FORMULA 1

[Cigar_83]

Could someone explain MGU-H, If I understand correctly it is the charge of the battery or was it the turbo?  Perhaps im completely off. 

 

Also, must be emotionally for Schumacher's wife watching her son test the prancing horse in Barcellona. 

[avaldes]

The turbo has a generator attached that produces electricity. That is used to either charge the battery or add torque directly to the rear wheels. If that fails then there is no electrical augmentation to the power of the internal combustion engine. So they would be missing a couple hundred Hp. Likewise dropping a cylinder would cause at least the loss of 1/6 the power, plus whatever additional friction losses you get from the dead cyl.

In the race I though the "It's not harvesting" comment came from LeClerc himself. But could easily have been someone speculating on the radio. In reality the whole thing is likely mis-information to keep the other teams guessing. I wouldn't reveal the failure if I were an F1 team boss.

[Cigar_83]

46 minutes ago, avaldes said:

The turbo has a generator attached that produces electricity. That is used to either charge the battery or add torque directly to the rear wheels. If that fails then there is no electrical augmentation to the power of the internal combustion engine. So they would be missing a couple hundred Hp. Likewise dropping a cylinder would cause at least the loss of 1/6 the power, plus whatever additional friction losses you get from the dead cyl.

In the race I though the "It's not harvesting" comment came from LeClerc himself. But could easily have been someone speculating on the radio. In reality the whole thing is likely mis-information to keep the other teams guessing. I wouldn't reveal the failure if I were an F1 team boss.

Thanks for the explanation! Im sure they are trying to keep it hush, but really, what would be the issue if it was out in the open? 

[In-A-Gadda-Davidoff]

2 hours ago, avaldes said:

In reality the whole thing is likely mis-information to keep the other teams guessing. I wouldn't reveal the failure if I were an F1 team boss

Exactly correct. 

I tend to believe that it wasn't an MGU-H failure.  Since teams are allocated 3 MGU-H for the season if Ferrari truly burnt one up it would be common knowledge.  Charles asked what is happening and the response he got was There is no H recovery.  If a cylinder wasn't firing would the lack of combustion gases out of that cylinder affect the turbo enough to nullify the MGU-H's energy recovery?  This almost seems to be an electrical or software issue.  I rewatched the race from Leclerc's onboard camera, and they definitely went through several mode and fuel map changes to try to isolate or fix the issue, and you could definitely hear the issue with the engine.  

Hopefully they straighten out these issues.  It would be nice to have Ferrari, Red Bull, and Haas challenging Mercedes for podium spots throughout the season. 

[MIKA27]

BRAWN REPORT: FORMULA 1 CAN BE A REALLY CRUEL SPORT

Formula 1 motorsport director Ross Brawn, like most Formula 1, was enthralled by the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, three days packed with intrigue, mysteries and surprises as Ferrari somehow failed to take make the most of a clear advantage they had with SF90 only to be emphatically trounced by Mercedes for two weeks in a row.

Here’s what Brawn had to say:

“Wow, what a sensational weekend in Bahrain. A great track and great event and the sport of Formula 1 at the highest level in both competition and emotion – who could ask for more!

“Formula 1 can be a really cruel sport. In Bahrain, after being fastest at almost every stage of the weekend – with the exception of a short period after the start yesterday – Charles Leclerc was living the dream.

“But then, with just a few laps to go his power unit began to play up and he slowed to the extent that both Mercedes got past him. It was a devastating blow for both driver and team, but especially for Charles.

“However, his fall to third place doesn’t take away from what was a brilliant performance the talented Monegasque youngster delivered. The way in which he regained the lead after a handful of laps, the skill with which he managed his tyres in what was a particularly difficult race due to the blustery sandy conditions, was majestic.

“I also appreciated how composed he was in dealing with what happened at the end of the race. That showed a great deal of maturity, a trait that will serve him well in the future. Charles truly deserved a win and the consolation of this first podium finish and I am sure he will be back on top very soon.

“In Formula 1 the old adage ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’ still holds true. At Ferrari and Renault, they will be well aware of the maxim, as both squads had the misfortune to see good results evaporate with just a few laps to go.

The current power units really are amazing technological marvels, as demonstrated by their 50% thermal efficiency. But they are also extremely complex and every component must be prepared to perfection to endure the stresses and demands of this form of competition. Over the years, there has been incredible progress thanks in part to simulation work, but total perfection on the track is still difficult to achieve and maintain.

The first thing to do is understand exactly what happened, and where components may have failed, in order to put in place countermeasures. Analysing failed components is a complicated task that involves not only the teams, but usually external suppliers as well.

Everything needs to be done in a hurry as we are back on track in less than two weeks, but at the same time, one must proceed methodically to avoid the same thing happening a second time. It’s tough to balance reaction time with thoroughness but if solutions are to be found then, as I learned a long time ago, the devil is in the detail, and that’s the process to which the teams must now adhere.

Despite the final outcome, this weekend belonged to a very young driver, Charles Leclerc, but two other youngsters also stood out.

Both Lando Norris and Alexander Albon finished in the points in only their second race in the category. McLaren driver Norris had a particularly good weekend, and on Saturday he made it into Q3 for the second consecutive time. On Sunday he converted that potential into good points, finishing sixth, the team’s best result since last year’s Australian Grand Prix.

The Woking team has definitely gone down the youth route this season and while Norris’ team-mate Carlos Sainz has 83 grands prix under his belt he’s still just 24 years old. At the moment, McLaren’s choice seems to be paying off.

