Formula One

1st May 20173rd July 2017

What have we learnt from the first four races of 2017

Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia.
Sunday 30 April 2017.
World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _X4I8803 – Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

What have we learnt from the first four races of the season?

Mercedes and Ferrari are in a different league to the rest of the field. It was staggering to see that in Russia alone, the difference between Hamilton in fourth and Ricciardo in fifth was over a second in each of the three qualifying sessions. We know that The Tag Heuer branded Renault has some deficiencies to both the Mercedes and Ferrari power units, but we wouldn’t have been expecting to see a second gap between the top two teams and their third placed competitors. It’s going to have to be a wet or mixed up race with several safety cars if we are going to see anything other than a silver or red car taking the chequered flag.

Even without the win at the weekend, it is fair to say that Bottas has found his feet pretty quickly at Mercedes. He’s out qualified Lewis in half of the races so far and has just as many wins as him. To say that it’s an even head to head is to mis-read the statistics on purpose. No-one is going to be arguing that Bottas is as good as Hamilton already, but the Finn has certainly rattled his cage with some confident driving.

Either Lewis underestimated his new team mate or he underestimated the challenge which would be coming from the Ferrari’s, but he has changed his happy tune in the last few weeks. Initially, when Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis seemed pleased that he was going to be having a challenge from somewhere. Now he knows that he might well be fighting off the pressure from Vettel, Bottas and maybe even Raikkonen.

At the other end of the spectrum is the other World Champion attempting to even get to the start line. Alonso is not being subtle with his interactions in the media and pointing out that he has driven the best lap of his life just to get into Q2 is merely highlighting the fact that he wants a good car. Either from Honda or from another team.

When Alonso moved to McLaren, he knew they would not be competitive right away and accepted this with his reportedly £25.5 million a year pay cheque. Two years further down the road and the power unit actually looks worse. If the figures reported are correct, then Alonso has earnt £46,500 per race lap he has completed this year. Even that is not enough compensation for ruining three years of a world-class career.

It’s been really positive that the sole focus of the race weekend has not be the tyre degradation and how Pirrelli’s are performing. The new spec look to have matched the requirements the teams have laid out. They do degrade and there is a difference between the performance of the compounds, but they don’t seem to suddenly fall of the cliff and become useless.

On the useless note, the announcement that Honda are to power Sauber was interesting. One of two things have gone on here. Either Honda have decided that they can’t get faster or more competitive and therefore will just slow down the rest of the competition. OR Sauber have money issues and Honda have offered them a lot of money to become the second factory team. A long-term deal would really suit the Swiss team and could be the security they need. The extra data and running times should help out Honda and then the McLaren team might have a decent engine.

Andy Robinson

1st May 20173rd July 2017

Totally Toro Rosso in Russia

Formula 1

May 1, 2017

Before we talk about the Russian Grand Prix weekend let’s have a quick recap of what our drivers did last time out in Bahrain. Bahrain was a really disappointing race for Toro Rosso: we were expecting a lot but Sainz made contact with Lance Stroll moments after his pitstop and ended his race, and Kvyat finished in twelfth after struggling with pace in the race, meaning we come away from Bahrain empty-handed.

After the Grand Prix we had a two-day in-season test, this hopefully would give us chance to gather more data and test new parts. First day our test driver Sean Gelael took to the track and completed 78 laps. Here’s what he had to say:

“Today is a day I will never forget—to finally drive a Formula One car is something every driver dreams of, and to do it with Scuderia Toro Rosso makes it even more special. The power and overall grip is amazing…compared to the Formula Two car I drive.”

On day two our two regular guys took over—Kvyat drove in the morning and did 61 laps, and Sainz later in the day completed 68 laps.

Talking ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, Kvyat said: ”The first thing that comes to my mind is Sebastian, as in Sebastian Vettel. I like to torpedo Sebastian, it’s my hobby. You know I’m joking!” Kvyat also added a picture of himself riding a torpedo to his helmet design this weekend just to continue the joke.

Sainz added: “I’ve learnt a few Russian words thanks to my team mate, Daniil. I think it’s best that I don’t tell you which words he’s taught me…”

On Wednesday it was Daniil’s 23rd birthday and he got to celebrate it in his home country, while learning how to play curling with the Russian national team, which he said he really enjoyed and liked trying new things.

Later that day Kvyat also presented his book, Daniil Kvyat: The Path to Formula One, all about the early stages of his career. As soon as the English version is released I will be purchasing it.

