2023 Grand Prix of Bahrain

[donthaveanickname]

Let's go!!! Hopefully Max will face some opposition this year.

First practice results look interesting

 

[Doc Austin]

Max is not going to show his hand until he sticks it on pole.

Very disappointing that Mercedes is struggling.

 

[Doc Austin]

Spicey!

Alonso shows Aston Martin’s speed with fast time in second Bahrain GP practice

Fernando Alonso beat the Red Bull Racing drivers to the top spot in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in another tantalizing glimpse of Aston Martin’s potential. The Spaniard hustled his AM…

racer.com

 

[FLRacingFan]

Stroll ‘24, Stroll ‘25, Stroll ‘26…

 

[Greg]

Spicey!

Alonso shows Aston Martin’s speed with fast time in second Bahrain GP practice

Fernando Alonso beat the Red Bull Racing drivers to the top spot in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in another tantalizing glimpse of Aston Martin’s potential. The Spaniard hustled his AM…

racer.com

Would love to see Alonso get the win.

 

[Doc Austin]

Stroll ‘24, Stroll ‘25, Stroll ‘26…

He's supposedly driving one handed and has been reasonably quick, so it's probably fair to wait and see how he does when he's healed. He's currently 6th, which granted, is just practice, but that fast while playing hurt isn't a bad start.

 

[Doc Austin]

Would love to see Alonso get the win.

Not to mention that would put four different makes in the potential winners mix. I think Red Bull is probably going to run away with it again, but at least there will be more cars fighting for the podium.

 

[FLRacingFan]

He's supposedly driving one handed and has been reasonably quick, so it's probably fair to wait and see how he does when he's healed. He's currently 6th, which granted, is just practice, but that fast while playing hurt isn't a bad start.

Those are the titles he’s going to win.

 

[Reck]

Not sure how they’re allowing Stroll to drive. He could barely steer and couldn’t get out of the car by himself after practice.

 

[Kiante]

Should be fun to watch.

 

[Dwayne]

This is looking like it's going to be a very fun season.

 

[Reck]

Hamilton is done with Mercedes's concept game. He wants merc to go back to a normal looking car.

 

[Doc Austin]

Hard to be more graceful than that. In one way it's sad to see him hung with a dog car, but on the other we're seeing the best Lewis Hamilton ever.

 

[Doc Austin]

Not sure how they’re allowing Stroll to drive. He could barely steer and couldn’t get out of the car by himself after practice.

Well, it's a broken wrist. They should park him for the weekend so he doesn't make it worse. It's also not safe for the others to be around a guy driving that hurt.

 

[donthaveanickname]

Would love to see Alonso get the win.

When Tiger Woods won the Masters(?) in 2019(?) someone on here asked what the equivalent to this victory would be in racing.
I guess Alonso getting a win would be it.

 

[FLRacingFan]

Hamilton is done with Mercedes's concept game. He wants merc to go back to a normal looking car.

Credit to AMR for all the work and investment they’re putting in to build a long-term contender, but it’s incredible that Mercedes have maybe reached the point where they’re now slower than a customer team.

Not really sure what Stroll is doing this weekend. I know it’s hard to pass up a weekend with a quick car, but rumor is he needed two tries to pass the extraction test, and then after practice he needed help getting out of the car. When a car catches on fire mid-race you, notably, only get one chance to get out!

 

[Reck]

Credit to AMR for all the work and investment they’re putting in to build a long-term contender, but it’s incredible that Mercedes have maybe reached the point where they’re now slower than a customer team.

Right damn near embarrassing. If they get the car concept wrong in consecutive years, I'd say it's a matter of personnel at that point. Heads should start rolling maybe starting with Wolff. Their head engineer Elliot has not impressed since Allison kind of took a step back and he has had the reigns in making and developing the car.

 

[donthaveanickname]

Third practice is coming to a close and I still don't have a clue what's gonna happen in qualifying. Looking good for an exciting start to the new season.

 

[Hotrod]

Maybe Hulk is the answer for Haas. Puts pressure on Mags.

Seems like every session I have seen this weekend , Mick is
standing next to Toto's perch. Little bit of a lapdog look to me.
Hope its just for the short term orientation period.

Nice Q3 for the opener.