In Faenza, the home of Toro Rosso (and where Sainz got his start) they are well used to bringing on youngsters, but maybe even they didn’t expect Albon to be so well prepared for it. The Thai driver qualified well, in 12th place, and in the race did not put a foot wrong. He drove a sensible race, showing good pace and took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves. Again, it was a mature, clever and laudable performance.

George Russell, too, had a good race, even if the current difficulties at Williams mean that he does not have the equipment to fight with his fellow newcomers.

It’s good that Formula 1 is bringing through a genuinely exciting new generation of drivers. Not that we don’t like the established stars such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, or the veteran Kimi Räikkönen, but new drivers are the sport’s lifeblood that help it grow!

The effect of the new aero rules began to be felt in Melbourne and it was even more apparent in Sakhir. The changes were introduced to improve the drivers’ ability to race closely and they seem to be working.

I’d say that we are only seeing the first signs, encouraging ones at that, and they have made for interesting racing, especially in Bahrain. It’s not just down to the new rules, but the show we have seen in the first two races makes me feel optimistic about the rest of the season. In Shanghai, in just under two weeks, we’ll see if the improvement is repeated.

If you record two one-two finishes in the first two races, you should be in seventh heaven, believing you have dealt a severe blow to your rivals’ hopes.

And yet, on Sunday, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff openly admitted that while it had somewhat unexpectedly finished ahead of the rest in Melbourne, practically unchallenged, it was a very different story in Bahrain.

If it hadn’t have been for Leclerc’s loss of power, Hamilton would have had no chance of attacking the Ferrari, nor would Bottas have finished second, a result that means he keeps his championship lead.

Mercedes are aware of the real situation and they have to fight back against what is clearly a very competitive Ferrari this year. If you’ve won everything since 2014 there’s a risk of resting on one’s laurels but Bahrain will have been a wake-up call that they will not be ignoring as they hold their de-briefs at home this week.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: THE MCLAREN MCL34 IS A STEP FORWARD IN EVERY ASPECT

Fernando Alonso was back in a Formula 1 cockpit 127 days after ‘retiring’ from the top flight, the Spaniard being tapped up for his experience during the two-day in-season test in Bahrain today

Alonso, driving an F1 car for the first time since the Abu Dhabi Grand prix last November, was keen to get out on track and was the first car out when it went green at 9am.

The team reported that “the double F1 world champion was in the cockpit of the Pirelli test car evaluating 2020 tyres. As per regulations, his MCL34’s specification was using the aerodynamic set-up utilised in a race.”

After his 64 laps on the day, Alonso summed up, “A positive day in the car. It’s always fun to drive a Formula 1 car as they are the fastest cars in the world, so as a driver it’s nice to feel the speed and the adrenaline. Even with the rain in the middle of the day it was a good day.”

“The car is a step forward in every aspect from last year. The car has more grip, it’s less draggy on the straights, the engine is a step better, so overall as a package the car is going in the right direction and we’re closer to the front.”

“We saw in the first two races that there is still another step to make if you want to compete with the top three teams, but as a first step I think it’s a good baseline and there’s a good programme of development.

“It was good to see a positive weekend for us in Bahrain last weekend and hopefully this continues for the rest of the season. I have no regrets about my decision to stop racing in Formula 1 and I’m very happy for the team,” added Alonso.

As for a return to F1 in the future, the Spaniard said, “I feel that I have already achieved what I had to achieve in Formula 1, or perhaps more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

“I do not regret anything and if I ever return to Formula 1, which I doubt because my decision to leave Formula 1 is firm, it’s because I can win the World Championship but if it’s to finish sixth or seventh, even fourth it’s not tempting.”

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES: IT’S NOT BEEN A WASTED DAY

Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One teams have remained in Bahrain for this year’s first in-season test. Lewis Hamilton was behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+, completing 77 laps on the opening day.

Lewis Hamilton: “We were driving on the same track we drove all weekend, but due to the conditions we faced completely different obstacles today. Both the temperatures and the wind were different to what we experienced last week, which is why this is actually quite a cool track to drive as it brought some variation.”

Andrew Shovlin: “The rain was a bit of a surprise! It wasn’t forecast but ended up costing us four or five hours of our programme. We selected the tyres for this test back in December and not expecting rain, we chose only dry tyres.”

“So, once the track was properly wet we didn’t have any option but to wait for it to dry again. However, it’s not been a wasted day, we got through a few aero items in the morning and have managed to collect useful data on some development items.”

“We’re going to reorganise our plans a bit for tomorrow, we’re not going to manage to get everything done that we hoped but with decent weather we should be able to cover most of it.”

[MIKA27]

FERRARI: A DAY TO REMEMBER

It was a day to remember in Bahrain for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow and all Formula 1 fan, shortly after nine in the morning, Mick Schumacher, son of seven times world champion, Michael, had his first drive in a Formula 1 car, the Ferrari SF90.

The Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) student, who made his Formula 2 debut over the weekend with the Prema team, jumped in the car for an installation lap, before pitting for the usual checks. A few minutes later, despite the track being extremely dirty following the sand storm that hit the area yesterday, Mick began his first run, putting together a series of laps at a constant pace.

The other newsworthy aspect of the day was the weather, with the occasional rain shower, hardly a usual feature in this part of the world, reducing the amount of track time in the morning for the teams. Before the lunch break, the young German had completed 33 laps, the quickest in 1:32.552. In the afternoon, Schumacher and the other drivers were only able to get back on track around 5pm, given that the rain was still falling in Sakhir.