Pavel Sukhorukov / Red Bull Content Pool

Thursday arrived and it was time for the track walk on a sunny afternoon. Sainz posted a video on Twitter talking about the hairstyles of his race engineers while on the walk, and when they returned to the garage it was time for a huge chocolate birthday cake for Kvyat.

Later that day Kvyat joined Bottas and Grosjean at the drivers’ press conference to face the world’s media, before taking to the stage to speak to his home fans. Meanwhile, Sainz was back onto autograph duty.

Friday arrived and it was time for free practice. In FP1 home hero Kvyat finished eleventh and Sainz fourteenth, and in FP2 Sainz was fifteenth and Kvyat seventeenth. Both drivers were disappointed and said the car was lacking a lot of speed.

On Saturday Sainz ended FP3 in ninth with Kvyat thirteenth. With both drivers still unhappy but with little time to make changes we head into qualifying. Our boys ended in eleventh and thirteenth with Sainz coming out on top, but his three-place grid penalty from Bahrain dropped him to fourteenth and moved Kvyat up to twelfth for his home race. Both drivers said they were much happier with their qualifying positions than their Friday pace.

Sunday meant race day, and with Kvyat starting twelfth and Sainz fourteenth points would be tough but still the aim. As the lights went out Sainz made the better start up to eleventh while Kvyat held onto twelfth place, and in the early laps both boys were looking good.

After the pit stops the race calmed right down and nothing much happened for our boys in the remaining laps: Daniil ended the race where he started in twelfth, but Carlos took a point in tenth. Both drivers struggled with race pace and overtaking was difficult this weekend, but to leave Russia with one point was better than we left Bahrain.

Afterwards, Sainz commented: “What a tough race, especially as we were starting from behind because of the grid penalty… But today we got everything right: the start, the first lap, the pit-stop, the strategy…so we can be happy!”

Kvyat added: “My start today wasn’t the best and I lost a bit of time there. During my pit stop we…got undercut by Stroll and during my second stint I was unfortunately blue-flagged quite a lot and lost some more time having to let the leading cars by.

“On a positive note, the last part of the race in clean air, was fantastic—we were flying and the car felt great!”

Richard Hindson, F1 Correspondent

27th April 20173rd July 2017

Haas F1 Russian Grand Prix Preview

Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain.
Sunday 16 April 2017.
World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _W6I2713

Next up for round 4 the Sochi Autodrom, a 5.848-kilometer (3.634-mile), 18-turn circuit. Despite it’s complete lack of camber or elevation change, it reminds me of a nice roller coaster that weaves through the stunning architecture of the Winter Olympics and down the coast of the black sea. It will be interesting to see how the cars go at this circuit it could either be good racing or a repeat of Melbourne. I think there is just enough variation to the track that we are going to see a very good race though. Weather conditions will be good. The circuit varies between what are essentially long straights interrupted by short corners in sector 1 whereas sector 3 is very slow and takes much more life out of the tyres. In this sense it will be important to manage the tyres properly in sector 1 so they’re not dead by sector 3.

However, the tarmac is very smooth here and has what’s called a “low macro roughness” meaning there is a very low degradation for the tyres. In 2014 Rosberg did the entire race minus one lap on one set of White Medium tyres. With that partly in mind Pirelli have gone down one level of softness for tyre options this year and will now offer the Soft, Supersoft, and for the first time Pirelli P Zero Purple Ultrasofts.

The current track record at the Sochi Autodrom is 1:35.417, set last year by Mercedes Nico Rosberg in Q3 but this record will likely be broken in the free practice sessions possibly even the first. A non-Mercedes car has never won at this track either now in it’s 4th year of running, so Haas will be hoping Ferrari power has made an improvement at this circuit. Grosjean’s has qualified P8 in 2015 with a best result of P8 in 2016 while Magnussen’s best qualifying in 2016 started him 11th with a best result of P5 in 2014.

Romain Grosjean

“A lot will depend on the temperature. The tarmac in Bahrain is very rough. It’s very smooth in Russia…I do quite like the fast turn three. It’s a very high-speed corner, flat out, then just going into turn four, coming out of the corner, then braking straight away for turn four. I think the corners flow into each other quite nicely. It’s a good track to drive.”

Kevin Magnussen

The Sochi Autodrom seems to emulate Bahrain in terms of setup. How much of what you learned in Bahrain can be transferred to the Russian Grand Prix?

