ALONSO WINS IN A RIGHT MESS

Hmm, what can I say? The Spanish GP came and went. It was that fast. I sat through the 2 hour race and felt like it was only 15 minutes. In fact, for the last 16 laps, I was checking my Facebook while the race was winding down. In a word it was "Boring". Barcelona has been a snoozefest for many years, producing processional racing due to the difficulty of overtaking there and also due to the fact that teams test there and know the track inside out. So it's difficult to get an upper hand unless you've got something special in the bag.

Sunday's race was no different. It was boring as usual, although there was some highlights here and there. This was undoubtedly due to the tires being overly sensitive. There were 77 pitstops in this race alone, the highest ever. Pirelli themselves were stumped. Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has admitted that things were over the top in Barcelona and revealed there could be changes afoot.

"We aimed for two to three, but it was too aggressive. I'm not here to defend four pit stops, we know it's too complicated, which we saw in Turkey in 2011. So from our point of view we didn't have a good day, it wasn't what we wanted, but there are many factors behind that.

We have to make sure we get back in line with what we've been asked to do, which is two to three (stops). We would look for Silverstone, but you have to bear in mind that we have a lot of teams against it and just one maybe for."

Jenson Button said the race was a "right mess":

"It is a right mess. The problem is that a lot of people watching will think there's a lot of overtaking so it's great, isn't it?. But when we're going round doing laps three seconds slower than a GP2 car did in qualifying, and only six seconds quicker than a GP3 car did in the race, there's something wrong. This is the pinnacle of motor sport.

We shouldn't be driving round as slow as we have to to look after the tyres. It's so complicated. It is very confusing. The whole time the engineer is on the radio saying: 'The temperatures are too high or too low, you've got to go quicker in this corner, you have to go slower in this corner, to look after this tyre.

When I see a car behind I let it past because I'm doing a different strategy and I don't want to damage my tyres. If I block I might destroy my tyres. It's the same thing we had in China, waving each other past so we don't destroy our rubber while hoping that the guy who's overtaking will."

He's right though. If F1 drivers cannot race 100% to the edge but instead have to tip toe around and manage their tires (and not actually race), what is the point? How can this be called a race? Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said as much:

"Everyone knows what happens here. This has nothing to do with racing anymore. This is a competition in tyre management. Real car racing looks different. Under the given circumstances, we can neither get the best out of our car nor our drivers. There is no more real qualifying and fighting for the pole, as everyone is just saving tyres for the race. If we would make the best of our car we would have to stop eight or ten times during a race, depending on the track."

But, Pirelli are in a quandary at the moment. They can't have races with 4 pitstops or more again. And we can't have drivers driving at 80% or 90% of their capability (and their car's capability) as well. So something has to change with the tires, obviously it has to be more durable to last longer so that pitstops gets reduced. But this would definitely favor Red Bull which we do not want to see any one team taking over the season. And Pirelli will then be accused of making tires for Red Bull and making the championship boring again. Paul Hembery of Pirelli:

“You can imagine, though, if we make a change, that it might be seen that we’re making tyres for Red Bull in particular. That’s been the comment made in the media that Red Bull are pushing to make a change and if we do something that helps them you can understand that Lotus and Ferrari won’t be happy. So it’s a very difficult situation we sometimes find ourselves in.”

Does that look like a mess or what?

So, what are we to do? We can only hope for the best. That Pirelli can come up with a compound that is stable so we can have a race with 2-3 stops and the teams manage to get around the tire management so the drivers are able to exploit their car to the maximum.

As you can see this review did not really review the race as there was nothing much to review. I didn't really pay attention to it, so it felt like a 15 minute race instead of a 2 hour race. The only thing I can comment on are:

1. Alonso's pace was phenomenal even if he only used 90% of it because again, the tires. He was in command from the time he took the lead from Rosberg and never looked back. He was also lucky as he had a slow puncture that did not rip up the tire, that gave him time to pit for new tires.

2. Mercedes' race pace really SUCKS! They were going backwards like sliding on ice. What is the point of supreme qualifying pace just to lose it all in the race where it counts? Now Alonso is saying Mercedes might win it in Monaco. He could be right, as the Mercs could take pole again and win the race but they'll have a mighty train behind them in doing so.

Hey Nico, I think I just saw where our pace is..

Still we fans slog on, we will continue to watch no matter what. I just pray that it will improve.

UPDATE!

It seems that Pirelli have decided to change the tires sooner rather than later. The change will come at the Canadian GP instead of Silverstone. Pirelli will make changes to the tire structures and will use some of the features from the 2011 and 2012 rubber. Teams and fans will be fearing that the changes will favor Red Bull. How will it change the racing from now onwards? James Allen and Mark Gillan have presented an excellent analysis HERE.

"Red Bull has very good aerodynamic package, as it has for many years now, but inferior mechanical package and thermal management of the tyres. These weaknesses assume less importance with the changes Pirelli is making, they are likely to increase the operating window of the tyres and increase the durability and that reduces the importance of the thermal management."