Mick completed a further 23 laps, as he gradually gained confidence in the SF90, while working on a programme including tyre and set-up work. By the end of his first day in a Formula 1 car, the youngster had run up a total of 56 laps, equivalent to 303 kilometres, one lap less than Sunday’s race distance. His best time was a 1:29.976.

For the second and final day of the Sakhir test, Sebastian Vettel will be behind the wheel for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow. Mick Schumacher will be in action yet again, switching to the cockpit of the Alfa Romeo Racing car.

Mick Schumacher: “I really enjoyed today. It felt like home in the garage from the very first moment with a lot of people that know me since I was very young. The SF90 is incredible because of the power it has, but it is also smooth to drive, and that’s why I enjoyed myself so much.”

“I was impressed by the braking power an F1 car has. It seemed to me you could brake later and later and the car would have made the turn anyway. I would like to say thank you Ferrari for this incredible opportunity and I’m looking forward to test the Alfa Romeo tomorrow.”

 

[MIKA27]

RED BULL: WE LEARNED A LOT

Just two days after claiming fourth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was today back at the wheel of the RB15 as the first in-season test of 2019 got underway at the Sakhir Circuit.

And though the session was uncharacteristically disrupted by rain, Max still managed to get through 62 laps of the desert circuit and posted the day’s fastest lap.

“It was a little bit wet, which is strange, but overall I think we had a good day,” said Max. “We managed to get in a lot of laps to help us understand more about our performance over the race weekend, and I think we’ve already learned a lot, so that’s very positive.”

“We don’t get that many days to really understand the car, and during a race weekend it all goes by so quickly, so days like today are very helpful. We knew what didn’t work over the weekend in terms of rear-end grip so we tried to work on that and I think we learned a lot.”

Simon Rennie, Group Leader, Simulator Engineering, added: “Today was a little bit of a strange day due to the rain. Tyre choices for testing are made quite a long way in advance and with a limitation on the number of sets to choose from, everyone naturally went without intermediates or extreme wet tyres, as probability suggests there won’t be heavy rain in Bahrain in April, and yet here we are!”

“Still, despite losing about four-and-a-half hours due to the weather, we managed to get through all of the high priority test items on the run plan for today, so I think we can mark it down as a good outing. We focused on taking forward some of the things we learned from the race weekend here in Bahrain and that meant a lot of aero tests, and a few mechanical items as well.”

“To be honest, it was a fairly straightforward day for us, with no reliability woes and a lot of data gathered. Depending on the weather, it will be more of the same tomorrow when Dan Ticktum takes over from Max. Dan has plenty of simulator experience under his belt, so I don’t expect it to take him to too long to get comfortable with the RB15 and hopefully we’ll have another productive day.”

Masamitsu Motohashi, Honda F1 Deputy Technical Director: “This is our first test session since Barcelona before the start of the season. So far we have acquired plenty of data from the first two races, some of which we cannot get from our dyno work and that has increased our understanding of our PU.”

“This test is useful to conform the lessons we have learned from the two race weekends and it will help us optimise our PU calibration for the coming races. Furthermore, as this is a test, we can experiment with a wider range of PU settings than we would during a race weekend and this helps give us a clearer picture of the PU behaviour.”

“It was a shame we lost so much track time because of the rain which we did not really expect in advance, but we still have one more day tomorrow and hopefully, we will be able to do plenty of laps.”

[MIKA27]

HAAS: WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE LACKED RACE PACE

Romain Grosjean and Pietro Fittipaldi both logged time at the wheel of the VF-19 Tuesday at the rain-affected Formula One test at Bahrain International Circuit.

Grosjean had 42 laps banked in the morning before a flurry of rain showers halted proceedings at the 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile), 15-turn desert-based circuit.

The 32-year-old French driver set his fastest time, a 1:30.982, on the Pirelli P Zero C3 yellow tire, subsequently topping the timesheets prior to the near five-hour rain delay.

Grosjean’s time stood until late in the day, eventually placing fourth fastest among the 15 drivers participating on the first day of the test.

Fittipaldi strapped in for the final 75 minutes of the session. The Rich Energy Haas F1 Team test driver took to the still-drying track and worked through a shortened test plan running used C3’s leading to the checkered flag at 6 p.m. local time. With 20 laps recorded, the 22-year-old Brazilian set a best time of 1:32.708.

Fittipaldi will drive the VF-19 Wednesday morning with Grosjean returning in the afternoon to conclude the second and final day of in-season Formula One testing in Bahrain.

Romain Grosjean: “Surprising conditions today, we weren’t expecting to see rain in Bahrain. We did what we wanted to in the morning, which is good. We had a program for the afternoon which we couldn’t get to due to the weather conditions.”

“Hopefully we can do that tomorrow. Clearly we want to understand why we were lacking pace in the race on Sunday, and to achieve that we need some dry weather. We’ve got some good ideas, some good test items, so that’s the plan for tomorrow.”

Pietro Fittipaldi: “It was good to get out there. Conditions were a bit damp, but it allowed us to get some running in as the track was drying. That was good for me to get ready for tomorrow. We stayed on used tires this afternoon, I was able to do some longer runs and get more comfortable with the car. I felt good, so I’m looking forward to driving again on Wednesday.”

