The Official 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Mojocvh]

Rosergs face!

[007 VXR]

Nice one Lewis, plus Seb

[Panda76]

Best quali in a while that one.

[Blayney]

Just looked at my gppredictor. .. swap the Williams around and hulk for verstappen and it would have been perfect one day early!

[anonymous-user]

Maybe its a good thing Ferrari didnt get any penalties for their pitlane escapades.

[VolvoT5]

Blayney said:

Nico is quickly becoming the de facto number 2 in Mercedes

Pretty much is no.2 now. If Ferrari close the gap Merc will have to put all their eggs in the Hamilton basket which will compound Nico's problems too.

Have to feel a bit sorry for Nico... with that team since 2010 waiting for the team to develop /helping the team, basically being the no.1 driver. Then in 2013 Hamilton rocks up the year before the team hit the jackpot with the rule changes. Nico has one half chance at winning the WDC and now he is pretty much relegated to no.2 status.

Rosberg with 8 career wins, pretty shocking when you think how dominant that car is and much less than the other older top tier / current no.2 drivers.... Button (15)/Webber(9)/Massa(11)/Raikkonen(20)/ etc.

Edited by VolvoT5 on Saturday 18th April 17:25

[Crafty_]

Its a good situation for Lewis because as VET and ROS squabble they steal points off each other, and he's slowly sneaking ahead in the WDC.

Rosberg needs to stop thinking and over analysing and hypothesising and just drive the flipping car. He's a better driver than he has shown this year.

Lewis is still better though, Vettel too.

ETA:

Good run for Sainz, showed Verstappen up a bit. Those boys know they are in a fight for their futures. Kvyat needs some help to get it together, don't think he'll get it at Red Bull.

Hulk did well too.

Disappointed with P10 for Grosjean.

Seems the straights here suited the Merc powered cars, the Renaults suffered a bit power wise ?

Thought the Williams may interfere with the Ferraris in Q3, but was not to be.

Jenson must be pissed, that car has done nothing but turn itself off all weekend. Berriing that I think they are starting to realise there is potential. At the last race Jenson said there is a big upgrade coming in Spain.

Edited by Crafty_ on Saturday 18th April 17:29

[Jasandjules]

Did Nico just say he didn't mind being second to Lewis but he's peeved to be beaten by Vettel?

And Lewis appears to have a consistent 2-3/10ths on Nico at the moment.

To be fair to Nico though last year his Qualifying laps tended to be much better, I don't know what happened to Lewis but he sure has serious Mojo going on this year.

Tomorrow is going to be great....

[JontyR]

[quote=JasandjulesI don't know what happened to Lewis but he sure has serious Mojo going on this year.

[/quote]

Maybe the loss of a certain pussy cat has helped his mindset?

[DanielSan]

If I was Jenson I'd be tempted to get an earlier flight home and just not bother tomorrow

[RGambo]

Gaz. said:

RGambo said:

I recon Lewis will be happy with Seb behind him. He can just do his own thing in the race without having to race for the team result, that's down to Nico.

Ferrari have excellent long run pace, they could get a 1-2 tomorrow too. I think LH would rather have Rosberg, a known quantity in the same car behind him, than Vettel in a car that behaves differently to his own.

Yeah, I go with you on that, but for the first race in a while, Lewis will have the all the team working for him to beat the 'Rarri's. There'll be no worries about inter team politics ( not that it seems to be bothering him) and in the form he's in, he'll fancy his chances against Vettle in a straight fight. The bigger the wedge that's gets driven between him and Nico, the more the team will lean his way if the Ferrari challenge keeps getting stronger..

[Dr Z]

Let me guess, Merc were sandbagging in Q3 as they don't want to be seen to have too much pace in hand over the competitors or for some other mysterious reason. Get real!

Great qualifying session. Enjoyed it, and Ferrari are getting faster in qualifying trim too. Here's hoping we have a proper battle between the Merc and Ferrari drivers tomorrow, with Williams not too far behind. I think Williams were matching Ferrari on the Medium tyres last race whilst slower than them on the Softs. Hopefully they won't be too far behind. It is now in Mercedes' interest to have a good performing Williams.

And McLaren get in to Q2. Great, now the real work starts.

[Crafty_]

Forgot to say, interesting to hear Dave Richards was in the Manor garage today.

[RichB]

Dr Z said:

Let me guess, Merc were sandbagging in Q3 as they don't want to be seen to have too much pace in hand over the competitors or for some other mysterious reason. Get real!

Has anyone suggested that?

[ajprice]

toerag said:

inb4 Nico blames Lewis for something.

Nico owns up and says he was responsible!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118573

[Dr Z]

RichB said:

Has anyone suggested that?

Yes, some comments floating around this very forum, that Merc were just playing with the opposition in the races/qualy by not running at their max capacity as, if they won by a mile from their nearest competitor, it would be seen as "bad for the show".

[LaurasOtherHalf]

ajprice said:

Nico owns up and says he was responsible!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118573

Is it just me that thinks Rosberg is letting all their competitors know the Mercedes' weaknesses with his constant stream of excuses. Every time he mentions how this tyre or that tyre won't work in each specific circumstance he gifts some precious information to their rivals.

By contrast, you never used to hear Vettel & Horner shouting about their week points in a race weekend.

[RichB]

Dr Z said:

RichB said:

Has anyone suggested that?

Yes, some comments floating around this very forum, that Merc were just playing with the opposition in the races/qualy by not running at their max capacity as, if they won by a mile from their nearest competitor, it would be seen as "bad for the show".

That was weeks ago. I meant on this thread.

[Dr Z]

RichB said:

That was weeks ago. I meant on this thread.

It was just a general comment at the perception of Mercedes' 'domination' this year. Wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Are we only allowed to comment on what was said in this thread?

[confucuis]

Given that Ferrari were 1.1 seconds off Merc last week, where did this time come from? Vettels only 4 tenths off Hamilton, does the circuit suit Ferrari or something? Don't get me wrong I'm delighted so see Vettel that close I just don't understand why Ferrari are so close!