“I think you learn every weekend more and more about the car. You get a better understanding overall, which is going to help everywhere…I like turns six, seven and eight as they’re high speed.”

UPDATE: Haas to start Russian GP weekend with Carbon Industrie brakes

Carbon Industrie brakes will be used by Haas at the start of the Russian Grand Prix weekend. Carbon Industrie brakes were first tested by Haas in 2016 at Brazil and will again be tested as the team struggles to get the performance out of Brembo brakes which caused frustration during the second half of 2016 for the team.

Because they ran Brembo brakes during winter testing, they were forced to start the season with them due to new Formula 1 rules. However, after positive driver feedback from Bahrain testing of Carbon Industrie brakes Haas has decided to start FP1 in Sochi on them after which they will make their decision for the race.

By Jeremiah Doctson

(Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

26th April 20173rd July 2017

Russian Grand Prix, Can Mercedes Beat Ferrari?

SOCHI (RUSSIA) – 01/05/2016
© FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

A crucial weekend for the Formula One teams and drivers is coming. The crews are traveling to Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix, the fourth race of the season. Sochi autodrom joined the Formula 1 calendar in 2014 and for the first time, the drivers will be able to use the ultrasoft tyre compounds.

In Bahrain, Sebastian Vettel with his Ferrari took the chequered flag and celebrated the second victory of the season. Lewis Hamilton finished behind the German driver and in Russia, he will have the chance to win for the second time this year if that happens Hamilton will equal Vettel’s points in the championship.

Sochi Autodrom

Laps: 53

Track Length: 5.848 km

Race Distance: 309.745 km

Lap Record: 1:39:094 (Nico Rosberg – 2016)

Tyre Compounds: Ultrasoft (Purple), Supersoft (Red), Soft (Yellow)

The circuit is located in Sochi and was designed by the famous F1 architect Hermann Tilke, circuit’s capacity is 55,000 and it is consists of 12 right and six left corners.

“Sochi is a really nice track to drive and it’s a race I enjoy a lot. In the past it’s a track we have done well at – I finished fourth and fifth in 2014 and 2015 – so I’m hoping we can have another good race there this year. The event has been getting bigger every year so I’m really looking forward to going back again.” Felipe Massa said, who turned 36 the past week.

Track’s formation will give an advantage to Mercedes, as it is not a very demanding circuit for the tyres and the 650 metre straight will allow the silver arrows to reach a speed around to 332 km/h.

“It’s very good to see people talking positively about Formula One. Clearly, the close fight between Ferrari and Mercedes is something that is interesting for the fans. It’s interesting for us too. This is why we go racing – because we’re racers and we thrive on the competition and the battle. It’s a totally different kind of track this weekend in Sochi and, in this season with these new regulations, you can’t take anything for granted. The trophies of previous years don’t guarantee that we’ll be winning in Russia when you have a very fierce competitor like we do in Ferrari. We’ll take it one step at a time, start the weekend well and hopefully have a good result on Sunday.” Toto Wolff added about the upcoming race.

Ferrari proved that they can match Mercedes’ pace and stay close to the silver arrows. It will be interesting to see if Scuderia can win two races in the row which will give them a big advantage in the championship. Whilst Mercedes has to respond to Ferrari’s pace and win the fourth race of the season in order to stay close to the Italians.

Join PitCrew’s live coverage on Sunday, starts 30 minutes before the race.

Victor Archakis F1 Editor – @FP_Passion

(Images Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

26th April 20173rd July 2017

Who will win in SilverMonaco?

Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain.
Sunday 16 April 2017.
World Copyright: Charles Coates/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _27I8921

Welcome to the fourth round of the season, Sochi, Russia. A circuit that I like to call SilverMonaco, because I see a lot of Silverstone in the first part and a lot of Monaco in the final, in this beautiful racetrack we should see another intriguing battle for victory.

Now we know for sure that Ferrari has closed the gap to Mercedes. Now they are side by side. Only in qualifying the Brackley-based squad has a little advantage still. After the brilliant pole position achieved by Bottas in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton will be determined to re-establish his dominance of the team. The driver was really surprised by his team mate’s performance but he was happy to find a competitive Sebastian Vettel too. I think even against himself, every driver, including an arrogant Lewis, prefers to fight against another driver to win the title instead of a lone run towards it.

