2008 Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Analysis

Since Friday, Ferrari seemed to be the team that would dominate the Bahrain Grand Prix. During the practice sessions, another fact could be noticed: Felipe Massa had better car balance than Kimi Raikkonen. If nothing disastrous happened, it was clear to me that they would finish 1-2, with Felipe ahead of Kimi (reference: my previous post Raikkonen and Hamilton under pressure?), and so it happened. It was a brilliant comeback for the Brazilian driver, who had been criticized after making costly mistakes in the previous two races.

Raikkonen was not bad either. He continues to deserve his 'Iceman' moniker, this time for being sensate enough to realize that second place was the best he could get. The Finn knows that many times he cannot match Massa's pace, and settled for the 8 points that put him in the championship lead.

According to my observations, Massa is still faster considering single lap times, but over the course of a race, Raikkonen is more consistent. That reminds me a little of the old Nigel Mansell vs. Nelson Piquet duel at Williams in 1986-87. Due to his own mistakes, the faster Mansell lost a few races to the more consistent Piquet. Both Raikkonen and Massa are long ways from becoming the legends that were Mansell and Piquet, but if I were Massa, I would take a glance at the history books and try to be more consistent. Piquet ultimately won the battle within Williams by winning the 1987 championship.


Not just another German race car

BMW once again showed some promising pace. They seem to be better than McLaren during the race, especially considering that they have less tyre wear than the British team. In fact, their problem is that they cannot heat up their rubber fast enough. That plays a big factor in qualifying. Kubica had to take less fuel than Ferrari and McLaren to be able to get the pole. Once they get around this issue, they will be racing more closely to the red cars. All in all, BMW is leading the Constructors Championship, after finishing 3rd and 4th in Bahrain.

BMW made two mistakes during the race. One at the start, when Robert Kubica had major wheelspin and lost his lead to Massa going into turn 1. The other was when the team provided no information to Kubica about the fact that there was oil on the track. As he lost his grip, Kimi Raikkonen managed to get by him. Those mistakes were not that costly, as the most that BMW could have hoped for was third. Ferrari was in a league of their own and Kimi would eventually get around Robert.

For the second consecutive race BMW got faster, more consistent lap times during their last stint, coincidentally when they used the prime tyres. The cars were lighter on fuel, because the last stint was shorter, but they seemed to be a lot more well balanced. Maybe it is something that BMW's engineers should consider for the next race: two stints with the primes and one with the options.


McLaren struggles, especially Hamilton

If everything went well for Ferrari and BMW, the same cannot be stated about McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was out of control throughout the weekend. On Friday he seemed uncomfortable that his teammate Heikki Kovalainen was very close to - even ahead of - him on the time charts, and crashed into a tyre barrier while trying to be faster. During the race, he got a poor start. His car just did not jump away when the red lights turned off. Later he said it was his own mistake, because he did not press early enough the button that would engage the proper engine setting (reference: post-race driver quotes). At least he raised his hand for that mistake.

By lap 2, Hamilton was in 10th position, behind Fernando Alonso. He still had a chance of finishing at least 6th. Something came loose inside his head, though, because as he accelerated faster than Alonso out of a corner, he did not steer away from the Renault, hit its back, almost flew over it, and lost his front wing. I am not sure what he was thinking. He later made it worse by saying that it was a racing incident. Hopefully he will watch the replay and publicly blame it on himself as soon as possible. I do not recommend waiting one full week for him to change his mind. Felipe Massa just did that after Malaysia and the Ferrari fans were not happy about that.

After the accident with Alonso, Hamilton came in for the pit stop, changed his nose cone, put a lot of fuel and went back to the race with a different strategy. That was not enough. There was no miracle Schumacher-style comeback for him. In the end he finished just 13th.

While everyone talks about Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen has scored the same amount of points - 14. Watch out for him. He does not lack any natural talent in comparison to Hamilton, and driving the last season in the lousy Renault taught him a couple of things that Hamilton is yet to learn. Yesterday, though, he finished only in a business-like 5th.


Quick notes:

- Fernando Alonso could not score any points this time. With 19 of the 22 cars finishing the race, all he could manage was a realistic 10th for Renault. He raced since the second lap without a small part of his rear wing - chopped off by Hamilton - but that did not affect the results.
- David Coulthard brake-tested Jenson Button going into a corner and 'f'orgot' to check his rearview mirrors. Button avoided the crash under braking, but Coulthard simply turned as if nothing was happening. The two collided. These situations are becoming common to Coulthard. He has to stop blaming them on the other drivers or on plain bad luck. He cannot show a gap, brake early and close the door when the driver behind is already committed to a move.
- Although Honda had disappointing race results - Rubens Barrichello was 11th, Jenson Button DNF -, they have once again shown some improvements. While they still lack straightaway speed, they may be consistently fighting for the points if the new aero package planned for Barcelona fixes that.

Star of the race
Felipe Massa

Shame of the race
Lewis Hamilton

--Andre N.

Raikkonen and Hamilton under pressure?

As I watched Free Practice sessions 1 and 2 for the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was obvious that Kimi Raikkonen was fighting to stay on the track. At one point in FP2 he got a similar time to his teammate Felipe Massa, but that was a single lap. Later Felipe put almost one second between them, but the better part of it was probably due to being lighter on fuel. Still, for the long run, Massa seems better. Raikkonen is struggling for grip and is certainly slower than his teammate.

I still expect a Ferrari 1-2 for the race, but it seems like Massa over Raikkonen this time. Unfortunately I am not in time to change my pick at F1 Pick 6.

