Grand Prix of Bahrain 2013
Winner : Sebastian Vettel
Second : Kimi Raikkonen
Third : Romain Grosjean
After Alonso's win in China can his rivals hit back in Bahrain? Will Alonso be able to keep the Ferrari on top?
And when will the McLarens turn up?
The opening segment made me smile because it took us back to Fernando at Renault which always makes me very happy, so big thumbs up BBC! Lee and DC seem to be dressed identically for the highlights as well. It is actually really scary.
I always love how people say "the Austrian team based in Milton Keyes" Red Bull have never felt Austrian to me, not that I know what an Austrian team should feel like. They just seem so normally British. Maybe that is just because they are lead by Christian Horner (or I wish they were).
I have to admit that I skipped most of the pre-race stuff, I know the result so finding out how the drivers felt didn't feel important for me at midnight. If it hadn't been for the fact that iPlayer had been playing up and I'd rather watch it on my TV then on my laptop I'd probably have watched it, or if it was a full live race.
So opening lap? Ferrari still have such a bloody wonderful starts, both Alonso and Massa though Alonso even better. He got into second place but Vettel retakes the place leading to some fighting between the two of them. Rosberg kept his first place and was pretty calm to be fair on him.
You can see right away that Rosberg just does not have the pace in that Mercedes, he was able to hold off Vettel for a while, but the Mercedes just doesn't seem able to get the race pace. The Ferrari's seem to have found some though, and qualifying speed as well which makes me one happy Ferrari fan.
Button had a good start which was encouraging.
Vettel took the lead on lap 3 but it wasn't a surprise, the Red Bull just has better race pace. He also had KERS.
We found out that Kimi did bring up Sergio's driving in the drivers briefing, he does seem to cut people up a little too often but it seems to be a new thing that he has started doing these last few races.
Alonso is able to overtake Rosberg on lap 5 and seems to be the only person with the pace to overtake Vettel and get this win.
Paul di Resta is having a brilliant race to be fair, he was able to overtake Rosberg.
Tragedy strikes, something is wrong with Nacho's rear wing (Nacho is my nickname for Alonso) his DRS is open past the DRS opening stage. It wouldn't shut.
The McLarens are fighting amongst themselves with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen right up their backsides.
Oh and once again Nacho's rear wing is wide open and he once again has to pit. Sad times. I do love, however, that this is a million pound technology in the most expensive sport probably in the world and when the DRS is broken all that happens is a bunch of mechanics stand behind the car and whack the flap back down. It actually made me laugh. I love the Ferrari mechanics though.
Interesting me fact, I wasn't always a Ferrari fan, though it wasn't Alonso that made me one. I fell in love with them when Schumi and his guys all left. I used to be a big Williams fan, I still am though the problem is I can't support many of the drivers they employ, I just don't like them or else if I do like them they are no where in the race. I support them but there isn't much to support. I don't even support Ferrari because they win (else I'd have loved the Schumi years) I love them because of the people behind the team, wonderful people.
Anyway there was a bit of a scuffle between, who was it, Rosberg, Button and Massa? Some good racing there by some brilliant drivers. Grosjean and Perez have a bit of a battle as well.
I love how mature Grosjean seems to be this season, he is having a troubling beginning to the season, there is a lot of the "I haven't shown my potential yet" comments coming from his camp. I want to shake him and tell him to get to it, I've seen what he can do and he is a decent driver, but I think he had a bad race last year and got into a negative place and made more and more mistakes which lead to a lot of pressure on him and a lot of people wanting him to be fired for being dangerous and "useless". I'll fully admit I made a few Grosjean jokes in my time but to be honest there is talent there. I feel he could be a "Massa" type driver, very strong but drives too emotionally at times and when they are in a negative frame of mind they attract trouble and bad things happen to them.
Lap 15 Vettel takes the lead back, he was out of position after his pit stop. I think he's got this one in a bag (no jokes about spoilers at the top of the page please, unlike the MotoGP I am not watching this live so know he wins...)
Lap 17 and Massa gets a puncture... Bad race for Ferrari.
On the lap when Button was planning on pitting he had a bit of a decent race with Grosjean which actually lifted my heart a little, they have been struggling and it is nice to see Jense fighting a little bit.