[MIKA27]

WILLIAMS: IT WAS A VERY FRUSTRATING DAY FOR EVERYONE

Williams Senior Race Engineer Dave Robson and drivers George Russell and Robert Kubica report from the first day of the two-day Bahrain Formula 1 Test at the Grand Prix venue.

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: “It was a very frustrating day for everyone here in Bahrain. Conditions first thing this morning looked reasonable following the dust clouds yesterday and some overnight rain. However, some further rain meant that little happened between mid-morning and early evening when conditions improved again.”

“We were able to complete some aero testing early in the morning with George, concentrating on data gathering with the rake instrumentation. We then started a performance programme before the rain came. Once the track had dried by early evening, we were able to run again with Robert, completing some further aero work and a quick series of performance running.”

“Unfortunately, the final run was cut short by a red flag, however, we did manage to gather some useful data before that. We will now prepare the car for a full day of running tomorrow with Nicholas. Following the shortened running today, we have plenty of tyres available and so will aim to complete a comprehensive programme of tests.”

Robert Kubica: “There is not a lot to say as we were unlucky with the weather. We did manage to complete a few runs and gather some data, but unfortunately, we were not able to test anything.”

George Russell: “This morning was very limited due to the weather as we did not expect it to rain here in Bahrain, but this affected everybody down the pitlane. However, we still managed to conduct some good tests and gain valuable data that we can use to optimise the FW42. So, all in all a positive session despite the circumstances.”

[MIKA27]

TORO ROSSO: WEDNESDAY IS GOING TO BE A VERY BUSY DAY

Toro Rosso report from day one of the two day Formula 1 Test at Bahrain International Circuit, venue of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alexander Albon: “The first day of the Bahrain test went quite well, we had to stop for a few hours due to the rain, otherwise it was a pretty successful day. We got as much mileage in as we could, and we were able to complete a few aero tests which will hopefully bring more performance to the car. The job isn’t completely done yet, so we’ll have a busy schedule tomorrow to complete everything we want to test, but it’s looking good! I’m getting more experience in managing the tyres and finding the best way to extract more performance out of them, so it’s been a useful day despite the rain interruption.”

Jonathan Eddolls, Chief Race Engineer: “Today we commenced two days of in-season testing in Bahrain, with Alex testing for us and Dany running the Pirelli car. The last thing we expected to be an issue was the weather, however, that was the biggest limitation today!”

“After the winds and very sandy atmosphere yesterday, combined with overnight rain, the morning started with the track in relatively poor shape. Conditions improved throughout the morning, but we lost four and a half hours in the afternoon because of rain. Although the rain eased up quite early, the light winds, relatively low temperatures, cloud cover and humidity, meant it took a long time to dry.”

“We were eventually able to resume proper running again shortly after 5pm, so the day was split into two quite distinct sections. We began this morning with some aero rake running to improve our understanding of the on-track aero performance of the STR14, after this we moved onto a sequence of mechanical setup work focused on improving overall performance.”

“Over a race weekend with limited time and new tyres, it can be tricky to carry out larger test items and draw firm conclusions, so we were able to back up the results of our testing from the first two races this morning. At the end of the day, we completed a couple of longer runs and focused on tyre understanding and management.”

“The car was reliable throughout, which is positive, but given the limited track time we still have many test items to complete. We’ve moved these test items into tomorrow’s programme, which means it is going to be a very busy day!”

Masamitsu Motohashi, Honda F1 Deputy Technical Director: “This is our first test session since Barcelona before the start of the season. So far we have acquired plenty of data from the first two races, some of which we cannot get from our dyno work and that has increased our understanding of our PU. This test is useful to conform the lessons we have learned from the two race weekends and it will help us optimise our PU calibration for the coming races.”

“Furthermore, as this is a test, we can experiment with a wider range of PU settings than we would during a race weekend and this helps give us a clearer picture of the PU behaviour. It was a shame we lost so much track time because of the rain which we did not really expect in advance, but we still have one more day tomorrow and hopefully, we will be able to do plenty of laps.”

[MIKA27]

HAKKINEN: MAX IS VERY TALENTED BUT RACING IS NOT DAMAGING THE OTHER GUY

Mika Hakkinen won his two titles with McLaren in the nineties, thus no surprise he has a soft spot for the Woking outfit and after the Bahrain Grand Prix, he had some choice words for Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz were battling furiously for fifth place on lap four when the orange car picked up a puncture when it was tagged by the blue car.

That compromised the McLaren driver’s race and led to his second DNF of the season.

Although seething immediately after he arrived in the pits, Sainz later said he had no complaints, “It’s racing, it’s incidents. All I can say is that I started well, I did all I had to do and tried everything I had to try and I ended up worse off. It was my turn to get puncture thanks to how hard he hit me.

“The normal thing would have been that we both got a puncture and to be both out of the race. He was lucky to continue, but he hit me really hard and that was it,” lamented Sainz.

But Hakkinen pulled no punches when he wrote on the subject in his Unibet column, “It should have been a great race for the McLaren of Carlos Sainz, but his car suffered damage in a collision while battling for fifth position with the Red Bull driven by Max Verstappen.”

“The young Dutchman is very talented, but racing hard does not mean damaging the other guy. You have to give room, if not for the other guy then at least for yourself.

“I was not surprised Carlos was upset afterwards. However, the good news is that McLaren look competitive, which means Carlos has more positive days ahead.”

With Ferrari and Mercedes clearly ahead in the power stakes, Red Bull look to be in the no-mans-land between the Top Two and the Best of the Rest, the latter about 1.2 seconds shy of the pacesetters, the Blues are in between the two ‘divisions’ for now.

