Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - 2014 Bahrain

[Bleu]

I start this after forum downtime.

1. Lewis Hamilton/Nico Rosberg
Not for their dominant performance, but the way they battled it out without any incident
2. Sergio Perez
Beat Hülkenberg fair and square, got podium.

[Shizuka]

Thanks for opening!

1 - the race itself
2 - Perez

[good_Ralf]

1) Perez - Might have saved his career for another year
2) Hamilton - Wanted the win more

[rachel1990]

1. Bahrain- Well done!! Great race.
2. Chilton- 13th PLACE!!!!! Mr talent again was better than his teammate!

special mentions to Perez and Riccardo.

[Alextrax52]

1. Bahrain- Well done!! Great race.
2. Chilton- 13th PLACE!!!!! Mr talent again was better than his teammate!

special mentions to Perez and Riccardo.

How? He only beat Bianchi because Jules crashed with Sutil. Up to that point Bianchi was miles clear of Chilton. Still Max was not last for once.

1 Perez: I expected podiums from Force India. What I didn't expect was Perez to be first to get one and he wasn't assisted by a different strategy like 2012 this was a pure result.
2 Team-mate battles: Every intra-team scrap was really good with the Mercedes Force India Red Bull Williams and Ferrari's keeping it clean every step of the way

[Londoner]

1. Sergio Perez - Had the measure of Hulk all weekend. Seems to have his mojo back at last.
2. Max Chilton - If you're not down with the ChiltonCraze, we got two words for ya!

Honourable mentions to Daniel Ricciardo, Force India as a whole, and the race itself.

[tkcom]

Chilton - P13 on merit!
Force India - a massive haul for a midfield team

[James1978]

1. Perez (I was tempted to say Force India as I voted for the Hulk in Malaysia but the caveat was I didn't know how much was him and how much the car until Perez got an untroubled run - well now he has but I didn't expect him on the podium!)

2. Teams letting teammates RACE (especially Mercedes) - an almost Noah's Ark top 10 on paper looks really boring but the amount of wheel to wheel action between teammates was really refreshing to see. Especially when one team has a clear advantage over the others - they have nobody to battle with but each other so let them go at it as long as they don't take each other out. Also I was plesantaly suprised Ricciardo was allowed to overtake Vettel - all great stuff!

[Cynon]

Perez
Maldolan

[Dj_bereta]

1 - Perez: Awesome driving skills! Well deserved podium!

2 - Maldonado: Despite the crash, he did an awesome job. I hope Lotus improve this car quickly. I love to see Maldonado battling with the big guys again.

[Salamander]

Maldolan

Them be fighting words ... well... a fighting word.

1. Perez
2. Again, nobody else really did anything especially out of the ordinary.

[CaptainGetz12]

1. Sergio Perez. I was about to write him off as a challenger to Hulkenberg as the team's lead, but fighting the bulk of the field to earn the team's first podium since 2009 is no small feat.

2. Williams. They seemed to be the stongest of the underdogs in strategy and pace, getting the better of the Force Indias and keeping them steps ahead with pit strategy. The pace car spoiled their plans however on a course where the safety car rarely appears (Enoch's curse perhaps? )

[SeedStriker]

1)Sergio "Checo" Pérez: The Flying Charro wanted to race today, and beat not only his partner in crime, but everyone that stood in his way.

2)2014 Bahrain GP: Even before the SC, it was a good race with battles in all places. The SC allow some Merc close action and dramatic close.

Honorable mentions to Mercerdes GP (no team orders, battling between friends, they are invincible right now), Daniel Ricciardo (put to shame AGAIN the current champion in the same machinery),and Max Chilton (helped by the SC, and fresher tires, he hold that 13th till the flag)

The Clash of the Titans Award goes to Sergio Pérez for the first overtake over Nico Hulkenberg. That was true bravery.

[Miguel98]

1) Sergio Pérez - Easy choice. First podium since 2012, and beating the RedBull and his team-mate for that last podium place. Hope he get's back after this to show his talent after a wasted 2013 in the Mclaren.

2) Romain Grosjean - Please, someone give this man a drive in a better car. Either that, or that the Lotus start developping to help both Grosjean and Maldonado to show themselves. Though Grosjean was only 10 seconds away from scoring points. Could've been Maldonado or Chilton though in 2nd place here.

[AdrianSutil]

1. Perez. Brilliant, matured drive with some tasty overtakes at turn 4 to boot.

2. Teammate battles. We saw Mercedes, Ferrari, RedBull, FIndia and Williams scrapping amongst each other. Top stuff.

[Meatwad]

1. Sergio Pérez: Force India's first podium since 2009. If it was achieved by Hülkenberg, I wouldn't have been as surprised, but Pérez really bounced back from the last two (disastrous) races.
2. Force India: They were very fast all weekend and made their strategy work (unlike Williams). Second place in the constructors' championship and third (for Hulk) in the drivers' championship is impressive for such a small team.

[Jocke1]

2. Chilton- 13th PLACE!!!!! Mr talent again was better than his teammate!

How? He only beat Bianchi because Jules crashed with Sutil. Up to that point Bianchi was miles clear of Chilton.

I think Max would have gotten past Bianchi regardless. He was faster than Bianchi towards the end, and ended up with a
much faster best lap than his teammate. Granted, Bianchi might have had some damage to his floor or something,
but then he shouldn't have made that mistake in the first place.

[watka]

1. Teammate battles - some of the best I've seen for a very long time and no collisions. Non-stop entertainment.
2. Sergio Perez - I knew Force India had a good car this weekend but I expect Hulkenberg to be making the running, not Perez.