Not very good for the show now is it? We've had a 3 year Red Bull parade, we don't need a fourth..seriously.

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SPANISH GRAND PRIX 2013

The European leg of the season is upon us and some say this is where the real order will be known and where the real racing for the championship will start (for some teams at least). Why is that? Well, the reason is because for the last 4 flyaway races, the teams have had to pack whatever they needed for those races and make do with what they have. It's too far away to design something, test it and put it on the car say between Melbourne and Sepang. So most teams learn as much as they can from those races in order to redesign the car for Barcelona. Hence sometimes the cars at Barcelona can be called chassis B.

Circuit de Catalunya aka Circuit de Barcelona is situated to the North of Barcelona in Montmeló, Noth-East Spain. It is most famous for annually hosting the Spanish F1 Grand Prix although is also home to Moto GP, and GT racing competitions as well as other racing events. At 730 metres, the run from the grid to the first corner at Barcelona is the longest of the season.

Barcelona is also a very familiar circuit to all the teams as it is one of the actual circuits used in races and for testing. However, this Spanish GP circuit is still a hugely challenging track, with its own idiosyncrasies which have been known to throw drivers in the past. It is also a very good indicator of a car's abilities, if a car goes well here it would probably go well for the rest of the season. The track has a bit of everything in terms of corner types and is a very good test of a car’s aerodynamic efficiency. So Barcelona is a very important race for us fans to gauge the form of the field.

The circuit also famous for its unpredictable winds. Their strength and direction is hugely changeable and given the emphasis on aerodynamics in modern Formula One racing, finding an optimal setup for the Formula One cars will prove difficult. The aerodynamic drag generated by these winds means that F1 drivers tend to understeer or oversteer as the conditions change, which makes for some unexpected performances.

Track characteristics

Circuit length : 4.65 kilometres

Race distance : 66 laps (307 kilometres)

Corners : 16 corners in total
Aerodynamic setup : High downforce

Top speed : 317km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 305km/h without
Full throttle : 60% of the lap

Total fuel needed for race distance : 154kg (quite high)

Fuel consumption : 2.34 kg per lap.
Time spent braking : 12% of the lap (quite low)

Braking zones : 8

Brake wear : Medium/low
Total time needed for pit stop : 19.8 seconds
Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried) : 0.40 seconds (high)

Lap Record : 1:21.670 Kimi Raikkonen (2008)

Weather Forecast

The forecast for Catalunya Circuit this week is predicting the average daytime maximum temperature will be around 21°C, with a high for the week of 25°C expected on Wednesday afternoon. The mean minimum temperature will be 11°C, dipping to its lowest on Monday morning at 9°C. Expect the coming week to have mostly dry days although Friday 10th and Saturday 11th are likely to see a significant amount of rain. Predictions are Friday will have the most precipitation with an accumulation of around 8.0mm. On the whole winds are likely to be moderate. Sunday is expected to be cold, a bit wet with some sunshine. Should be interesting.

Tires

Pirelli tyre choice for Spain: Hard and Medium. The difference between the medium and the hard should be around 0.5s to 0.8s per lap.

The track surface of The Catalunya Circuit tends to be quite rough and will take its toll on the F1 tires. Those Formula 1 drivers who have been struggling with tire wear over the course of the Formula one Grand Prix season may find this a challenging track.

Chance of a safety car

There have been 5 Safety Car periods in this race since 2003, and 4 of those were for first lap incidents.

 

DRS

This year the trend is to have 2 DRS zones per race except for Monaco and Suzuka. For Barcelona, DRS zone 1 is between Turn 9 and 10 with the detection zone between turn 8 and 9. DRS zone 2 is on the main straight between turn 16 and 1 with detection between turn 15 and 16.

It has been an interesting season so far with the new tires and shuffling of the drivers around. Barcelona will be a tough test and a good indicator of the pecking order. This is gonna be a cracker of a race.

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DOUGIE DOES THE BULL

Hmm, 3 weeks is a long time in F1, no? After waiting 4 months for action, we got 4 races then suddenly all quiet. Seems like 3 weeks is longer than 4 months. Only God knows how I made it through the winter. Anyway, we'll have the start of the European season next week in Barcelona. That should be fireworks as teams will be bringing big updates to their cars there. The order will be jumbled up again, not to mention the changes made by Pirelli to the hard tire. We'll see.

In the meantime, who the hell is Dougie? Well that would be Dougie Lampkin. He is the 12 times FIM Trial World Champion. And what the hell is the FIM Trial? Well, it's a motorcycle event. What?? Motorcycle? Blasphemy! Actually not. Since we're all motorsports fans generally and F1 fans specifically, we are allowed to talk about other motorsports besides F1. Any sport that uses a motor falls under motorsports, not just F1 or cars.