It is unclear weather Raikkonen's struggle has anything to do with a faster teammate. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, made a critical mistake while trying to match his teammate Heikki Kovalainen. Lewis accelerated too much going over a kerb and skid into the tyre barrier, destroying his car. It was scary, because for some reason, he never took his hands off the steering wheel. He could have been hurt.

Is pressure affecting the two championship leaders? More to come tomorrow and on Sunday...

--Andre N.

Bahrain – Race Analysis

This time we had a reasonable F1 race. Unlike the first two races of the season, the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix had a little bit of a fight for the victory. The race was fun to watch, with many overtaking manoeuvres, although most of them for positions outside the points. Drivers had a hard time controlling their cars, especially when going out of the race line and onto the thin sand that covered the least used asphalt. Due to that, there were many off-track excursions. Rising above all the problems, Felipe Massa got his first win of the season and Alonso had his worst result – 5th – making the championship battle even closer.

Felipe Massa drove like a champion

Massa really drove like a champion. This is what Jean Todt said on the radio after Felipe crossed the line. He got the hat trick – pole position, best lap, win – which is already impressive. Hamilton’s pursuit did not alter his concentration. Add to that the fact that he came from a disappointing result last week, after a mistake that was solely his fault, and we may have two ‘icemen’ in Ferrari.

I have written in this blog that I believe Massa is the strongest contender for the title (‘Felipe Massa – 2007 F1 world champion?’) and have given many reasons for this. The speed and focus that he showed yesterday are two characteristics of a champion. I also have a feeling that Michael Schumacher treats him like his pupil. Massa has admitted that they spoke about Malaysia right after the race. That cannot hurt, can it? If I were Raikkonen I would start listening to Schumacher as well.

Lewis Hamilton rewrites the record books

Hamilton is a great driver, who got to Formula One better prepared than most before him. And Ron Dennis gave him a great car. Now he takes his 3rd consecutive podium, in his first 3 races, and he is the only rookie to have ever accomplished that. He beat Alonso all weekend long. There is nothing else to say about this guy.

Wait, there is. After Malaysia’s press conference, some people had the point of view that he was way overexcited, maybe even joking about Massa’s mistake. I do not think that was the case, he is just a young kid having fun. To strengthen my point of view, after yesterday’s race he put his car right next to Massa’s and applauded his opponent’s performance. He may only be a kid, but he is definitely one who respects his adversaries.

What is wrong with Raikkonen?

Kimi Raikkonen may never show his emotions, but deep down he knows he has found his match at Ferrari. Massa will drive many other races like he did in Bahrain, and Kimi will not be able to catch him. There is one extra pressure: he gets paid a lot more than Felipe, so he is expected to be faster.

He seems to have taken a hit from Massa’s phoenix-like rebirth from the ashes. His race was filled with apathy. He was not the driver he normally is, who pushes hard even when the car is not great, trying to force the others to make mistakes. He did the right thing at the start, trying to overtake Hamilton, but then he paid the price of not being able to finish the move and got passed by Alonso. Good thing he had a couple more laps of fuel during the first stint, otherwise he would ride all the way to park fermé stuck behind the McLaren. He has 3 weeks to think about his performance before the next grand prix.

Heidfeld vs. Alonso

Heideld got by Alonso with a fantastic move on the outside. BMW seems to be stronger every race, and maybe they will challenge Ferrari and McLaren for the win in a few races. Since they do not seem to have as much top speed, it is more probable to happen at a track with less straightaways. Well, Monaco is only two races away...

Alonso would have to have a bad race at some point. This was it. Heidfeld got by him because he made a small mistake. It will take him a while to digest Heidfeld’s pass, but the 4 points he got will count a lot by the end of the season. I am sure that if he ends up behind Heidfeld anytime soon, he will go for a bold move in exchange for the one he got yesterday.

Bahrain’s quick notes

- Anthony Davidson had a good race until his engine blew up. It seems like it could have been even better, though. For some reason Super Aguri filled his tank with a lot of fuel, so he only made his first pit stop in lap 28 of 57. His car seemed fast enough to match the others with equal amounts of fuel, so there was no reason for him to have a different strategy. Maybe they already knew that the engine could probably not take the extra revs...

- RBR is showing more speed. Chief engineer Adrian Newey is certainly behind this, as his nickname should be ‘continuous improvement’. Hopefully they will solve the reliability problems in a few races and fight for points. Both Webber and Coulthard got out with transmission problems – gearbox and driveshaft, respectively.

- Williams seemed to be a car that could finish in the points, but both Rosberg and Wurz made many mistakes and finished only 10th and 11th. Rosberg seemed to be suffering from the same disease that plagued Massa in Malaysia: lack of patience.

- Like yesterday, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher had memorable battles in the past, when Rubens drove for Ferrari and Ralf for Williams. Those where battles for more relevant positions though, worth championship points or places on the podium. They met more than once in Bahrain, but both have disappointing cars now. Ralf took his Toyota to 12th place and Rubens his Honda to 13th. Their battles were fun to watch, as usual.

- Trulli drove very well, maintaining his fame of a driver who is almost impossible to be overtaken. He held both Williams’ drivers at one point, causing them to make many mistakes. In the end, he finished 7th, holding a faster Fisichella, who tried hard to go by on the last few laps.

Star of the race:

Nick Heidfeld. I could also say Felipe Massa, but the Heidfeld’s performance had a surprise appeal that got him this award. Passing the current world champion on the outside also helped.

Shame of the race:

Adrian Sutil. He had an excuse for every trouble in the beginning of the previous two races. Now he just hit Scott Speed from behind, period. He came back to finish the race, but he needs to improve his concentration if he wants to keep his job.

--Andre N.