Three races into the 2007 Formula One season and we have seen three different winners, we have three drivers tied on 22 points at the head of the table, and for the first time in the history of the World Championship a driver has stood on the podium in his first three races.
The Bahrain Grand Prix was perhaps the best race of the season so far, with some good scraps for the minor places. I asked the team – Lita, James, Dylan and Braden – for their views on the Sakhir contest, and here is what they had to say:
Steve: Massa wins, the third different winner this season, and Hamilton records his third podium in as many races. Alonso and Raikkonen, meanwhile, looked out of sorts. Dylan – you can go first!
Dylan: A perfect weekend for him. Pole, win and fastest Lap. He was in total control from the few laps preceding the 1st round of pit stops until the end.
James: Massa did extremely well and is really proving his maturity is taking over from the hot headedness of pervious years. We're in for a 4 way fight for the Drivers title this year.
Lita: Drive of the race for me goes to DC - he just drove the wheels off that Red Bull and fair play to him from where he started and the problems he had on Saturday.
Dylan: I agree - who could look past the storming effort he made, just a shame the car couldn't finish though.
Braden: He would have been on for 2 points easy after starting 21st!
Steve: I have to agree, too – DC was alive, wasn’t he?
Lita: Shame he retired since he would have finally had a nice few points.
Steve: Life in the old dog yet! Now, there was actually a fair bit of overtaking in this race.
Lita: Overtaking move for me would have to have been Heidfeld on Alonso. Alonso may have had a bad setup but for BMW to be even on that level, it just shows the promise in that car.
Dylan: Heidfeld was great, a nice move to pass Alonso.
Steve: Typical Nick – clean and tidy. What about some of the less impressive performances – I mentioned Alonso and Raikkonens efforts in the introduction – any others?
Dylan: Button. He claims the anti stall never kicked in which caused the engine to cut in a regulation spin. Only brief contact with the hard charging DC caused it!. Then to think he hit Speed to put him out while spinning... it was a good moment and put a smile on each others faces at least.
Braden: Sutil for hitting speed, he should have seen it coming or not
been so close to the back of the STR.
Lita: Fisichella. The Renault is supposed to be better than the Toyota, even Jarno commented on it to his team during the race that he would have difficulties trying to match the pace of Fisichella. Yet Fisichella makes a mistake, Jarno gets through and as expected Fisichella can't get by him. Two points to Toyota, one to Renault and we all heard a very angry Flavio on the radio to him!
Steve: All valid points. My own thumbs down goes to Raikkonen – he simply did not look interested. I’m distinctly unimpressed by a driver who used to impress me greatly. What about qualifying – who starred on the Saturday?
James: Anthony Davidson should have had a permanent full race drive far earlier in his career. He wrung the neck of his Aguri and did fantastically well to get it half way up the grid.
Brades: Mark Webber, 3 out of 3 in the top ten in the Red Bull.
Steve: Heidfeld did a good job, too, when you look at his fuel load. Anything else you want to add?
Lita: I suppose interesting from me would be that I'm annoyed at Ralf's current race performance. Jarno has showed that the Toyota is capable of points scoring positions yet Ralf is down with the Honda's and Spyker's. Ok, last race a slow puncture put a spanner in the works, but
there was nothing wrong with his car this time other than he couldn't get a good setup. That's just not good enough when there are another three teams scraping for the remaining points!
Braden: Rosberg was a disappointment - he was wild and too aggressive and ended up costing himself a chance at points.
Dylan: Red Bull... The car has been plagued with problems since day one, the fuel flap in particular has often caused problems in practice and testing, yet it still hasn't been sorted. The car is not doubt fast and looks to have great potential with the way it has improved in the three races to date. It would just be great to have the small problems ironed out. Did Renault secretly put a 'self-destruct' button on the cars to make sure they score more points then their customer rivals perhaps?
Steve: I have heard that the installation of the Renault engine is not quite spot on, and there is more development due from the French side of things. That could explain some of the reliability issues. Another who disappointed me was Kubica – fuel filler problems affected him, yes, but he just has not looked like the man I raved over last season.
Dylan: Apart from Ferrari, BMW put in the best team performance. Kubica let them down there a bit, but the improvement in the car in evident. Interesting to note the number of retirements too - 15 out of 22 cars made it to the chequered flag - when in recent years we have become accustomed to the highest finishing rates of all time.
Steve: That had caught my attention. I wonder if the ‘freeze’ has made them take more risks early in the development cycle? So, that’s all for Bahrain – thank you all for some interesting discussion – and let’s hear your views on the forum! We will be back for the Spanish Grand Prix in a mind-numbingly long four weeks time!
