Bahrain

Havel

I enjoyed the Bahrain Grand Prix. Good man Alonso, take hamilton out, fair play to ya. The Alonso-hamilton thing is very entertaining i think, i hope they continue to hate each other for the rest of their careers.

Good day for Kimi too i thought, well on the way to a 2nd world championship.

And BMW, nice race pace, didn't see that coming.

dor83

It wasn't a bad race but I felt that Kimi could have done a lot more to challenge Massa, he had the speed there but he just wasn't consistant enough with it. I have to admit, I was happy to see Hamilton have a bad race too but I think the BMWs would have beaten him anyway. Drive of the day for me had to have been Kubica, he consistantly kept pace with, and put pressure on, Kimi when most people were expecting the Ferraris to cruise to an easy 1-2. Heidfeld deserves a mention too, he had a pretty solid race and put in some very fast times in the last stint in particular.

I can't wait to see how it plays out at the next race with all the teams bringing new aero packs. I expect Honda to be a bit of a surprise package in Spain, they have been progressing well under Brawn so far and I expect them to move forward a bit more over the season. It will also be interesting to see how Ferrari, BMW and McLaren improve, can BMW catch Ferrari and challenge for wins,will McLaren get back on form and start challenging Ferrari the way they should be or will Ferrari start to dominate by making better improvements than anyone else.

Then you have the midfield battles between the likes of Toyota, Renault, Williams and Red Bull. Throw in the new tracks in Valencia and Singapore(the first ever night race) and its really shaping up to be a great season.

Havel

dor83 wrote: »

It wasn't a bad race but I felt that Kimi could have done a lot more to challenge Massa, he had the speed there but he just wasn't consistant enough with it.

Kimi's weird like that, i think he was just in a bad mood all weekend, just didn't want to be there.

Sabre0001

I think Kimi would have had it - apparently he was brought in early...Nightmare of a day for Hamilton really! BMWs looked good, a great weekend for them.

pburns

Ferrari need Alonso....

Kimi & Massa are just too inconsistent

Even when Massa keeps it on the track it seems his race engineer - Smedly - has to be 'virtually' in the car with him to issue instructions. He seems to need 'nannying'...

Kimi...I don't know what to make of Kimi... I wouldn't mind Massa having a slight advantage on a favorite track but KR was EMBARRASSINGLY slower all weekend. Does he lack set-up skills? Does he lack the raw hunger of an Alonso or a Hamilton? Is he just lazy and spoiled?

They are both flaky as fu(k, if I were a Ferrari fan I wouldn't be at all happy with either of those two...

aidan_dunne

Havel wrote: »

Good man Alonso, take hamilton out, fair play to ya.

Seems Hamilton took himself out!

"Autosport.com has seen the telemetry data of Alonso's exit from the first corner, and it shows that the Spaniard was flat on the throttle from the exit, did not touch the brake and gained speed in a totally predictable manner."

Other reporters and commentators have also seen the telemetry at this stage and it appears that Hamilton got a much better run out of that corner but, because he was so close to Alonso, he had no time to avoid him when he suddenly realised he got better acceleration out of the corner and jus went straight into the back of him.

ITV - get your facts straight in future before you go accusing people of "brake testing"! :rolleyes:

Havel wrote: »

The Alonso-hamilton thing is very entertaining i think, i hope they continue to hate each other for the rest of their careers.

I agree. Formula 1 needs rivalries like this to make it more interesting. Mansell/Piquet, Senna/Prost, Schumacher/Hill for example. It'd be dull as f*ck otherwise!

cashmni1

pburns wrote: »

Ferrari need Alonso....

Kimi & Massa are just too inconsistent

Even when Massa keeps it on the track it seems his race engineer - Smedly - has to be 'virtually' in the car with him to issue instructions. He seems to need 'nannying'...

Kimi...I don't know what to make of Kimi... I wouldn't mind Massa having a slight advantage on a favorite track but KR was EMBARRASSINGLY slower all weekend. Does he lack set-up skills? Does he lack the raw hunger of an Alonso or a Hamilton? Is he just lazy and spoiled?

They are both flaky as fu(k, if I were a Ferrari fan I wouldn't be at all happy with either of those two...