Hakkinen added, “Behind them Red Bull Honda has work to do, so although I expect Max Verstappen to be challenging for the front two rows of the grid, a repeat victory for Red Bull this year seems unlikely.”

[MIKA27]

HAKKINEN: LECLERC IS GOING TO ADD A LOT TO THE SEASON AHEAD

Double Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen believes that the emergence of young Charles Leclerc as a major force in Bahrain is a signal to Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes that the bar is about to be raised in the top flight.

In his latest Unibet column, Hakkinen reflects on and dissects an intriguing race under the floodlights of Sakhir, on a night that F1 welcomed a new superstar capable of winning and challenging for titles.

This is what the Flying Finn had to say:

“I was in Bahrain for the Grand Prix on Sunday, and what an interesting and exciting weekend it was. After Mercedes’ dominance in Australia, everyone had been asking what had happened to Ferrari’s pre-season form but, in Bahrain, everything turned around.

“The front row of the grid was locked out by Ferrari and Charles Leclerc really dominated the race before his engine started to run on only five cylinders, dropping him to third. In some ways it is amazing he even finished!

“For this young guy from Monaco, in only his second season in F1 and second race for Ferrari, it was a very tough moment. I have lost count of the number of times a race got away from me, but it is part of the sport and you have to learn to cope with extreme disappointment.

“Leclerc is very strong, quicker than teammate Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain, and this guy is going to add a lot to the season ahead. As Lewis Hamilton said to him after the race, he has a long career in front of him and the race victories will come.”

“Mercedes won the race, of course, with Lewis Hamilton inheriting the win and Valtteri Bottas finishing second, but still holding his World Championship lead by one point.”

“If you remember Valtteri wanted to score the extra point for fastest lap in Melbourne, and now you see why. Every point counts, and this year could be very close indeed.

“While Mercedes’ reliability won the race, team boss Toto Wolff and his drivers know that they have a problem; Ferrari is fast, even if they are fragile. Melbourne didn’t suit them, probably due to the slower 90 degree corners on that track, but on the wide open, flowing race track in Bahrain the Ferrari was the car to have.

“There are more quick circuits than slow ones, so Mercedes will take the lucky win in Bahrain but go back to their factory knowing that they have work to do in order to catch up.

“While all the attention was on Leclerc, young Lando Norris put in a fantastic drive for McLaren to finish sixth. The team is recovering well after a very difficult few years, and this result gives everyone a boost and shows what a great talent Norris is.

“He is only 19, won the European Formula 3 Championship in 2017 and finished second in Formula 2 last year, and his performances for McLaren in Melbourne and Bahrain marks him out as a yet another young star. We are lucky to have so many talented drivers coming through.

“It should have been a great race for the other McLaren of Carlos Sainz, but his car suffered damage in a collision while battling for fifth position with the Red Bull driven by Max Verstappen. The young Dutchman is very talented, but racing hard does not mean damaging the other guy.”

“You have to give room, if not for the other guy then at least for yourself, and I was not surprised Carlos was upset afterwards. However, the good news is that McLaren look competitive, which means Carlos has more positive days ahead.

“Kimi Raikkonen scored a good seventh place for Alfa Romeo, and this illustrates just how competitive the midfield is. McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Toro Rosso, Haas, Renault and Force India are battling hard, and it is producing close, tense, exciting racing.

The next event in China is the 1000th Formula One World Championship race, an amazing milestone after 70 years of racing. Ferrari qualified on the front row of the grid in Shanghai last year, although the race was won by Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull.

“I suspect Leclerc and Vettel will be aiming to repeat that qualifying performance this year and convert it to a Ferrari victory in order to gain revenge for Bahrain. On the long back straight expect Ferrari’s straight line speed advantage to really show.

“The big question is whether Leclerc will be quicker than Vettel again. If he is, then Sebastian will be feeling a lot of pressure.

“Hamilton has won the Chinese Grand Prix five times, so he really likes that track and will not want to rely on luck to get another win. Valtteri Bottas led last year’s race and finished second, so after a tough weekend in Bahrain, I know he will be pushing hard for the win in order to defend that World Championship lead. Expect Mercedes to come out fighting in China.

“Behind them Red Bull Honda has work to do, so although I expect Max Verstappen to be challenging for the front two rows of the grid, a repeat victory for Red Bull this year seems unlikely.

“And behind them, there will be three or four teams battling to be the ‘best of the race’, so watch carefully; there is going to be plenty of action.

[MIKA27]

ALBON: VERY HAPPY TO PICK UP MY FIRST POINTS IN FORMULA 1

Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon rode his luck to become the first Thai driver to score Formula One points since Prince Bira in 1954 when he finished ninth in Bahrain on Sunday.

The 23-year-old, who started 12th, collected two points in only his second grand prix, “My start was very bad, I was a little bit safe into turns one and two.”

“Obviously we were a bit lucky with the Renaults, but I’ll take it,” added Albon, who moved up the order when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo retired from scoring positions with three laps to go.

The points meant Toro Rosso have scored in both races to date this season, with Russian Daniil Kvyat finishing 10th two weeks ago in Australia.

The British-born son of a Thai mother and British father, Albon finished third overall in the Formula Two championship last year.

Set to race for Nissan in the all-electric Formula E series, he was handed his Formula One shot after Red Bull promoted Pierre Gasly from Toro Rosso to its senior team and dropped Brendon Hartley.

He is only the second Thai driver since Prince Bira to race in Formula 1.

