F1 2021 :Round 1 Bahrain

LollipopJimmy · 26-03-2021 3:27pm

Haas obviously sandbagging until Q1

MrSeanWick · 26-03-2021 3:41pm

Wouldn't be surprised if Leclerc gets a good result this weekend. Pushes his car to the limit

MrSeanWick · 26-03-2021 3:47pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Not too suprising if Haas are well at the back on their own.
Poor start for Alpine, hopefully not a sign of things to come.

Think Alpine looked better in testing than today so hopefully quicker the weekend.

namloc1980 · 26-03-2021 4:21pm

HAM BOT VER. Normal service has resumed!

Frank Bullitt · 26-03-2021 4:27pm

The rear of the Mercedes still looks a bit sketchy out of the corners.

Frank Bullitt · 26-03-2021 4:56pm

And a lot of lock ups!

namloc1980 · 26-03-2021 5:04pm

Not getting my hopes up for a close competitive season. Have been caught out before thinking someone would get close to Mercedes.

El_Duderino 09 · 26-03-2021 5:10pm

Things tightened up a lot in FP2. Top 15 cars within a second of the leader.

I have to think the Renault is better than it looked in the timing screen in those two sessions. I wonder if the others have all taken a step forward in engines and left Renault a step behind. The Ferrari and Honda engines are brand new so they might have taken decent steps forward and the Merc is always making gains. Maybe Renault is being left behind.

But It was just practice and we'll just have to wait for quali to find out

muckwarrior · 26-03-2021 5:13pm

Yeah, the mercs are only a couple of tenths off. They could easily make that up in Q3.

It does seem much closer than in previous years, but that's with a car they clearly haven't got dialled in yet. I'd be very surprised if they haven't resumed normal service after a couple of races.

namloc1980 · 26-03-2021 5:15pm

Clear dropoff to Haas and Williams at the back. Everyone else within a second of each other.

Joeface · 26-03-2021 5:22pm

muckwarrior · 26-03-2021 5:55pm

namloc1980 wrote: »

Clear dropoff to Haas and Williams at the back. Everyone else within a second of each other.

Yeah, very close. Especially considering it's not a short lap. It does lend weight to the argument that stable(ish) rules eventually results in teams' performance converging.

Frank Bullitt · 26-03-2021 7:06pm

Joeface wrote: »

I'd take that as a starting grid!

namloc1980 · 26-03-2021 7:15pm

Yuki Tsunoda looks rapid in the Alpha Tauri. Nice looking car.

flazio · 26-03-2021 7:28pm

Frank Bullitt wrote: »

I'd take that as a starting grid!

We'd need to find a way to penalise Mercedes-Benz first

Frank Bullitt · 26-03-2021 8:08pm

Even if RB and Merc are level pegging, I don't think RB have started a season like this in the hybrid era yet.

We could very well have a closer battle...but will it be close enough?

MrSeanWick · 27-03-2021 12:42am

Frank Bullitt wrote: »

Even if RB and Merc are level pegging, I don't think RB have started a season like this in the hybrid era yet.

We could very well have a closer battle...but will it be close enough?

Hope it is close and RB look good but can't help.but think that Mercedes are not showing their full potential yet. Just hope Mercedes and Hamilton get a good challenge this season and pushed to the end. Battle for third will be very interesting

Dont be at yourself · 27-03-2021 8:51am

Not sure if I could take a Mercedes 1-2 today. My prediction:

Max
Bottas
Hamilton
Checo
Norris
Leclerc

muckwarrior · 27-03-2021 12:19pm

Was getting my hopes up then I read this on Formula1.com

"The data, though, makes for even better reading when you take all of a driver’s mini-sectors and combine them to make their ideal lap. In this metric, Hamilton left a staggering 0.648s on the table, which would have been enough to put him top of the pile, even if everyone else completed their ideal lap, too."

AMKC · 27-03-2021 12:49pm

muckwarrior wrote: »

Was getting my hopes up then I read this on Formula1.com

"The data, though, makes for even better reading when you take all of a driver’s mini-sectors and combine them to make their ideal lap. In this metric, Hamilton left a staggering 0.648s on the table, which would have been enough to put him top of the pile, even if everyone else completed their ideal lap, too."

Well we may just hope then that his car is twitchy and he does not get his ideal lap.
I just hope it's as mixed up as the the FPs so far have been. I think we will have a much clearer idea after FP3.

Harika · 27-03-2021 2:05pm

This will get a interesting qualifying as no one seems to have played all cards yet.

Joeface · 27-03-2021 2:12pm

I am not sure I learned anything really from that , Redbull still looks good , Alpha Tauri looks good too.

Ferrari Ran mediums most of the time , I was kinda worried about Aston but then noticed Vettel was double lapping at the end so more fuel.

I do think the Q1 and Q2 times for getting knocked out are going to be tight .

SureYWouldntYa · 27-03-2021 2:44pm

It obviously wont happen, but it we did go from easy Hamilton wins to easy Verstappen wins, it would be a novelty for a bit but would also get boring fast

Faugheen · 27-03-2021 3:12pm

I hope there's nothing more than a ball hair between Hamilton and Verstappen.

Drive To Survive has introduced suedes of new/returning fans to the sport. Give them something to keep around.

27-03-2021 3:33pm

I love Brundle but I hate when he says the Merc is bad in traffic. It's not, Bottas is bad in traffic. Hamilton has had no issue and Russell jumped into an unfamiliar car and was able to make it work in traffic just fine.

Acosta · 27-03-2021 3:43pm

Why do all the drivers and team staff continue to wear masks that don't cover your nose properly and always slip down when doing interviews?

SureYWouldntYa · 27-03-2021 3:45pm

Acosta wrote: »

Why do all the drivers and team staff continue to wear masks that don't cover your nose properly and always slip down when doing interviews?

I usually see that with the branded ones and you have to blame the cheap manufacturing, but the Sky guys with the plain black ones have no real excuse it's not that hard to get a proper one

Hijpo · 27-03-2021 3:56pm

One big part of the game that doesnt come into play in qualifying is race strategies. Another area that Merc seem to have been dominant in previous seasons. In saying that, that could have been influenced by performance advantage they had over the field as well, then there is the bad luck of other teams.

flazio · 27-03-2021 3:59pm

Acosta wrote: »

Why do all the drivers and team staff continue to wear masks that don't cover your nose properly and always slip down when doing interviews?

Alonso seems to have a good dual layer one. Top layer stays over the nose while the bottom layer moves with the chin.

Tzardine · 27-03-2021 4:00pm

Well lads here we go. Nice to be back.

Lando is the one to watch today. I can see him finishing ahead of Bottas.

F1 2021 :Round 1 Bahrain

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