2012 Bahrain Grand Prix Discussion Thread

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 20 Apr 2012, 05:52

sswishbone wrote:there is meant to be a protest right outside the circuit at 2pm, this could get ugly...

This is only going to be worse as time goes by...
I just don't want to see people run onto the track mid-race... :shock:

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 20 Apr 2012, 08:31

My feeling is that the race itself will run okay, but there could be fatalities outside the circuit, and that would be a major black mark against the sport and against Bernie's judgement.

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 20 Apr 2012, 08:44

Everyone in 107% in FP1, nothing unfortunate happened, but reports on Twitter that Force India wish to skip FP2 out of concerns for safety travelling at night.

Post by **mario** » 20 Apr 2012, 08:47

Shizuka wrote:
sswishbone wrote:there is meant to be a protest right outside the circuit at 2pm, this could get ugly...

This is only going to be worse as time goes by...
I just don't want to see people run onto the track mid-race...

As I understand the situation from the reporters there, the police presence has been bolstered overnight - there are reports indicating that there are well in excess of 50 police cars lining the route from Manama to the circuit, backed up by riot police and an armoured personnel carrier, coupled to the extensive use of road blocks along the route.

Currently, the circuit is mostly, if not entirely, empty, save for the teams, selected media figures and the trackside workers - I guess that the rationale of the organisers is that keeping the people out of the circuit also keeps the protesters at bay. Added to the complexity in merely getting to the venue itself, and it seems that the organisers are hoping that the two measures will prevent enough people getting to the circuit in order to stage any sort of protest.

However, it seems that even with those security measures, not all are happy - Andrew Benson is reporting via Twitter that Force India may be trying to back out of the second practise session since they fear for the safety of their personnel.

Sources saying Force India plan to skip FP2 because staff don't want to travel in the dark. Team say "wouldn't want to comment"

Re Force India and FP2 - I'm told Ecclestone and the Bahrainis want to avoid the embarrassment, so expect negotiations between now and FP2

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 20 Apr 2012, 09:07

Well, Force India did run the soft tire in practice 1, normally teams save that for practice two. If they are skipping second practice it would make a lot of sense.

Post by **mario** » 20 Apr 2012, 09:17

Shadaza wrote:Well, Force India did run the soft tire in practice 1, normally teams save that for practice two. If they are skipping second practice it would make a lot of sense.

It looks like a compromise has been reached - Benson is now reporting that Force India will start the second practise session, but intend to cut their running short in order to return to their hotel whilst it remains light.

Force India confirm they will start FP2 but not finish it so they can go back to hotel in daylight

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Apr 2012, 10:01

Barrichello has voiced his annoyance that F1 folk are comparing Bahrain to Brazil :lol:

EDIT:This has been covered. <Hangs head>

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Apr 2012, 10:11

mario wrote:Benson is now reporting that Force India will start the second practise session, but intend to cut their running short in order to return to their hotel whilst it remains light.

Im sorry to sound so cynical but this decision by Force India, to me at least, seems designed to keep the team (and its sponsors) in the headlines for another day. Brave Force India, so scarred by the events of yesterday, putting safety first when all the other nasty F1 teams continue to risk the well-being of its members :roll:

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 20 Apr 2012, 10:39

mario wrote:Currently, the circuit is mostly, if not entirely, empty, save for the teams, selected media figures and the trackside workers - I guess that the rationale of the organisers is that keeping the people out of the circuit also keeps the protesters at bay. Added to the complexity in merely getting to the venue itself, and it seems that the organisers are hoping that the two measures will prevent enough people getting to the circuit in order to stage any sort of protest.

Which, in itself, it's a f******** disaster. F1 should always race in fully crowded race tracks, not in front of empty stands.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 20 Apr 2012, 10:41

Shizuka wrote:
sswishbone wrote:there is meant to be a protest right outside the circuit at 2pm, this could get ugly...

