F1 - 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

[gofast182]

As F1 heads to Bahrain for the second race of the 2016 season there will be a notable absence on track: Fernando Alonso. After suffering a spectacular crash in Melbourne which saw the MP4-31 roll through the air before coming to a rest upside down, a chest scan has indicated that Alonso hasn’t healed sufficiently enough to take part in the Bahrain race weekend. In his place McLaren has tapped reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne who will make his F1 debut. Based on the maligned new qualifying format still in place, upgrades still due, and Vandoorne’s [lack of] F1 experience, expectations should not be set overly high for a good result this weekend.
Things are quite close between Mercedes and Ferrari but we don’t yet have evidence that Ferrari has truly closed the gap. We may get a better idea this weekend but a more valid test will be if/when the old qualifying format is restored. Despite this battle, much of the attention in Melbourne was focused on Max Verstappen’s radio outbursts over the position he found himself in. There has been some debate over whether he had a point or whether it was a lack of maturity coming through. Overshadowed by Verstappen’s display, Daniel Ricciardo was able to achieve a very good result with a Renault engine supposedly down on power; keep an eye on Red Bull to see if they can duplicate that result. And if Haas F1’s debut was any indication, expect them to be back in the points.

US TV SCHEDULE:
Practice 1, Fri 4/1, 7:00AM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Practice 2, Fri 4/1, 11:00AM EST , NBCSN
Practice 3, Fri 4/2, 8:00AM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Qualifying, Sat 4/2, 11:00AM EST , CNBC
Race, Sun 4/3, 10:30AM EST , CNBC

Please click over to TOV Motorsports for the full post (including TV times, track data, and video) and discuss there, here, or both!

http://motorsports.vtec.net/blog/118/f1-2016-bahrain-grand-prix/

 

[wemay]

Thanks as always.

 

[bdcardinal]

I see they are sticking with the goofy qualifying this week. Thanks Bernie.

 

[Koz1]

I like it to be honest.
Teams will adapt.

 

[gofast182]

You like crickets chirping as the clock winds down with no one on track and banked laps are going unchallenged because of time cutoffs? It's [censored] compared to what they had.

 

[Koz1]

Originally Posted By: gofast182
You like crickets chirping as the clock winds down with no one on track and banked laps are going unchallenged because of time cutoffs? It's [censored] compared to what they had.


It was meant to shake up the order and it did except for the top 4 positions.
You don't like change and that's fine.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Koz1
Originally Posted By: gofast182
You like crickets chirping as the clock winds down with no one on track and banked laps are going unchallenged because of time cutoffs? It's [censored] compared to what they had.


It was meant to shake up the order and it did except for the top 4 positions.
You don't like change and that's fine.

I think it would be fine if the driver just had to start their final lap before the cut off times. As it is, you have look for a car to be out 2 minutes before the cutoff time...
Or the driver could only use 1 set of tires for all of qualifying. Right now the advantage of the first couple laps on a set of tires prevents the cars from staying out and circulating putting in better times gradually.

 

[A_Harman]

Q1 and Q3 were interesting, but not because of the new qualifying format. Q2 was embarrassing. With 7 minutes left to go, no cars were on track, and only Hulkenburg went back out with about 6 minutes left to improve his time, successfully jumping into Q3.

Q1 was interesting to watch the newcomers Vandoorne and Wehrlein perform. Wehrlein put on Manor's best qualifying performance since 2014.

Q3 was interesting to watch the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari, which will hopefully be "ON" all season. Hamilton and Rosberg finally cranked out some laps that were the fastest-ever F1 laps at Bahrain. The power required out of the hybrid powerplants to get these heavier cars to run as fast as the V10 cars of 2005 must be amazing. At the end of the V10 era, those engines were making ~930HP. And the hybrid cars are doing race distance on 30% less fuel than the V8 cars they replaced, and presumably 50% less fuel than the V10 cars.

 

[edyvw]

Before moving to the U.S. I was glued to the TV watching F1. But I think Bernie just killed this sport. I will try to tune in again and start fallowing it.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I see they are sticking with the goofy qualifying this week. Thanks Bernie.



He's just trying to bring it to parity with NASCAR. Relax.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I see they are sticking with the goofy qualifying this week. Thanks Bernie.



He's just trying to bring it to parity with NASCAR. Relax.


