12 posts tagged “bahrain gp”

I agree about Felipe Massa saying that it’s too early to speculate about BMW Sauber in battling it out with Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes. But I do think that there’ll come a time, through the course of the season, that BMW will become a threat to Ferrari as well as to McLaren. I’ve thought about it and checked the results of the previous races [Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain], I noticed that the only race BMW had slightly failed was on the Australian GP. During that race, Robert Kubica retired because of an accident. And on the next races, BMW had some great finishes particularly on the recent Bahrain GP, where they got the 3^rd and the 4^th spot. When you come to think of it, the team has done a really good job. BMW is at the top of the constructor’s table and looking up at them are Ferrari and McLaren, which have dominated the race for a long time.

Since it’s just the beginning of the season, I won’t try to contradict about what Massa said about BMW in a definite hunt for the championship. But I do feel that there a tinge of intimidation in him with regards to BMW’s silent domination of F1 races. No one probably noticed that BMW slowly crept up on the constructor’s as well as on the driver’s table. But I don’t think there’s something to be intimidated about. I mean, he’s driving the famous Ferrari F1 cars. I don’t there’s anything to worry about. Win or lose, it’s all on the driver’s hands.

Hamilton

For Felipe Massa, the Bahrain GP was a sign that he’s back and is ready to put his entire team to the top along with his trusty teammate Kimi Raikkonen. But for Lewis Hamilton, the race at Sakhir was a disappointment. I think it more of a bad luck for him, which started during the practice sessions where he’s car crashed. And then during the race his car sort of paused, which resulted to a collision with Fernando Alonso’s Renault. Good thing Heikki Kovalainen stayed right on track and finished 4^th. The disappointing race at Bahrain is sure to stick to the mind of Hamilton and I think he’s going to come back at the Spanish GP, which will take place at Barcelona, Spain. Remember guys, Hamilton is just a few points behind Raikkonen, he sure will recover and find a way to regain the top spot on the driver’s table and make the McLaren team on top again at Barcelona.

Felipe massa 1st at sakhir

Well, I expected Felipe Massa to finish the race because he’s such a determined driver. But I never expected him to finish at the top. Next to him is his teammate Kimi Raikkonen along with the unexpected victor in the name of Robert Kubica. The two Ferraris have total domination over the McLaren, BMW, Williams-Toyota, and other teams at Sakhir. However, the victory at Bahrain didn’t give Ferrari the advantage on winning the constructor’s table because BMW is 1-point ahead of them. And McLaren? Well, McLaren is now third and only a point behind Ferrari, thanks to the effort of Heikki Kovalainen, who’s had the fastest lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton simply had a disappointing race, which placed him 3^rd on the driver’s table, tying with Kubica and Kovalainen. "I think he's disappointed, but he's very strong-minded. He had a reasonable qualifying run, but a practice accident meant Friday wasn't his greatest day, and nor was Sunday,” said Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren F1 CEO, regarding Hamilton.

Even if didn’t got all their positions right, but at least I got two names of the drivers right. Felipe Massa finished the race 1^st with Kimi Raikkonen 2^nd and Robert Kubica on 3^rd.

Kimi - felipe - robert

F massa in his ferrari at sakhir

I don’t think the dusty race track posed any trouble to Ferrari’s Massa. His simply pushing his car to its limit which resulted to him getting the fastest lap time on both practice sessions. But I wonder how he’ll do on the actual qualifying race and on the actual race. Remember he’s had great results during the qualifying race of the two previous races, but he hadn’t finished any of those races. During the Australian GP there were engine problems that caused him to retire and at Sepang he retired because his car spinned out of control. So, I’m thinking what’ll happen to him on Sunday. Will he be able to finish the race?