This is only going to be worse as time goes by...
I just don't want to see people run onto the track mid-race... :shock:

Your words reminded me of a far less sinister incident, but quite scary nonetheless. A couple of days ago i was watching (or trying to) season reviews of olden days on Youtube. Here is the video of 1991 Monaco GP where Senna very nearly avoided a marshall coming into St. Devote.

It starts at 5:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoG4cLaXFlk&feature=autoplay&list=PL05045EBEA6F3018A&lf=results_main&playnext=1

EDIT - Slightly past this is Modena's and Patrese's accident that is also well worth watching. Shows how and why you can never guarantee safety. Possibly the worst place in the world to blow your engine in someone's face.

mash · Post by **mash** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:02

From the BBC live text commentary:

BREAKING NEWS
BBC Radio 5 live Jennie Gow confirms that FORCE INDIA WILL TAKE NO PART IN SECOND PRACTICE FOR THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX. Gow said she spoke to the team's deputy team principal Bob Fernley and he said the team have all the data they need and will simply bring their programme forward to cater for the loss of track time.

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:07

Reports on Twitter that Sauber were also involved in an incident last night.

@tomcary_tel wrote:Sauber were also caught up in an incident on way back from circuit last night, a team spokesperson confirms to me. They were not targeted but some masked men ran towards their van. Driver pulled into another lane and got away.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:09

Sauber report an incident last night where masked men approached team vehicle. The team got away before anything transpired, but it's a worrying incident. F1 should never have come to Bahrain this year, and they shouldn't go back for many years.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:31

This is absolutely surreal. I hope that after this race, they realize they should never have gone back here in the first place. I just hope no one will get killed or seriously injured.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:37

Bernie is an idiot.

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:40

Is this race good for anyone?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:45

QuickYoda41 wrote:Is this race good for anyone?

Its good for the Al Khalifa family.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:47

CoopsII wrote:
QuickYoda41 wrote:Is this race good for anyone?

Its good for the Al Khalifa family.

It's also good for Bernie and his $50 million race hosting fee.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:51

QuickYoda41 wrote:Is this race good for anyone?

It is perhaps the best piece of news the protesters could of hoped for, why not show your plight on the world stage.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:53

Wizzie wrote:
CoopsII wrote:
QuickYoda41 wrote:Is this race good for anyone?

Its good for the Al Khalifa family.

It's also good for Bernie and his $50 million race hosting fee.

Why his last name is now spell Eccle$tone.

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:55

I'm listening to Free Practice 2 on BBC Radio 5 Live right now and I've come to the conclusion that having the Alguersaurus is great. Really good insight from him on the behaviour of the car under DRS.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2012, 11:56

Faustus wrote:I'm listening to Free Practice 2 on BBC Radio 5 Live right now and I've come to the conclusion that having the Alguersaurus is great. Really good insight from him on the behaviour of the car under DRS.

Jerome D'Ambrosio's filling in for Ant over at Sky and he's doing a pretty decent job as well.

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 20 Apr 2012, 12:02

Shadaza wrote:
QuickYoda41 wrote:Is this race good for anyone?

It is perhaps the best piece of news the protesters could of hoped for, why not show your plight on the world stage.

I've also thought of this. And this makes the whole upcoming race even more scary. Live action with the whole world watching.

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 20 Apr 2012, 12:39

@F1Kate wrote:Growing sense in press room that teams trying to figure out ways of escaping the GP this w/e. Bit late, IMHO. Should've spoken out earlier.

===

FP2 107% failure from Karthikeyan (+0.336). And the Force India pair, also.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2012, 12:57

Excrement to hit the fan in 3, 2, 1...

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 20 Apr 2012, 13:02

Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

johnston21 · Post by **johnston21** » 20 Apr 2012, 13:11

Faustus wrote:I've come to the conclusion that having the Alguersaurus is great.

I've only listened to him on the post-race podcasts, and with the exception of the Mal. cast, I don't recall him speaking other than in a mono-tone...

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 20 Apr 2012, 13:13

Ferrim wrote:Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

No, I feel a bit strange about it too.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 20 Apr 2012, 14:09

Rosberg is also a Mercedes doomsday prophet!

