03/04/2016
THE RECOVERY POSITION - BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2016, RACE REPORT.... The fight for the top step of the podium was decided very early on today. With one contender not even making the start, one having a shunt and the third having severe finger trouble off the line, the win became easy. Behind that, all sorts went on! The ridiculous decision to keep the universally hated qualifying procedure has at least been somewhat eased by what now appears to be a fantastic decision to let the drivers use three compounds of Pirelli's for the race. No team used the same tyre strategy for both cars, which led to lots of ebbing and flowing of lap times and positions throughout. So, once again Formula One looks like it's shot itself in the foot on a Saturday, only to recover the situation and give us a thrilling spectacle on Sunday.
It's five wins on the trot now for Nico Rosberg. The disappointment of being fastest all weekend, only to lose out on pole to an incredible lap from him team-mate, was all made up for in the run to turn one. Again he got the better start of the two Mercedes, but this time he came out of the corner in first place and all he needed to do from then was manage his pace to the end. He ensured he kept enough life in his rubber to be quick around the pit-stops, then simply managed the gap to whatever was behind him. He won't get many easier victories. Although Lewis Hamilton seems reasonably content to have salvaged two podiums from poor positions at the end of the opening lap, if he continues to have terrible starts a third consecutive championship will rapidly slip away from him.
With an aggressive strategy and a good start, Kimi Raikkonen had an outside chance of winning today. However, his poor getaway put paid to that. I don't really think Ferrari had the race pace to trouble the leader, but again, if Kimi had exited the first corner in second place, they could have tried a two-stopper to get themselves on the top step at the finish. Sebastian Vettel's engine failure on the formation lap is a cause of great concern for the Scuderia. They're already 50 points behind Mercedes in the constructor's standings after only two races, and if they have to start taking grid penalties for reliability issues later on in the year, they're never going to catch up.
If Red Bull can get themselves in the mix at the start of a race, they have real chances of pulling off a shock result. Daniel Ricciardo's pace throughout, even after getting involved in the first corner antics, shows that when they get some proper power behind them, said to be in Canada, podiums will be possible. It seemed a strange choice to put the Aussie on medium tyres for his final fifteen laps, but ultimately, it made no difference to his result. Daniil Kvyat had his second awful qualifying in two weeks. He appeared to spend most of the race getting overtaken, yet salvaged six points and seventh position from a 15th place start. Solid and consistent all race, he couldn't have finished any higher. There are, however, two kids chomping at the bit to get into the mother team, so he very much needs to step it up on a Saturday afternoon.
Who would have thought it? A brand new outfit enters the sport, scores an incredible sixth place on their debut, then goes one better with fifth on their second outing. Romain Grosjean used the opportunity of being the first car with an open tyre choice for the race to perfection. I don't know who the chief strategist is at Haas, but they deserve a pay rise. Two races in and they're already outsmarting the likes of Williams and Toro Rosso. No way was their car faster over a race distance, yet they played this one to perfection and beat both of them. The decision to put the Frenchman on used super-softs for his third stint was inspired. By then the surface had rubbered-in enough for the red-walls, even previously worn ones, to keep going for 16 fast laps and claim that valuable position. Esteban Gutierrez was also going well, with a reasonable chance of a point or two, before brake failure curtailed his afternoon. He shouldn't be too unhappy though, until that moment his pace was very encouraging.
If Pirelli's medium compound tyre had performed today as it had done on Friday, I suspect Max Verstappen would be celebrating a fourth place finish, rather than two positions further back. Toro Rosso tried a two-stopper with the Dutchman, but degradation was way too high to pull it off successfully, so he reverted to three stops, ultimately falling behind Ricciardo and Grosjean. When on the softs or super-softs, he was very brisk indeed, but they deserve credit for at least trying something different, even if, in the end, they couldn't quite pull it off. Carlos Sainz was another one involved in a first lap incident, damaging various parts of his machine. He soldiered on, but the car became undrivable. Fortune wasn't on Toro Rosso's side today, and as has been mentioned many times before, this is the time they need to score big, before all the others get power upgrades.