HMs: Daniel Ricciardo - I think the doubters have already shut up, Pastor Maldonado - did well in a car that he has very little feel for

[Ferrim]

Pérez has to win it, but it's yet another week I have to mention Hamilton - this time, I didn't expect him holding the lead. He stayed very cool after losing that much advantage.

[Rocks with Salt]

1. The race itself - I certainly was not expecting such a tense and exciting GP in Bahrain of all places! Even the two guys up front were battling for the lead! Not a dull moment in the whole race, and unless we get more like this throughout the season this may well be the best race of the year.
2. The teammates - Letting teammates duke it out was a gutsy move by each of the teams, but it certainly made the race so memorable. Hamilton-Rosberg, Perez-Hulkenberg, Ricciardo-Vettel, Massa-Bottas, and Alonso-Raikkonen; this season is going to be intense!

[AustralianStig]

1. Perez
2. Ricciardo

HM: The safety car. Turned what would have been a processional finish imo into a thriller.

[CoopsII]

1 - Chilton - Another good finish, isnt that the 22nd in a row?
2 - Mercedes - For letting them get on with it - in your face Ferrari and Red Bull.

Extra points for Razta and the pics of him and the trophy and the Merc team

[LeytonHouse]

1. Perez - Great quali and a brilliant race. Nice confidence boost for him, he really needed it. Should be a good fight between the FI drivers this season, they’ll push each other on to good results.

2. Ricciardo – From 13th to 4th in a Red Bull Renault lacking top end speed (compared to the Mercs). Dan made his illustrious team-mate look pretty second-rate all weekend.

[AxelP800]

Everyone else, drivers, teams, the Bahrains who made this race possible with style and action

[go_Rubens]

1. Force India - First podium since Fisichella at Spa in 2009 and had the measure of Red Bull.

2. Daniel Ricciardo - Beat Vettel fair and square.

[DanielPT]

I will go with Perez and Ricciardo.

[Ducktanian]

1. Perez - I was once a doubter, but now I am a believer!
2. Ricciardo - Finally Unrejectified! And beat Vettel too!

[FullMetalJack]

Perez - I didn't think it'd be him getting Force India's first podium of the season. Maybe this won't all go Hulkenberg's way this season.

Ricciardo - Because nobody else stood out.

[pablo_h]

Going to go with the same above.
1. Perez
2. Ricciardo

HM team mate battles, and the race all round really.

[UncreativeUsername37]

1. Sergio Pérez
2. Uh... FOM graphics

[mario]

2. Chilton- 13th PLACE!!!!! Mr talent again was better than his teammate!

How? He only beat Bianchi because Jules crashed with Sutil. Up to that point Bianchi was miles clear of Chilton.

I think Max would have gotten past Bianchi regardless. He was faster than Bianchi towards the end, and ended up with a
much faster best lap than his teammate. Granted, Bianchi might have had some damage to his floor or something,
but then he shouldn't have made that mistake in the first place.

Equally, given that Kobayashi seemed to be much faster than Chilton, it is surprising that he managed to finish so far ahead of him after the safety car period (about 27 seconds ahead of Kobayashi).

Interestingly, Caterham have hinted that the reason for this was because they were having to desperately save fuel at the end of the race - it seems that, as they were expecting to finish the race at least one lap down and therefore only have to complete 56 laps, they were caught out during the safety car period when they had to unlap themselves. Mind you, if they were that short of fuel despite completing several laps under the safety car, they must have made a major mistake with their fuel consumption calculations. http://www.f1technical.net/news/19273?s ... 18a5f954c3

[More_Blue_Flags]

1. Perez - I must admit that I thought that the Hulk easily had Sergio's measure this season.
2. Ricciardo.

HMs: Daniel Ricciardo - I think the doubters have already shut up

I did think that Ricciardo would be overshadowed by Vettel this year to the extent that I expected him to be an easy scapegoat for Red Bull's by the end of the season. I don't mind being proved wrong on this one, as I don't think that anybody doubts Dan's pace, race craft or mental toughness now.

[Barbazza]

People are nominating Maldonado?!

1) Perez - obviously
2) I'm going to go for Chilton because it felt like his placing was on merit this time, and Bianchi seems to be getting involved in silly incidents whereas Max is just getting on with it. I've never been a massive fan, but kudos for this one definitely.

[Aerospeed]

1. Perez - What a drive! What a race!
2. Hulkenburg - Same as above

[SgtPepper]

1. Perez
2. Ricciardo

Honourable mention - the race itself. That was just epic.

[dinizintheoven]

Another one for Sergio. And not just because Paul Di Resta will be crying into his porridge.

[DOSBoot]

A little late but........

1. Perez: Made the most out his car to get his first podium since 2012, and Force India's since 2009.

2. Riccardo: Unrejectified after starting 13th.

Honorable Mentions:

The Teammates: Good fighting all around.

The Race Itself: Seriously, that was an excellent race!

[Shizuka]

This time around, similar votes got counted into one score.

1. Sergio Perez - 278
2. Daniel Ricciardo - 60
3. Max Chilton - 38
4. The race itself - 26 + Bahrain - 10 = 36
5. Team-mate battles - 22 + Teams letting teammates RACE - 6 + Teammates - 6 = 34
6. Force India - 22
7. Lewis Hamilton - 17
8. Pastor Maldonado - 12
9. Everyone else, drivers, teams, the Bahrains who made this race possible with style and action - 10
10. Williams - 6
= Romain Grosjean - 6
= Mercedes - 6
= FOM graphics - 6
= Nico Hülkenberg - 6
15. Nico Rosberg - 5