So what is the FIM trials? According to Wikipedia:

Motorcycle trials, also termed observed trials, is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participants around the globe. Trial motorcycles are distinctive in that they are extremely lightweight, lack seating (they are designed to be ridden standing up) and have suspension travel that is short, relative to a motocross or enduro motorcycle. Motorcycle trials is often utilized by competitors of other motorcycle sports (such as motocross or street racers) as a way to cross-train, as trials teaches great throttle, balance, and machine control.

According to this website:

Motorcycle Trials is all about riding a motorbike over and around obstacles. The idea came from manufacturers proving their bikes could go further and over rougher terrain than others. The original name was Reliability Trials, then came Observed Trials, and then just plain Trials. Today the emphasis has moved onto the rider as it assesses his/her ability to keep their feet up through the demanding and technical sections that make up modern trials.

The victor in a Trial is the rider who has completed the course, usually consisting of laps of up to 12 individual sections, on the least marks incurred throughout the day. On each section there is usually a judge, know as an observer, who watches each rider through their section (some Club Trials use self-scoring or a buddy system, if observers are not available). The parameters of the section are determined by flags, tapes and markers, and riders must steer their bikes through pairs of flags or between tapes, and over all obstacles, which may be in that path. Usually red flags/markers/tapes mark the right hand side of the section, and blue for the left hand side. The ultimate aim is to get through the section without stopping or putting any feet down. If the rider does dab (put his/her feet down) then a 1 point penalty is incurred, and up to a maximum of 3 marks can be incurred in one section through dabbing. Continuous dabbing is called footing and the maximum of 3 marks still applies, except that a maximum of 5 marks is awarded if the rider fails to get through the section. If a rider manages to get through the section without the loss of any marks then a clean is awarded (0 penalty points are incurred by the rider).

It's that sport where you see riders on these mountain type bikes go over rocks and 90 degree surfaces. It is incredible to watch as sometimes you see them going over seemingly impossible obstacles. So Dougie here is a 12 time champion. And he recently visited the Red Bull factory..on his bike. The video is here.

For more information about Dougie, visit his page here. And here's an interview with Dougie.

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Renault Explains F1 Engine Throttles

This article was is re-produced from F1Technical.net in its entirety. It is an excerpt from Renault F1 Q&A. Enjoy.

A throttle has come to be associated with any part that controls the power of an engine – such as the accelerator pedal – but in actual fact it is a hydraulically operated mechanism used to increase or decrease inlet gases to the engine. In a V8 there are eight throttles on the top of the engine unit that control the amount of air that enters each of the engine cylinders from the airbox. When the throttles are open, air enters the engine unit. Fuel will be injected just before the inlet valve and hence the combustion chamber, and the spark plug will ignite the fuel and oxygen content in the air. The throttle therefore dictates the amount of fuel burned on each cycle to produce efficient power. When the throttle is closed, no air enters the engine and the combustion process is temporarily suspended. All the throttle valves are controlled via the accelerator pedal but the demand for power is sent via a signal to the ECU that then directly controls the exact position of the throttle valve through a number of maps.

A throttle can go from completely closed to completely open in 10 to 15 milliseconds, the duration of light for a photo flash strobe. On a track such as Sepang, where wide open throttle time is equated to 60% of the lap, this translates to around 110 movements in the throttle, moving from completely open to closed and any position in between. With a lap time of around 1:36, the throttles will, on average, change position every 0.87secs, quicker than a human can blink.

What type of throttles are allowed in F1?

"The technical rules governing throttles govern more the use of the engine torque and ignition maps, where the torque produced has to correspond to the position of the torque demand – ie. At full accelerator pedal travel, the throttles must be fully open and corresponding levels of torque produced, while at off throttle, the torque produced must be zero, or less than zero which translates into the throttle opening between 0 and 30%. The regulations concerning the physical throttles are actually much freer and a range of systems can be used. Generally, however, there are three types of throttle that have been used in F1 since the 1990s. The first is a guillotine valve, where the air inlet is sliced in two by a valve that extends and retracts like the mechanism of the same name. There is then the butterfly throttle, where the valve is hinged – at full throttle, the valve is vertical but when closed the valve swings into a horizontal position like a butterfly wing opening and closing. Then there are also the barrel valves where rounded barrels roll into the cylinder to stop the flow of air. Any one of these systems can be used, but generally engine manufacturers now go for the butterflies or the barrels in F1."

What sort of throttle system does the RS27 run?

"The RS27 runs with the butterfly system. In the early days of the V10 and V8 throttle design, Renault Sport F1 experimented with the barrel system but elected to go with the butterflies. While the barrel system allows the engine to produce more power by allowing a greater flow of air to the engine at wide open throttle, the butterflies are more sensitive and allow a better air-fuel mixture preparation, therefore favouring driveability. The difference between the two systems is in the region of four to five horsepower and Renault believed greater gains could be found with the butterflies by delivering more stability and therefore tyre slip control and grip in the slower corners when the throttles are only partially open."

