationery time can be set too. It would also cut down the cost of unnecessary innovation on those wheel guns, which is not something the industry outside would be interested.