MJSpeed

Another good drive from Jarno Trulli (he's one heck of drover)...Toyota showing that they're equal if not better than Renault right now...in my opinion they're the 4th best team behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW.

Hamilton without Launch or Traction Control nearly threw it all away before it even started...then he was successful at throwing it away when he decided to re-arrange the Renault's Aero Package...Hamilton is a bit like Massa, quite capable of winning if they start up front and run alone, BUT incapable of anything really if they need to come from behind...

Massa as always was fast in Bahrain and after being the fastest all weekend (Kubica's Pole was a result of fuel strategy more than outright speed) he deserved and got the win (he needed that).

Kimi looked like a champ, unlike in Australia...he got the best/safest results possible...showing maturity that his eye is on the championship not race wins...Lewis may want to take notes on this.

I was a little disappointed in Kubica and in the fact the he couldn't keep the lead even though he was clearly on lighter fuel...

All in all it was good race...

MTosi

Are you guys being sarcastic? Isn't him telling them to hold position team orders? I though that was a perfect example of team orders (smart teamorders), they realized kimi would get a nice point cushion out of the race and they could keep massa happy and get him a win so that he didn't crash out in a stuggle to keep up with kimi. Kimi was only 3.2 seconds behind with 3 laps more fuel than massa, even if he wasn't able to pass massa he would have made it close. They don't need to orchastrate a race for kimi he wins on his own, they have to orchastrate a race for massa since hes the one who needs the help and no pressure to win. It would be funny if kimi lost the championship by two points though.

mitch236

No. Team orders would be to re-arrange the order to suit the primary driver. Telling your two drivers to keep the peace with each other to assure they both finish is not team orders.

MTosi

Don't get me wrong I could realy care less if it is or is not the case, but if kimi backed off on his own just to make sure he finished or if he didn't want to push massa thats obv. not team orders, but if they come on the radio and say hold position or have him come in prematurly so they hold position I would consider that team orders. This obv wasn't the case but say kimi was intent on winning the race, but dominicalli and the team wanted massa to win to shut up the press and keep him happy, and they tell him to hold position and he doesn't listen and keeps pushing so they pull him in early to make sure he doesn't isn't that team orders? What I consider letting the drivers race is what happened in malaysia and with someone like massa on the team that obviously doesn't work every well.

A.Wayne

Why is this a big deal , they ( ferrari ) did it for Schumacher for years, Business as usual....
As to Kimi's fuel load, conjecture on all fronts..........


fastest race laps :

Pos No Driver Team Lap Time Of Day Avg Speed Time
1 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 49 15:52:37 209.062 1:33.193
2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 48 15:50:44 208.231 1:33.565
3 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 38 15:34:12 208.153 1:33.600
4 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 35 15:29:34 207.911 1:33.709
5 4 Robert Kubica BMW 55 16:01:39 207.765 1:33.775
6 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 16:05:37 207.109 1:34.072
7 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 45 15:46:23 206.819 1:34.204
8 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 51 15:55:56 206.597 1:34.305
9 12 Timo Glock Toyota 56 16:04:16 205.503 1:34.807
10 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 40 15:38:29 205.399 1:34.855


As you can see they ( Mclaren ) had the car , but Alas no Drivers .............

http://www.formula1.com/results/seas...p_summary.html

Front Runners pit strategy : LAP . TIME OF DAY . TIME . TOTAL PIT TIME

1 4 Robert Kubica BMW . 17 . 15:00:47 . 30.683 .30.683
1 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota .17 .15:01:06 .30.851 ..30.851
1 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault .17 .15:01:28 .29.583 .........29.583
1 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari . 20 .15:05:29 .31.237 .31.237
1 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota . 20 . 15:05:48 .30.508 .30.508
1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari . 21 . 15:06:59 .30.536 .30.536
1 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW .21 . 15:07:14 .30.299 .30.299
1 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes .21 . 15:07:18 .31.307 .31.307
1 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault .22 . 15:09:06 .30.197 . 30.197

