2008 Bahrain Grand Prix [April 6th]

[Metar]

Dunno about BMW. Kubica said, just two days ago, that he hopes it doesn't get windy. And then we get a windy forecast...

 

[mustang245]

Dunno about BMW. Kubica said, just two days ago, that he hopes it doesn't get windy. And then we get a windy forecast...

Right on, unless their stability issues are completely solved it could be more trouble for them. Can Kimi break his Bahraini 'jinx'? Wind=sandy track... GO 'Nando!
(Sorry all, I HAD to say it. I KNOW his chances...)

 

[Metar]

It's not stability, it's sensitivity to winds which messed up their balance.

And frankly, they shouldn't expect otherwise with the amount of winglets and flow-conditioners they have. I wouldn't be surprised if the F1.08 loses the highest downforce-percentage in dirty air compared to other cars.

 

[Sureboss]

Times from first practice at Bahrain International Circuit for Bahrain Grand Prix:

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari one minute, 32.233 seconds
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32.350
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:32.415
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:32.705
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:32.868
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:33.121
7. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:33.333
8. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:33.539
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 1:33.788
10. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:33.815
11. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:33.929
12. Mark Webber (Aua) Red Bull 1:33.950
13. Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 1:33.981
14. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34.106
15. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:34.235
16. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso 1:34.321
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:34.862
18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:34.915
19. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:35.174
20. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:35.429
21. Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri 1:36.145
22. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 1:36.536

Practice reactions:

Honda look slow, Williams look good and Ferrari look dominant. I can see a Ferrari 1-2, although Bahrain can be dusty and given Massa has no TC...

 

[Metar]

and given Massa has no TC...

I assume Massa would rather drive extra-slow and finish 8th than to be humiliated like that.

 

[LouTs337]

2nd practise

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.420 30
2 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.327 0.907 30
3 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.752 1.332 30
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.847 1.427 26
5 Robert Kubica BMW 1:32.915 1.495 29
6 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:33.022 1.602 34
7 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:33.048 1.628 27
8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:33.098 1.678 33
9 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:33.197 1.777 37
10 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:33.247 1.827 37
11 Jenson Button Honda 1:33.710 2.290 33
12 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:33.755 2.335 26
13 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:33.782 2.362 34
14 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:33.822 2.402 38
15 Timo Glock Toyota 1:33.856 2.436 30
16 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:33.966 2.546 35
17 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:34.023 2.603 36
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:34.388 2.968 35
19 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:34.405 2.985 34
20 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:34.787 3.367 30
21 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:35.288 3.868 24
22 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:35.712 4.292 24

Seen last 10 minutes live on internet, pretty exciting!:
- Massa did a quickie at the end with new tyres
- Hamilton went into the barriers
- Alonso crashed on Sutil or Sutil crashed on Alonso what ever you like most

 

[TS]

Hamilton's crash:

 

[Sriram95]

Ferrari will dominate the field!!!

 

[Blake]

Wow, that was quite a big one.

This on the other hand is considerably smaller:

 

[KSaiyu]

Well that was interesting.

 

[Rocket Punch]

Hamilton's crash:

He is so lucky. He could have broke his wrist holding the wheel like that when it crash...... This shows he do not have a lot of experience crashing..lol

So, no T car. He must get pole to get p10.

 

[Spec M]

To me it seems to be a pretty close run. I believe Massa will take it as long as theres no incidents. Not only is he fastest in each lap but also in each sector in 1rst practice. Hamiltons 1.427sec behind and has 4 less practice laps than Massa, Raikkonen, and Klovalainen. Im taking an educated guess that Massa will be in front while Hamilton and Raikonen play cat and mouse.

 

[Rocket Punch]

Speed is airing Practice 2 now.

 

[Blake]

He is so lucky. He could have broke his wrist holding the wheel like that when it crash...... This shows he do not have a lot of experience crashing..lol

I noticed that. It surprised me that he held on until the moment of impact. Not really the smartest thing to do.

So, no T car. He must get pole to get p10.

No… They’re allowed to rebuild cars, and they’re even allowed to have a spare monocoque, they’re just not allowed to have a spare rolling chassis. It’s also Friday so they would have changed the engine and gearbox overnight anyway.

 

[Metar]

Interesting two crashes.