 

[Marcingak]

It's so nice of Mercedes to keep using their slow zero sidepods. Makes it easier for other teams to fight for the podium.

 

[Doc Austin]

Right damn near embarrassing. If they get the car concept wrong in consecutive years, I'd say it's a matter of personnel at that point. Heads should start rolling maybe starting with Wolff. Their head engineer Elliot has not impressed since Allison kind of took a step back and he has had the reigns in making and developing the car.

Well, it looks like they are stuck with it at least for the weekend. They got rid of the bouncing and now it's all in tweaking the package that has consistently gotten faster as the weekend goes on. Next race they may have something new, or they may get this car to work better. Or they may suck. It's too early to tell.

Hamilton was only about 0.2 behind in P3, so it might be a bit early to start firing people. It's probably better to tell everyone "We're only 2/10 back, so pull your heads out and let's go."

I'm actually enjoying Mercedes struggle because Hamilton is like a slow starting boxer. He has to take a few to the chin before he wakes up and says "Damm, I'm in a fight!" That's when you see the best Hamilton ever, and I think that's what we are going to get this year. Personally, I admire the guy and hate to see him not competitive, but I do like seeing him work miracles.

 

[Doc Austin]

It's so nice of Mercedes to keep using their slow zero sidepods. Makes it easier for other teams to fight for the podium.

I'm not so sure it's the pods that are the problem. It sounds like they have balance issues, and those more often than not are mechanical. Either way, they have plenty of work to do.

 

[Doc Austin]

Great job by Chico.

Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two In Bahrain qualifying

Max Verstappen took the first pole position of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc abandoned his shot at a final lap. Verstappen led Leclerc by 0.103s after their first laps,…

racer.com

 

[Doc Austin]

How to eat crow gracefully.......... https://racer.com/2023/03/04/wolff-admits-mercedes-in-need-of-fundamental-change/

 

[FLRacingFan]

Maybe Hulk is the answer for Haas. Puts pressure on Mags.

Seems like every session I have seen this weekend , Mick is
standing next to Toto's perch. Little bit of a lapdog look to me.
Hope its just for the short term orientation period.

Nice Q3 for the opener.

Great stuff from Hulk especially being “out of F1” for the past three years.

It worked for De Vries, maybe it’ll pan out for Mick. I think it’s good to be fully integrated into a team better than what he was with before. Hopefully learning a lot.

 

[FLRacingFan]

I just wanna see Alonso and Hamilton fight head-to-head again.

 

[Get That 88 Up There !!]

F1
IndyCar
NASCAR
United/Liverpool
AP Invitional
Maryland/Penn State

Me today….

 

[Mispeedway15]

Hell of a sports day coming

 

[donthaveanickname]

Almost go time. Hoping for an exciting new season.

Sky Germany mentioned this track has the oldest surface on the schedule, maybe tires will be a factor.

 

[Get That 88 Up There !!]

Stroll already nearly taking out Alonso

 

[donthaveanickname]

Max is driving away already.

 

[virtualbalboa]

If you just look at the running order, it's like nothing changed from last year right now. Whether or not it stays that way is a different question.

Sargeant is holding his own right now. 13th!

 

[Get That 88 Up There !!]

Haas putting K-Mag on hards to start make completely zero sense. Guether continues to be awful at literally everything

 

[Doc Austin]

Right now, the first six are running nearly by team. Ocon is up to 9th after starting last, so Alpine looks to be for real.

 

[FLRacingFan]

Verstappen is going to be vulnerable if a late SC comes out.

 

[Get That 88 Up There !!]

McLaren turning into a dumpster fire again

 

[virtualbalboa]

Good to see McLaren could make all those people mad and sign about 300 junior drivers only to wind up with Oscar Piastri finishing last with mechanical gremlins. Could anything be more McLaren in this era? Feels like they became a clown team after Mercedes' works effort came into being.

 

[donthaveanickname]

Biggest surprise right now is how well the Williams are running.

 

[virtualbalboa]

Biggest surprise right now is how well the Williams are running.

Looks like they and Red Bull are on 3 stop strategies: everyone else is on hards and running 2 (except KMag, who started on hards and must be going for one stop).

 

[Get That 88 Up There !!]

Aston not telling Alonso who hit him lol