Bahrain GP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) March 29-31, 2019

Does anyone have a prediction? 🙂
Here is mine:
Qualifying
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Max Verstappen

Race:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas

Just to be clear, I am just talking nonsense here... 🙂

My prediction:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel

Q: Hamilton, Bottas, Leclerc, Vettel

R: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel

DNF: Ricciardo

Hamilton managed to snag pole position ahead of both Bottas and Vettel.
The Race lineup looks solid: Hamilton, Verstappen, and Leclerc will be fighting for the podium.
Following that top five, Ricciardo is looking strong, while Gasly’s final position remains anyone's guess.

Qualifying Predictions;

1. Valtteri Bottas
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Max Verstappen
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Pierre Gasly

Race Predictions;

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Pierre Gasly
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Sebastian Vettel

Will Ferrari actually see any improvement during this race, or is their engine situation simply beyond repair?
During the Australian Grand Prix, they weren't even running at full capacity, as they were clearly focused on pre-season preparations for the upcoming year.
And yet, despite that, Ferrari managed to claim the WDC title during testing, earning significant praise from both the British press and the folks over at Mercedes.
Both Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton seem genuinely impressed by the sheer form Ferrari is displaying. 🤦

Come on, Max—can we at least aim for second place? Once we reach the GP Canada and the power unit package becomes more competitive, and once Adrian Newey manages to squeeze an additional 120% out of the chassis, it becomes a mere matter of time before Max is fighting on equal footing with Luja for the WDC this season. 🎉

darkmarlin16 said:They were solid in Bahrain last year, and sure, they won in Australia, but let’s be real—that was mostly thanks to Haas pulling off some mechanical miracles. I wouldn't write Ferrari off just yet.

Australia is always a weird one. It doesn't tell you much, and the same goes for Red Bull Racing, just in reverse.

If you listen to the "wisdom" coming out of Toto's kitchen, they were actually dominant last year. 😁

The Reality is they were worse than the USA last year. The only caveat is that Hamilton spent the first half of the season looking pretty checked out...
He looked more hungover than like a serious contender for a podium, let alone a win. ☕

Here was the Situation last year:

Australia:
Mercedes had a 0.664 edge in qualifying...
The Race — Mercedes absolutely choked on strategy, basically handing Ferrari a free pit stop. If it wasn't for that screw-up, Ferrari would've been screwed in Australia, trailing by at least 15 seconds.

Bahrain:
Ferrari had a 0.166 advantage in qualifying.
The Race — Ferrari won, but barely, scraping by with Bottas only 0.699 behind—and that’s assuming Bottas wasn't even really trying to hunt down Vettel.

The USA easily could have taken both Australia and Bahrain last year, especially if Hamilton had actually driven at his usual level...

Since the USA looks even better in Australia this year,
even if Ferrari gets their act together, I don't see them having a prayer. Last year they barely held off Bottas, and Hamilton was practically invisible in Bahrain.

DraftKings is offering odds as high as 4.0 for Vettel to take pole, which feels totally unrealistic to me. They’re basing their predictions on Australia, but that track isn't really representative of what we'll see here. I honestly think this is worth a shot because the battle between Vettel and Hamilton is going to be intense, and those odds will probably plummet to 2.5 for Vettel after just the first two practice sessions.

James Harris34 said:DraftKings is offering odds as high as 4.0 for Vettel to take pole, which seems totally delusional to me. He’s basing his predictions on Australia, and we all know that track tells you absolutely nothing. I think this is worth a shot because the battle between Vettel and Hamilton is going to be intense, and those odds for Vettel will probably tank down to 2.5 after the first two practice sessions.

Anyone betting on this is just asking to lose money...
Bottas is taking pole, and honestly, it's almost a lock...
His only real threat is someone from Red Bull, and as crazy as it sounds, I’d actually bet on Gasly over Max.

Hamilton getting pole in Bahrain? Yeah, right. He was barely beating Nico Rosberg there, let alone dominating. Against him, Bottas has a clear 2-0 advantage here.☕
I don't see Ferrari even sniffing pole in Bahrain, even if they weren't having their usual issues. Last year, both the USA cars and Red Bull were right there.
This year, they'll probably end up behind Mercedes and both Red Bull drivers...

If you want a real gamble, look at the 50.0 odds on Gasly. It's insane how high that is, especially since Gasly was absolutely killing it in Bahrain last year...

Your hate for Max Verstappen is getting so out of hand that you're basically going to start acting like Pierre Gasly is some kind of hero after every single race 🤣

Richard Walker38 said:Your hatred for Max Verstappen is so deep that you’re actually attempting to elevate Pierre Gasly from a mere driver to a god among men. 🤣

What does his post even have to do with Max? He just mentioned that the odds on Gasly were at 50 to 1, which is absolutely insane. He made a fair point, though—Gasly drove an excellent race at this track last year.

