Formula 1 - 2012

[terrabytetango]

How can you say "very bad record for long runs this season" when only 2 races have been completed ? ? ?

I echo this sentiment. Schumacher finished inside of the top 10 last time around. I'm thinking both Mercs will be inside the top 10 tomorrow. And watch out for the Saubers, they're something fierce this season.

[vishkid]

Usually China doesn't offer much thrills (inspite of DRS and KERS) however the run-up from start to 1st corner should be interesting with Kimi, Webber and Perez having to look out for Button, Lewis and Alonso on the other side of the track!

[terrabytetango]

Yup, Mercedes win just like I hoped for (and was 90% confident of). If only Schumi wasnt thwarted by a silly wheel nut. And of course kudos to my boy Hami, the only consistent podium placer so far.

[virensti]

absolutely epic grand prix! Hats off to all the top 10 drivers, best wheel to wheel racing in F1 this year! superb! Absolutely gutted about schumi's wheel nut issue, would've been very interesting to see where he'd have ended up, but all in all a super super race!

[MasterDon]

Well to be fair to Isuru Mercedes did have severe tyre degradation issues in the previous races,and to be honest the low track temperatures at Shanghai along with Button's messy pitstops helped them take the victory and I think we'll see those Merc tyre woes again in Bahrain next week.But very happy to see Nico and a Ross Brawn car win a race again.

[terrabytetango]

Well to be fair to Isuru Mercedes did have severe tyre degradation issues in the previous races,and to be honest the low track temperatures at Shanghai along with Button's messy pitstops helped them take the victory and I think we'll see those Merc tyre woes again in Bahrain next week.But very happy to see Nico and a Ross Brawn car win a race again.

I believe the tire issue is common to all cars this season, if the condition of today's track was anything go by. Alonso nearly bought it when he wide on a straight because he drove on bits of tire that was littering the track. It wasn't anything like this last year when Hami won.

[vishkid]

Better than expected race! Bad luck to both Schumi and Button and impressed by Vettel's run to the end.

Not to mention that am gutted to see that Ferrari has not given any real improvement to Alonso

[miniace]

That was a thrilling race and it's good to see F1 is becoming seriously interesting. So sad to see Shumy departing on lap 12. I'm sure the Merc camp got more thrills for F1 fans.

MINIACE

[terrabytetango]

That was a thrilling race and it's good to see F1 is becoming seriously interesting. So sad to see Shumy departing on lap 12. I'm sure the Merc camp got more thrills for F1 fans.

MINIACE

+1

[MasterDon]

Bahrain GP quali...

01 Sebastian Vettel R*D B*LL 1:32.422

02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:32.520

03 Mark Webber R*D B*LL 1:32.637

04 Jenson Button McLaren 1:32.711

05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.821

06 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:32.912

07 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.008

08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:33.394

09 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

10 Paul di Resta Force India

11 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:33.789

12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:33.806

13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:33.807

14 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.912

15 Bruno Senna Williams 1:34.017

16 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:36.132

17 Pastor Maldonado Williams

18 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.865

19 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.014

20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:35.823

21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:37.683

22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:37.883

23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:37.905

24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:38.314

[Watchman]

I believe the tire issue is common to all cars this season, if the condition of today's track was anything go by. Alonso nearly bought it when he wide on a straight because he drove on bits of tire that was littering the track. It wasn't anything like this last year when Hami won.

Obviously everyone's tyres wear out bro. They dont grow back What MasterDon is saying is that merc has MORE tyre degradation issues than the other teams.

[terrabytetango]

Obviously everyone's tyres wear out bro. They dont grow back What MasterDon is saying is that merc has MORE tyre degradation issues than the other teams.

Yes I know what he meant. And what I meant was that the new tire compounds Pirelli has come up with this year degrade faster than last year's, to keep things more competitive.

Edit: Also I missed today's qualifiers due to my siesta.

Edited April 21, 2012 by terrabytetango

[miniace]

Bahrain GP quali... 17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 18 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.865 19 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.014 20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:35.823 21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:37.683 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:37.883 23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:37.905 24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:38.314

Guess Schumy will start 17 as Maldonado will be given a five grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

MINIACE

[The Stig]

Bahrain GP quali...