I think there is a regardable difference between the two drivers of Mercedes and Ferrari. I mean that, while at Mercedes Bottas can be at Lewis’ pace in qualifying, for now, at Ferrari we still see a too slow Kimi Raikkonen. I am sincere, I’ve never thought the Finn was a great driver. He’s good if he has a perfect car but he always struggles to find the right set up, he makes many mistakes while driving, sometimes it seems Kimi loves to stay in the shadows. So what I suggest to Ferrari is to change their second driver next year. Constructor championship is important as well.

I think the future is already here and his name is Max Verstappen. Everybody knows he is the most talented driver now, considering his age. And every top team would love to have him on board. Ferrari should think about him. The Dutch driver impressed a lot (again) in China and he is doing a lot more than his Red Bull can allow this year.

Sochi is a high skill level circuit. The walls are really close to the track in some corners. So no mistakes are needed and the drivers will have to preserve their brakes which are the most stressed part of the car here. Danil Kyvat, the local hero, is called to take a little bit of revenge here after his bad start to the season and thinking about the 2015 Grand Prix when he eliminated Vettel by touching him twice.

We hope for a clean race for the Russian and a lucky one for Sebastian, in order to see a spectacular battle with Mercedes. Williams and Red Bull are expected to be finally closest to the top teams but nothing will change in the midfield, I guess. Mclaren Honda should have a new spec engine in Sochi, so we are all curious, and hopeful, to see where they will be on the grid and on the last lap of the race, also hoping that Fernando Alonso will not think too much about other Honda-powered cars!

Massimo Trapanese

(Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

26th April 20173rd July 2017

Ocon: “tenth isn’t enough for me”

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Sahara Force India F1 VJM10.
Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday 17th April 2017. Sakhir, Bahrain. courtesy of Sahara Force India Formula One TeamEsteban Ocon has said he is determined to take away more than just a single point from this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix, after finishing each of the opening races of 2017 in tenth place.

Alongside the two seventh- and one ninth-place finishes logged by teammate Sergio Pérez, Ocon’s run of results has helped contribute to Force India’s most

lucrative start to a season since 2014, not to mention making them the only team bar Mercedes and Ferrari to have both cars in the points at every round so far.

But despite the stats, Ocon insists there is more to come from him in 2017:

“After three races in the points I’m feeling happy about my start to the season,” the Frenchman said ahead of Sochi, “[but] at the same time, I feel a bit of disappointment that we haven’t achieved more.”

In Bahrain, Ocon believed that the ill-timing of the safety car “probably cost me three positions”, whilst in China a miscommunication with the team sent him on an unnecessary trip down the pitlane in which he lost at least fifteen seconds of lap time.

“With a bit more luck on my side, I would have come away from China and Bahrain with even more points,” Ocon said. “Finishing tenth three times in a row isn’t enough for me—I want more!”

Nevertheless, those around Ocon have continued to voice their approval of his achievements so far in 2017. Vijay Mallya has labelled Ocon’s first few races with Force India a “super start” to his first full Formula One season, whilst Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said Ocon is on “the right trajectory” as he continues to “benchmark himself against…a very strong teammate in Pérez”.

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Sahara Force India F1 VJM10.
Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday 17th April 2017. Sakhir, Bahrain. courtesy of Sahara Force India Formula One Team

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

26th April 20173rd July 2017

Hülkenberg: “quite a bit of optimism” for strong Sochi finish

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Renault Sport F1 Team RS17.
Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday 17th April 2017. Sakhir, Bahrain.

Nico Hülkenberg has said he is feeling confident that he and the Renault team can secure a good result in this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix, following a fruitful outing at the last race in Bahrain.

Hülkenberg claimed his and Renault’s first points of 2017 at the Sakhir International Circuit two weeks ago, finishing in ninth place after another strong qualifying performance saw him start from seventh for the second race in succession.

He then went on to record the sixth-fastest time at the post-race Bahrain test, just a few tenths off the Williams of Felipe Massa as Renault evaluated new updates to the RS17.

“I have quite a bit of optimism,” Hülkenberg said, regarding the forthcoming Russian Grand Prix. “I think we made good progress to enable us to improve our race pace when testing in Bahrain and we have some new bits for the car to facilitate this too.

“Of course, the Sochi Autodrom is a completely different circuit [to Sakhir], so we can’t accurately predict our performance until we get there, but I’m feeling positive.”

Expanding on the work Renault conducted in Bahrain, Hülkenberg added: “We want more downforce and to improve the car aerodynamically and to use the tyres better in the race. The car is basically good, it’s just a number of details we need to improve.”

