2015 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir

One solid result and you can immediately tell just how many people are out here rooting for Kimi.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:One decent finish and suddenly everyone’s acting like they’re the president of the Kimi fan club.

What exactly is that supposed to mean?

Samuel Ruiz4 said:One decent finish and suddenly everyone's a Kimi superfan again.

They never go away.
Honestly, aside from the Ferrari crowd, this is probably the most dedicated cult on the entire forum.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:One solid result and you realize just how many fans Kimi Räikkönen actually has.

Fans, my dear Watson.

darkmarlin16 said:That’s just because the other Mercedes had brake issues (you aren't talking about the start, right?). Besides, that Mercedes easily overtook him during the race.

The real question is how he even managed to close the gap. I mean, why didn't Mercedes build a car with a 10-20 second advantage?
Because that exact same Mercedes was passing Ferraris on the straights with ease (and I mean easy).

Was it just specific track conditions where the Ferrari was actually faster than the Mercedes, or did Kimi Räikkönen just drive the hell out of it? Or maybe both.🎉

Roger Wright94 said:The real mystery here isn't just how he closed the gap, but rather why Mercedes didn't simply build a car with a massive 10 or 20-second advantage?
Because that very same Mercedes was overtaking Ferraris on the straights with absolute ease (and I really must emphasize, ease).

Is it possible there were specific race conditions where the Ferrari was actually faster than the Mercedes, or perhaps Kimi Räikkönen simply drove an incredible stint🎉!? Or maybe it was a combination of both factors?

Precisely my thoughts!
I mean, if you think about it, the man maintained Hamilton's pace even after his first pit stop. Just consider that this was happening during such a high-stakes Mecca of a race; enough said, I suppose.

steelmaker83 said:What's that supposed to mean?

That Kimi has tons of fans?

I heard there might actually be a dedicated fan club somewhere over on the Forum. 🙏

Roger Wright94 said:The real question is how he even got that close. Why didn't Mercedes build a 10-20 second advantage?
That same Mercedes was overtaking Ferraris on the straights with ease (and I mean ease).

Is it just race conditions where the Ferrari is simply faster than the Mercedes? Or did Kimi Räikkönen just drive a perfect race? Or both?🎉

With this kind of power gap, Lewis Hamilton is going to stroll right into the championship.

Just like he strolled to victory yesterday.

Think back to the start of the race.
Lewis puts the pedal down hard. He’s up by over eight tenths in the first lap, and by the second, he's already a second and a half ahead.

And that was it. Outside of the DRS zone, and without any real threat of being overtaken, the remaining 50-plus laps were just cruising.

If Ferrari wants to be a serious title contender, they need to find at least half a second before Spain and Canada.
Assuming, of course, Mercedes doesn't dig up some secret weapon.

Mercedes-Benz will undoubtedly stroll right into the title. All we can really do is hope this walk isn't quite as tedious as last year's. For the time being, Ferrari is our best bet for keeping things interesting.

Roger Wright94 said:The real question is how he even got close. Like, why didn't Mercedes build a car with a 10-20 second advantage?
Because that exact same Mercedes was easily (emphasis on *easily*) overtaking Ferraris on the straights.

Is it just race conditions where the Ferrari was actually faster than the Mercedes, or did Kimi Räikkönen just drive a hell of a race!? Or both!? 🎉

Third place, unfortunately...
Lewis Hamilton drove exactly what he needed to.
The issue is that if you want to overtake anyone using a Mercedes engine, you basically need a car that's 1-2 seconds faster, otherwise your tires are absolutely trashed within a lap or two.
He uses that to his advantage perfectly by dictating the pace, knowing he can always floor it if he needs to...

I'm afraid Kimi Räikkönen wasn't catching Rosberg, Vettel, or Hamilton because he was just that fast, but rather because Hamilton was playing the Little train.

Speculation is all well and good, I suppose, but so much of it tends to morph or shrink until the actual driving talent gets lost in the shuffle. There’s really no need to go around shouting from the rooftops that Mercedes-Benz is a full second faster than Ferrari; it’s far more accurate to say that Sebastian Vettel was essentially outclassed in every single wheel-to-wheel battle he faced. Similarly, one could argue that Kimi Räikkönen, as talented as he truly is, wouldn't have been able to pull off those feats if he hadn't been handed a car specifically engineered for such dominance.

Why on earth would Mercedes-Benz allow themselves to be vulnerable enough for Ferrari to pull off an undercut and completely wreck their entire tactical approach?

stormybadger8 said:I’m starting to worry that—if I’m being honest with myself here—Kimi wasn't actually outperforming guys like Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, or Lewis Hamilton because he was just that much faster; rather, it felt more like Lewis was essentially playing the role of the Little Train.

Was he actually slowing down on purpose again? It’s pretty clear that move didn't sit well with Sebastian Vettel or Nico Rosberg—definitely wasn't what they were looking for out there. 🤣🤣

jadeseal7 said:Was he intentionally playing it slow again? It certainly didn't seem to help Sebastian Vettel or Nico Rosberg at all.🤣🤣

Besides, on a track where overtaking is such an absolute nightmare, 🤣🤣

stormybadger8 said:Regrettably, third place...
Lewis Hamilton drove exactly what was required.
The issue is quite simple: to actually overtake a car with a Mercedes-Benz engine, you need a car that is roughly 1-2 seconds faster, otherwise your tires are completely shot within a lap or two.
He utilizes this perfectly by dictating the pace, knowing full well he can push whenever necessary...

I fear that, unfortunately, Kimi Räikkönen wasn't actually faster than Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, or Lewis Hamilton; rather, it was simply because Lewis Hamilton was playing the role of a Little train...

Don't tell me that in Malaysia Vettel had a car two seconds faster just because he overtook Mercedes-Benz right on the track, nearly catching the other driver who managed to escape via the pits.👎, that is flawed logic. For instance, Kimi would certainly have outpaced Valtteri Bottas, yet for some reason, Vettel did not.

I found the situation involving Bottas rather peculiar myself; it was the very same Williams team that had been chasing after Kimi Räikkönen, yet they couldn't quite manage to close the gap...

Williams gets decent traction out of the corners, and once they hit the straight with that Mercedes-Benz engine, their top speed is actually pretty impressive. That’s exactly why Sebastian Vettel couldn't get anything done.

rowdyrider12 said:I found that whole thing with Bottas pretty strange—that same Williams was chasing down Kimi Räikkönen earlier and couldn't quite pull it off...

In the radio message sent to Bottas—right when he caught up to Kimi Räikkönen after Kimi's pit stop—they actually told him to push hard and overtake, since Kimi was sitting on slower tires. Fast forward just two laps later, and Kimi had already pulled ahead by a full three and a half seconds!🤣

Robert Cox46 said:The Williams actually shows some decent traction coming out of the corners, and once they hit the straights with that Mercedes-Benz power, their top speed is surprisingly high. That’s precisely why Sebastian Vettel was left staring at nothing but asphalt all afternoon.

Pure nonsense, quite frankly; the man managed to commit four absolutely catastrophic errors in a single race, and I simply cannot fathom how anyone could have entertained the delusion that he might actually overtake someone when the car possessed such meager pace to begin with.