2010 Bahrain Grand Prix grid

43 comments on “2010 Bahrain Grand Prix grid”

1. 

   Red Andy
   13th March 2010, 16:49

   Karun Chandhok becomes the first person since Bertrand Gachot to occupy 24th place on an F1 grid. :D
   1. 

      Mike
      14th March 2010, 4:38

      I think considering it was his first 7 laps in F1, in a such a new car, He did really well. I am very happy he is there, I thought he wouldn’t be their due to not completing any laps in P3. I am happy for him.
      1. 

         Rits
         14th March 2010, 5:15

         He actually did a pretty good job by not getting depressed. It can be so frustrating being helpless on the sidelines (on ur debut, no less!) ‘cos ur car can’t go through the gears!
         Just 7 laps and he came down to within a second and a half of his teammate, who had a proper day’s running already.
         Would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t been allowed to run in qualifying.
      2. 

         Red Andy
         14th March 2010, 8:28

         I agree Mike, I think Chandhok did superbly given the circumstances. From his interviews on the BBC this weekend he also comes across as a thoroughly likeable guy. He’s already one of my favourite drivers.
2. 

   Scalextric
   13th March 2010, 17:02

   As I understand it, numbers 1-9 are on the softer compound. Presumably nos. 10 (Sutil) to 24 will start on the harder (medium) compound tires. If this means that nos. 1-9 have to pit early then try to weave through the longer running hard compound tires, we’ll have a fun race.
   1. 

      sato113
      13th March 2010, 17:56

      hope so!
   2. 

      Mike
      14th March 2010, 4:31

      Actually that could be quite interesting…. good point
   3. 

      Rits
      14th March 2010, 5:22

      That’s the gamble Force India and Sutil have taken, hope it works out well.
      He could have qualified much higher if he were on super-softs. But lets hope the longer run on the harder compound pays. And I think Sutil, Barichello, Liuzzi and Hulkenberg will have a good fight on track and it might involve a few of the top 9 too after they rejoin with new tires.
3. 

   Claudio
   13th March 2010, 17:03

   Why did everybody lap slower on the 3rd round? Was it to preserve tyres?
   1. 

      Cole
      13th March 2010, 17:54

      Once in the Q3 cars are in race set up, but for the fuel load. Therefore cars on Q2 are better trimmed for one lap flyers.
      1. 

         Claudio
         13th March 2010, 17:59

         thx, I agree with you…cars should have been stiffer in Q3
      2. 

         Fer no.65
         13th March 2010, 19:08

         Vettel still setted the 2nd best time of the whole session on Q3…
      3. 

         BasCB
         13th March 2010, 19:48

         The car cannot be changed after the start of Q1, so that is no reason to be slower.

         might be up to
         – temperature and rubber on track?
         – traffic in the last minutes of qualifying
         – mistakes during the lap
         1. 

            Salty
            14th March 2010, 8:54

            Parc Ferme rules do apply to suspension, but there may well have been wing adjustments made.
         2. 

            Rits
            14th March 2010, 10:43

            Its all to preserve tires, the top 10 have to start the race on the same tires they set their quali lap on, so they try and keep as much life in the tires as possible.
            I hate that rule though, its useless and makes Q3 quite boring. Vettel just did one lap and clinched pole. To preserve tires, no one else bothered to fight either.
            Sutil settled for a 10th on the harder compound to carry an advantage to the race, which, if not for the lame rule, could have been swapped for super-softs and a better grid position.

            @BasCB – Rubber on track actually helps lap times due to increased grip.
            And almost all drivers won’t make errors during the lap.
            Traffic could be a cause, but, they plan it out pretty well to avoid it.
4. 

   beanzoo
   13th March 2010, 17:07

   just wonderin was sutil the only one from the top ten to set his time the harder rubber
   1. 

      beanzoo
      13th March 2010, 17:08

      nevermind found out
   2. 

      Dev
      13th March 2010, 17:10

      yes he was…. if he does an efficient 1 stopper then it would get very interesting..

      i’m sure the top 9 guys will pit around lap 14 or so…
      1. 

         VXR
         13th March 2010, 17:18

         Most seem to think about a third of the way through the race on the soft tyre, and about two thirds or more of the way on the harder tyre. But mostly it depends on how the drivers manage their tyres.
         1. 

            Mike
            14th March 2010, 4:42

            It seems that the option tyres will wear very quickly, I think by a third they will be pretty close to useless, On the other hand the softs aren’t looking to much better, they are also dropping off quickly, so I think we might see some go for 2 stops, due to that.
5. 

   mac v2
   13th March 2010, 17:49

   If the cars are 2 secs per lap slower on the primes, and the option lasts 10 laps they may be targeting just one stop… but the track conditions will tell if the softer compound can take the pounding of the first laps and then last without blistering nor graining, even if they make it to the lap 10 but they’re not as fast as expected they can ruin their race.

   To me the Mercedes are the only ones capable of upsetting The Ferraris and RB’s. I think Sutil will make it third.
   1. 

      Guelph35
      13th March 2010, 20:13

      Judging by the times, I’d guess the difference from Prime to option is just over 1 second/lap.

      Comparing Sutil to Vettel, Vettel was 1.1 seconds faster in Q2 when both were on the same tires, and Vettel was 2.2 second faster when he was on Option while Sutil was on Prime.

      I think it all depends on how long the drivers can make their Prime tires last. If the driver can get 38-40 laps, they can make it on one stop.
      1. 