Hamilton's looks tough at first, but when you look closely, it was mostly a flat impact - no major damage anywhere, and nothing they couldn't fix with some spares and an hour of work.

The Alonso-Sutil incident is interesting, though. It appears as if Sutil "closed the door" on Alonso mid-corner while Alonso's Renault was halfway alongside him, while Alonso battled his rear tyres... And a small touch sent both in a nice, ballet-like spin.

 

[Muzaffar]

Judging by the Alonso accident, I think either Sutil braked early and Alonso had to brake hard (and lock up his rear) and had to move to the side to avoid colliding with him or that he tried to overtake him. No harm done. As for Hamilton, wow. No kidding, he should have let go of the steering wheel before impact even though it doesn't look that hard. But yeah, another few hours before Q1 starts....

 

[prisonermonkeys]

He is so lucky. He could have broke his wrist holding the wheel like that when it crash...... This shows he do not have a lot of experience crashing..lol

And I think that is Hamilton's greatest weakness: he's always been in a competitive car, and therefore doesn't know what it's like to struggle as much as everyone else. Every other driver in the field who has won a race has, at some point, been in an uncompetitive car (even Kovalainen has had it) whereas Hamilton started his Formula One career with a silver spoon in his mouth, and it's really shown on the handful of occasions where he has been off the pace, like Brazil last year: he has a very rough time. His inexperience with a bad car or season or even just a race is what's going to hinder him more than anything.

 

[Metar]

Guys, the FIA responded: Time-minimum set for in-laps!

Any driver deemed to be driving unnecessarily slowly during their out- or in-laps during qualifying, or during the reconnaissance laps for which the pit lane is open prior to the race, or in a manner which might endanger other drivers, will be reported to the stewards, the FIA have announced.

As far as Bahrain is concerned, this means cars leaving the pits will be timed between the second safety car line (50 metres before Turn One) and the first safety car line (after Turn 15), and any car exceeding a time of 1m 39s between these points will be deemed to have been driven unnecessarily slowly.

The move is designed to prevent drivers on flying qualifying laps being impeded by drivers travelling more slowly. It follows the five-place grid penalties handed to both McLaren drivers at the last round in Malaysia, where Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were judged to have hampered the progress of rivals.

Sounds very harsh though, considering 1'34s are the best pace Aguri can muster. However, those laps aren't timed start-finish, but rather start a bit later and end earlier - so I'd say there's something like a 15 seconds gap between the Ferrari pace and the minimum time.


Also: Qualifying started. Alonso doing well, but Bourdais!

EDIT: Sato spun, red flag. Verrrry tight today...

 

[Alex.]

Why a Red flag?

I fancy vettel and DC to get out of the knockout zone with 4.49 remaining 👍

 

[Metar]

Red flag by Sato's spin near the pit-entry.

 

[Alex.]

Bloody hell, well done that button 👍

 

[Muzaffar]

Great, I can't watch F1 because the FA Cup is more important! The delayed telecast will be after the match, but 🤬! I'm gonna miss a lot and just typing here and I already am missing out on a lot of action....

Will visit this thread in 4 hours time....

 

[Metar]

Q1: Sato, Davidson, Sutil, Vettel, Fisico and Coulthard out!

 

[daan]

Blundell on Massa's possible penalty.

"It doesn't look like nuffin will happen"

Surely the main point of a commentator should be that he can actually talk?

EDIT: A Pole for pole?

 

[Only_in_f1]

Great, I can't watch F1 because the FA Cup is more important! The delayed telecast will be after the match, but 🤬! I'm gonna miss a lot and just typing here and I already am missing out on a lot of action....

Will visit this thread in 4 hours time....

Im swicthing between them. Unlucky if the game goes into extra time.

CUBE'S ON POLE!!

Wow, a great lap.

 

[Metar]

Holy damn! Kubica on pole! The Pole's on pole!

 

[Mr P]

Well done to Kubica I was sure nobody would beat Massa today but damn was Kubica hungry for that 1st Pole position 👍

 

[Bram Turismo]

Well, I guess I'll have to excuse me for what I've been saying earlier on Robert and BMW, a pole for them really impresses me 👍

 

[Robin]

Great drive by Kubica.... gosh the last minute of that qualifying was super tense!

 

[Sureboss]

Wow, brilliant driving by Kubica. A first win for BMW tomorrow? I'd love it, if it were so.