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| Hamilton and Rosberg - do they stand on the brink of war? |
So a question to all the
critics, doomlords and naysayers who have torn into Formula 1 in recent weeks –
was that race exciting enough for you?!!!!
Just when you least
expect it (and c’mon lets be honest who really thought in a gazillion light
years it would be Bahrain of all places that would re-ignite everyone’s
interest and passion in F1 again) along comes a race every once in a while that
blows the rest out of the water.
The Bahrain Grand Prix of
2014 was quite simply the most exhilarating and thrilling race since Interlagos
2012. There was a battle of truly epic proportions between the two Mercedes
drivers for 1st and 2nd place. The racing was so close,
fierce and uncompromisng that you could have been forgiven for thinking you
were watching a karting race albeit one showcasing the very best drivers in the
world. And that’s before we even mention the ferocious battles that raged all
race long behind the front two between Force India, Red Bull, Ferrari and
Williams.
And before I forget, a
round of applause to the beautiful gesture by the Bahrain race organisers:
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| Schuey winning the Bahrain Grand Prix of 2004 |
But first #MartinsGridWalk. I think I spoke for
a nation when I prayed for it to be a Geri Halliwell-free zone. Surely I must
have dreamt all that Christian Horner nonsense. Shudder.
Martin managed to
intercept the Master of the Dark Arts himself aka Adrian Newey who was armed
with a mysterious red file no doubt jammed full of Top Secret Stuff and Title
Winning Modifications. I was however in full agreement with Adrian who pointed
out that it was ridiculous for a driver (Ricciardo) to be slapped with a 10
place grid drop when he had already served a penalty in the previous race for
the offence in question. It was over to ‘Danny Ric’ (a random Brundle-ism that
probably won’t catch on) – the man of the moment – who was still smiling and
saying this sort of thing could only make you stronger. Maybe Alonso has given
him a lend of his Samurai Book of Motivational Sayings.
Martin then spotted Ron
Dennis shooting the breeze with someone from Pink Floyd. Wowsers, Random Celebrities
at a Race were ten a penny in Bahrain. Was there also a convention going on in
Sakhir for aging posh rockers who feature in the husband’s Jeremy
Clarkson’s music collection? Mike Rutherford was in town as well as AC/DC and Jools
Holland. Apparently Ron believes that everyone should stop with the whinging
and just get on with it. F1 should be proud of their technology and who really
gives a xxxx if the cars aren’t that noisy. God at last someone who speaks
sense. Enough already about the goddamn lack of noise. And back to Ron – ok its
not F1 as we know it but the noise can be fixed. Most of the moans are coming
from uncompetitiveness. Could Not Agree More. *Stares hard at Vettel*. Prescient
words, Ron, prescient words.
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| Ron doesn't think F1 is boring and will fight anyone who says otherwise |
Quick chat with lovely
Jenson Button who was berating Martin for not wearing a ‘Jenson 250’ t-shirt. Wow
is it really 250 races? <feels old> I remember watching his first race (for
Williams) in the not-then-husband’s strange but nice converted church flat back
in 2000.
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| #Jenson250 |
Its Go! Go! Go! at the
Bahrain GP of 2014. Make it a good one guys.
And at the start Hamilton
managed to nip in front of his team-mate and the pole-sitter, Rosberg.
Brilliant start for Massa and somehow already Alonso was a few places ahead of
Raikkonen. Although Fernando was already coming under intense pressure from a
Force India. Let us just consider that for a moment. A Ferrari was under pressure
from a Force India. How the mighty have fallen. And yet again Magnussen has hit
Kimi (who was none too pleased about the situation “Magnussen has hit me again”) and there was a collision between
Vergne and Maldonado – Vergne’s not-at-all-hysterical take on the situation was
“that guy tried to kill me”. He
wouldn’t be the first to say/think that. Methinks that Maldonado won’t be in F1
next season.
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| The frenetic start to the race |
The Hulk made a move
stick on the Ferrari of Alonso to move into 7th place. There’s a new
game in F1 these days and its called Overtake a Ferrari. There was some
delightfully ragged driving by Vettel who took a small detour off the grid
after trying and failing to get past Magnussen. On lap 10, Button and then the Hulk
passed Bottas. I remain VERY unconvinced by Bottas.
Magnussen’s tyres had
given up the fight by lap 12 and Ricciardo blitzed past him. Perez then put a
stunning move on Massa to move into 3rd place. From bloody nowhere, Force
India were all over this Bahrain Grand Prix. One of many surprises this
weekend. Sutil was forced to retire with a puncture – surely not another double
retirement this weekend for Sauber. Replays showed that he forced Bianchi off
the track. Naughty naughty Adrian Sutil.
Proving not all the bad
luck strikes one side of the Red Bull garage, we heard that Vettel in 6th
position had lost DRS and Ricciardo was now swarming all over the back of his
car. Team orders to let Ricciardo through were duly issued and astonishingly listened
to as Vettel surrendered the place to Danny Ric. Massa was having a titanic battle
of his own with Bottas while the Hulk took Kimi.
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| Bahrain looks beautiful from other angles too |
Suddenly by lap 19, Nico Rosberg
was all over the back of Hamilton. There was now only a 0.3 second gap. To
quote my notes verbatim we then had “some of the best wheel to wheel driving I
have seen in years”. First Rosberg passed Hamilton and then Hamilton brilliantly
retook the lead. The unbearable tension was slightly alleviated by Hamilton
coming in for his first pitstop on lap 20 with what very much sounded over the
radio like a change of strategy for Rosberg.