         Scalextric
         13th March 2010, 23:57

         I think there are only 49 laps and more tire wear will come when the cars are heavy. On the other hand, one stop and starting on primes means the closing stint is on the soft tires, and how long can they last, even with a lighter car? There will be more rubber down at the end which slows tire wear. So maybe 20-25 laps on primes and the rest on soft = a 1 stop strategy?
         1. 

            Madman
            14th March 2010, 7:07

            well said scalextric
            1. starting with
            soft compound
            with heavy fuel on board
            high temperature
            and less rubber on the track
            later having the hard compound with less fuel(if possible getting behind any of the new team after the 1st pit stop is even worse )……. will produce a bad time for the top 9

            2.on the other hand fro the grid position 10 to 14…. its advantageous
            starting with hard compound
            and using the soft while the fuel is less and the track has more rubber….

            so to be simple it is like when you use the soft compound!!!!
            1. 

               Madman
               14th March 2010, 7:14

               the only way the top 9 could escape is to hope for the safety car in the first lap itself……. i m not sure as hw it ll benefit them.. if they go into the pit stop say as early as lap2 or 3 then i suppose that they should join the tail… am i correct
6. 

   BasCB
   13th March 2010, 19:57

   If Sutil doesn’t wreak havoc in the first laps by tangling with Schumacher, Bariccello and Button, we ar in for a great race.

   I am looking forward to him getting the better of some of those cars when their super soft tyres go off after some 6 laps.
   1. 

      VXR
      13th March 2010, 20:55

      I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see some drivers on the super softs wrecking their tyres in the first lap of the race, since trying to either overtake or prevent being overtaken will take a lot out of those tyres with that much fuel onboard.

      We saw Vettel in Monaco do some real damage to his tyres by doing just that very thing!
7. 

   BasCB
   13th March 2010, 22:35

   Let us just hope, there will be some nice overtaking after making mistakes with the high fuel loads in the midfield bringing drivers off their optimal lines.

   Otherwise they will start introducing the 2 mandatory pit stops!
8. 

   John H
   13th March 2010, 22:35

   Would be good to see a tyre compound column (for the top 10) on these grid tables for future races, not that I would ever question your fine work!

   Men to watch are Webber and Sutil I think. Can’t wait.
9. 

   John H
   13th March 2010, 22:39

   Does anyone know… are teams (like HRT) allowed to half fill their tanks for either testing purposes or to show false pace?
   1. 

      BasCB
      13th March 2010, 23:23

      You mean they will run with a very lean mix (going it slow, so to say?) and run to the end, or deliberately have a car stop the race early (hopefully in the pits)?

      I suppose you can do this, who would know anyhow. But they will probably try to run the car normally to get as much distance on the cars as they can.
      As Chandhok said “we are at least 5000 testing miles behind all the others”.
   2. 

      BasCB
      13th March 2010, 23:25

      Even with low fuel, they would go app. 5-6 seconds faster than with a full tank. But that is still over 5 seconds slower than the rest of the cars (so they would run maybe 1 second faster than Lotus/Virgin at best)
10. 

    Spud
    13th March 2010, 22:54

    I was abit dubious about the new loop after turn 4, but having watched qualifying today I have to say I think its quite cool. Looks like a real challenge for the drivers.

    Can’t wait for the race tomorrow!
    1. 

       Mike
       14th March 2010, 4:45

       The bump on turn six, with the onboard cams you could see what it did to there heads, my god that can’t be fun.
    2. 

       Red Andy
       14th March 2010, 8:32

       Yeah, it may not add much in terms of on-track action, but the drivers really have to fight the cars through that section. I believe there should be room on the calendar for tracks that are challenging, even if they don’t necessarily provide overtaking-fests. The fact that the drivers don’t like it shows that it must be difficult to get right!
11. 

    R.E.M.
    14th March 2010, 1:05

    There’s gonna be a first-lap crash, in Turn 1 and Turn 6!

    Seriously, the top-9 starters could easily ruin their race by locking up once in the first 5 laps.
12. 

    steph90
    14th March 2010, 9:31

    Think it’s very decent of HRT to start from the pitlane. I’ve already declared my support for them out of the new teams but I’m impressed how mature they all seem to be regarding this weekend.
13. 

    steph
    14th March 2010, 9:57

    Ferrari have said Massa and Alonso will both change engines but will not drop down the order as there is no penalty. Grid the same so far apart from according to Lee Mc HRT will start from pitlane
    1. 

       BasCB
       14th March 2010, 10:21

       So are we actually seeing the return of “qualification engines” this year?

       Use several engines for training and maybe qualification and another set of engines for the races?

       Maybe the sand and the heat really makes a big difference and they want to inspect the engines before further use.
       1. 

          steph
          14th March 2010, 10:31

          Good question. I just know that there were some issues with Massa’s so it was more a forced change just to be sure.
          Penalities only come if they go over 8 engines now I think. So I’m not sure it would stretch to “qualification engines”
14. 

    marc
    14th March 2010, 10:13

    hrt cosworth arny the greatest are they
15. 

    marc
    14th March 2010, 10:56

    is there any other f1 websites like this because this is pure ace 10 oot of 10??
    do you remember the brawn car last year does the mercedes gp have the same base and every thing like that??????
16. 

    theviewingfoot
    14th March 2010, 14:37

    think the teams are going to learn a lot about from this race which could well mean better racing next time round… these new changes aren’t going to improve the show over night

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