How has throttle operation changed, or been refined, since the introduction of the V8 in 2006?

"The butterfly valve itself has been thinned. In the early 2000s, the valve was approximately three times thicker than it is today. With a change in materials used – from steel to titanium or aluminium to a composite plastic – the valve is now much thinner, which means only four horsepower is lost to the barrel system rather than 10 horsepower as was the case. The throttle linkage has also been simplified. In the first years of the V8 the throttles were linked by complicated separate mechanisms, which made the system heavy and difficult to maintain but very accurate. Now all the throttles are linked between cylinders by one single mechanism, which makes the whole system lighter and more integrated. The accuracy we’ve lost has been recovered through the possibility of running the engine with less than eight cylinders and hence the need for lower accuracy at low throttle opening."

Without the engine freeze, what would we be seeing now with regards to throttle design?

"Actually, without any regulations you probably would not have throttles any more. In 2011 when teams were using maps to power off throttle blown floors, throttles were left (more or less) open the entire lap to maintain exhaust flow, and torque and ignition maps alone were used to control the torque produced. If the rules had not been clarified, then the air intake would have been left fully opened and torque would have been controlled completely by ignition. This would have made very efficient cars."

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THAILAND F1?

I have written before about Thailand being interested to host an F1 race here. It was to be a street race in the heart of Bangkok. I didn't give it much thought at the time as the announcement was made suddenly and the Thai authorities did sound too confident about it. As we all know, things change very quickly in F1 and deals can be made upside down. So, it was not really a groundbreaking news at the time.

Now after being so quiet for so long they've burst on the scene again and this time they even have an approved track layout and they're saying it will be a night race. This looks like a stronger case for the race but as we know in F1, anything is possible. Plus we also know that at the moment the calendar is quite full with so many other countries lining to pay Bernie his money. So, I'm not quite sure who will get the chop to make way for Thailand.

Although I have a bad feeling it will be Malaysia. Singapore has only been on the scene for a few short years but they've already outclassed Malaysia (who have been doing it for 15 years). Singapore has even been likened to the Monaco of the east. And the race in Malaysia has no festive air to it, plus the track at Sepang is a dump to say the least. Imagine having to wade in ankle deep water inside the toilet. And I'm a Malaysian. That really sucks.

Can we compete with Thailand? Really? Bernie has made his feelings known about the Sepang circuit many times and I do not see the Sepang management doing anything much about it. They had the government's media talk up Sepang after this year's race which celebrated our 15th anniversary.

MALAYSIA staged its 15th edition of the Formula One (F1) race last weekend. Under the current contract, which became effective in, it will hold its 17th and last race in 2015.

Is the government game for F1 to continue beyond 2015? Should the public chide it if the government were to seek and get a contract extension to hold the world’s hottest race? It’s good to hear from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the government is seriously considering the possibility of extending the contract to host the race.

The government wants to "consider" extending the contract? The Malaysian government does not have any power to extend the contract. That is 100% up to Bernie. The statement should be whether Bernie wants to extend the contract. With shoddy track facilities and lack of festivities surrounding the race (not to mention promotions), what do you think will happen in 2015? I wouldn't hold my breath.

I didn't say anything..

Anyway, back to Thailand. Officials in Thailand have approved the route of a circuit on which it proposes to host a Formula One race in 2015. The 3.725 miles (5.995 km) track which runs through the streets of Bangkok was approved on Thursday by Kanokphand Chulakasem, the governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand.

The "approved" layout..

The proposed circuit passes a number of civic monuments including the Grand Palace, Temple of Dawn and Victory Monument, while the pits and paddock complex would be built alongside the Chao Phraya River. Temporary stands would be erected, capable of holding a crowd of 150,000 people. Kanokphand Chulakasem said:

"We may be about to build the main stands in the river. It would also be convenient for transportation of equipment."

With the circuit layout finalised, the proposal, which includes the race being hosted at night, will be submitted for cabinet approval, a process that can take up to three months. Interesting times we live in, eh?

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RENAULT TWIZY F1

How do you get attention nowadays in a world full of Tweets, status updates, news flashes every tenth of a second? Well, you do something bonkers. Like the Renault Twizy F1 Concept. Renault has applied F1 KERS technology to its electric city car, the Twizy, to come up with a really bonkers one-off concept.

The Twizy Renault Sport F1, to give it its full name, has an F1 KERS unit in place of the usual rear seat and is capable of 0-60mph in 6.0s. The Twizy is also fitted with an F1-style steering wheel, front and rear wings, sidepods and slick tyres from a Formula Renault 2.0 car. Slightly less impressive is its top speed of 68mph.