01 Sebastian Vettel R*D B*LL 1:32.422

02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:32.520

03 Mark Webber R*D B*LL 1:32.637

04 Jenson Button McLaren 1:32.711

05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.821

06 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:32.912

07 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.008

08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:33.394

09 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

10 Paul di Resta Force India

11 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:33.789

12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:33.806

13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:33.807

14 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.912

15 Bruno Senna Williams 1:34.017

16 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:36.132

17 Pastor Maldonado Williams

18 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.865

19 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.014

20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:35.823

21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:37.683

22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:37.883

23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:37.905

24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:38.314

Schumacher dafaq man, maybe its time he retired

[MasterDon]

Schumacher dafaq man, maybe its time he retired

His DRS wasn't working...

[virensti]

Schumacher dafaq man, maybe its time he retired

DRS issue man, means he lost about 0.5 seconds on his lap time (makes a big difference when the top 17 were seperated by 1 second) hope he can pull off something good today!

[MasterDon]

...and they're gonna do a gearbox change on his car for the race.That means he'll drop further five places.

[KLM]

Smart move taking the gearbox change at this race as the impact won't be that bad. It seems he has been the recipient of ALL the bad luck at Mercedes this year. Having outqualified Rosberg at the opening two races he had gearbox failure and was hit from behind while running in 3rd both times. Then in China his wheel fell off, again while effectively running in 2nd. Now this. Poor bastard. I still think he'll out do Nico by season's end, but Mercedes need to give him a stronger car as well!

[terrabytetango]

Ok so slightly confused. My phone shows (I have all major sporting calenders sync'd with google apps) the Bahrain race was set to start at 4:30pm, but SBK was an utter fiasco with the rain and the delayed pushed the race beyond 4:30pm. So is the new start time of 5:30pm part of some kind of agreement between the different motorsport governing bodies and media companies?

Edited April 22, 2012 by terrabytetango

[terrabytetango]

Unexpected results, srsly. The day belongs to Lotus, Kimi and Romain.

[isurujosh]

OMG I am almost in tears my most favorite driver of all time Kimi back on the podium :music-smiley-009:

It's priceless to have Kimi commenting in post race conference in his characterristics style again.

Edited April 22, 2012 by isurujosh

[The Stig]

DRS issue man, means he lost about 0.5 seconds on his lap time (makes a big difference when the top 17 were seperated by 1 second) hope he can pull off something good today!

His DRS wasn't working...

Sorry for my ignorance guys, didnt really watch the qualifiers

Ok so slightly confused. My phone shows (I have all major sporting calenders sync'd with google apps) the Bahrain race was set to start at 4:30pm, but SBK was an utter fiasco with the rain and the delayed pushed the race beyond 4:30pm. So is the new start time of 5:30pm part of some kind of agreement between the different motorsport governing bodies and media companies?

use the "guide" on DTV (if you have dtv), it had the correct time all along

[miniace]

Smart move taking the gearbox change at this race as the impact won't be that bad. It seems he has been the recipient of ALL the bad luck at Mercedes this year. Having outqualified Rosberg at the opening two races he had gearbox failure and was hit from behind while running in 3rd both times. Then in China his wheel fell off, again while effectively running in 2nd. Now this. Poor bastard. I still think he'll out do Nico by season's end, but Mercedes need to give him a stronger car as well!

Totally agree, He didnt have luck all this time. Look how he climbed to points from 23rd. Surely a podium for Shumy is not too far. Brawn needs to give him a better or equal package to earn points for the team.

MINIACE

[virensti]

Totally agree, He didnt have luck all this time. Look how he climbed to points from 23rd. Surely a podium for Shumy is not too far. Brawn needs to give him a better or equal package to earn points for the team.

MINIACE

agree 100% mate!

[MasterDon]

Spanish GP quali on in a few minutes.Hope the Fezza have improved their pace,They're running a heavily revised F2012 but it'll be hard beat the Bulls on this particular track.Watch out for Lotus too.McLaren not looking as strong here...