[Official] Bahrain Grand Prix 2023: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 1 of 23

[veeten]

and the Ferrari goes down, yet again.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc grinds to halt on the track.

[veeten]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the driver of the race... Fernando Alonso.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Max and congrats to Alonso on getting a podium in his first race with Aston-Martin.

[Greem]

I enjoyed that. Some cracking driving both attacking and defending.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Greem

I enjoyed that. Some cracking driving both attacking and defending.

Will Fred Vasseur get the sack? …..

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Will Fred Vasseur get the sack? …..

[Moneyseeker]

Usual start by Ferrari, Leclerc is 25 points behind Verstappen already and if it is a new power unit required, will also be one power unit behind as well - and all after the first race, fabulous.

[tux]

Feel like you'd might as well give Red Bull & Verstappen the championship already.

[Tourer]

Dominant display by Red Bull, no doubt about it - but the track is an outlier, the teams had 3 days of testing on top of the normal practice sessions too. We could indeed be heading for more of the same (in the early part of the season anyway) or some of the others may get closer or in front of Red Bull at other tracks.

If MB really do go ahead and change the concept of the car, who knows what might happen during the season?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Dominant display by Red Bull, no doubt about it - but the track is an outlier, the teams had 3 days of testing on top of the normal practice sessions too. We could indeed be heading for more of the same (in the early part of the season anyway) or some of the others may get closer or in front of Red Bull at other tracks.

If MB really do go ahead and change the concept of the car, who knows what might happen during the season?

Mercedes will effectively be 18 months behind …. It could be years

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Dominant display by Red Bull, no doubt about it - but the track is an outlier, the teams had 3 days of testing on top of the normal practice sessions too. We could indeed be heading for more of the same (in the early part of the season anyway) or some of the others may get closer or in front of Red Bull at other tracks.

If MB really do go ahead and change the concept of the car, who knows what might happen during the season?

Maybe, but of three days of testing, they do actually spend a lot of the time running through set ups for the other circuits, validating them.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Mercedes will effectively be 18 months behind …. It could be years

Yeah it could - so maybe MB won't be right at the pointy end for some time - often happens after a period of dominance. Or, they could at least be pushing Ferrari, Red Bull and maybe Aston and be in the mix. Will be one of the things to watch this year.

Originally Posted by peebee2

Maybe, but of three days of testing, they do actually spend a lot of the time running through set ups for the other circuits, validating them.

Yeah I get that but the difficulty is the unique surface at Bahrain - we've seen teams do well there and not elsewhere before but that may not happen this time - we'll know after a few races.

[GT6]

well i enjoyed that, mostly due to the great drive from alonso

[Richard C]

Disaster for McLaren today. Apparently Lando had a pneumatic issue which required him to pit every 10 laps for a recharge. For Piastri, I watched the in-car via F1TV and it seemed like when he would turn the wheel it would disconnect the steering wheel electronics. She he was having problems with the screen blanking out, getting stuck in a specific gear, etc. When in the pits, they swapped steering wheel, but it kept doing the same thing. You could see they rebooted the system a few times and it still had the same issues even with the new wheel. I would guess maybe the harness that is connected to the steering shaft. Anyhow, I expect its an easy fix, but still rough for the team.

Richard

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Disaster for McLaren today. Apparently Lando had a pneumatic issue which required him to pit every 10 laps for a recharge. For Piastri, I watched the in-car via F1TV and it seemed like when he would turn the wheel it would disconnect the steering wheel electronics. She he was having problems with the screen blanking out, getting stuck in a specific gear, etc. When in the pits, they swapped steering wheel, but it kept doing the same thing. You could see they rebooted the system a few times and it still had the same issues even with the new wheel. I would guess maybe the harness that is connected to the steering shaft. Anyhow, I expect its an easy fix, but still rough for the team.

Richard

Danny Ric must be relieved he is out of the mess

[TCT]

Was there really a race today?


Not on my TV, sadly

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Danny Ric must be relieved he is out of the mess

Maybe maybe not? He is so far "out" that he is effectively out of F1. I know he is third driver at RBR, but do we really expect to see him return on a regular basis to F1? Seeing drivers like Mick or Danny as third drivers is just them hanging on by their fingernails to stay relevant. I am not faulting them. I would do the same.

I would bet that if he was offered two options (1) 2023 race seat at McLaren or (2) 2023 test driver for RBR... he would pick #1

Richard

[chavez]

Originally Posted by TCT

Was there really a race today?


Not on my TV, sadly

Nor in the picture theatre on Movietone News.

[P38 in workshop]

Originally Posted by Tourer

If MB really do go ahead and change the concept of the car, who knows what might happen during the season?

To begin with,they would need to understand what might be wrong with the current concept and why each aspect of it might not be working.Then they would need to determine what particular concept might succeed,all of which takes time and limited resources.The days of trying every conceivable concept and hoping one will work are over.We will find out if they have the ability to develop in a more constrained era.

[TCT]

Originally Posted by chavez

Nor in the picture theatre on Movietone News.

That's funny. I guess??





I have no idea what and where that "picture theatre on Movietone News" actually is.
Small difference (probably) is that I actually wanted to see it and tried everything I could.


And failed.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by GT6

well i enjoyed that, mostly due to the great drive from alonso

Yes, I echo that. I was actually rather depressed by the extent of the RBR dominance. Yes, the others may catch up to a degree but you can't help feeling that RBR and Max will have the titles pretty much in the bag by the time they do.

Alonso - well he was just a breath of fresh air. It never ceases to amaze me how a car that can be languishing in the lower midfield at the end of one season can be so improved at the start of the next. And it wasn't just Fernando, Lance did a more than decent job in the circumstances too. But Fernando was the standout, looking really racy and his immense enjoyment at being back at the pointy end was a sheer pleasure to witness.

I feel sorry for McLaren and particularly Lando. After dragging themselves out of the doldrums after so many years of poor performances, this season looks as though it'll be even worse than the last. How much longer can Lando remain there with his stock falling like this?

I spent quite a long time making comparisons in my head between the Astons and the Mercs. I'm not talking in technical terms as I make no excuses for maintaining a substantially ignorant stance when it comes to the technical stuff, but the Aston now looks so right, whereas the Merc just looks sooooo wrong. If I was a Merc corporate partner I'd be asking serious questions about why they've switched back to a really drab black livery which from an aesthetic point of view merely accentuates just how 'wrong' the car looks. And a few blobs of neon green and yellow do it no favours at all.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Alonso - well he was just a breath of fresh air. It never ceases to amaze me how a car that can be languishing in the lower midfield at the end of one season can be so improved at the start of the next. And it wasn't just Fernando, Lance did a more than decent job in the circumstances too.

Mr Horner would have you believe it is because the Aston is a copy of last year's Red Bull.......

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Mr Horner would have you believe it is because the Aston is a copy of last year's Red Bull.......

Consistently lacks any class.... so no surprise

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Mr Horner would have you believe it is because the Aston is a copy of last year's Red Bull.......

I bet Merc wished they'd copied it too.....

Of course other teams designs have never been copied before, have they?