2 nd stop front runners

2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari .38 .15:34:18 . 29.958 . 1:01.195
2 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari . 38 . 15:35:44 . 29.914 .1:01.370
2 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari . 39 . 15:35:47 . 30.349 . 1:00.885
2 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota . 40 . 15:38:15 . 29.297 .1:00.148
2 4 Robert Kubica BMW . 41 . 15:39:13 . 28.763 .59.446
2 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault . 42 . 15:41:17 . 28.810 .59.007
2 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota .43 . 15:42:48 .. 28.243 . 58.751
2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW . 45 .15:45:37 .27.678 . 57.977
2 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes . 47 . 15:49:03 . 28.531 . 59.838

Mclaren had the pace to deliver a victory or podiums , they did not have the drivers .....

Flying Finn

I agree, no big deal but this is not the same as with Schumi. If it was the same as with Schumi, they would've ordered Massa to slow down and let Kimi pass.

A.Wayne

True !

Veloce Raptor

Wayne's World is so clueless, he thinks the driver of the fastest lap should always be the race winner.

MM-Racing

true but is to early for team orders. Do not butt in, lets allow them fight.

A.Wayne

NO Veee Arghh , the driver of the fastest lap shows the true race pace of the car. You can trace the lack of victory to the driver's inefficiencies not the car...the Mclaren had the pace to run up front and if Hamilton did not bonehead the start the results would have been a little different .....

Now ask yourself , would schumacher have won that race starting from 3rd on the grid as Hamilton ...
thought so ...........

MM-Racing

yes a bit... but on the other hand the ferraries are faster till now and additionally he did not have information about oil on the track. He said that he had impression that the tire was broken and rapidly slowed down than Kimi passed him. Morove, on the start both Robert and Nick had problems with start due to wheelspin of rear axel. Both lost their positions.
In 2007 we were few times witnesses of trying to pass Robert by Massa without result. The different between cars were much bigger than today.

A.Wayne

f1.com
McLaren have confirmed that Lewis Hamilton’s front wing broke immediately prior to his running into the rear of Fernando Alonso’s Renault on lap two of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The unusual nature of the accident - both drivers were accelerating on a straight section of track - prompted cynics to question whether Alonso had ‘brake tested’ his former team mate. Renault’s telemetry suggested otherwise, and McLaren say they have no suspicion of any wrongdoing on the part of the Spaniard.

“When I went into the engineers’ room and started looking at the details that I realised Lewis’s upper front wing had disappeared about two seconds before the accident, so he suddenly lost downforce,” explained McLaren’s Formula One CEO, Martin Whitmarsh.

“We haven’t analysed why that happened but we suspect the structure had been weakened by previous contact. To be fair to Lewis it could have broken of its own accord, but that has never happened before so contact is the most likely cause. There’s certainly no evidence that Fernando did anything wrong.”

Such a failure would have robbed Hamilton’s car of not only downforce, but also drag, giving it an unexpected burst of acceleration, explaining the unlikely impact

chris walrod

If Hammy experienced a sudden aero balance shift [from losing a piece of his front wing] he would have understeered and been forced to lift to point the nose. I think Hammy's chrome car just out accelerated the dump truck. Simple.

A.Wayne

Agree on all accounts

multi21

I called it on Massa over Kimi more than a week ago, but I did not see BMW have such a huge advance in speed over McLaren. Glad to see BMW and hope they leap frog over McLaren.

After watching this race, it's perfectly clear that Lewis Hamilton is overrated. The names Massa and Ralf Schumacher come to mind. If he ain't out front, he aint' winning. Lewis Hamilton has no finesse. He tries to make up ALL the positions in 1 lap.

Did you see when he came out of the pits after the nose change? Hamilton was on the soft tires and was sliding the car all over the place? What is he doing? He's loaded up on full, on soft tires. Manage your tires for the full stint of the run. He probably burned them off in 7 laps. Not too smart.

Fastest lap of the race doesn't mean anything. The Ferrari's were on cruise control after their 2nd stop and learned to take the 1-2 finish when you have it in hand.

Trulli comes in 6th!! Not too shabby.