2019 Bahrain Grand Prix (March 29-31)

If Charles pulls off a win tomorrow, he’s officially a legitimate title contender in my eyes. I'm really rooting for him to absolutely crush it out there.

And let's be real, Pierre Gasly is definitely getting canned after this. xD

Sebastian Vettel: https://streamable.com/43nk6

Am I the only one who noticed the unusually massive celebration happening inside the Ferrari garage once Charles secured pole position?

And honestly, listening to that guy with the speech impediment, Paul di Resta, just completely ruins my mood... I find myself losing my cool more often than not... the man has this distinct lisp where he can't seem to pronounce the "s" sound properly, always turning it into a "sh" instead... yet they just keep letting him go on air to talk...

stormyviper2 said:It’d be hilarious if Torpedo ended up there. xD
RB could have easily just taken Ricciardo and JEV.
Instead, they went with some hyped-up rookies.
Honestly, I wouldn't even blink if Kvyat shows up at RB and they fail to finish 3rd in the constructors' championship. Not even surprised.

Yesterday's broadcast was great...
Especially that bit where Chandok mentioned how Marko walked up and told him, "You're 22 and basically ancient now—too old for Formula 1!" 🤣
Considering how old the current RB drivers actually are... 🤔🤣

And the best part? Watching everyone trash the absolute garbage F1 app that shows zero useful info...
People are asking who's on the new tires and who's on the old ones—we have no clue because the new app is pure trash and doesn't show that data anymore...
Then you wonder who's ahead of Hamilton—no idea, because the driver tracker just shows some random red dot. Is it Ferrari or Alfa? Who knows. If we still had the old app, we'd know. With this new one, we're flying blind.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Sure, Red Bull had better race pace than Ferrari in the last third of the season, but Ferrari was faster until then. I honestly have no idea where you got the idea that Red Bull is usually faster in race pace.

Friday's race sim clearly showed Charles Leclerc was the fastest, so again, why are you bringing Red Bull into this?

You seem to think Red Bull was somehow way ahead of Mercedes in Australia. Like Valtteri Bottas was the benchmark proving how much Mercedes was getting smoked by Red Bull during the race.
Plus, Friday's race sims show Red Bull is slower than Ferrari on average lap time. I don't know where you're getting that "one second faster on the third lap" thing from.

God, media nonsense...
These geniuses take race sim averages using laps where the driver obviously gets stuck behind some incredibly slow 🤦

Max was consistently hitting the 1:34.8-1:35.4 range for about 14 laps straight, and that was on 6-lap old tires right at the start of the sim... though he did have one random 1:37.xxx lap in there, and miraculously, the race sim counted all of it...
So by the end, he looks worse than Charles Leclerc, who was running:
1:34.5, 1:35.0, 1:35.5... followed by a 1:36.1 and a 1:37.4 (which were outliers) before the pit stop...

And yeah, if Charles Leclerc had those kinds of sim numbers, Sebastian Vettel would have had them too on softs, and then they'd both have them on mediums...

The comparisons used in these "analyses" are just ridiculous.
Comparing a Charles Leclerc/Sebastian Vettel race sim based on maybe 2 or 3 fastest laps against a Red Bull/Mercedes sim that accounts for all 10+ laps 😵

Brian Campbell36 said:Damn Ferrari fixed their PU issues and now they're suddenly dominating everything. 🤦
Toto Wolff is a legend. He started wearing those glasses and suddenly went blind. 🤣

Vettel was already under fire for being slow after that sudden braking incident.
The FIA can never be objective; they're just trying to protect someone's dominance again.
Bottas 2.0 from Australia is the number one driver again. It looks like they basically handed him that first win at Mercedes, and now Luji snatched 8 points from him.

Hold up, 🤣
So everyone gets investigated except Luji? Even though if I remember right, he casually blocked Charles Leclerc in Q1. 🤔
Why does this even surprise me? 😁

It’s the truth—that blocking happened, and they didn't penalize it because, okay, let's say it was extremely mild compared to what Grozan did... but still.

