Official 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[honda_exige]

suffolk009 said:

2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

Guess Jaguar have been proven right 20 years later. I remember the criticism they got for their bright shade of green but they claimed darker green looked black through a TV camera hence the lurid shade.

[Deesee]

Track map, 3x DRS zones (no changes from 2020)

[SpudLink]

If Mercedes are a little off the pace at the start of the season, Verstappen could start the first few races on pole. His starts are not always the best, but there may not be much need for his overtaking skills to be tested.

[suffolk009]

London424 said:

If you look through the races he hit more cars than you’d want to though. Lots didn’t end in him retiring but he still hit a fair few.

I wasn't counting, but he did seem to *rub* more than his fair share.

[suffolk009]

honda_exige said:

suffolk009 said:

2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

Guess Jaguar have been proven right 20 years later. I remember the criticism they got for their bright shade of green but they claimed darker green looked black through a TV camera hence the lurid shade.

On my telly (and only really for the on track footage) the Aston looks like a steely blue/grey.

[ajprice]

Current penalty points, 12 in a year (rolling 12 months) gets a race ban.

[paolow]

ajprice said:

Current penalty points, 12 in a year (rolling 12 months) gets a race ban.

The brits are smashing it!

Though I'd expect a good increase from some of the 'zero' runners in the season....

[ColdSyphon]

When / where did Lewis & George get their penalty points?

[Deesee]

ColdSyphon said:

When / where did Lewis & George get their penalty points?

George had 2x 3 points for repeatedly ignoring double yellows (British GP and Turkish GP)

Lewis, 3x 2 points, pit lane entry at the Italian GP under red flag, and Ignoring yellows at Austria then the ‘collision’ with Albon at the same event.

Here’s the ‘all time’ list 5/10 no longer driving in f1.

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

George had 2x 3 points for repeatedly ignoring double yellows (British GP and Turkish GP)

Lewis, 3x 2 points, pit lane entry at the Italian GP under red flag, and Ignoring yellows at Austria then the ‘collision’ with Albon at the same event.

Here’s the ‘all time’ list 5/10 no longer driving in f1.

Still can't believe seb hasn't had many more after some of his hijinks!!!

[Deesee]

TheDeuce said:

Deesee said:

George had 2x 3 points for repeatedly ignoring double yellows (British GP and Turkish GP)

Lewis, 3x 2 points, pit lane entry at the Italian GP under red flag, and Ignoring yellows at Austria then the ‘collision’ with Albon at the same event.

Here’s the ‘all time’ list 5/10 no longer driving in f1.

Still can't believe seb hasn't had many more after some of his hijinks!!!

Yep, in 2019 he was one mistake away from a 1 race ban, then in 2020 no points..

(To be fair he phoned in the 2020 season)..

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

TheDeuce said:

Deesee said:

George had 2x 3 points for repeatedly ignoring double yellows (British GP and Turkish GP)

Lewis, 3x 2 points, pit lane entry at the Italian GP under red flag, and Ignoring yellows at Austria then the ‘collision’ with Albon at the same event.

Here’s the ‘all time’ list 5/10 no longer driving in f1.

Still can't believe seb hasn't had many more after some of his hijinks!!!

Yep, in 2019 he was one mistake away from a 1 race ban, then in 2020 no points..

(To be fair he phoned in the 2020 season)..

I was thinking 2018 when he once carelessly drove in to Lewis and then due to the upset deliberately pulled up alongside and shunted him! At a stroke he behaved worse than all other penalty point earning misdemeanors combined and he got away with it!

[Deesee]

TheDeuce said:

I was thinking 2018 when he once carelessly drove in to Lewis and then due to the upset deliberately pulled up alongside and shunted him! At a stroke he behaved worse than all other penalty point earning misdemeanors combined and he got away with it!

If you look back to 17&18 Lewis and Seb were majestic, a proper championship through the season, a proper battle on track..

The ‘17 Baku incident, was somewhat strange.. Seb just snapped.. upper hand to Lewis..

Although that was not the strangest incident at that track.. the year after saw team mates moving under braking and not finishing the race, Ericsson hitting Grosjean under a SC!!! (Or did he ) Oh and the lead driver pulling up on the penultimate lap!!

[Piginapoke]

CustardOnChips said:

London424 said:

Piginapoke said:

suffolk009 said:

My two thoughts are:
1. What lap will Verstappen crash out after failing to execute another wildly optimistic overtake?
2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

I don't think Max has put a foot wrong recently, last year he was outstanding, but he still has this reputation.