Next to score in the
Overtake a Ferrari Game were the Hulk and Perez, both of whom easily passed
Alonso. Vettel was told in dramatic tones that the majority of cars were 3 stopping
so presumably he was on a 2 stop strategy. Now it was Button’s turn to score a
point in Overtake a Ferrari by passing Kimi. Not to put too fine a point on it
but Ferrari’s season so far is a total aberration.
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| Ferrari - a race to forget |
On lap 21, Rosberg pitted
and he rejoined the track just behind Lewis Hamilton. So as you were. The
current running order at the top were the two Mercedes, the two Williams and it
was that man again…the Hulk…driving another excellent race to lie in 5th
position.
There was one hell of a scrap
brewing down at Williams. Massa and Bottas were all over each other, with the
Hulk lying in wait just behind them. On lap 26, Perez overtook the Hulk and
somehow Massa clung on to live another day. And now fireworks down at Force
India as the Hulk was furious that Perez pushed him off the track. Or as
everyone else saw it, Perez just put a good move on and made it stick. He was
now up to 3rd place after Massa dived into the pits. The brilliant
mercurial Sergio Perez of 2012 is back in business.
HALFWAY POINT KLAXON:
1.
Hamilton
2.
Rosberg
3.
Perez
4.
Hulk
5.
Massa
6. Button
And a Change of Overalls
Moment as Bottas went flying off the track as he failed to notice Kimi was
slowing, narrowly avoiding a horrendous crash. Next up to play Overtake a
Ferrari was Ricciardo followed by Bottas, followed by Massa (ouch) all passing
Kimi Raikkonen within a couple of laps and then Perez passed Alonso for P6 (I’m
beginning to lose track now). I fear Stefano Domenicali is dead man walking.
There was a MAJOR
ACCIDENT on lap 41 as Maldonado coming out of the pits went into Esteban
Gutierrez flipping his car into the air. A real heart in the mouth smash but
thankfully Gutierrez was ok. Poor old Sauber. Two double retirements in one
week.
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| Gutierrez airborne |
And unsurprisingly, the
Safety Car was deployed which meant anyone who had built up a nice little lead
(Lewis Hamilton for example) would now see it all wiped out. In amidst all the melee and sneaky pitstops, Magnussen had stopped and his race was over.
TEN LAPS TO GO KLAXON:
1.
Hamilton
2.
Rosberg
3.
Perez
4.
Hulkenberg
5.
Button
6. Vettel
The commentators were
hotly debating whether team orders had been imposed at Mercedes after Paddy
Lowe (very unusually) came on over the radio to tell the drivers “there are only 10 laps to go and can we make
sure we bring both cars home” (or words to that effect). Like Brundle, I
thought that meant, we’re not imposing team orders but if you do anything daft and
take each other out, we will kill you. Generally if teams impose team orders they
make it much clearer than that so there is no room for confusion.
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| Wheel to wheel combat at Mercedes |
The Safety Car was coming
in…let battle commence! The two Mercedes were fighting wheel to wheel, the two
Force India’s were fighting wheel to wheel with Hamilton and Perez somehow
managing by the skin of their teeth to hold off their team-mates. Vettel
(remember him?) had very, very quietly manoeuvred his way up to 5th
place. And the wheels were coming off (not literally speaking) for poor Jenson
Button who was easily passed by Ricciardo, Massa and Bottas. Its says it all
about the F14-T that the driver who struggled the most to overtake the ailing
McLaren of Button was Fernando Alonso.
And sensationally (no
team orders, no dodgy DRS – just fair dinkum racing) Ricciardo overtook Vettel
with a brilliant move on turn one. A monumental battle for 4th place
was now raging between the Hulk, Ricciardo and Vettel. But before that fully exploded
into life, we had another heart-stopping moment on lap 53 as Rosberg squeezed
in front of Hamilton, only for Hamilton to seize back the lead almost instantly.
It really was a masterclass of defensive driving from Hamilton. Ricciardo, cool
as you like, passed the Hulk to move into 4th place.
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| And things were similarly close at Red Bull |
Button had finally conked
out. That would be a double retirement for McLaren. Oh dear.
And with Lewis Hamilton
clinging onto his lead for dear life by one second, he claimed the win with
Rosberg crossing the line in 2nd place in close pursuit. With Sergio Perez completing the podium. And.
Breathe. We had the almost surreal but incredible sight (in F1) of cars
tumbling all over each other in their team pairings as they raced to the finish
line.
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| A magnificent drive by the reborn Sergio Perez |
So here are the results
from the extraordinary and electrifying Bahrain Grand Prix of 2014:
Hamilton – Lewis now has
back to back wins but this one is one of his finest victories ever. Well played
to Team Mercedes for allowing the drivers to race and give us such a great show
to enjoy!
Rosberg – A bittersweet
result but one which hopefully shows we have a titanic battle on our hands for
the title!
Perez – A phenomenal
drive to take Force India’s second only podium ever.
Ricciardo – Genuinely ecstatic
for Ricciardo who deserved it after that great move on Vettel in the closing
stages of the race.
Hulkenberg – Started 11th
and finished 5th. What more does the Hulk need to do to prove
himself?
So F1 has become boring has
it? Well it looks like the drivers didn’t get the memo. To quote the living legend that is Niki Lauda, “anyone who claims this sport is boring is an
idiot.” And who would argue?
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