2014 Bahrain Grand Prix – More woes for Ferrari

And I thought this Grand Prix would be a nice return to writing after I couldnt be bothered with the Malaysian GP. Kimi Raikkonen was second and third in the practice sessions in Malaysia. Then the rains came in qualifying and suddenly his car was not working as well as before. The race was over anyway on the first lap when Kevin Magnussen decided to hit the rear of Kimi’s car, damaging his floor and puncturing his tyre in the process. Race over for Kimi, day ruined. Not a proud moment for the Dane, or me.

But that was then. Bahrain looked set to be a lot better. Kimi got the parts he demanded from Ferrari flown in to aid him in getting the car the way he prefers it. The practice sessions didn’t give much evidence that Ferrari had attained that balance as he was way down the order. But come qualifying, he put in a good lap in Q3 and finished 6th. Not better than last weekend, but higher than what was expected, contrary to Malaysia.

The Race

Giddy-up little horsey – Force Indias pulling away.

Kimi gets a horrible start. It’s not too bad off the line but he gets stuck behind a Williams. There’s big space in the middle of the track which he has plenty of time to occupy, but doesn’t, and Fernando Alonso snatches that space instead. That sends him back amongst the pack, and in the sights of Magnussen once again. Believe it or not, he gives Kimi another hard smack on the rear of his Ferrari, making the back step out briefly. Thankfully no damage but WTF Magnussen!!??

It’s hard to watch as Kimi gets passed by faster cars all through the race – Red Bulls that we were laughing about in pre-season testing, Force Indias, Williams. He tries to go longer on one set of soft tyres, clearly going for a two-stopper just to try something, but stays out for too long and loses several seconds on one lap sending him even further down the order.

Maldonado: “I had the racing line!”.Gutierrez: “Ay, caramba!”

He still has a shot at making up a few places after his stop for the harder tyres, but then Maldonado happens. He decides to torpedo Gutierrez on turn 1, flipping him completely over. It looked pretty scary and Esteban was visibly shaken afterwards. This brings out the safety car for only the second time in the history of the Bahrain GP.

It also brings out some fantastic racing in the final part of the race. It beckons the thought that NASCAR is onto something when they have mandatory cautions in the races (at least they did last time I watched). It gathers up the field and brings out the red mist that had reduced strategy to merely fuel and tyre saving before that.

Sadly I could not enjoy that (I did actually enjoy the Rosberg-Hamilton battle). I could only see two Ferraris in 9th and 10th struggling to hold on to their positions. I watched a Force India out-traction and out-accelerate Kimi like it was nothing after turn 10. I mean, what the heck?? It not only lacks power to the Mercedes cars, but traction as well?

Here is what Kimi had to say about it:

“One Force India got me on the exit of corner eight and it was like a different class,” said Raikkonen.

“I was surprised. He came out of the pit lane, but I had only done a few laps on the tyres. I went OK out of the corner and he just came inside of me and went past; I had no answer.”

“And the next corner he had massive traction also, so it’s not just the horsepower.”

That’s not exactly comforting to hear.

As the cars cross the line, the world champions occupying the first two places, I can only conclude that my fears and predictions from Melbourne were true. Granted, the Bahrain track didnt suit the red car, but there were quite a few teams ahead of them. They were the 5th best team in Bahrain, plain and simple.

On a track that suits them? Perhaps they can take the fight to one or two of the teams ahead, but that’s it at the moment.

I could go on about gloomy predictions, but I’m gonna stop here. China is coming up, but I don’t think we can hope for big improvements before Barcelona. By then, the Mercedes boys will be gone and.. oops. no more gloom and doom. Sorry.

Over and out.

I forgot how to car – Lol