Trying to focus a bit on the race, without obviously forgetting the serious off track problems...

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 20 Apr 2012, 14:20

Ferrim wrote:Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

I'll follow the GP2 like usual and watch the highlights show on the BBC, but I'm not looking forward to a weekend of racing than I usually do.

Post by **Londoner** » 20 Apr 2012, 14:58

Ferrim wrote:Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

I'm just ignoring the entire weekend. It helps that I'm going to Camden in North London tomorrow, and working on Sunday. This situation is getting incredibly uncomfortable.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:04

Seriously, what planet is Bernie on? Whereever it is, I imagine it's more than 1 light-year away, so that he can't have heard of the Arab Spring yet.

Ubik · Post by **Ubik** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:14

Well, as threatened, http://www.formula1.com/ is 'experiencing difficulties'.

EDIT: Okay....it was a minute ago, honest!

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:39

Ferrim wrote:Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

Strange that you mention that. I'm just not feeling it this weekend

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:40

Ubik wrote:Well, as threatened, http://www.formula1.com/ is 'experiencing difficulties'.

EDIT: Okay....it was a minute ago, honest!

It's giving connection timed out. I guess it suits them for this weekend.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:41

AdrianSutil wrote:
Ferrim wrote:Am I the only one who has no appetite for Formula 1 at all this weekend?

Strange that you mention that. I'm just not feeling it this weekend

As a silent protest against the GP being held, I'm not going to watch any of it.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 20 Apr 2012, 15:51

Ubik wrote:Well, as threatened, http://www.formula1.com/ is 'experiencing difficulties'.

Yep. Briefly down, though it's probably unrelated. Anyway, it's probably not a huge surprise that Rosberg is kicking everyone's ass with a time almost half a second faster than Webber, but i just checked my predictions for the GP and i didn't even include the guy in the top 10! Not because i thought he'd have an accident, i just fricken forgot he exists.

Clearly it's gonna take some time for his result to sink in with me. :D

As for appetite for nose-cone destruction, i'm as eager to get my stupid F1 fix as ever, and silghtly annoyed with the opinions of Bernie's mental state, Bahrainian affairs, fears over protestors and what might happen that are right now bogarting several threads.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 20 Apr 2012, 16:06

Sublime_FA11C wrote:As for appetite for nose-cone destruction, i'm as eager to get my stupid F1 fix as ever, and silghtly annoyed with the opinions of Bernie's mental state, Bahrainian affairs, fears over protestors and what might happen that are right now bogarting several threads.

You tell me. As you might guess from my first post, this thread was supposed to have none of this all, but look how that worked out. :roll:

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 20 Apr 2012, 16:10

Klon wrote:
Sublime_FA11C wrote:As for appetite for nose-cone destruction, i'm as eager to get my stupid F1 fix as ever, and silghtly annoyed with the opinions of Bernie's mental state, Bahrainian affairs, fears over protestors and what might happen that are right now bogarting several threads.

You tell me. As you might guess from my first post, this thread was supposed to have none of this all, but look how that worked out.

I tried to rescue this thread (as opposed to what I actually do), but I failed miserably. No one cares about Mercedes tyres issues...

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 20 Apr 2012, 16:14

Klon wrote:
Sublime_FA11C wrote:As for appetite for nose-cone destruction, i'm as eager to get my stupid F1 fix as ever, and silghtly annoyed with the opinions of Bernie's mental state, Bahrainian affairs, fears over protestors and what might happen that are right now bogarting several threads.

You tell me. As you might guess from my first post, this thread was supposed to have none of this all, but look how that worked out.

Well, that was always going to impossible. This is without doubt one of the biggest scandals in the past decade of F1 - up there with Indy '05 at the moment, and if anything undesirable happens over the next couple of days it will change Formula One forever.

So please forgive people if they feel, as I do, that there are in fact more important things than, as Vettel said, 'tyre temperatures, cars'.

Frankly, I'm seriously considering my support of this 'sport'. To paraphrase Casablanca though, we'll always have the 70s, 80s and 90s.