I have to agree with you about the Flakey performances from both Ferrarri drivers. Kimi needs to concentrate more and be more consistant, which I genuinely think he can be. Masa is Masa and thats all he will ever be. Inconsistant, too aggressive and volitile.
Don't be suprised if Ferrarri have an eye on Hamilton...
Look at this picture:
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7610.html
I was delighted to see Hamilton so far down the field. I also think that Kubica had the drive of the weekend. I rate him higher than Hamilton. Kovalanien is fast too, watch that space.

thegoth

Yeah, I think Alonso has shown himself to be slightly faster and ALOT more consistant than Kimi.

If I was in charge of Ferrari, I would have a few problems with signing Alonso

1) I would sign him with Kimi as a teammate. They would take points from each other and hand the title to BMW, or McLaren, or whoever will be strong at the time

2) We have seen with Alonsos two spells at Reanult and spell at McLaren, when things are not going his way, his default setting is to blame the team. This is not good for a team like Ferrari, who always come across as very united

3) If Ferrari produce a poor car, he will not be loyal and will look to jump ship ASAP.

I am not saying Ferrari should not sign Alonso, I just think its a risk and they should definitly not sign him and Kimi. Maybe Alonso and ..... Button. Yes, I would enjoy that. Evil Laugh

dor83

I think it would be a big mistake for Ferrari to sign Alonso. Like thegoth said, he is like a child throwing his toys out of the pram when he doesn't get his own way, McLaren last year and blaming his own team on sabotaging his title bid the year before at Renault. He is the total opposite to what they need, personaly I wouldn't mind Hamilton(as much as I hate him because of ITV, he is a good driver) but I'd prefer Kubica or Rosberg(who are both better than Hamilton imo). I think that Kimi and Massa are a good partnership, similar to Schumacher and Rubens in that Kimi is far better driver when hes on form but Massa is well capable of beating him when hes not. I think this is important because it puts more pressure on Kimi and keeps him on his toes without being too much of a challenge. I also think that having 2 driver competing in a team is a bad idea because they take too many points off each other, like McLaren did last year and it cost them the title.

thegoth

Seconded. I was just thinking yesterday that Heidfield kicked Kimis ass at Sauber. I know it was Kimis first season, but I would love to see that partnership again

pburns

cashmni1 wrote: »

I also think that Kubica had the drive of the weekend. I rate him higher than Hamilton. Kovalanien is fast too, watch that space.

Kubica is highly rated by those within the sport but I have yet to be 100% convinced he can establish himself as a top-man in F1. There just seems to be something lacking, he rarely manages to avoid trouble of some sort...

Rosberg IMO is overrated. According to reports I've read (British, admittedly) Hamilton had the edge on him in the junior formulae. Plus the fact that he's rich, well connected, ridiculously good-looking and intellegent - has he ever had to fight for anything in his life?

I'd like to see Kovalanien put pressure on Hamilton as the season progresses. I love the fact that he's the total opposite in Hamilton in that he doesn't feel the need to 'big-up' his prospects to a partisan media every 5 minutes.

There is a big question mark over how Hamilton performs under pressure and Kovy is in an ideal position to exploit that. He messed up in Bahrain by flat-spotting his tyre. If he had won or challenged for the race - which could easily have happened - I think Hamilton would really be put on the back foot.

Will HK be allowed challenge LH though????

sham69

Interesting race alright.
I thought the ferrari's would have run away with the race.
Was really surprised at how much slower Kimi was than Massa.
I think its a laziness thing with him, I remember Ron Dennis saying as much when he had him. I think he might do the same as last year, be asleep for a few races, then realise that he is way behind on points and win 5 or 6 on the bounce. Not convinced by Kubica yet but have to say fair play to him.
Its good to see a season where a half dozen drivers are capable of a podium.

pburns

I think it was the FiveLive podcast where one of the presenters asked 'Was Kimi OK physically?'. No-one picked up on it but I think he was hinting that Kimi may have been a bit...'under the weather':rolleyes:...