When KERS is activated it offers an extra 80bhp for 14 seconds on top of the 17bhp from the Twizy's standard electric motor. Just like in an F1 car, the driver has a KERS button on the steering wheel and can choose between harvesting and deploying power. The KERS unit adds an extra 30kg in weight but it more than makes up for it with the extra power. Jean-Michel Jalinier president of Renault Sport F1 said:

"We always said we wanted to create F1-derived technology that was road relevant!. Hopefully, this car will make a few people smile while also making a serious point.

KERS is a very complex system and integrating it into another electric car was a very serious endeavour, but they managed to make it work, delivering a huge boost of power safely and efficiently. I'm not sure we'll be seeing many of these cars on our roads, but it does show that the same principles we see on the race track can be filtered down to the road car range - this is just the evil elder brother!"

The Twizy Renault Sport F1 will make its first public appearance at the World Series by Renault meeting at Aragon this weekend and will also be on display at the Barcelona Motor Show.

Winner and Losers: Bahrain GP

This article is written by Andrew Davies and published on PlanetF1.com. It is re-produced here in its entirety. For the original article, click here.

Vettel was in a class (and race) of his own, but it was Sergio Perez who showed that he can follow a team order to the letter...

Star of the Race

Sergio Perez, McLaren, 6th

Martin Whitmarsh gave Sergo Perez the strict instruction that he had to be more aggressive and having been held up by Jenson Button as early as Lap 8 he took his boss at his word and "used his elbows". McLaren are racers and believe they have the moral high ground over Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull who they see as mere 'strategistas' - racing to percentages. It certainly makes races more exciting. Of course the freedom to race your team-mate includes the maxim don't hit them, but in the past Button and Hamilton have hit each other - in Turkey and Canada to name but two instances.

Perez's problem was that whereas he let Button past cleanly on Lap 27, when Perez tried to take Button back, Jenson felt he had the right to keep the place. The trouble between the two was caused by Jenson holding up what was a faster car. Not only that, it looked very much like he decided to lift at the apex of Turn 4 and let Perez hit him during the 'Laps of Frenzy'. When he had the coming together with Hamilton in Canada there are those that think Button knew exactly what he was doing and where Hamilton was when he moved across on him.

Perez wasn't intimidated by Grosjean and kept his line at Turn 1 when the Lotus driver tried to get past, and administered the wide sweep on Alonso when he overtook Fernando on the inside going into Turn 4. Button had done it on him, so if Checo was going to be censured then that censure would have to be widely spread.

As it was, Button's needless holding up of Perez cost him 5th place. He was closing right up on Hamilton at the finish.

Sergio may have been a bit lively but during the race there were at least two other drivers - Rosberg and Webber - making what looked like double moves and moving under braking (another Button complaint) so it will be unfair if Perez gets singled out in the post-race soundbites. Raikkonen apparently already had a moan in the driver's briefing about Perez after Kimi's half-arsed attempt to pass him in China didn't come off. It only adds further fuel to the argument that Kimi is far from the iceman and is in fact Finland's answer to Victor Meldrew.

Perez took P6 from P12 on the grid under a lot of pressure. All Martin Whitmarsh needs to do is qualify his 'elbows' remark.

Overtaking Move of the Race

Lap 1: Sebastian Vettel on Fernando Alonso for P2

Having been well and truly out-manouevred at Turn 1, Vettel lined up to take Alonso into Turn 4, but held back some KERS for the traction out of 4 into 5 on the inside. On a full tank of fuel it was the most precise of overtakes and a very important one.

Winners

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1st

Vettel made two key overtakes that gave him the lead inside of the first three laps; and from the moment that Fernando Alonso's DRS stuck open he was on a tyre-wear observation run to the finish. Could he have beaten a fully-functioning Alonso? It's very hard to say because he was easing up in stints and easing up in pit-stops with only the rarest flashes of all-out speed, such as to take Fastest Lap on Lap 55.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 2nd

Despite qualifying poorly Raikkonen bided his time and filtered through to an unspectacular P2. He looks well on course to beat Michael Schumacher's record for most consecutive points finishes. Not that it will bother him at all - asked after the race which was his best Bahrain podium finish (of six) he said: "I don't know. It doesn't really matter. Second is obviously better than third place but we haven't won and that's what we try to do. Today we got good points, we didn't lose too many to Sebastian but obviously it doesn't help to finish second if he's winning all the time.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 3rd

Grosjean took a lot of care with his overtakes on his way to P3 - although he said the scariest of his moves was getting past Massa. Very soon he'll have all the same development parts as Raikkonen - and that could prove interesting.

Paul Di Resta, Force India, 4th

Di Resta was combative early on and was held up behind Alonso who could sprint away from him with the DRS open - but was clearly dropping him back in the twisty stuff, and keeping Paul behind (which must have been quite a feat from Fernando). Fourth equals Di Resta's best result but he's never been so close to the podium.

