F1: Bahrain - Better Than Paul Di Resta?

Whassup bro's!

It's that time of the weekend again, where I review an event on the motorsport calendar and, just like last weekend, it's the turn of the Formula 1 bro's!

This week, they were in Bahrain for a Grand Prix that usually springs some surprises and is quite an interesting track to view, with Seb Vettel hoping to making it two in two victories, as last year he took the flag ahead of Kimi Raikonnen & Romain Grosjean...



Who'd have thunk (sic!) the same'd happen again this year?! SPOOKY!!!

Before I go onto the race itself, I should mention at this point that any races that aren't live on the Beeb, I'm reviewing from the quality of 5live's broadcasts.

Anyways, this was a race that not only was won by tactics (like the previous race) but also down to the mixed fortunes that the different teams had with the tire choices, given that Pirelli had opted not to bring along the soft compound because of the location & humidity of the track.

It certainly saw plenty of overtaking and for those mooks that don't like the whole D.R.S. (that's Drag Reduction System for all those mooks not in the know, lol!) & K.E.R.S. (this time it's Kinetic Energy Recovery System) adding to the drama of these races, I ask you 'what are you looking for, bro's?!'.

They add a sense of drama to the races and increase the quality given that a race really shouldn't be about one guy tying up the win from, like, the second lap... tell that to Seb Vettel though!

He drove a thoroughly impressive race and until Alonso had the problem with his D.R.S. jamming open repeatedly, I knew he would have a sense of urgency trying to overtake Nico Rosberg before lap 2 when the aforementioned system becomes active. Unfortunately, that's not how it panned out as Vettel, once past Rosberg got that frickin' hammer down and was away!

The highlight for me has to be, and again going against the flow here with my choice for driver of the day; Paul Di Resta.

The guy was desperately unlucky not to seal his maiden podium finish and was just out-dragged in the end by Grosjean who sealed the mirrored podium from the 2012 season where he followed 'The Iceman' Kimi Raikonnen home behind Vettel once again, who won his only race out of those first seven GP's at Bahrain.

I would have gone for Sergio Perez for his tough tackling, no-nonsense approach to racing both his team-mate (who was po'd at how forceful he was being, lol!) and those around him to grind out a sixth placed position, half better than his 12th placed qualifying to indicate that maybe, just maybe the Mercedes is the car he's ready to leap to the next level with. After all, isn't this more akin to the promise he's shown in recent years behind the wheel?

That's the second time in two races that I haven't opted for the winner, right?! See, and you thought I was going to be a predictable reviewer!

Like A.W. once said, I "look at the talent, not the passport"!
 
Getting back on point, Jensen Button was clearly unhappy with Perez's style saying it was 'dangerous' and that he was the 'only person' behaving in such a rambunctious manner (to think that was Grosjean they were talking of like that, last year, 'first lap nutter' in the words of Mark Webber and all that!). Even registering complaints on the team radio were necessary and ones he indicated he would repeat again... which of course brings people back to the 'should McClaren have brought team orders into play?' argument again!

I don't need to address that as I've already covered it in a previous post, bro's, so let that one rest and let's move onto the next item on the list; the tyres.

It did seem as though they were a little unpredictable (and by saying 'little' that is a big understatement, imo) given that teams had to update their pit strategies on the fly and from what I could tell was what denied Rosberg a better finish than his 9th after starting at the business end of the grid.

Other than that, it has to be said that slowly, slowly, Mercedes are definitely coming into their own with this qualifying showing from Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton sealing up a 5th placed position who was largely quiet in terms of air-time mention on 5live, but it shows that they do have the pace, definitely, for qualifying, it's now just a case of translating that into race pace.

Next on the list to review on this blog is the MotoGP race in Texas as they christen the Circuit of the Americas for two-wheeled superstars such as Lorenzo, Rossi & Crutchlow. After that, I'll be moving onto reviewing the second race of the BSB season at Thruxton.

Looks like it'll be some time yet before I get to rant on something I wanna talk (or rant!) about, but that's the whole point of this blog, bro's; you just never know what the next post is gonna be about... after all, 'twas Forrest Gump who said: -

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!"

Either way, stick with it like I am and it'll all come good in the end... and THAT is the bottom line, 'cause I said so!

Peace out, bro's!


The Lanky Penguin