NASCAR straight up copied F1 with their knockout qualifying. The only tweaks they made were reverting to single car qualifying at tracks where the knock-out thing is a cluster.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Koz1
It was meant to shake up the order and it did except for the top 4 positions.

We don't know if it was the new qualifying that did that, or if it is just the shakeup from new cars, honestly. It also didn't help that the teams had to get used to the turnaround, particularly teams that didn't have the pace of Mercedes or Ferrari to begin with. I find that this system punishes the slower teams even more. Mercedes and Ferrari can still put in a great lap and park. The other teams are simply fighting the clock, and don't have the chance to run to the end, for the most part. This will change things up under changeable conditions or with a red flag, but in normal running, it's not going to shake things up much. It will amplify mistakes and events out of teams' control. Other than that, it will be the same.

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I see they are sticking with the goofy qualifying this week. Thanks Bernie.

Yes, I'm going to defend Bernie again, at least a bit. This wasn't his idea. He wasn't fond of how it went last time, either. Now I know why he skipped the last race. No one could bother him about it on scene. The teams and the regulatory authorities have to get together and come up with something, and Bernie has limited say.

Where Bernie is being disingenuous is with his talk of a reverse grid. I think a reverse grid would be fine. He claims he wants that, but then has a complicated plan on how to do it. It wouldn't be a reverse grid based upon the last race, but a qualifying session, with penalties based upon the last race's results.

Of course, this will be criticised as unduly complex. But, Bernie needs to be upfront about this. He doesn't want it because it's complex; as the rights holder, he has an obligation to provide three days of TV coverage in various markets. Here, for example, he is to provide a feed for P2, qualification, and the race. If you go to a straight reverse grid, qualification is gone, and what is he supposed to tell team sponsors, F1 sponsors, and networks? What feed is he supposed to provide for Saturday instead? So, he can't eliminate Saturday qualification and replace it with a reverse grid, straight up.

Between the technology of broadcasting and Bernie himself, things have improved over the years, from a product availability perspective. And, it continues to improve, even currently. My first chances to watch any F1 stuff was years ago, with Jackie Stewart hosted highlights, probably a week or two old, back after his racing retirement. Then, cable TV brought about TSN, which helped. Now, TSN has five channels, and Bernie has taken advantage and has expanded programming, and I have the freedom to set my schedule as I see fit and watch whatever I wish, live, day or night. Instead of the basic P2, Q, and race, there's now the driver's parade, and coverage before and after most sessions. While I may not watch all that extraneous stuff, at least they're taking advantage of the bandwidth they have available, rather than having five channels of the same Sportsdesk feed.

I think people would be a little easier on Bernie if he spoke a little more directly at times. This is what he should say: Certain interests wanted to change qualifying. I, Bernie, personally, would like reverse grids, but as the person in charge of commercial rights, I have to guarantee a feed of Saturday action at the track, so with what clout I do have as the commercial rights holder, I cannot really endorse a reverse grid.

As for being more direct, perhaps he should just publicly throw under the bus the people responsible for this qualification system. What are they going to do, fire him?

 

[dparm]

Reverse grid is going to cause more accidents on the first lap, I guarantee it. The first few corners on the first lap are always treacherous, so now you're talking about putting the slowest and arguably least skilled guys in the very front. Not a fan.

Also, how will they deal with sandbagging? Is this going to have to be a multi-race ordeal? Why does everything have to be so complicated? If they want to keep people interested, stop switching the fundamentals around every other year "to see what sticks"...it feels like amateur hour.

 

[Garak]

Oh, I'd agree with that about the collisions on the first lap. But, in general, that's what I'm getting at. The idea is fine at first glance. But, if they really want to change qualifying, there's always the law of unintended consequences. Bernie won't really advocate a reverse grid, because of various reasons, not the least of which is that he has to offer Saturday programming, and I would gather the networks don't want qualifying replaced with a talk show hosted by Bernie. Then, would they have to do a rolling start to minimize collisions? And, that would be more rule changes, because if they did get some agreement to bring in a reverse grid by some miracle, and then realized the start procedure has to be changed, then that's another set of rules that has to be tinkered with, under the same unwieldly system. Unfortunately, that's why things have to be complicated.

Qualifying wasn't broken in the first place, so they shouldn't have been fixing it. It was fair, equitable, and workable. The current system still arguably accomplishes the same thing, with a few wrenches tossed in, that race engineers will figure out in due course anyhow. So, you replace one system with another that accomplishes the exact same result, but in a more boring fashion?