Lap 24 Sergio cuts across his team mate, they then overtook Rosberg together, the difference between Perez and Rosberg/Button was on show for everyone BUT I remember a certain Rosberg not that long ago (when he was a rookie) doing similar silly moves. I think it is a GP2 thing to be honest as a lot of GP2 drivers come into F1 doing the same thing.
David Coulthard thought he was uncovering some kind of terrible conspiracy with Perez's DRS but actually he answered his own question when he finally thought about it.
More McLaren fighting, thank you Martin for letting them fight, Perez finally hits Jenson after he overtook him (Jense overtook Checo) "Calm him down" ohh I love you Jenson. But it was a good fight and race craft will come to Perez, even the super rookies made stupid mistakes in their first few years (they still make them until they retire to be honest) he does need to calm down a little. Anyway the little damage that he did to his McLaren didn't do anything because they still were fighting and they were side by side for ages but Jenson wasn't having any of it and pushed Checo right off the track.
Though I find the thing with this is it is a double edged sword. Everyone loved Kobayashi because he didn't care who he was overtaking or what was happening he just went for the move. 90% of the time he got it done. Some of the other drivers don't get that luck and then they are told they are too dangerous or need to calm down and they do and it makes them a little more boring. Kobay became boring in the end and he lost that spark and I think that is why he lost his seat (amongst other reasons).
Anyway Checo never gave up but then he got attacked by Grosjean who finally did make it through. Really good racing, even if Checo was a bit excitable, though another point, if that wasn't his team mate would we be praising the fighting spirit? After Grosjean got past Jenson he once again had his team mate on his gearbox.
Lap 37 the same tyre managed to delaminate itself again for Felipe.
In the closing stages Romain Grosjean got past Paul di Resta who had spent most of the race in third place, and the race ended with the same podium from last year.
Paul was fantastic and it is nice to see that Force India might be able to fight for podiums this year, it is also nice to see that Grosjean is starting to get a little more mature, hoping this carries on for the rest of the season.
For the last few races there was a bit of a fight between a couple of the drivers in the last points positions including Perez who has been immense all race, Alonso who didn't have DRS but still managed to get up into the points (Perez touched Alonso as well as already touching Jenson and Grosjean... Perv).
Brilliant racing through the whole of this race, as I said last week because this is a highlight if there are any boring laps they've been cut away and this has been edge of your seat stuff! It is also what I was saying with the MotoGP blog yesterday, this is the kind of racing you wouldn't see in F1 a few years back but was the blood and spit of MotoGP (don't ask me what that means it just sounded gritty and bad ass which is how MotoGP used to feel). The drivers actually really look like they are driving the best cars in the world instead of acting like prima donas and complaining about each other.
I have to say drivers like Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Perez and Alonso made this race. They just grit their teeth as they were having bad weekends but they fought so elegantly as well as so hard. They are the best drivers in the world and this is proof why.
In the end their battle ended Hamilton - Perez - Webber - Alonso.
So the race?
What a race! I've added my feelings throughout the blog but a basic summary is THAT IS WHAT RACING IS ALL ABOUT!
Of course I agree that I'm at the advantage now that I'm watching highlights and they edit out the boring laps that I don't want to see. But I mean wow, some of the racing was just mega.
So what we had a run away leader? Who cares that second place was won pretty easily for Kimi?
Some of the battles you just felt every turn of it. Jenson v Sergio, just.... That is what it is about. Sergio might have been a bit over the top sure but it was just brilliant to watch him racing. They might be struggling but it was wonderful to see them go out there and fight with each other.
The first blah result for Jules in 19th but I'm still very proud, still beating his team mate.
It makes me hate the fact we haven't got a race next weekend, it made my day watching this and I was so happy to see some of my boys fighting and getting some spirit within them again. I mean Alonso might have had a decent start to the season but its been mild, it is so nice to see all his energy into a fight.
Checo... Ohhh Checo I think you are adorable, don't change, just get a little more race experience under your belt. He made the race and I'm sure he is one of the drivers of the race for me. And when he was talking to the BBC he seemed pretty proud of himself and so he should be because that was a good race for him even if it seemed a little scrappy.
Fantastic race. Can't wait for some of the more exciting race tracks because if this was how exciting a more tame race track gets this season then I can't wait for the rest of the season!!
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