Paul looked uncomfortable at having to be happy in the post-race interviews. He had to admit that it was good points, and a great result etc, but you knew inside he was hurting not being able to be openly gloomy about his thwarted debut appearance in the Pirelli cap. Just as Kimi cannot embrace euphoria, Paul errs towards the negative. He managed to sneak into post-race interviews that Grosjean was only able to get P3 because he had more sets of tyres from failing to get into Q3, as though it had been the Frenchman's great masterplan.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 5th

The new, patient Lewis Hamilton has seen the light both from a spiritual POV and a race tactics viewpoint. Instead of going for it flat out, Lewis played the long game and it got him some points. True he had to have a go at the end, but he was keen to give Mark Webber room on the outside of Turn 4 when most drivers had been washing across the road. It's a fair result given that his gearbox failure (which set him back five places on the grid) came about not through a Mercedes fault, but an outside agency that burst his tyre, bent the suspension and then damaged the gearbox.

Pirelli

Paul Hemberry may have had some anxious moments with the Massa punctures, but the race provided great drama thanks to the different strategy afforded by the tyres.

LOSERS

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 8th

Now that's what you call a double DRS... Given that he caught up a lot of time without DRS or a Safety Car you have to feel that Alonso lost out on at least P2... plus the fun of some scrapping with Raikkonen. It's hard to know why Ferrari didn't tell him not to use the DRS again after it jammed open the first time. Maybe, like the front wing in Malaysia, they hoped for the best and it was a coin toss that didn't go their way. Just imagine if they told him not to use it, he got to the end of the race, and then it opened perfectly when he tried it out on the slowing down lap...

Adrian Sutil, Force India, 13thAdrian Sutil was the victim of first lap contact as Felipe Massa bumped into Sutil's front-right tyre (presumably against the left side of Massa's front wing, which flapped from then on) and that was his afternoon done. The slow return to the pits was an even bigger blow than Alonso's DRS failure. That's two first lap contacts in successive races.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 15th

The travails of Felipe Massa in Bahrain were part of the great fascination of F1. Before the race, pundits were predicting a Ferrari benefit with Alonso and Massa both poised for a podium finish - and then the race happened. Massa's tyre woes may have been karma from bashing into Sutil, or more likely other debris strewn round the circuit. Felipe's own opinion that the first puncture was delamination (like Lewis in FP3) and the second was debris - looked the correct assessment.

Jenson Button, McLaren, 10th

One race after he got the moniker Mr.Kindly Tyres, that title has to be taken away from him. Perez made his tyres last longer and as noted above, defending unnecessarily against his team-mate won't have prolonged Jenson's tyre life. Through the race he seemed forever destined to come out after a pit-stop behind Nico Rosberg.

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 7th

Mark has redefined defensive driving after his performance against Lewis Hamilton in the last seven laps of the race. Had that been Hamilton taking those extreme lines then there would have been a familiar chorus of disapproval. Webber was being so obstructive you thought he might have mistaken Lewis for Sebastian Vettel. To defend so forcibly and then hand over another place to Perez (and almost Alonso) on the last lap was bordering on the comic.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 9th

Before the race Rosberg was confident that he wouldn't hang on to his pole position and his confidence wasn't misplaced. It was hard to work out why he crashed into Webbo, when Mark was out of position, but the car was robust enough to take it. This was Groundhog Day at Sakhir, the same top three as last year and more controversy around Rosberg.

Andrew Davies

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VETTEL WINS IN THE DESERT

The Bahrain GP weekend was a real hotbed, not just the temperatures and F1 machinery going berserk in the middle of the desert but the surrounding region was a hotbed of protest. The unrest in Bahrain rages on despite claims by the government of on-going "talks" to heal the nation. But the show goes on even when Bernie says the Bahraini government was "stupid" to host the race. Although he also said:

"I feel they do a super job and we're more than happy to give them a new contract for five years. I don't see any problems."

Yeah, all he sees is cash as the Bahrain GP promoters cough up GBP26 million per race, so a 5 year contract would do just nice for Bernie. Who cares how many have died on the streets, right?

I need the money, ex-wife sucking me dry (not there)..

Qualifying set up a pretty interesting race although Rosberg putting his Mercedes on pole was more of a show as we know the Mercedes has been struggling on Friday and Saturday. With Alonso and Vettel so close, it was a foregone conclusion that they would overtake him pretty quickly to shape up the race. Which was what duly happened although Rosberg did put up a brave fight until lap 3.

The pace of the Mercedes were appalling  it was ridiculous to see them losing so much time, unable to fend off anybody for the first few laps. They dropped off for most of the race although Lewis did regain the pace later towards the end when the temperatures went down a bit and his car went from crap to "amazing". I'm unable to comment on the fight between him and Webber at the end because my live feed went down when it mattered. So I basically missed the finish.

"I was nowhere and had no speed at all. There was nothing I could do because no matter what I did to the car it wouldn't go any faster and the gap was growing in front. Then all of a sudden something happened after the second pit-stop and the car started to react differently and I was able to push because I had grip again.

It must have been something that happened to the car after qualifying when we changed gearbox and something wasn't set right and then went back to being set right because all of a sudden the car was amazing."