“I enjoyed myself out there and it was good to get that experience,” he said of his second weekend in the top flight. “I’m very happy to pick up my first points in Formula 1 and I hope we can carry this pace into in China.”

[MIKA27]

Racing Point still quite far from potential - Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez says Racing Point still has to unlock further performance from its RP19, having been a relative midfield tail-ender during Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Perez qualified in 14th position and went on to race into the top 10, but only picked up the final point on offer when both Renault drivers suffered separate engine failures with three laps remaining.

“It feels okay, not fantastic,” Perez told Motorsport Week about his Bahrain Grand Prix.

“But I know it’s a long year so there is a lot of improvements we can make.

“This time last year I didn’t have any points so it’s a better start than last year and I always finish high in the championship, so it’s a long year.

“We just have to keep improving, at the moment we are quite far but hopefully in the coming races we can be a bit stronger.”

In the midfield fight Racing Point was beaten by McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Toro Rosso, with Renault also running in front until its late drama.

“There was a lot of sliding with the wind so it was hard to work with the tyres, I think it was more down to the car [than the wind],” he added.

“The car didn’t perform with this asphalt. It’s not a fantastic track for us.

“But I think at low speed, [corner] entry stability at the rear end is where we need more support.”

Racing Point team-mate Lance Stroll classified 14th in the wake of a first-lap collision with Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

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The Bahrain tweaks that kept Mercedes in the game

Mercedes made several changes in order to get the best from its W10 in Bahrain, which ended with a 1-2 finish. Let’s delve into the technical details and check out the most important changes that it made...

Although Ferrari clearly had the fastest car in Bahrain, both Mercedes drivers stayed within four tenths of Charles Leclerc’s hot pace in qualifying – with Lewis Hamilton just 0.03s from pipping Sebastian Vettel to a front-row starting spot.

Mercedes then went on to score a 1-2 finish, as Ferrari stumbled on race day. Click on the photos below to scroll through the images of some key technical aspects...

The rear wing endplates on the Mercedes W10 were altered for the second round of the championship, with the team dividing the strakes that sit on the outer bounding line into three sections, rather than two. This changes the behavior of the airflow in the region, altering the position and vorticity of the vortex shed at the wing’s tip.

Cooling requirements for the power unit differ at each and every circuit, with the decision also complicated by the aerodynamic compromise that opening up vents on the car brings with it. For the last two seasons Mercedes have utilized a configuration that allows them to expel unwanted heat at the tail end of the halo, mitigating some of the aerodynamic inefficiencies created by the safety structure. The team ran this combined with the enlarged louvred cooling panel in Australia but altered the car’s engine cover in Bahrain to smooth out the transition, deleting the outlet.

Not entirely new for Bahrain but certainly worth noting is the W10’s front brake drum, the design of which looks to make the most of the regulation changes made for 2019. You’ll note the deep cutout section which crosses over the face of the drum, taking airflow collected by the inlet and redistributing it for aerodynamic effect out through the wheel rim. Also note the small gridded window which allows heat generated by the discs to escape, transferring some of that heat to the wheel rim that’s in close proximity.

As we can see from this front view, the deeper crossover section is used on both sides of the car, but an asymmetric layout is favoured when taking into account the heat release window. Only featured on the right-hand side of the car (the left as we look towards it), the window is used to help with tyre temperature management due to the predominantly clockwise nature of the circuit heating the outer tyre at a different rate.

This shot of the brake assembly while disassembled shows how the team is utilising a piece of ducting inside the drum to collect and guide airflow down through the face of the wheel rim, altering its aerodynamic output.

 

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Verstappen pips Schumacher to fastest time in Bahrain testing

With just five minutes to go in the opening day of the in-season test in Bahrain, the Schumacher name looked set to top the timesheets courtesy of Mick, son of seven-time world champion Michael, who was making his F1 testing debut with Ferrari. But then Max Verstappen spolied the party...

Schumacher had gone fastest with a little under half an hour remaining on a rain-affected day of running, and looked set to set the pace until Verstappen’s lap of 1m29.379s - set on the C3 tyre - saw him beat the German by 0.6s. Schumacher ended the day in second on a 1m29.976s, albeit with a fastest lap set on the softest compound available.

The 20-year-old German was not only making his debut in a modern Formula 1 car in Bahrain, but he was also driving for the iconic team that his father won five of his seven drivers’ championships with, and the resulting interest was huge.

Returning to the pits after his installation lap, Schumacher was surrounded by media but appeared unfazed as he enjoyed an error-free day.

Unfortunately for the whole field, Tuesday’s running was severely impacted by the weather, with unexpected rain falling late in the morning session and returning around midday to interrupt testing for four hours.

It was only in the final 90 minutes that drivers ventured back out on track, with Lewis Hamilton first to brave the conditions in the Mercedes and Schumacher not far behind the defending champion.

Teams are able to select their own tyre allocations for testing, and understandably none of the teams had opted for any intermediate or wet compounds for the two-day test given the usual Bahrain weather. The lack of anything other than slicks contributed to the long delay, as track conditions had to improve significantly before any drivers could head back out.

Given the floodlights on offer at the Bahrain International Circuit - which were on for the final 90 minutes of the session - the teams did discuss the idea of extending track running but such a solution was ultimately deemed unsuitable.

Lap counts were low as a result, with McLaren's Lando Norris finishing third having missed out on the majority of the afternoon’s running. Norris took over from team mate Carlos Sainz and posted a 1m30.800s on the C3 tyre, completing just 22 laps. Sainz fared a little better with 32 laps, ending the day ninth overall.

