2014 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

[Alan P]

FP1:


Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.502 14
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.733 0.231 13
3 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.953 0.451 17
4 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:38.122 0.620 10
5 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.636 1.134 16
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:38.783 1.281 12
7 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.949 1.447 15
8 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:39.056 1.554 24
9 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:39.102 1.600 21
10 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:39.389 1.887 16
11 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:39.533 2.031 11
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:39.862 2.360 26
13 40 Felipe Nasr Williams-Mercedes 1:40.078 2.576 14
14 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:40.406 2.904 19
15 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.652 3.150 20
16 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:40.793 3.291 31
17 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:40.889 3.387 20
18 36 Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.913 3.411 20
19 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:41.036 3.534 24
20 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:41.794 4.292 20
21 46 Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault 1:42.417 4.915 35
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:42.711 5.209 21 [/CODE]

FP2:


Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.325 28
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:34.690 0.365 31
3 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.360 1.035 28
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.433 1.108 28
5 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:35.442 1.117 13
6 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.528 1.203 21
7 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.606 1.281 30
8 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:35.640 1.315 31
9 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.662 1.337 22
10 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:35.802 1.477 40
11 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:35.920 1.595 9
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:35.972 1.647 33
13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:35.998 1.673 18
14 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.366 2.041 33
15 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.962 2.637 13
16 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.975 2.650 35
17 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:37.259 2.934 25
18 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.599 3.274 23
19 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:37.800 3.475 15
20 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:38.247 3.922 10
21 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:38.257 3.932 33
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:39.136 4.811 30

[Freude am Fahren]

Love seeing the intrateam battles without too many team orders getting in the way.

Also,

[overpowered]

I so wanted Rosberg to pass Hamilton in the closing laps. Sigh.

Bummed to see both McLarens go out. Seeing one car after another quickly get past Button was disheartening.

Red Bull did manage to get past both Williams eventually and one of them got past one of the Force Indias. Mercedes power alone is not holding Red Bull back, though it is making it more difficult for them.

I haven't paid much attention to the new rules. How much are Renault and Ferrari allowed to work on improving their engines? If they can't, Mercedes pretty much has this season locked up.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I'm not sure how much they can do. Not a whole lot I think, which would be a shame. I think Williams may have been screwed by the safety car/pit stops at the end there. They seems to lose a few positions from before to after. They also seem to have been struggling with tire wear a bit more than others.

Also, check out the onboard from the Gutierrez flip:

[tigeraid]

Man. I watched a Grand Prix and a race broke out.

At least at the front. Good thing they have each other to race or this would be Schumacher-era Ferrari all over again. They're staggeringly quicker than everyone else.

[Rob]

Engines sounded like a construction site more than ever.

[Freude am Fahren]

Also Riccardo is looking quite good. Vettel keeps complaining about his car, but maybe he just doesn't realize people can be faster than him.

[Tom Servo]

Well, damn if that wasn't actually a fun race to watch. The rankings of the teams became very apparent at the end, but it was nice that the drivers from within each team sure seemed keen on battling one another. That dicing up front for a couple of laps was some of the most exciting racing I've seen in a long time. I can't believe how excited I got during a Bahrain GP...here's hoping this keeps up.

[XHawkeye]

Raikkonen 'flying' during practice

[Alan P]

Mercedes the class of the field. A Country Mile ahead of the rest by the looks of it. Even after the safety car they were whole seconds faster than everyone else. The only way I can see anyone else catching them is if some technical decision goes against them in some way. It's a two horse race and Hamilton looks to have the beating of Rosberg overall.