His teammate Jolyon Palmer has also praised the development of the RS17, despite settling for a “frustrating” thirteenth-place finish in Bahrain, saying “There’s definitely been progress, but there’s certainly more to come.

“Getting into the top ten in qualifying for the first time in Bahrain was particularly satisfying,” the Briton reflected. “I’d struggled a lot in the FP3 session, so myself and my engineer, Chris Richards, sat down and we changed the set-up of the car so it worked far better.

“The real positive is that the team is taking a step forward at every race so we’re hopeful that Sochi continues in this vein.”

Jolyon Palmer (GBR) Renault Sport F1 Team RS17.
Bahrain Grand Prix, Friday 14th April 2017. Sakhir, Bahrain.

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

22nd April 20173rd July 2017

A Dreaming Start for Scuderia Ferrari

Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain.
Sunday 16 April 2017.
World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _31I3281

Two wins in the first three races have moved the Ferrari in the first place on the championship board, not far from Mercedes which is just three points behind.

Sebastian Vettel has found his lost personality and leads the Scuderia to one of the most thrilling seasons. Two chequered flags, a second position in China and 68 points for the four-time world champion so far in this season. Whilst his main title contender, Lewis Hamilton, won one race and finished two times in the second place.

It’s still too early to judge, but I strongly believe that it will be a very close battle between two of the best drivers on the grid. Both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have the ability to get the 100% of their car and fight wheel to wheel for the title. Lewis Hamilton looks satisfied because finally Ferrari is competitive and Sebastian Vettel is a respected opponent in his eyes. From the other side, Vettel wants to return to the top and win his fifth title in his Formula One career and fulfill one of his childhood dreams.

In China the safety car gave an advantage on Lewis to lead the race, as Ferrari called Vettel into the pits earlier, when the virtual safety car was deployed, but in Bahrain the safety car was in Ferrari’s favour, and a five seconds time penalty which Hamilton received might cost him the race or at least a battle between him and Vettel for the chequered flag.

The only ‘disappointing’ so far is that Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen are not as fast as their team-mates. The Finns, are struggling to follow Hamilton’s and Vettel’s pace, Valtteri showed some of his skills by taking the pole position in Bahrain, but that was not enough to secure him a good race on the following day. But it is not fair to judge Bottas, as he moved from Williams to Mercedes only a few months ago and he is still trying to find an ideal set-up for him.

From the other hand, Kimi Raikkonen is far away from his good side, the Finn is looking lost and unable to help Ferrari at that moment. Kimi finished fourth in Australia and Bahrain, and fifth in China, so far he has scored 34 points in the championship, half the points which Vettel have scored.

Raikkonen had a good season last year, hence everyone was expecting something good from him this year, but he failed to satisfy his fans. He is a very experienced driver, and I hope that he will improve his performance and will manage to fight for a place on the podium and for a victory in the following races.

The new regulations have improved the quality of the sport. Faster cars, wheel to wheel battles and very impressive overtakes make the 2017 season the best season of the last years.

It was obvious from last year that Ferrari wanted to take advantage of these changes and make a reliable and fast car, the risk paid off for the reds until now and Tifosi are dreaming a tittle after almost nine years.

I cannot predict the winner of the 2017 season, but I certainly can say that this year will make us to hold our breath until the final chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.

