Anyway, Renault is allowed to make adjustments... and if I recall correctly, they actually did 🤷, while Mercedes was supposed to "reign in" that "more advanced" engine.... I mean, the entire Paddock is buzzing about how Mercedes currently has the top engine.. I just don't get it, it's like everyone is clueless and doesn't understand a thing🤷 Even Ferrari ran into overheating issues during the race, leading them to tell Mass to dial back the intensity, and all this is happening alongside the engine changes... It feels like every single year you're rehashing this idea that Renault will beef up their engine to keep pace with Mercedes, but isn't that just a roundabout way of admitting which engine is actually superior?😉
Adrian Newey, with his design work (and some help from Kimijev), has probably burned through more engines than he, Vettel, and Webber will go through combined over their whole careers🤣🤣
By the way....what was up with all that smoke coming off Webber's car? Did they install a smoke machine so the driver behind wouldn't see where he was going?😬
So why is it that James Allen, more than half of The Paddock, the Red Bull crew, the drivers, and everyone else... they all keep insisting that Mercedes actually has the superior engine...🤷 , I’m not saying Renault isn't up there, but from what I can gather (even with Adrian Newey pulling the strings), Renault seems to stumble every once in a while...😉
Morgan Murphy7 said:Let's be honest, Sebastian Vettel doesn't have the hands for this and he's just killing engines. He's basically a new Kimi Räikkönen, if you assume he won't eventually end up stuck in a rally car roof one day. 🙏
Goddammit Newey, if he ever actually designs for Renault 😬 😉 😲 Wait, what am I even talking about? It's not like I'm some kind of Vettel fan...😁
Just more tabloid trash...☕ As soon as this guy opens his mouth, every other reporter out there jumps in to finish his sentences. Look, it’s obviously huge for a driver to have the right teammate by his side, but for him to be making those calls for the entire organization now? That feels a little off to me....
A veto? Honestly, Kimi should’ve been behind the wheel instead of Button if the managers hadn't gone overboard with their demands... Now, deciding whether Kimi Räikkönen or Robert Kubica was the better driver is really just a matter of personal taste. 🤣
Michael Lee4 said:That middle sector absolutely wrecked them all weekend; if it hadn't been for those bumps, I honestly think the race would have ended on a much different note...
Yeah... according to what Whitmarsh said in his interview: He reckons that the team thought that the bumps in S2 were going to be ground down after Friday, and that their set-up factored that in. And that they didn't give themselves enough downforce in S2....they just completely missed the mark on the setup🤷
Bradley Nelson2 said:If they hadn't gone and pulled those team orders out of their asses, I honestly think he would have overtaken Nico Rosberg without breaking a sweat. ☕
If he’d actually had more downforce through that middle sector, Jenson Button probably would have overtaken Mike—or at least, that’s what people are saying.😬 ) ...😉 If it wasn't for... if it wasn't for...🤔
Looks like the folks over at the FIA are messing with the rulebook again, just for the fun of it http://en.espnf1.com/bahrain/motorsp...ory/11176.html ☕
mistybear87 said:they actually changed that rule because the slower drivers were getting put in danger, and honestly, if you look at how Formula 1 operates, it would have just turned into pure chaos lol
mistybear87... uh... I was just kidding 😉
Though I guess I have to admit, seeing something like that unfold would be pretty interesting....😁
Michael Lee4 said:Give me a break... they should just force them to change tires with a single pneumatic gun and see who actually survives that chaos. 😁
I mean, if the drivers had to swap their own rubber while sprinting toward the cars at the start of the race, we’d be watching a total disaster instead of a sport.😉
briskhound76 said:Yeah, but we really need to wait for the race to see who actually has the pace and who was just playing hero during qualifying to grab a headline.😉
Look, as things stand right now, we’re sitting in third, but honestly, we're bleeding way too much time on the straights. Plus, the car starts acting incredibly twitchy and unpredictable the second the track surface gets even a little bit slick.😁 We'll see what happens tomorrow... Given how much Red Bull's been chewing through tires and how heavy Ferrari's fuel loads look, we might actually snatch a podium if luck is on our side. 👍
briskhound76 said:Come on guys, keep your heads up!!!
