The Motorsport Thread - 2012

Excellent first win for Nico, I think even without that pitstop problem, Button would have had a tough time catching him at the end there. Interestingly it comes in the 30th aniversary year for dad Keke's championship win.

That was a crazy end to the race, with McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, Williams and Sauber (both cars from all 6 teans) all fighting it out for second down, more of the same please!

Indeed, I think Nico had it the whole time, though it certainly would have been closer without the stop mishap.

It was nuts how close the field was. All race long really, but especially that madness at the end.

I did have to hurt for my boy Kimi but he was bottling up the field...eventually the pressure was gunna burst. And boy did he drop like a stone. He's already exceeded my expectations anyway so I'm happy about that



Edited by JJLehto - April 15 2012 at 10:47

Why didn't he pit though when those tires went off?  That was puzzling to me.  I reckon he could have come in and come back out in the same place he ended up but with fresh tires he'd have got past a few.  Hmm.

Andy, can you see Schumacher winning a race this year?

VanderGraafKommandöh wrote: Why didn't he pit though when those tires went off?  That was puzzling to me.  I reckon he could have come in and come back out in the same place he ended up but with fresh tires he'd have got past a few.  Hmm. Andy, can you see Schumacher winning a race this year?

By that point I'm guessing they thought it would be a case of damned if you do and damned if you dont. There was what, 10/11 cars behind Raikkonen by the time his tyres went off and he would have just dropped behind Massa again, who he had been unable to get past earlier. The two stop strategy was the wrong choice in the first place, if he'd gone for 3 he'd probably still have been in the thick of that fight.

If Mercedes can keep hitting the sweet spot for set up on the tyres then yes, he'll challenge. Sschumy was the more impressive of their two drivers in the first two races, Nico just happens to be a bit of a Shanghai specialst (remember if he hadnt been under fueled he may very well have won last year as well). Thats why I said in my last post that it will be a fight between the top 3 teams, it will have all 6 drivers involved.

Yeah, Williams have improved.  However, I'm disappointed in the progression (or lack of) with Force India.  They did bring some updates, apparently, or will be for the next race, so we'll see.

It was also great to see Grosjean finally doing well.

I'm just hoping no teams/drivers pull out.  I'd rather all teams pulled out than a few.

Hopefully it'll go ahead with no issues though.

There's been some unease amongst the teams about Bahrain, but they made it clear that any decision to race there would entirely be up to the FIA since it's their job to guarantee the safety of those involved. I'm pretty certain the teams wont have any problems out there since the track is the opposite end of the island to where most of the trouble has been, but thats not really the issue.  The Al Khalifa's are trying to use the race to tell everyone that everything is fine in the country, which plainly isnt true, the problem is that accurate reporting on the situation is difficult to come by. It's not all out rioting, but it's not entirely peacful either.

JJLehto wrote: sleeper wrote: Yeah, 30 laps was just a few too many to ask of those tyres today, probably the most dramatic example of "hitting the cliff" that I've ever seen. Excellent drive from Senna as well today, finished 7th for Williams, well into that mad battle and did it with a damaged front wing the whole race. If Mercedes can keep this kind of speed going, I predict a three way battle for the title this year between them, McLaren and Red Bull (maybe even Ferrari, if the update for Spain fixes their problems, Alonso's certainly close enough). Indeed it was, and even Maldonado snuck in there! Williams has really improved this year. I'll agree about Mercedes, they could be a legit contender which means Schumi may get a win! If things maintain I actually don't know if RBR can challenge for the  title Ferrari we needa see, but I wouldn't mind if Alonso could get in the game

Red Bull are still very quick (equal to McLaren in race conditions), it's just that their exhaust layout makes the car difficult to drive on the edge.

Force India have been really disappointing so far since they looked like they migh have been a regular points scorer during testing, they and Torro Rosso were the only two established teams not really fighting for points yesterday (TR always seem to start the year slowly).

Yeah I imagine it'll be fine. As you say there's no chance of a pull out, or the race being called now. The actual safety should be fine, at the very least because you know the government would not allow any trouble near the race anyway.

Here the news has dried up completely, only reason I know of the rioting in Bahrain is thanks to Wiki
Only talk we get now is America's next war destination Syria (but that's for another thread)

Force India has been a disappointment indeed. James could be right though, with how great the field is may not even be a backslide but everyone just improved that much more.

I wouldnt expect it to be soon, it's a complicated bit of kit.