[teentodiefows]

9 days 23 hours and 9 minuets to go - its time to get the first Race Thread of the year revved up

HEY PINO! - Is the chat room ready to rock and roll for next week?

IM SO PUMPED!!!

[mr.videomen]

Sorry guys but at the moment I cannot provide the usual chat-room

[teentodiefows]

bugger

i might have an option but id have to ask nicely

[mr.videomen]

What option ?

[Mymnnarry]

Well I guess with temperatures sky high compare to the cold damp test days it will come down to whoever can look after their tyres best. Suggestions are that would be Sauber, Mercedes, Ferrari and Hamilton in the Macca.

The Red Bulls seem to be chewing their rubber up as does Jenson (apparently).

[appletango]

Probably worth sticking this in again - they've added a new loop after turn 4, which might make the race even tougher on the brakes:

[Mymnnarry]

Probably worth sticking this in again - they've added a new loop after turn 4, which might make the race even tougher on the brakes:

Indeed. If Webs can run out of anchors last year, then with 170kilos of fuel sloshing about those same brakes are going to take a real punishment.

[Ilaubuas]

They were talking about having thicker brake discs this year, I never heard if that change got into the rules though.

[Mymnnarry]

They were talking about having thicker brake discs this year, I never heard if that change got into the rules though.

As I understand it the rules for dimension for brake discs has not changed - hence why the brake ducts have ballooned in size compared to '09.

Interestingly McLaren have shrunk their ducts in the most recent mods - presumably they were over cooled.

[acissombiapse]

EIGHT days and counting till the very first practice session of the new season. Cant wait

[Mymnnarry]

EIGHT days and counting till the very first practice session of the new season. Cant wait

And aprox the same number of days until the arrival of my second mini-me. I wonder if they have TV's in the delivery room?

[southernplayer99]

Use http://kozzington.com/chat/ for the chat if Pino's chat ain't working by then.

[Dabdklwu]

trying to predict who will win the Bahrain Grand Prix at the moment is impossible, or at least for me it is. but this aint such a bad thing!

[N9u9ie4p]

Well I guess with temperatures sky high compare to the cold damp test days it will come down to whoever can look after their tyres best. Suggestions are that would be Sauber, Mercedes, Ferrari and Hamilton in the Macca.

The Red Bulls seem to be chewing their rubber up as does Jenson (apparently).

Thats a new one and it would be a first one - Jenson has NEVER "chewed up" tyres in all the years - that was one item always mentioned by Flavio - a very difficult person.

Last year CEO Bridgestone racing in Autosport and F1 Racing is on record saying that Jenson is amazingly easy on his tyres.

And people like Nigel Roebuck and Mark Hughes have written about how well Button handles his tyres. And they have BOTH - and Hughes is a real apologist for Lewis - said that Jenson's tyre wear is "Prost-like".

Ross Brawn has mentioned that Jenson is inbcredibly easy on his tyres.

Lewis with the KERS notably chewed up rear tyres in 2009. He could never look after them. This is not to say he will not learn to as he is atop racing driver. But his style as Webber's is whip oversteer and that is terrible for tyre wear.

I would be extremely surprised if the Red Bulls chewed their tyres - they did not do that in 2009 and Webber is far tougher on his tyres than Vettel.

The key issues in testing were to try and set the car up to a point that tyre wear relative to the weight of the car would not be a factor and therefore the driver would be able to go long stints flat out without unusual tyre wear.

This is what Jenson said part of the focus was at Valencia and Jerez.

[hellenmoranov]

I don't think the new layout will punish the brakes more than it usually does. The new section is relatively slow, and don't forget that there's going to be less laps which means that the cars won't go through those massive braking areas at Turn 1, 4 and at the end of the lap as often.

I'm not really sure what the point of the new layout is. Judging by previews it doesn't really add any extra challenge to the track, and Bahrain could easily fit the extra teams anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joJfd5yQ7-Q

[tinamasak]

Call me when the season starts, in Australia!

[N9u9ie4p]

I love those long straights. Last year the cars racing down them with the way the desert carries the sound was just superb! :-]

[Mymnnarry]

Thats a new one and it would be a first one - Jenson has NEVER "chewed up" tyres in all the years - that was one item always mentioned by Flavio - a very difficult person.

Last year CEO Bridgestone racing in Autosport and F1 Racing is on record saying that Jenson is amazingly easy on his tyres.

And people like Nigel Roebuck and Mark Hughes have written about how well Button handles his tyres. And they have BOTH - and Hughes is a real apologist for Lewis - said that Jenson's tyre wear is "Prost-like".

Ross Brawn has mentioned that Jenson is inbcredibly easy on his tyres.

Lewis with the KERS notably chewed up rear tyres in 2009. He could never look after them. This is not to say he will not learn to as he is atop racing driver. But his style as Webber's is whip oversteer and that is terrible for tyre wear.

I would be extremely surprised if the Red Bulls chewed their tyres - they did not do that in 2009 and Webber is far tougher on his tyres than Vettel.

The key issues in testing were to try and set the car up to a point that tyre wear relative to the weight of the car would not be a factor and therefore the driver would be able to go long stints flat out without unusual tyre wear.

This is what Jenson said part of the focus was at Valencia and Jerez.

I agree its unusual - based on what we know - but that's what I heard. Red Bull have admitted they are too hard on their tyres on a long run so would have to quali on the harder compounds if they want a longer stint.

As for Jenson, perhaps its the skinny fronts that require a different style that has his legendary tyre preservation skills in a mess at the moment.

[N9u9ie4p]

I agree its unusual - based on what we know - but that's what I heard. Red Bull have admitted they are too hard on their tyres on a long run so would have to quali on the harder compounds if they want a longer stint.

As for Jenson, perhaps its the skinny fronts that require a different style that has his legendary tyre preservation skills in a mess at the moment.

The reports are misleading - a driver and a team that had the best car in 2009 and with the RB6 an evolution do not suddenly have such problems. Especially Jenson. In all the formulas he has raced, car conservation has been a hallmark.

In addition there has been no such reporting from the Autosport journalists and if it was the case, it would have been known about by now.

On Twitter during testing, the Mclaren team were extremely happy with the way the car was with new tyres and Jenson discovered that the car was even more sensitive than the Brawn in slow corners which is Jenson's known strength and another commonality with Alain Prost.

A naturally smooth driver with understeer as his comfort zone does not make sense to be hard on tyres. It is oversteer drivers that overheat tyree and grain them preventing the proper chemical reaction from occurring.

Until such time as there are actual struggles by Mclaren or Red Bull - the two most innovative cars this year and the two teams most likely to head the grand prix at Sakhir, I will dismiss such stories as naysaying by interested parties.

[Accecyncphory]

I will dismiss such stories as naysaying by interested parties.

Ok. That's fine by me. No need to get too excited. What you think, or me, or anyone else is bubkis. Just wait and in a few days and you'll see how things stand. All this wishful thinking doesn't really matter.