We aren't about to start questioning our crew just because of one qualifying session.😠
Give them a few races to prove they've been putting in the work and are actually heading in the right direction; I have zero doubt that McLaren will be fighting at the very top by the end of the season.😉
Hope so ...👍
But we're bleeding way too much time on the straights compared to how fast we are elsewhere... 🙂,we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow.
stormybadger8 said:I honestly doubt either of them could even touch Lewis Hamilton if they were given a head start.😉 The straights are massive here, and honestly, McLaren Racing is looking way too fast on those long stretches. I wouldn't be shocked if we see some absolute carnage at Turn 1, especially since Mark Webber always seems to be driving like he’s got nothing left to lose. 😬
I just want to see the cars actually become competitive for once, so we can finally witness a legitimate showdown between guys like Alonso, Hamilton, and Vettel. Honestly, if it turns out to be more of the same design nonsense that keeps certain teams stuck in the mud, I might just stop watching altogether.🙂
stormybadger8 said:Look, last year Force India and Scuderia Toro Rosso were consistently topping those measurements and it didn't mean a damn thing in the end. As I see it, McLaren completely botched their design this time around; they’ve got great straight-line speed, but they're absolute garbage in the corners. If they don't make some massive changes like they did last season, they're in real trouble. Even Robert Kubica made a mistake in Qualifying 3😉 so there's a real chance Renault ends up faster than them.
Michael Schumacher is clearly either totally out of his old prime or the Scuderia Ferrari was just that much of a dominant beast😬 ,but even if you try to take him down, he's still performing poorly, and honestly, seeing Rosberg beating him in qualifying just feels wrong to me.🤷 It doesn't sit right with me; if you put Rosberg against, say, Alonso, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, or Sebastian Vettel all within the same team, he's got slim to no chance.🤷
If Michael can just get himself back in shape, Hamilton and Jenson Button will be leaving him in the dust.
I get what you're saying, but I don't know what's going on with the car, though at least Lewis Hamilton finished in 4th Place during qualifying😉. Last year's car was basically rebuilt from a pile of junk until it was actually capable of winning races, whereas this year's version is just a bunch of quick fixes applied to the old design along with a ton of minor tweaks, so it seems unlikely they'll pull off a turnaround again...😢 Why does it feel wrong to you that Rosberg is beating Michael in qualifying during the first race after the break?🤷
stormybadger8 said:it looks like Red Bull and Ferrari are the top tier right now, while Mercedes and McLaren are lagging behind with Robert Kubica just barely keeping pace👍
honestly, the only thing that feels off to me is Mark Webber's lap time—though I guess tire compounds play a part. if he was just stuck in traffic or messed up a turn, then we might actually be looking at a better season for Red Bull than what Brawn GP had last year😁
Sebastian Vettel was on softs, just like Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher being 1.5 seconds off means even among the bottom four teams, Jenson Button in the McLaren is clearly struggling🤷
the only guy who stood out to me on the hard tires was Adrian Sutil👍
EDIT:
yeah, Alonso is just slower than Massa, just like Michael Schumacher is slower than Nico Rosberg, and Mark Webber is slower than Sebastian Vettel; you can't blame the tires for that
I wouldn't go as far as saying McLaren is slower than Mercedes—which sounds crazy after they spent years trying to pull away from them—but listen to what the drivers are saying. first, Lewis Hamilton mentioned losing a full second in the middle sector and said he was actually thrilled with Fourth Place, then Jenson Button mentioned the car felt strange🤷 , and when you look at the gaps, there's only a second between P1 and P4😲 and just half a second between P2 and Third Place
😲 What a strange era we're living in... both McLaren and Mercedes are acting completely out of character lately... 🤷, I fully expected Ferrari to be fast and figured Red Bull was cooking up something special, but this whole situation just feels off.