For Williams, the Bahrain Grand Prix was an example of how to get it all wrong, although I think they have every right to feel aggrieved over the drive-through penalty given to Valtteri Bottas after his first corner shunt. Charlie Whiting has stated many times that the stewards should be lenient on any first-lap antics, and the gap was there, so to me it was simply a racing incident. Away from that, this was the only squad to try two-stopping with both cars (although due to his penalty Bottas went through the pits three times). Felipe Massa exited the first corner in second place, Bottas third. From there they simply went backwards. It was quite apparent the medium tyres weren't the ones to be on, yet they let Massa complete two full stints on them. With a little more nous there's no reason they couldn't have finished much, much higher. In their quest for a third successive third place in the championship, days like today are important. Today they missed out.
McLaren showed they can get the thinking right by giving Stoffel Vandoorne the chance to score on his debut. He took that chance with tenth place, and he can thank the team for Jenson Button's retirement to allow him that solitary point. Jenson made a great start, got ahead of the Belgian on the first lap, and with the pace he showed through practice, could have bagged a decent haul of points. Vandoorne meanwhile, looked a little out of his depth on Friday, but he learnt quickly, got up to speed, then out-qualified his new team-mate with a great lap on Saturday. His pace did fluctuate somewhat over the proceedings today, but nobody could have expected any more from him. An excellent first outing.
Renault certainly had a weekend to forget. Jolyon Palmer never made the start lights, and Kevin Magnussen, due his rather unfortunate penalty, had to start from the pit-lane, compromising his whole race. He did what he could, and indeed he battled hard, but a points scoring finish was never on the cards. Both these guys have real talent, and once Renault's ambition (and money) starts to show, I'm sure we'll see these two fighting at least near the top of the mid-field.
Sauber's quest for a top ten finish seems a long way off. You can tell both Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr are pushing as hard as possible by the way they fought each other on track today. All this for a twelfth and fourteenth place finish. The Swede came out on top this time, but it must be difficult for them to keep their motivation up with such average machinery at their disposal, coupled with the uncertainty over the whole future for the Hinwil squad. They both deserve to be on the grid, and they both deserve something better with which to showcase their skills.
Pascal Wehrlein showed the world this weekend why he's rated so highly. Manor have the slowest car in the field, yet the German qualified 16th and finished above a Sauber and both Force Indias. This was no fluke either. Although both the Silverstone boys had problems, Wehrlein lapped at a very consistent, incredible pace for what he had underneath him. Grosjean and Haas may get all the headlines, but Pascal Wehrlein is by far my 'driver of the day'. Rio Haryanto finished 30 seconds behind his team-mate, but there was a decent amount of the race where he all but matched the other Manor. The main difference was his decision to use the medium tyres for his third stint, rather than the super-softs which were put on the other car. It's going to be difficult for the first ever Indonesian in F1 to shine with such a rapid guy on the other side of the garage, but he's coped well so far, and has shown some true flashes of speed.
Both Force India drivers got themselves into scrapes during the opening laps, and neither of them recovered. By lap 4 both had made a pit-stop, both of them made the mistake of using the medium tyre at some stage of the race, and neither of them could muster any kind of decent lap time throughout. Whether they're having problems with set-up or overall balance, the heights of last year's fifth place in the championship appear some way off at the moment. There's obviously some speed in the car, as was made apparent by Nico Hulkenberg's eighth place in qualifying. Both the German and Sergio Perez were catching the Sauber in front of them at the end, but Sauber isn't the team they should be fighting with. I'm sure there's a lot of head-scratching going on back at Silverstone.
Well, that's race two over and done with. So, what have we learnt? As expected, Ferrari are closer to Mercedes, but not on a par with them yet. Red Bull have some ominous race pace already, so watch out for them when they get more power from under the engine cover. Behind that, it's still anyone's guess. Williams are doing well on a Saturday, much less so on race day. Bit-by-bit, McLaren are creeping up the field. There's pace in the Force India, but not always. Haas have been a revelation, can they keep it up? Toro Rosso still look the best bet for a shock result. and you know Renault will come on strong soon. In short, it's going to be a hell of a fight for fourth place. I can't wait!