Bahrain GP 1st day

[JSR]

Re: Bahrain GP 1st day

Nice article about Jenson here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8022027.stm

I'd go along with most of that. Even Alonso has said that Briatore's dismissal of Button is wrong.

I like seeing different kinds of drivers racing. While Hamilton is more like "go for it and hang the consequences" which sees him win more times than lose, Button is more at one with his car. As we've seen with many drivers, including Hamilton, winning from pole is relatively easy - it's when the driver wins when he's not on pole that we get something special.

Speaking of the upgrades to the Brawn GP car, something struck me from Martin Brudle's column, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8021386.stm, re:

Ross Brawn admitted in Bahrain that the team have had "nothing left in the cupboard". Over the first four GPs they have used all the performance goodies which were already in place as they packed their bags for race one in Melbourne.

That suggests that they're going to fall back as other teams push forward. I suspect that 4 wins out of 5 is being optimistic. I just hope Button continues to get at least on the podium to stay in front for as long as any new developments take to come off the drawing board. He has a one-race safety cushion and I hope that gives him enough breathing space.

[Ian]

Re: Bahrain GP 1st day

I'd go along with most of that. Even Alonso has said that Briatore's dismissal of Button is wrong.

I like seeing different kinds of drivers racing. While Hamilton is more like "go for it and hang the consequences" which sees him win more times than lose, Button is more at one with his car. As we've seen with many drivers, including Hamilton, winning from pole is relatively easy - it's when the driver wins when he's not on pole that we get something special.

Speaking of the upgrades to the Brawn GP car, something struck me from Martin Brudle's column, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8021386.stm, re:

That suggests that they're going to fall back as other teams push forward. I suspect that 4 wins out of 5 is being optimistic. I just hope Button continues to get at least on the podium to stay in front for as long as any new developments take to come off the drawing board. He has a one-race safety cushion and I hope that gives him enough breathing space.

I'm more optimistic - all the other cars have had a hell of a lot more development already, so I think there is less to improve. The Brawn, basically the car they had out of the box, was still good enough to win last weekend and has a great deal more development potential.

Ross Brawn says that for Spain the car will have improved aerodynamic bits, a weight reduction - which will mean better use of the ballast distribution - and some engine driveability improvements. The last four races have been their pre-season testing. Now they can bolt on new bits developed from what they have learned.

Meanwhile, the single-diffuser teams (McLaren, Ferrari, BMQW, Red Bull, etc.) are going to make massive changes to the fundamental designs of their cars, which they can't test beforehand like they could have done in previous seasons. Red Bull, in particular, could go backwards a fair way before they can go forwards. They have to redesign the rear suspension, and gearbox case, let alone design the double decker diffuser.

Ian

[JSR]

Re: Bahrain GP 1st day

I'm more optimistic - all the other cars have had a hell of a lot more development already, so I think there is less to improve. The Brawn, basically the car they had out of the box, was still good enough to win last weekend and has a great deal more development potential.

Ross Brawn says that for Spain the car will have improved aerodynamic bits, a weight reduction - which will mean better use of the ballast distribution - and some engine driveability improvements. The last four races have been their pre-season testing. Now they can bolt on new bits developed from what they have learned.

Meanwhile, the single-diffuser teams (McLaren, Ferrari, BMQW, Red Bull, etc.) are going to make massive changes to the fundamental designs of their cars, which they can't test beforehand like they could have done in previous seasons. Red Bull, in particular, could go backwards a fair way before they can go forwards. They have to redesign the rear suspension, and gearbox case, let alone design the double decker diffuser.

Ian

This would seem to confirm your assessment of the Brawn GP development: http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=45734

Good news, good news!

[Ian]

Re: Bahrain GP 1st day

This would seem to confirm your assessment of the Brawn GP development: http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=45734

Good news, good news!

More nice words about Jenson from Ross Brawn - even the fact that Schumacher always rated Jenson highly:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74934

Ian

[JSR]

Re: Bahrain GP 1st day

More nice words about Jenson from Ross Brawn - even the fact that Schumacher always rated Jenson highly:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74934

Ian

High praise indeed.

Whenever drivers or crew say something nice about another driver, it's usually in response to someone sticking a microphone in front of their faces and asking "Do you think Lewis could be the next Schumacher?" or something equally silly. Well, of course, the person on the other end is going to say positive things, regardless of what they really think. It's only natural.

Here we have a situation whereby Ross tells us that Schumacher always had the highest respect for Jenson, even way back when Brawn and Schumacher worked together in Ferrari. That means more, I think, than the camera-huggers crawling out of the woodwork saying the same things about this year's leader that they said about last year's, forgetting that they dismissed this year's leader when praising last year's leader last year (if that makes sense?).