Romain Grosjean sat at the top of the times for the majority of the day having set the pace before the rain interruption, but he was eventually shuffled down to fourth as Haas sought answers for their struggles in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Grosjean then handed over to Pietro Fittipaldi, who managed 20 laps late in the day and ended up 12th.

The man just ahead of Fittipaldi was another to gain significant interest as Fernando Alonso drove a 2019 car for the first time. Alonso was in the Pirelli-run McLaren focusing on 2020 tyre development, and completed 64 laps that will allow him to provide feedback to the team on the current car as well as the tyre supplier.

Alexander Albon and Hamilton were the only drivers to complete more than 70 laps, finishing up fifth and sixth respectively and both setting their best laps on the C3 tyre. Hamilton had the highest total with 77, with his best lap 0.067s slower than the Toro Rosso.

While rain limited running, the only interruption caused by a car came right at the end of the day as Lance Stroll stopped in the middle sector with two minutes remaining. Stroll finished eighth overall, just behind Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault, but ensured the rest of the field had to return to the pits a few minutes early before the chequered flag.

 

 

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WATCH: The top 10 onboards from Bahrain

The Best Team Radio | 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix

 

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SCHUMACHER: IT HAS BEEN ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY

It was the second day of Formula 1 testing for Mick Schumacher, the Ferrari Driver Academy Student, currently competing in the Formula 2 championship.

The son of the seven times world champion, Michael, completed 70 laps at the wheel of the Alfa Romeo Racing car, setting a best time of 1:29.998, which was the sixth best time of the day.

Aerodynamics and tyres. In the morning, Mick did some aerodynamic testing on the C38 and in the afternoon he worked on a tyre programme with the car that is raced by Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.

The young German’s tally of 70 laps can be added to the 56 he ran on Tuesday in the Ferrari SF90. That makes a total of 126 over the two days, 682 kilometres, equivalent to over two Grands Prix distances.

Mick Schumacher said in the team test day report, “It has been another beautiful day at an F1 track today, and I can only repeat myself as it is just so much fun to drive these cars.”

“After the first experience I had yesterday I tried to implement what I learned into today’s laps, and I am happy about how it worked. It has been very nice working with the team at Alfa Romeo Racing, gaining confidence with the car and improving steadily.”

“I will definitely fly back with some very beautiful memories and am looking forward to getting myself back into the preparations for the next F2 race in Baku,” added the 20-year-old.

 

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BAHRAIN TEST DAY 2: FROM SLOWEST TO FASTEST OF ALL FOR RUSSELL

George Russell got to compare the difference between the driving the worst car on the grid to driving the best when he was tasked to test for Formula 1 World Champions Mercedes in Bahrain today, and duly ended the final day of the two-day session fastest of all.

The Williams driver relished the opportunity to rack up 101 laps in the W10, setting a best lap time of 1:29.029 on a day in which the rain stayed away.

Making it one-two for Mercedes power was Sergio Perez in the Racing Point, who appear to have found some pace, with Perez’s best a mere sixth hundredths of a second shy of the top time. He completed 61 laps during his afternoon in the car.

Earlier Lance Stroll was at the wheel of the RP19, and he too was at the sharp end of proceedings during his stint suggesting a breakthrough of sorts for the Pinks. The Candian ended the day a full second down on his teammate as the track got quicker in the afternoon.

Sebastian Vettel was back in the cockpit after his race night antics, setting the third fastest time and covering 103 laps in the process.

Mick Schumacher was back in action after his poignant Ferrari debut a day earlier, the young German on duty for Alfa Romeo ended the day fifth fastest.

Busiest driver on the day was Alex Albon who covered 143 laps in the Toro Rosso, ending his day in the car sixth on the timing screens, while British 19-year-old Dan Ticktum did 135 on his test debut for Red Bull. Nicholas Latifi, the reserve driver testing the Williams, was slowest in 1:32.198.

Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso drove the Pirelli test car, their times would have put them fifth and 11th respectively.

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FERRARI: WE GATHERED USEFUL INFORMATION FOR CHINESE GP

Sebastian Vettel wrapped up the two days of the third Formula 1 test of the year at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow driver was back at the wheel two days on from Sunday’s race and completed a total of 103 laps, 47 in the morning and 56 after lunch. Over the course of the test, the SF90 therefore completed 159 laps, starting with Mick Schumacher’s 56 on Tuesday, equivalent to 860 kilometres.

The weather was a definite improvement on yesterday and that helped Sebastian get through the planned programme with the team working on set-up and car balance. Before the lunch break, the German did several short runs under 10 laps, to assess the handling of the car in different configurations.

In the afternoon, Sebastian did some race simulation work, so as to analyse in depth the behaviour of the tyres. His fastest lap was a 1:29.319, set in the morning, good enough for third position on the time sheet.

Now, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow sets its sights on China, which hosts the third Grand Prix of the season next week. This race will also be the one thousandth in the history of Formula 1, the first dating back to the race at Silverstone on 13 May 1950. Ferrari has taken part in more of those races than any other team.

Sebastian Vettel: “Today we made the most of the time available thanks to good and consistent track conditions. We were able to try various set-up configurations and evaluate the behaviour of the tyres. I’d say it was a pretty positive day.”

“In the morning, we concentrated on some short runs, while in the afternoon, we simulated various phases of a race. It was an interesting session because we managed to gather even more information which could be useful in the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.”

