Bahrain F1 Race 2. No Spoilers From Me!!!

[AndyTBoater]

Oh my word. What a race!!

I think all F1 should be run on short tracks now. Loads of overtaking and all cars on the same lap at the end. 

I haven't seen that many cars in a line, so close together and fighting for position for years. And at the end of the race as well.

Normally there would be car - gap - car - massive gap - car car - 1 lap gap etc

And it had all the drama you could want. Proper edge of the seat stuff. 

Well done to those that came 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

And bad luck to those who didnt come 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

[BroadAmbition]

I too actually enjoyed watching the race, first one I have really enjoyed in a long time tbh.

I was gutted for Russell though

Griff

[ExSurveyor]

George Russell is a world champion in the making, sort of hope he gets another go this weekend.

[JanetAnne]

I reckon Hamilton back and Russell in Bottas's car would be a far more appealing spectacle.

[MauriceMynah]

I reckon quite a few people have been thinking along those lines JA

[Chelsea14Ian]

I was sure George  would win.Agree with the right  team,he will go on to perhaps be world  champion. Would  be interesting if he was along side Lewis.Bottas too had some bad luck on Sunday.Good to see three British drivers on the grid though. 

[Paul]

14 hours ago, AndyTBoater said:

I think all F1 should be run on short tracks now. Loads of overtaking and all cars on the same lap at the end. 

The only reason for the close finish was the late safety car which caused all the drama in the Mercedes pit lane and put all cars back on the lead lap, prior to that Russell looked likely to lap everyone up to the top five, and some cars twice. 

What has been good all season has been the amount of overtaking, largely down to the fact that the rescheduled season has been run on many older, more traditional race tracks rather than the modern "tilkedrome" circuits many of which make overtaking very difficult. 

I think Russell has a good chance, the FIA had approval for the F1 teams to enter the UAE for Sundays race as a protected bubble, nobody who did not travel as part of that bubble will be permitted entry without quarantine, so Hamilton, if he does return the mandatory two negative tests would need special permission from the UAE government. as well as the FIA to enter the bubble. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

With Williams under new management send Bottas back to them and buy Russell out of his contact at the  same time. Oh, put Checko in the Red Bull to challenge Max.

[Maxwellian]

1 hour ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

With Williams under new management send Bottas back to them and buy Russell out of his contact at the  same time. Oh, put Checko in the Red Bull to challenge Max.

I heard that the Williams team were considering that, but not Bottas.

[JanetAnne]

With Lewis technically out of contract it may be a lot cheaper for Mercedes to buy Russell out of his Williams deal and not renew Hamiltons... 

Budget is budget and there is always a bottom line.

 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

2 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

With Lewis technically out of contract it may be a lot cheaper for Mercedes to buy Russell out of his Williams deal and not renew Hamiltons... 

Budget is budget and there is always a bottom line.

 

Based on quotes by Toto Wolf regarding one race doesn`t define a season and what exactly Hamilton brings to the team that other drivers can`t, I can`t see that happening.

[Paul]

Mercedes cannot afford to start buying drivers out of contracts. There is a spending cap of $145m for next season and whilst that doesn't include driver salaries it does include contract fees. In comparison, last year Mercedes spent around $400 on formula 1. They have enough economies to make without costing themselves around $20m dollars in contract fees. 

[oldgregg]

They wouldn't need to buy him out.

He's under a long-term contract to Mercedes / Toto Wolff, and so they've effectively been able to place him at one of the teams they supply (Williams) where he can be developed in a less pressured environment.

But I don't see his move to Brackley happening until the 2022 season.

[BrundallNavy]

Even with a different winner it was still a boring race. Hopefully next year will be better “come on Fenando”. 

[MauriceMynah]

10 minutes ago, BrundallNavy said:

it was still a boring race

agreed! :-(

[Paul]

16 hours ago, oldgregg said:

They wouldn't need to buy him out.

He's under a long-term contract to Mercedes / Toto Wolff, and so they've effectively been able to place him at one of the teams they supply (Williams) where he can be developed in a less pressured environment.

But I don't see his move to Brackley happening until the 2022 season.

Not true, he was for a time part of the Mercedes AMG Young Driver program but he's no longer under any form of contract or agreement with them, he is independently contracted to Williams, not "placed" there by Mercedes. Mercedes did try and persuade Claire Williams to release him for 2021, she flatly refused, hence Bottas was confirmed for another year. Then of course the Williams management changed, by which time Bottas' contract had already been confirmed. 

The ethos at Mercedes would not allow them to retrench a driver after contracting him, the team just don't do that sort of thing. It looks likely to happen for 2022 though a lot will change in F1 by then. Totally new cars, new simplified power units, a range of standardised components, and remember Mercedes AMG have not yet even confirmed their entry to F1 beyond 2021. There is a line of thought they may withdraw their works team and support either McLaren or Williams as the official team entry as their parent company Daimler AG looks to recover losses due to the Covid pandemic. 

Even if Mercedes do continue in F1 which I personally think is most likely there is no guarantee that they will enjoy the superiority which they have for the past 7 years. The rule changes for 2022 look likely to make aerodynamics the primary component of performance again, rather than engines as it is now and Red Bull have the undisputed king of aero, Aidrian Newey in their locker whose achievements in car design make even Mercedes' performance pale in to insignificance. His cars have won no less than ten F1 world titles as well as several other titles in single seater racing such as PPG Cart/Indycar. 

Changes such as will happen in 2022 usually lead to a shake up of the top teams, there is no reason to think it will not do so again. Over the past twenty years we have seen a period of dominance by Ferrari under Ross Brawn, then Red Bull under Newey and now Mercedes under James Allison and Andy Cowell all brought about by significant rule changes. The changes n 2022 are designed in part to reduce cost but also give power unit customer teams like McLaren and Racing Point (soon to be Aston Martin) a better chance to compete against their engine provider's factory team. It will be a fascinating watch. 

[ExSurveyor]

Oops, I appear to have booked 4 nights in Budapest at the end of July next year, Fingers crossed it might coincide with a race.

Be good to go again as it is such a beautiful city and an easy track to access.

Now all we need to do is get on top of this blooming virus.

[HEM]

14 hours ago, psychicsurveyor said:

Be good to go again as it is such a beautiful city...

I was in Budapest for 3 nights early March this year attending the Plenary Meeting of the International Gliding Commision. 

We got the meeting in just before the lockdowns started.  On the evening of the first meeting day the Hungarian Gliding folks organised an evening cruise (with dinner) on the Danube.  All the bridges & many buildings are illuminated.  Even with a simple camera I got some decent photos - here the parliament building:

[ExSurveyor]

That is a beautiful building, day or night.

It is a city that feels safe and always friendly and the transport is efficient and clean.

[HEM]

Our meeting & accomodation was in the Grande Hotel - on an island in the Danube.
Probably a good idea to keep us locked in!

Our meetings were organised by Andras - a meteorologist by profession, ably supported by his good-looking wife Diana & 2 further colleagues.  I almost put my proverbial foot in it when at some stage I aksed Diana whether she also flew - in good English she replied that aviation was her hobby & occupation.  OK  I thought - maybe she worked at the airport.

"I am captain Boeing 737 since 12 years"!!!!