Practice session

I’m ecstatic. Why? It’s because the practice sessions are over and the results are amazing. Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finished at the top spots while the Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen close by. I know it’s just the practice session but imagine the two Ferraris at the front of the grid along with the two McLarens. Wouldn’t the race be exciting? But during the second practice, Hamilton crashed. The car looks a wreck after losing control “on the exit of Turn Seven” and hitting the barriers. The team can easily replace what’s been damaged on the car but a great driver in Hamilton is hard to replace, so, its good news that Hamilton’s fine. And, mind you, he still had the fourth fastest lap time behind his teammate Kovalainen. "It was a shame that I ended what had been a productive day going off the circuit and hitting the barriers at Turn Seven. I was just pushing and sometimes these things happen. I am absolutely fine, and hopefully the damage to the car is not too bad,” said Hamilton regarding the accident.

Hamilton crashes

After the crash

Bmw sauber f1 team

I noticed that I’m really anticipating about Ferrari totally recovering at the Bahrain GP and taking the top spot away from their toughest rival the McLaren-Mercedes. I almost forgot that there are other tough teams that deserve a place here in my blog. I’m talking about the BMW team. They weren’t really silent about what they’ve been doing with their cars. We were just focused on the two Formula 1 titans. So, here’s the BMW story I got for you. The entire team is actually determined on working harder to challenge McLaren and Ferrari. BMW currently sits between the two dominant teams. They’re just 5 points behind McLaren and 8 points ahead of Ferrari. That’s not bad at all. But since the entire Ferrari has been showing signs of an upcoming domination, the entire BMW team is gearing up for the next race. Present BMW drivers are Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

We’ll be able to find out about what happens to the BMW team and if changes are going to take place at the driver’s standing and at the constructor’s table after the race on Sunday.

Massa

Cheers to Felipe Massa because he’s the quickest during the free practice session. I know it doesn’t count but ain’t it a good sign? If this “good” luck continues tomorrow for the two Ferrari drivers, both will definitely get an excellent position on the grid for the Gulf Air Bahrain GP which will take place at the Sakhir circuit.

Felipe Massa was out of the Australian GP because of an engine problem. During the Malaysian GP, he got the pole position but was unable to finish the race. If Kimi Raikkonen was disappointed about the Aussie GP but made a successful comeback at the Sepang circuit, how much more disappointment could Massa have felt? He had two disappointing races and is still pointless. Massa is a great racer and he knows how important it is to finish the race on top of everybody else. I think the key here is to just focus on the race and it’s not like it’s the midseason to worry a lot. So, there’s still a lot of time to get back what’s lost.
 

The qualifying race for the Bahrain GP is on Saturday. Whoever gets pole position has a big advantage. Okay, I’m going to guess again who’s going to be victorious at Sakhir. Here’s my podium trio for the Bahrain GP: Kimi Raikkonen, Heikki Kovalainen, and Felipe Massa.

Kimi raikkonen

If Massa is aiming for a comeback at the Bahrain GP, Raikkonen’s objective is to put an end to his disappointing races at the Sakhir circuit this Sunday. If he gets the pole position, winning at the Bahrain GP is possible. And if ever he wins and Hamilton fails to get the second or the third spot, Raikkonen will lead the driver’s standings. But if Hamilton finds his touch and wins, the lead will grow bigger that’ll make the chances of Raikkonen in getting the world championship slimmer. “I have finished third in three successive Grands Prix in Bahrain. Time and again something has gone wrong. Sakhir is one of those circuits where I really want to win,” said the Finnish regarding his Bahrain experience. The Bahrain GP is the third race of the season and there are 15 more races to go. So, it’s actually too early to tell who’s going to win the championship and who’s not.

Massa

When Michael Schumacher was still racing, no one pays that much attention to his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This similar situation could happen to Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. But the spotlight doesn’t always point to Raikkonen because Felipe Massa is almost equal to him when it comes to driving skills and experience. After that disappointing start and the failure to gain points for his team during the previous race, the entire Ferrari team still hasn’t lost their confidence to Massa. It’s just the start of the season, so, he still has a lot of time to make up for his struggle. The Bahrain GP will be on Sun. I expect Massa to make his comeback there since he’s got the fastest lap, the pole position, and won the GP last season.