If you look through the races he hit more cars than you’d want to though. Lots didn’t end in him retiring but he still hit a fair few.

He does. Lots of the other drivers give him a wide birth because of it.

I've said this on here a few times. As good a racer as Max is. It has yet to be seen how he performs under real pressure, when a championship is on the line. Balls out taking risks to win a race is great when it doesn't matter if you bin it. But its completely different when every point counts.

The Redbull garage will be a pressure cooker environment if they have a sniff of either championship. I'm not sure Max and his dad will be able to cope.

I hope we get to see what he's made of and they push Mercedes all the way.

He is a once in a generation talent, just overshadowed by Mercedes dominance. He’ll be absolutely fine if the car is good enough.

[Piginapoke]

honda_exige said:

suffolk009 said:

2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

Guess Jaguar have been proven right 20 years later. I remember the criticism they got for their bright shade of green but they claimed darker green looked black through a TV camera hence the lurid shade.

Ironically I think the AM effort is as doomed as the Jaguar team was, so it’s appropriate they choose similar colours

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

TheDeuce said:

I was thinking 2018 when he once carelessly drove in to Lewis and then due to the upset deliberately pulled up alongside and shunted him! At a stroke he behaved worse than all other penalty point earning misdemeanors combined and he got away with it!

If you look back to 17&18 Lewis and Seb were majestic, a proper championship through the season, a proper battle on track..

The ‘17 Baku incident, was somewhat strange.. Seb just snapped.. upper hand to Lewis..

Although that was not the strangest incident at that track.. the year after saw team mates moving under braking and not finishing the race, Ericsson hitting Grosjean under a SC!!! (Or did he ) Oh and the lead driver pulling up on the penultimate lap!!

Sorry I meant 17' for the Baku 'brake tested me' incident! But I agreed, apart from that they were fun to watch - only wish the cars had been a tiny bit closer overall. The Ferrari found the speed but never quite the all round ability of the Merc.. it didn't help that each Ferrari update seemed to be a lottery with at least a 50% chance of reverting back to previous spec. Tbh I'm still not convinced they have suitable talent in their aero dept...

Really hoping at Aston seb has a truly equal car to McLaren, he just needs something to realistically fight for - I think at Ferrari, even before the troubled times, he must have known the Mercedes was simply above and beyond.

[TheDeuce]

Piginapoke said:

honda_exige said:

suffolk009 said:

2. Will Aston Martin actually finish the race before pitting the car to repaint it a colour that actually looks like green on the telly?

Guess Jaguar have been proven right 20 years later. I remember the criticism they got for their bright shade of green but they claimed darker green looked black through a TV camera hence the lurid shade.

Ironically I think the AM effort is as doomed as the Jaguar team was, so it’s appropriate they choose similar colours

Doomed..? Depends what you think the AM effort is supposed to acheive. I would say that performance at least close to McLaren and reliability in excess of Renault would be fairly useful for the brand. Also wouldn't hurt that there is a very real chance they could beat Ferrari this season..

[anonymous-user]

my list was just for the first event.

[TheDeuce]

oldnail said:

If Checo can show form like Sakir and Turkey, more often than not, he may be underdog for the title.

Max may have the car that can show his talent.

Third is hard to say. Sir Lewis is hard to write off. Rarely unlucky, consistent, good at squeezing the most out of a car while being easy on it and good at comebacks in difficult times.

That is, if the Mercedes lack of pace was genuine.

Top 3 guess: Checo, Max, Sir Lewis. Not sure of the order.

Edited by oldnail on Thursday 18th March 22:55

If Lewis is on the podium then odds are that bottas will be too. Either the car is podium worthy or it isn't... And bottas really isn't a slouch.

Not saying bottas will always podium with Lewis... But in general if it's a Merc suiting track he's good enough to be just behind - assuming a normal race etc etc.

[honda_exige]

TheDeuce said:

If Lewis is on the podium then odds are that bottas will be too. Either the car is podium worthy or it isn't... And bottas really isn't a slouch.

Not saying bottas will always podium with Lewis... But in general if it's a Merc suiting track he's good enough to be just behind - assuming a normal race etc etc.

There's enough of a performance gap between the two for others to be between them, Bottas managed to finish 5th in the 2018 drivers championship while Hamilton walked it, lest we forget.