Good grief, you people are attacking TBF over something that doesn't even exist.

darkmarlin16 said he thinks Gasly is going to be a bigger threat to Sebastian Vettel than Max Verstappen is.

Lol.

We really need to wait until we get to FC Barcelona to see who actually delivers...

The whole dogpile on Pierre Gasly following Australia was way too much. First, the team made a questionable call by not switching to fresh tires for a better qualifying time, then he deals with those overtaking button issues... people are jumping to conclusions way too fast. We’ll see how things shake out in a few days.

stormybadger8 said:Anyone betting on this is basically throwing money down the drain...
Pole position goes to Bottas—that’s almost a 100% lock...
The only potential threat would be one of the Red Bull Racing drivers, and honestly, I’d even put my money on Pierre Gasly over Max Verstappen, as crazy as that sounds.

Back when Lewis Hamilton was on pole in Bahrain, he was barely edging out Nico Rosberg or losing to him; now, Bottas is clearly two steps ahead of him there.☕
I don't see Ferrari even getting close to pole in Bahrain, even if they weren't dealing with their current mess—last year, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing were right on their heels.
This year, they'll probably end up behind not just Mercedes, but both Red Bull Racing cars too...

The only real opportunity here is the +50 odds on Gasly, which is ridiculously high—especially since Gasly was absolutely on fire in Bahrain last year...

in F1 he gives 100% to whoever 😁 just so the qualifying ends and the money is collected 😁 can you send a picture of the ticket? 😁

swifttiger75 said:I mean, we really should just wait until they get to FC Barcelona to see who's actually stepping up and how things shake out...

This whole dogpile on Pierre Gasly following Australia feels a bit much—way too early. First off, you've got the team making a questionable call by not switching to fresh rubber for a better qualifying time, and then there's that issue with the overtake button... people are jumping to conclusions way too fast. We'll have a much clearer picture in a few days.

I read that even Mika thinks so... though he probably already knows exactly how messy things are after seeing Charles Leclerc's pit stop disaster in the first race. Look, Charles is clearly the number one driver there, but it’s honestly wild to see him acting like some mid-field underdog right after the very first race.

edit: what if Charles Leclerc actually turns out to be the faster one in Bahrain?

cosmiccyclist8 said:I heard Mika thinks so too... though he probably knows just how much of a mess Leclerc's pit stop was during that first race. Look, Leclerc might be their long-term guy, but acting like Barrichello after just one race is a bit much.

edit: what if Leclerc actually outperforms everyone at the Bahrain Grand Prix?

Here’s my take—I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again.

Imagine you’re Leclerc, cosmiccyclist8. You're signing your contract and they tell you: "Look, we see you as our long-term championship project. We’re going to give you a shot by handing everything over to Sebastian Vettel this year just to keep him in the title hunt. We'll do whatever it takes to help him win. In the meantime, you'll settle in, gain some experience, get to know the crew, and then next year, you'll be our undisputed number one." 🍿

And Mika should stop whining—unlike Leclerc, Barrichello was never championship material to begin with.

If Ferrari—or rather, Vettel—doesn't stay competitive throughout the season, I'm certain the kid will get his chance to show what he can actually do.

You can't expect a driver like that to just fall in line; if that's the requirement, then he’s clearly not championship material.

Look at what happened with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at McLaren. Lewis knew exactly what he was capable of and had zero intention of playing second fiddle. From the very first second he stepped into that seat, he went toe-to-toe with Alonso—a kid going up against a two-time world champion—and refused to back down one inch.

Richard Walker38 said:If you cave in like that, you aren't championship material—period.

Look at Hamilton and Alonso back at McLaren. Lewis knew exactly what he was capable of and didn't show an ounce of deference. From the jump, he stepped up to challenge Alonso—just a kid going against a two-time world champ—and refused to play second fiddle.

👍
So, who actually takes the title? 🤣

Aside from maybe one or two things regarding Mercedes during qualifying and the race, I’m honestly surprised by how everything unfolded.
After seeing how they performed in Australia, I just can't see myself betting against them.

swifttiger75 said:👍
So who actually takes the title? 🤣

Kimi only lost out because of a brainless McLaren mistake where they missed a power shift. If they hadn't botched that, Lewis Hamilton would be out there chasing his seventh championship right now...

Look, little Charles Leclerc has serious talent, but he’s clearly too soft in the head to make it big. A real predator would have smelled blood and snapped at that opportunity immediately. Forget all these diplomats, tacticians, and other half-wits. Formula 1 needs a fresh injection of pure fighters.

Richard Walker38 said:Your hate for Max is so intense that you're basically going to start praising Pierre Gasly after every single race... 🤣

And he actually claimed Pierre Gasly was going to get a seat—man, he clearly hasn't got a clue what he's talking about...