Ferrari went into this race as the favorites for the win as both Alonso and Massa have won here many times. Ferrari also have been traditionally strong in Bahrain. But luck was not on their side. Alonso suffered a DRS wing failure so couldn't use it for the whole race and Massa had 2 tire punctures plus a host of other problems. Alonso commented:

"We were very, unlucky," he said. "In four races we've had two very unlucky moments. But it will come for the others and in that moment we will take our opportunity. It was very difficult. I stopped two times in two laps so was at the back of the group, with no DRS to pass. The race became very, very difficult."

Lotus were also the favorites as they have good pace and tire management even in the heat of Bahrain. They also have good data from finishing on the podium last year. But their starting position was not so good and they had to fight through the field to reach the podium. Coincidentally  this year's podium was exactly the same order as last year. So basically Vettel had free reign to cruise his way to the podium.

The interesting battle of the race was a race long scrap between the McLaren pairing of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, who spent much of the race in a fight with Rosberg. As has been the case during this early part of the season McLaren had a much better race pace than what they have shown on a Saturday and were able to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes throughout the race.

Perez was on form and harassed Button like crazy to which Button complained to his race engineer, insisting that Perez was driving too aggressively and should be ‘calmed down’. Perez didn't really give a rats ass as his team boss Martin Whitmarsh has already told him after China to be more aggressive and use some "elbows". Afterwards Button criticized his team mate for being too aggressive and said, “That’s not the way I want to go racing.”

Keep your fucking elbow in the car at all times Checo!

"I was vocal on the radio and emotions were running high but I will say exactly what I said then: the racing out there and was great fun but Checo was too aggressive. At 300 kilometres an hour you don't expect your team-mate to come alongside and bang wheels with you. So that was a bit of a surprise and I'm probably not the only one feels like that."

I think Button needs to suck it up and toughen up too. What do you think Mr Whitmarsh? Personally I quite enjoyed Perez harassing Button as it was exciting racing. Of course nobody wants to see an accident between team mates especially when one of them is a noob and overdid himself but it did look good. Perez has the skills, he just needs to round off the edges now and smoothen it down.

Di Resta produced an excellent drive, particularly in his first stint to pass Rosberg and pile pressure on Alonso. It will be a shot in the arm for Force India who have had some difficulties in the first part of the season, however the second car of Adrian Sutil collided with Felipe Massa on the first lap and could not recover to score any points. But the Force India has become a force to be reckoned with this season. The force is strong with this one, eh?


BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX, 57 Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull 57 laps
2. Raikkonen Lotus + 9.1s
3. Grosjean Lotus + 19.5s
4. Di Resta Force India + 21.7s
5. Hamilton Mercedes + 35.2s
6. Perez McLaren + 35.9s
7. Webber Red Bull + 37.2s
8. Alonso Ferrari + 37.5s
9. Rosberg Mercedes + 41.1s
10. Button McLaren + 46.6s
11. Maldonado Williams + 1m06.4s
12. Hulkenberg Sauber + 1m12.9s
13. Sutil Force India + 1m16.7s
14. Bottas Williams + 1m21.5s
15. Massa Ferrari + 1m26.3s
16. Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 1 lap
17. Pic Caterham + 1 lap
18. Gutierrez Sauber + 1 lap
19. Bianchi Marussia + 1 lap
20. Chilton Marussia + 1 lap
21. van der Garde Caterham + 2 laps

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BAHRAIN GP 2013

The Bahrain Grand Prix is a Formula One Championship race in Bahrain sponsored by Gulf Air. The first race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the "Best Organised Grand Prix" by the FIA. The Bahrain Grand Prix has usually been the third race of the Formula One calendar. However, in the 2006 season, Bahrain swapped places with the traditional opener, the Australian Grand Prix, which was pushed back to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. In 2010, Bahrain staged the opening race of the 2010 season and the cars drove the full 6.299 km (3.914 miles) "Endurance Circuit" to celebrate F1's 'diamond jubilee'.

The 2011 Grand Prix, due to be held on 13 March, was canceled on 21 February due to the 2011 Bahraini protests after drivers including Damon Hill and Mark Webber had protested. Human rights activists called for a cancellation of 2012 race due to reports of alleged human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini authorities, team personnel also voiced concerns about safety. The race however was held as planned on 22 April 2012. This year is no better with protests on-going and martial law imposed, the situation is not in the best interest of the sport and puts it in a bad light.