Now, the bit you’ve all been waiting for, the feature that results in more fights than Newcastle fan at the Stadium of Light, more disagreements than a request to sleep with your wife’s sister, and more column inches than the break up of William and Kate – yes, it’s…….
BRADES GRADES
Drivers:
Felipe Massa – A
A good drive from Massa helped him somewhat answer the critics of his Malaysian race. He did not have the greatest practices and was behind his team mate; however I feel that if Kimi had not been held up then he would have been after his team mate. Also, his race was still ragged and he was not producing many consistent lap times through the race.
Lewis Hamilton – A
Another great drive from a three grand prix veteran as he showed his class to take another deserved podium. He was able to push Massa early on and cause him to lock up the brakes. His middle stint was a bit of a mystery with the extra amount of fuel they took on board, but then he managed to chase and pressure Massa in the hope that he may be able to steal the lead. Hamilton leaves the circuit with a share of the World Championship lead, who would have thought.
Kimi Raikkonen – B+
Kimi’s race was compromised by being stuck behind Alonso for a long time at the start, before he stretched away from Alonso after the first round of pit stops. Although Kimi was behind Massa in qualifying, he had a fair amount of fuel on board at the start which caused his lap time to be slower. His grade is lower than normal however due to his mistakes he made when being frustrated behind Alonso, plus his mistake on the restart.
Nick Heidfeld – A-
A fantastic drive by Nick once again, making it a hat trick of fourth places for him. He made a great move to get in front of Alonso when he was flying and was able to keep in touch with the Ferrari as well. He easily shaded his team mate in the qualifying sessions as well as the race.
Fernando Alonso – B-
This race was a poor one by the high standards set by Alonso. We can pretty much assume that Alonso was struggling for some grip and overall pace as he was outpace by his team mate in practice 3, qualifying and the race. He held up Raikkonen which probably helped Hamilton but that was not his objective, so he will be waiting to hit back in Spain.
Robert Kubica – B
Kubica had an admirable race as he managed to finally bring the car home for his first points since the debut race in Monza last year. He managed to out pace Heidfeld occasionally but during the race he was quite a bit slower than Heidfeld even bringing into account fuel loads. After the first stint though he was able to make ground on Alonso and set competitive laps compared to Heidfeld but his race was effectively over.
Jarno Trulli – B+
Compared to his team mate Jarno was in a class of his own. He managed to jump up into the top ten again for the qualifying again but did not make as much progress as he would have liked. In the race he was extremely competitive after a sluggish start and was able to continue to move through the field, completely shading Schumacher without making mistakes along the way.
Giancarlo Fisichella – C
Not a very good race for Fisi as he had a difficult day in that awful Renault. After a good start and a battle with Trulli and Webber, Fisi’s race was thrown away by a poor middle stint in which he was passed by DC, Trulli and Webber who even had his fuel flap open. Fisi managed to pick it up again but was still really poor in the end and only got a point thanks to poor Red Bull reliability.
David Coulthard – A+
People will probably criticize me for this, but the man started in 21st in a car that was not expected to do much. From that position and thanks to Button and Speeds spin, he was able to just continuously climb through the leader board and get into a points paying position. However unfortunately his race was ended by a driveshaft failure, but a fantastic drive and probably the best race of the year.
Mark Webber – B+
Mark out qualified his team mate again thanks to DC’s gearbox issues and was in a really competitive position all day. He had a fuel flap issue for the second time this season, but was still able to make a good pass on Fisi and was on for a point until he parked his car off to the side of the road with another failure.
Ralf Schumacher – E
Bahrain was an awful weekend for Ralf as he was at least half a second to a second slower than his team mate the entire weekend. In fact Ralf was so poor he was scrapping with the Honda for third to last place the entire race and was never in the hunt, compared to his team mate who was in the points for the third race in a row.
Anthony Davidson – B
Another unsung hero of the weekend for me, as he was able to out shine both Hondas in the qualifying session as well as his team mate. Although he lost a few spots on the start he was having another great race in the middle of the pack until his engine went on him.
Takuma Sato – C-
Not the best race weekend for Sato as he was out paced by his new team mate more often than not. He was stuck behind him as well as other cars the entire race without really threatening to move up and then eventually his engine went in traditional Taku style.
Scott Speed – D
Scott was unlucky to go out at turn four as he was hit from behind by the Spyker of Sutil. However he was never having a good weekend and was quite a bit slower than his team mate most of the weekend.
Jenson Button – D
A tough weekend for Button after he was again defeated by his team mate Barrichello in qualifying. His race was ruined when he lost grip after running wide in turn 2 and 3, he then went on to spin in turn 4 which caused the Speed accident.