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RED BULL: IMPRESSIVE FOR DAN’S FIRST TIME IN THE CAR

Dan Ticktum got behind the wheel of the RB15 for his first day of official Formula One testing today at Bahrain International Circuit.

Taking over from Max Verstappen, who drove yesterday, Dan had the car for the entirety of this second and final day and completed a double race distance on his introduction to F1. With dusk falling as the chequered flag came out, Dan had a total of 135 laps on the board.

“I learned a lot today and my first time in a modern F1 car was a big step” said Dan. “I think the biggest thing was learning the procedures. There’s a lot of settings to use, a lot to do on the steering wheel, even on a push lap, which isn’t the case in the junior formula.”

“That was quite a lot to take in at the start – but I got used to it pretty quickly. It was also interesting having a garage full of people. It brings home that there’s a massive responsibility on the driver to deliver not just for himself and his engineers but for a whole Team.”

“I think we gathered some really good data today, which is obviously the most important part of the test. We did some long runs and I had a good opportunity to gain an understanding of how these tyres work. All in all, I’d say the test went well today.”

Simon Rennie, Group Leader, Simulator Engineering, added: “Today went very smoothly. We did 135 laps, which is pretty impressive for Dan’s first time in the car. He did lots of aerodynamic work that involved complex procedures and performed all of those very well.”

“He could experience some set-up changes and longer runs to give him a good feeling for the RB15. Dan has been doing good work in our simulator without having driven the real car – so today has definitely been valuable for him and us.”

“When he’s next on the simulator, he’ll have a very good reference. That was one of the big positives of the day as he now knows what the car really feels like, rather than having to go on what we tell him!”

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TORO ROSSO: THE CAR HAS BEEN FAULTLESS

Toro Rosso report from the second and final day of in-season Formula 1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit.

Alexander Albon: “We had a very productive second test day here in Bahrain after missing out on a few hours due to rain yesterday. We ran some more aero tests and learned more about the behaviour of the tyres. We found some interesting things during the test and there were definitely some positives to take away. I’m sure we’ll be applying the results to what we learned in Bahrain later on in the season. Everything ran smoothly today, I got more mileage under my belt and I’m feeling better with the car – it was a very busy programme, but it felt good to end the day completing the most laps overall.”

Jonathan Eddolls: “After a slightly frustrating day in the desert yesterday, today has been a much more productive session. Alex remained in the test car and we planned to compress effectively one and a half days of testing into a single day! As it is quite typical, we started the morning completing some aero rake running to gather on track aerodynamic flow structures to compare back to the wind tunnel and CFD runs.”

“The remainder of the morning was focused on mechanical setup work, aero optimisation, and tyre understanding across six new sets of the C3 compound – the qualifying compound from the race weekend. Although there was some wind, it was significantly less than the race weekend which made the testing much more consistent, however, this meant it was hard to find solutions to improve the balance from the weekend.”

“The focus of the afternoon was on tyre behaviour of the harder compounds over longer runs and how we can influence that with setup items. We closed the day with a number of shorter runs on the softer compounds to help gather tyre data and understanding for future events. Daniil continued the Pirelli test, learning about potential 2020 tyres.”

“The car has been faultless again today and we were able to complete 774km with Alex (more than a whole race weekend) and 601km with Dany without any issues, which has been a credit to the drivers and the entire team. We now have a lot of data to analyse in the coming days with the aim of improving our performance from China onwards.”

Masamitsu Motohashi, Honda F1 Deputy Technical Director: “The second and final day of the first in-season test at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit, has been held in more usual dry conditions after the unexpected and persistent rain wiped out a lot of yesterday’s track time at this desert venue.”

“Once again today, we supplied PUs for three cars, one each for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and a further one for Toro Rosso who are also taking part in the Pirelli tyre test. A generally trouble-free day meant we were able to make up for the time lost yesterday, with all our cars going past the 100 lap mark by the end.”

“Once again, our PU programme was aimed at optimising settings for the coming races and the results were satisfactory. The work we have done over these two days and the feedback we have received will be put to immediate use as we prepare for next week’s third round of the Championship in China.”

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BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX ATTRACTS RECORD TV AUDIENCE FOR F1 IN U.S.

ESPN2’s live telecast of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 31, attracted the largest United States television audience on record for the event, the second Formula 1 round of the season in as many races to do so.

An average of 711,000 viewers watched the telecast on ESPN2, up three percent over the average audience of 692,000 that watched the race last year on ESPN2 and up 72 percent from the 413,000 that watched CNBC’s telecast in 2017. The race began at 11:05 a.m. ET.

The Bahrain telecast drew the second-largest U.S. cable television audience for a Formula 1 race on record, surpassed only by the mark of 820,000 to see the Monaco Grand Prix on ESPN last year. The Bahrain telecast also saw an increase of 16 percent in the Adults 18-34 demographic.

The number for the Bahrain event comes on the heels of ESPN earning an audience of 659,000 for the season-opening Rolex Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, an event that began at 1 a.m. ET. That audience was also the largest U.S. television audience for the event on record and was up 277 percent over the audience of 175,000 that watched the race on ESPN2 in 2018 and up 177 percent over the 238,000 that watched it on NBCSN in 2017.

ESPN2’s telecast of the Formula 1 qualifying session for the Bahrain event also saw an increased audience over last year – the average of 340,000 viewers was up nine percent over the 311,000 that watched Bahrain qualifying last year on ESPN2.