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That’s all for today!
With that we have come to the end of today’s ticker. The race will start tomorrow at 15:10 our time and we will be back at the start with a new ticker from noon to get you in the mood for the Grand Prix. But it’s over for today. Have a good evening, sleep well and see you tomorrow!
Ferrari 1.3 seconds slower than 2019
Something else for all statisticians: Ferrari was 1.3 seconds slower in qualifying today than a year ago. At the time Leclerc was on pole with a 1: 27.8, today he and Vettel both drove a 1: 29.1. This incident is already serious. Especially compared to the competition, because pole sitter Hamilton was 0.9 seconds faster (!) Compared to 2019, for example, Verstappen was even 1.1 seconds. Brutal for the Scuderia …
Verstappen: advantage at the start?
For a change, it’s not about the tires, because this time all the fronts start with the same tires. However, the Dutchman is happy to start tomorrow in third position on the “clean” side of the grid. It could be an advantage in the fight against Bottas, because the Finn is on the dirty side on P2. Plus, Bottas didn’t have a perfect start this year …
Ferrari: tire advantage in the race?
Sporting director Laurent Mekies explains: “Our approach was very race focused. We saved two sets of hard tires. […] We’ll see if we need them tomorrow and if it pays off. “He also believes that tomorrow you will have the pace to lead in the big group behind the leaders.” I’m not saying we’re faster, ”Mekies said, but if you can at least keep up, then something could go beyond strategy.
Grosjean: “Sad” as time ends at Haas
The Frenchman has been with Haas since the team’s first Formula 1 race. Now his time there ends at a time when the team is at the back of the pitch. “It’s not ideal, and it also makes me a little sad,” Grosjean admits, explaining: “I’ve invested a lot in this project.”
It seems that the team’s successes, for example fifth place in Bahrain, were “centuries ago”. About the team itself, he explains: “I think they deserve more. But that’s what we have. And miracles are not possible.” Somehow a sad farewell indeed.
Ocon: Only bad luck against Ricciardo …
The Australian leads the internal qualifying duel for 14: 1. Only in the rain at Spielberg Ocon won once. It was often close, as it is today. This time, Ocon was just 0.002 seconds behind his teammate. It is not the first time that less than a tenth makes a difference at the end of qualifying.
“He had a very positive year, he was faster than me for most of the season,” Ocon admits. But Ricciardo was also lucky. “When he was tight, he always ran in his direction”, the Frenchman shrugs and explains: “In the next two [Qualifyings] it’s up to me to change that. “
At the same time his last two occasions, because after Ricciardo moves to McLaren.
Hamilton’s pole lap …
… is here again in the video. The world champion himself reveals: “You can always improve and improve a little bit, but today was a very clean lap. I don’t know exactly why, but I’ve had a good feeling here all weekend. I just wanted today. Just have fun, this is the most important thing for me “.
It doesn’t work with a stop
Everyone seems to agree on this at least. Even the “hum of the tires” Sergio Perez answered the question of whether we can continue with a stop tomorrow: “No, not here. I think tomorrow we will see between two and three stops. It will be a long race”. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or the other tried. Especially since, according to Pirelli, the medium-hard variant should work …
The top 10 start on Medium
Tomorrow at the start we will have the very special situation that none of the top 10 riders will start the race with soft tires. All ten drivers start from the vehicle, behind which there is a free choice of tires. But is this “choice” really that big? Because nobody really wants to start soft. So the only real alternative remained the hard tires. And those are actually a disadvantage in the beginning. It will be exciting!
Sainz: Only bad luck in Bahrain …
The press conference on Thursday also mentioned that Carlos Sainz is simply unlucky in his career in Bahrain. He never scored there. He was eliminated in his first three races with Toro Rosso between 2015 and 2017 and in 2018 and 2019 he missed points with McLaren. And on the sixth try this year it doesn’t seem to go any better …
Battle for P3: Advantage at Racing Point?
The walk starts only from the P13, Perez starts from the P5. This made him “Best of the Rest” behind Mercedes and Red Bull today, also an important aspect in the battle for third place in the World Cup. Racing Point (154 points) is currently in the lead ahead of McLaren (149), Renault (136) and Ferrari (130). As a reminder: Tomorrow McLarens will only come from P9 and P15, Ferraris from P11 and P12.
An opportunity for Renault, where Ricciardo and Ocon start immediately behind Perez. “His long runs have been good and he has always been a master at handling tires correctly. We have to put him under pressure and maybe try to catch him off guard at the start so he can’t just follow his strategy.” Ricciardo.
“If he has a free run, I think he will be hard to beat,” said the Australian.
Stroll: That’s why he was eliminated in Q2
We were wondering what was happening to the Canadian in Q2. Now he gives the explanation: “After the red flag there was a misunderstanding that deprived us of a potential place in Q3. We went out with used vehicles while the rest of the group had new tires. So we didn’t have more chance. To enter. in Q3. “
You want to discuss the situation in the evening and “learn” from it. Regarding the race, he explains: “The good thing is that we have a free choice of tires starting from 13th on the grid. Here you can overtake and strategy is important. So we can move forward. We can aim for the points, and with the I am satisfied with the pace of the car “.
No Ferrari in the top 10
In Bahrain, the weakness of the Ferrari engine appears to be making a comeback again this year. None of the six Ferrari drivers made it into Q3 today, and the four customer cars even finished Q1. There were three Mercedes, three Renault and even all four Honda cars in the top 10. That doesn’t give much hope for the race, but let’s see what else is possible for Vettel and Co.
No meeting between Verstappen and Wolff
Colleague Chris Medland caused a stir on Twitter today when he claimed he saw Toto Wolff talking to Jos Verstappen in the paddock. But that’s not true at all! “My father is sitting on the sofa taking care of my little brother. Maybe he can teleport himself?”, Max replied with a grin.
Medland apologized for the confusion but kept saying, “I swear this person looked just like him!” This is how rumors can arise. At least we now know that Jos Verstappen seems to have a doppelganger in the paddock 😉
What role will Albon play tomorrow?
P4 is a good starting position. But it would be even more important to maintain this position in order to finally be able to help Verstappen against Hamilton and Bottas. “Fourth is fantastic. Hopefully we can use it to break the Mercedes strategy,” says Albon aggressively and reveals that this placement was not a surprise to him.
“The first free practice session was pretty good, as was the third free practice session. The fourth position didn’t seem unrealistic. I thought it was possible before qualifying. Obviously it was nice to get the result. The car is fine this weekend. Especially today it started again, “said Albon.
Let’s see what’s happening tomorrow.
Sainz: It was the brake
Now we finally have confirmation from McLaren. The Sainz car actually had a problem with the rear brakes. That’s why the car exploded so strangely at Turn 1. The good news is that it should be possible to fix the problem without incurring a penalty. For example, if I had to change the gearbox, there would be a penalty at the starting place. So he can at least keep the starting position 15 tomorrow.
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