I met an F1 insider once & asked asked his opinion of Kimi. He dismissed him as 'a boozer'. Think it seems to be the general consensus in F1 circles - rightly or wrongly - that Kimi's drinking effects his performances. I'm all for F1 drivers who behave like real people instead of squaky clean media whores like Hamiton but to me it seems Kimi's is just a little TOO laid back...

aidan_dunne

pburns wrote: »

I'm all for F1 drivers who behave like real people instead of squaky clean media whores like Hamiton but to me it seems Kimi's is just a little TOO laid back...

Never did James Hunt any harm!

We need more characters like that in F1. Personally, I applaud any guy who crashes out of the Monaco Grand Prix, says, "ah, f**k it!", to the team debrief and instead goes off to drown his sorrows with his mates on his boat in the harbour and then gets drunk to the point where he falls off the deck! Good on him, I say!

So what if Kimi's fond of a few scoops? He can still manage to get out there and put in some stunning races and become world champion in the process. Okay, maybe some people might look at him as being too laid back and that affects his performances from time to time but, feck it, which would you prefer to have? The current bunch of uber-healthy, uber-clean-living, sponsor-friendly, clean-cut, training-12-times-a-day, thanking-every-sponsor-and-it's-dog, Schumacher-wannabe, boring auld sh*tes? Or someone who's relaxed, laid back, enjoys a drink and a laugh, doesn't have a f**king rod up his hole all the time and who, if he has a bad weekend, says to himself, "ah sure, feck it, I'll do better next time out. I'm off to the pub!", and who then usually does end up doing the business in dominant style next race out?

I know which kind of driver I'd prefer anyway!

pburns

aidan_dunne wrote: »

Never did James Hunt any harm!

We need more characters like that in F1. Personally, I applaud any guy who crashes out of the Monaco Grand Prix, says, "ah, f**k it!", to the team debrief and instead goes off to drown his sorrows with his mates on his boat in the harbour and then gets drunk to the point where he falls off the deck! Good on him, I say!

So what if Kimi's fond of a few scoops? He can still manage to get out there and put in some stunning races and become world champion in the process. Okay, maybe some people might look at him as being too laid back and that affects his performances from time to time but, feck it, which would you prefer to have? The current bunch of uber-healthy, uber-clean-living, sponsor-friendly, clean-cut, training-12-times-a-day, thanking-every-sponsor-and-it's-dog, Schumacher-wannabe, boring auld sh*tes? Or someone who's relaxed, laid back, enjoys a drink and a laugh, doesn't have a f**king rod up his hole all the time and who, if he has a bad weekend, says to himself, "ah sure, feck it, I'll do better next time out. I'm off to the pub!", and who then usually does end up doing the business in dominant style next race out?

I know which kind of driver I'd prefer anyway!

I agree. Believe me, I've broken bones in the name of 'having a good time';)...

And I was wrong to suggest Kimi was suffering from a hangover at Bahrain. Just read somewhere else he was suffering from an ear infection. And as ear can effect balance etc. I think KR can be excused for being a bit below par at one of his least favorite tracks.

I mean we all know Kimi will trounce Massa over an entire season...

BTW Lauda, JV, Frentzen - they're having a go slagging Hamilton off. Plus the news that his autobiography is not selling as well as expected is on most of the F1 sites. Looks like the backlash has begun!

Hope it lasts!:D

Jor

Have to disagree with you about James Hunt.
Certainly, he was a good race driver but if Niki Lauda had not crashed at the Nurbergring, missing several races after that and then pulling out of the Japanese GP in torrential rain, Hunt would probably not have won the title at all. He did not do much in F1 after that.

Kimi was a bit lucky to win last year. If Hamilton had not choked in the last race and Alonzo was not busy throwing the worlds longest hissy-fit, either of them should have won the championship.

It's the guys who put in the extra effort who will be remembered in the long run. Senna and Schumacker spent every moment necessary working on understanding and improving the car. If kimi doesn't want to be a one-hit-wonder, he should knuckle down. It's a young mans game, there will be plenty of time to party later.

Also, my favourite times in F1 were when Senna and Prost were both racing for McLaren. I have always admired the way McLaren gives it's drivers equal treatment. While it may lose you the title, at least it gives you something to watch.

Anyone want to return to the days of the Schumi freight train.