TRACK INFORMATION

Location : Sakhir, Bahrain
Time zone : UTC+03:00

Construction cost : 56.2 million Dinars ($150 million)

Lap record : 1:30.252 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Circuit Length : 5.41 kilometres

Race distance : 57 laps (308.23 kilometres)

Corners : 15 corners in total, mostly medium speed, with three long straights
Aerodynamic setup : Medium downforce

Top speed : 322km/h (with Drag Reduction System on rear wing) – 310km/h without
Full throttle : 64% of the lap

Total fuel needed for race distance : 150.8 kilos
Time spent braking : 16% of the lap (7 braking zones)

Brake wear : High

Loss time for a Pit stop : 18.6 seconds
Total time needed for pit stop : 22.6 seconds
Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried) : 0.38 seconds (average/high)

Fuel consumption : 2.6 kg/lap
Max. corner g-force : 3.6 (Turn 6)
Tyre selection : Medium (White), Hard (Orange)

WEATHER FORECAST

Friday - Sunny, high 34°C (93.2°F) / low 22°C (71.6°F)
Saturday - Sunny, high 34°C (93.2°F) / low 22°C (71.6°F)
Sunday - Sunny, high 36°C (96.8°F) / low 21°C (69.8°F)

Latest update is that rain is expected during both Friday practice sessions with "heavy rain" in the morning and "light" showers in the afternoon. The rain, though, won't have an effect on the temperature with it ranging between 28C to 34C.

DRS ZONES

Two DRS zones will be in place at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix for the first time in its history, with governing body the FIA choosing to add to the pit-straight area. The first detection point has been placed at Turn 9, before the activation mark on the exit of Turn 10. The second detection line comes under braking for the penultimate corner, Turn 14, with the activation area situated shortly before the start-finish line.

As per the regulations, DRS can be used in the allocated zones during practice and qualifying, while in the race a driver must be within one second of a car ahead.

Again, we are looking at a strategy driven race as the Pirelli tires are still an unknown element at this track since Pirelli has altered the construction from last year. Pirelli has also changed the tire allocation from soft/hard to medium/hard as the softs were just being killed in Shanghai. Imagine the heat of Bahrain. The long-running on Friday afternoon, FP2, should be an indication of how long the tires are going to last, Pirelli's Paul Hembery is predicting three stops, although he is hedging his bets:

"We expect about three stops per car, although we'll have to wait to get some running in on Friday before we can look at the data and make a more accurate prediction. One of the main challenges of racing in Bahrain is that the track evolution is very hard to predict, depending on how much sand is blown onto the circuit. From what we saw last year though, there will be plenty of scope for different race strategies, which can even allow drivers who have not qualified as well as they hoped to recover during the grand prix."

So qualifying should be close and watch out for the strategies teams will employ then that will then impact the race strategy. We've seen how Vettel played qualifying in China, it will be interesting to see Red Bull in Bahrain.

KIMI QUOTE: "It's a little bit different from others we visit and it's quite nice to be out there in the sand! Wherever you look around the track you can just see sand in the distance and you notice it in the paddock too."

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TRACK DAY AT HOME – CIRCUITS YOU CAN GOOGLE STREET VIEW AROUND

This is an article written by my guest this week, Tom Jeffries author of BMX Racing with an interest in motorsports photography and Formula 1 on behalf of Puma hotels. It's about certain tracks which can be street viewed via Google. Interesting.

Have you ever wondered what the tarmac on the Curva Parabolica at Monza looks like? How about the apex at Stowe corner? Well wonder no more – we take you through the tracks you can look at on Google Street View.

Silverstone, Britain 

Where better to start than our home Grand Prix? The Street View bike (yes, bike!) follows the Nissan pace car (which makes an appearance in every photo round the track) around the circuit to give you a look at what it’s like to go round the current version of Silverstone. Due to there not being the usual 100,000+ fans packing the stands, it has a strangely empty look to it.

Here is a video as well, looks nice.

Monza, Italy 

Whilst we know we’ll (unfortunately) never drive a lap of the Monza circuit, we can imagine what it’s like thanks to GSV. The car does a sedate lap of the famously fast circuit, and gives us a great view of the always-interesting first chicane.

Montreal, Canada 

The Gilles Viellneuve Circuit in Canada is another addition to GSV’s racing CV. One thing it captures that you won’t see on race day is a speed limit sign after the second corner! We can only imagine what it’s like having to do only 30 around such an historicly fast circuit. You can also get about as close as you’d want to get to the wall of champions.

Suzuka, Japan 

The Japanese circuit has always been an interesting one, and is now one you can drive for yourself (albeit using your mouse instead of your car.) Highlights include going round 130r, the first corner which saw Alonso taken out last year and the iconic final chicane with the Ferris wheel in the background.

Sao Paulo, Brazil 

The Interlagos circuit is the final stop for the Formula 1 season, and the final stop for the Google Street View car. Doing a full lap of the circuit it takes in the entire track, however Kimi Raikkonen’s “detour” from the 2012 season is not included.

Unlike the Formula 1 season, the Google Street View season only has five races. Going by the amount of competition, it looks like the GSV car beat Vettel’s record and took every win possible (even if the Silverstone race was under pace car.) Whilst not the fastest, it does give a good insight into what it’s like to go round a track, and lets you have a look at the tracks in more detail. Have a go today! 

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