Richard Ross11 said:Am I the only one who noticed how much of a party it was in the Ferrari garage when Charles Leclerc grabbed pole?

And why wouldn't they celebrate? 🤷
After that absolute disaster in Australia, they actually pulled off a 1-2 finish, plus their golden boy Leclerc just snagged his first career pole...
So, if that isn't worth a celebration for the crew, I don't know what is. 🤷

I have to admit, it’s been a long time since I’ve been this hyped for a race

stormybadger8 said:And why wouldn't they celebrate 🤷

After such a disastrous performance in Australia, they managed a 1-2 finish, and on top of that, their golden boy Charles Leclerc secured his very first career pole position...

So, why shouldn't the team be celebrating this achievement? 🤷

Honestly, man... 🙂

My point was simply that it felt like they were getting a bit too carried away, specifically because it was Charles Leclerc taking pole instead of Sebastian Vettel...
It gave off that vibe of, "See, we were right all along, this is our future champion"...

Again, I am just saying that is how it appeared to me; I have no inside information suggesting that was actually the case...
Hopefully, my meaning is clearer now 🙂

It feels like McLaren finally caught a second wind now that they’ve shaken off all that constant pressure and nagging from Alonso.

Richard Walker38 said:It’s like McLaren can finally breathe now that they aren't dealing with Alonso's constant pressure and nagging

Did you miss seeing Alonso hanging around the McLaren garage?

Richard Ross11 said:Look, man... 🙂

My point was just that they seemed a little too stoked about it, considering it was Charles Leclerc taking pole instead of Vettel...
Like they were all, "See, we told you, this guy is the future champion"...

Again, I’m saying "it looked that way to me," and I don't have any inside info to prove it actually was...
Hopefully, things are clearer now. 🙂

And that’s what surprises you? Think about how those mechanics feel. They make peanuts compared to a four-time champ, yet this guy hasn't delivered a single thing he's being paid for. In fact, he personally blew two seasons where he had a legitimate shot at the title. Of course they don't give a damn about him.

steelmaker83 said:Did you catch Fernando Alonso hanging out in the McLaren garage?

Look, there’s a massive difference between dropping in for an occasional test and actually giving useful input, versus just whining every single weekend and driving everyone crazy with constant complaining.
I bet it was a total blast working with him all the time, especially since he spent half his life basically screaming at them on a daily basis.

Get used to this anthem, because you're gonna be hearing it on loop

Is there actually a post-race press conference anywhere I can catch?

I honestly don't get why they stopped posting these things anymore... 😠

Richard Walker38 said:There’s a massive difference between occasionally testing things out and providing actual feedback versus just whining every single weekend and annoying everyone with constant complaining.
I’m sure they had a blast working with him, especially since he made it his personal mission to talk trash to them on a daily basis.

Yeah, right. They obviously kept him on the team because he was such a total delight to deal with...

steelmaker83 said:Exactly. They only kept him around because he was dealing with some serious pain in his groin area...

Looks like you’re struggling a little bit with reading comprehension here.

Richard Ross11 said:Look, man... 🙂

My point is they just seemed way too hyped about it since it was actually Charles Leclerc grabbing pole instead of Vettel...
like they were all, "See? We called it, this kid's the next champ"...

And again, I’m just saying "it felt like that," I don't have any inside info to prove it's true...
Hopefully it's clearer now 🙂

It makes sense though...
Vettel is basically a hire from outside, while Leclerc is their golden boy...
Think about how Lewis Hamilton was the McLaren prodigy versus some guy brought in from elsewhere...

It's totally normal, nothing weird about it.
Leclerc is the future of Ferrari—their new hope and future champion. It would be bizarre if they weren't celebrating exactly like that.

crimsonhawk23 said:

Charles Leclerc was the GP3 champ
Charles Leclerc was the F2 champ
...
Max Verstappen—champion of what, exactly?

We can play dumb forever if we want...
But let's be real: Charles Leclerc is absolutely going to be a Formula 1 champion...
It’s not even about whether he wins a title; it’s just a matter of how many he grabs and when he hits his first one.☕
Max, on the other hand, is probably never going to win one, regardless of all the hype.