Rubens Barrichello – C
Another unspectacular race from Rubens thanks to his poor car underneath him. The best thing for him was that he was able to again shade Button who is supposed to be his superior. Otherwise it was a non-event for him and I bet they can’t wait for Spain and new parts for the car.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – C-
Liuzzi was able to beat his team mate all weekend but was still slow in the qualifying sessions. However he stuffed up his race when he overtook Ralf under safety car and got a black flag.
Heikki Kovalainen – C
Unable to qualify like his team mate, Heikki was forced to make a good start in the fast starting Renault. He was able to do this and made up 3 positions at the start, but from then on he struggled to get any pace going in the race and missed the points.
Alexander Wurz – C+
Had a good race after a poor qualifying session and was left to chase down the Red Bulls and Toyotas. He managed a good fist of this but kept getting stuck behind Trulli and was unable to pass like DC was doing.
Nico Rosberg – C
Good qualifying by his standards but was then caught in the dust of the front runners as he dropped down the order quite substantially. He was left to fighting with team mate Wurz and was much faster and could have made a few passes, but then ran the car wide while losing concentration behind Wurz twice. He then made a mistake of turning in on Kovalainen and was lucky not to finish his race there and then.
Christijan Albers – D+
Albers was again outshone by his less experienced team mate in early practice sessions but was able to bear him in qualifying. He was then basically cruising around the back of the field and getting in a few people’s ways. Its hard to judge a back marker as they are never really seen.
Adrian Sutil – E-
Almost an F if it was not for his beating of Albers in the practice sessions. He was out qualified by Albers which was expected but at the start of the race he lacked the concentration to see what was going on in front of him and slammed into the back of Scott Speed. This compromised his race and he had to be in to repair the damage that was done to his front wing.
Teams:
Ferrari – A
Not the best weekend for Ferrari as they misjudged the pace of McLaren, but they were able to come away with more points and a win and that was the most important thing. They still hold a slight edge, but the gap has been closing ever since Melbourne ended.
McLaren – A-
Another good race for McLaren that was only compromised by Alonso’s poor pace and the fact that they made Hamilton run long in the middle stint, costing him time and probably the chance to win the race.
BMW – A
BMW’s best race of the season, mainly because they were able to get two cars to the line for once. They have shown that they were able to close the gap from the start of the season in terms of race pace. If they can now fix reliability and get a bit more qualifying pace and say take Pole, then they will have every chance of winning a race, especially since they started on heavy fuel loads.
Toyota – B
An improved weekend for Toyota and they have come along way from early testing. The only disappointment was the fact that Trulli lacked some race pace and Ralf was never in the hunt for anything at all.
Renault – C
They are still struggling to get to grips with the new Bridgestone’s which is clear when you see the lack of pace they have especially when they are being easily passed by the sister engine Red Bulls. Both drivers are also not having the best times inside the car.
Red Bull – C
Although they failed to make both cars get to the line and the fact that Webber had the fuel flap issue, Red Bull is staking a claim alongside BMW to be the most improved team at the end of the year. DC showed that the race craft had tremendous pace as he ripped through the midfield, while Webber again showed it has good pace in qualifying as well. If they improve the reliability they can challenge for fourth best car.
Williams – D
They have slipped back this weekend and the decision of not traveling to Bahrain for the winter test may have hurt them. They were unable to find much pace all weekend and were not heavily in the hunt for points paying positions, especially when the Red Bulls were out their.
Super Aguri – D
Another great display by the minnow team and its drivers, but the Honda power plants that they had exploded too quickly and ended two great drives. Such a shame and really not too much to do with Super Aguri except for the cooling.
Toro Rosso – D-
Another poor weekend for another minnow team but they are really being put to the sword by Super Aguri as they struggle to get anything out of this season. Both drivers are letting the team down, but the main source of frustration would be DNF’s and lack of race pace.
Honda – E
This car is rather pathetic. They go from winning a race last year to 15th and 16th in qualifying. Simply not good enough and the drivers are wishing that a new car would come sooner rather than later. Hopefully hey can turn around in form because its never nice to see a guy like Rubens in the backfield
Spyker – B-
An improved performance by Spyker saw the upgrades in parts bring them a little closer to Toro Rosso, but it also saw them get both cars to the finish, unlike last week where they went out early. More developments are in the system and I hope they can catch Toro Rosso and even Honda.
…And there we have it for this edition – join in the general discussion and disagreement, dust off those boxing gloves and pick a sparring partner on the forum – all the action happens at Updatef1.com. You do not want to miss it!
Written by Steve Turnbull on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:13:27
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