Victor Archakis – F1 Editor – @FP_Passion

19th April 20173rd July 2017

A very deep and big move

The hot and thrilling Bahrain weekend Grand Prix, Things are beginning to become even more interesting, with the pole position of Valtteri Bottas and the increasing fight for the title between Mercedes and Ferrari, the attention focused towards Mclaren Honda’s performance, still poor, but that unexpected announcement from the team that Fernando Alonso will race in the Indy 500! In fact, according to the team announcement, the Woking based team, helped by team Andretti, will be on the Indianapolis circuit grid with Alonso, who obviously will miss the Monaco Grand Prix, held on the same weekend. To the joy of many enthusiastic fans all over the world, he will be replaced for the Monaco race by the comeback kid Jenson Button. For sure this move is an incredible marketing one. Everybody will gain something from that, Indy car will have a double F1 world champion on the grid, which will no doubt attract many of Alonso’s and F1 fans to the world-famous race, the Monaco race will have a refreshing moment seeing Jenson Button on the grid, the 2009 world champion, who is missed by all the paddock,. Both teams but mostly Mclaren will have a very big audience focused on them. So, yes, it’s all so promising. But there are some questions that come to my mind and maybe to yours too? We start with Fernando: will he test the Indycar before the race weekend? If yes, when and where? It’s clear that Indy car is very different from an F1 car and the kind of race too. Not forgetting all the different rules the Indy car series has. Can Fernando learn so many things in only one month? It will be very interesting to follow how Alonso will arrive at the Indy 500, I am curious. What about Jenson Button? You may think he will have an easier job to do. No way!! F1 has changed a lot since he left. A very different car will await him in Monaco. So I may have the same questions for him. Will he test the car before the Grand Prix? if yes, where and when? Anyway, for Jenson it will be a sort of homecoming. (He lives in Monaco!) He won’t have difficulties learning the circuit or the rules. But I really hope he will find a better car. Unfortunately, Mclaren Honda is still struggling with their chronic problems. Alonso will start from 15th place on the grid, an engine change due to a failure didn’t allow to the Spaniard to take part to the Q2. So, Alonso will compare the in best and the worst of a great motorsport brand: Honda. It will be interesting and maybe it will remind many people how strong Honda is in racing, as they showed for many years in the US series. Fernando will race in the elite, in the delta Honda racing. This makes me very happy: giving Honda the right value it deserves. With F1 the world is receiving the wrong message of what Honda is. Anyway, it seems all the world is waiting for the Mclaren Honda renaissance. Maybe the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix could be a turning point for Mclaren Honda, for Alonso and for Button. Each of them has to demonstrate and gain something, Or more simply, all will remain the same, and the most important races of the year on the two sides of the world will be the only two bright stars in a dark night. We’ll see. For now, we keep all the emotions and vibes waiting for those moments and we wait for the answers we need.

Massimo Trapanese, F1 correspondent

19th April 20173rd July 2017

Haas F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Review

The sun dropped, the lights glowed and things were a little windy in the Arabian desert as twilight hours hit for one the aesthetically pleasing but quite soulless and empty atmosphere of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Still, at least the racing is usually good around the 5.412 kilometer (3.363 mile) circuit, and it didn’t let down this time either.
Romain Grosjean, who donned a special golden flaked helmet to replace the usual bright orange accents for the occasion, and Kevin Magnussen both started on the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tyres.
Starting in 20th and rising to as high as 15th after the start Magnussen went off at Turn 8 on lap 9 bringing out the caution flags temporarily. Electronic issues cut the cars power supply meaning he had no choice but to stop the car.
Grosjean meanwhile started 9th and held position until a short caution on lap 10 after Lance Stroll was hit by Carlos Sainz. Sainz, who’s been talked about as a possible Ferrari replacement or someone who deserved Bottas’ Mercedes seat, crashed into Stroll coming out of the pits in what was a widely and loudly recognized fault of Sainz by the racing community and stewards who handed him a 3-place penalty for the next round in Sochi, Russia. Shortly thereafter Max Verstappen went off on lap 15 in apparent brake failure, not a huge lock up, we are told. This made for just the 3rd safety car in Bahrain history (I still can’t believe that stat no matter how many times I hear it).
At the restart on lap 16 Grosjean was between the two Force India’s defending from Estaban Ocon while trying to overtake Perez in front. After his second and final stop Grosjean was again on P Zero Red supesofts. On lap 38 Grosjean caught the Toro Rosso of Dannil Kvyat from P9 on the pit straight and overtook him on the inside of Turn 1 getting him into his finishing position of 8th and giving him 4 points in the WDC.
“It was a pretty good race…we had bad luck with the safety car, as we’d pitted just before. I saw Perez come out and I thought, ‘How did he come out in front of me when he’d been 10 seconds behind?’…At the restart I struggled a little bit with top speed. But, eventually we made the right strategy call and pushed on good laps with some great overtaking maneuvers.”
– Romain Grosjean
“Conditions until then [electrical DNF] were pretty good..It would have been a good race. I just look forward now and am happy with the car. It’s running in the points and qualifying in Q3.”
– Kevin Magnussen
It’s a relief the teams arguably #1 driver has gotten points you definitely don’t want your strongest driver to become frustrated which Grosjean is prone to do, but Magnussen is quietly been proving he is a good racer despite the reputation bouncing from team to team has given him. Haas need to make a double points finish quickly to help themselves out later in the season when things may get close. VF17 performance is still obviously very strong but the reliability is a question mark.
Haas will head to Sochi Russia next for the 4th Round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship starting with FP1 on April 28th.

Jeremiah Doctson