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22 comments on Bahrain Grand Prix in pictures

1. 

   joe said on 26th April 2009, 20:09

   thanks for all the updates and the photos!

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2. 

   Miguel Machado said on 27th April 2009, 2:06

   Thanks

   Great post

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3. 

   Arun Srini said on 27th April 2009, 3:26

   thanks for the fotos!! not a great race? i differ, was very interesting, compare wit last year.. that too jenson’s drve and alonso’s, awesome!!

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4. 

   Raceaddict said on 27th April 2009, 4:45

   Not a great race .. hmm .. I tend to agree, but it was a notable one. This was the first true one-on-one comparison of the cars without the weather getting in the way. We saw that Brawn, Toyota and Red Bull were indeed the best packages.

   Also of note was the percentage of cars that finished; it shows how durable Formula 1 cars are these days (will I ever see a giant plume of white smoke befall a front-running car again?)

   Lastly, the ones who didn’t seem so enthused with the race were the local Bahrainian fans.. .the stands, even the main grandstand, looked half-full at most.

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   • 

     John H said on 27th April 2009, 14:00

     Indeed. Ok race, but if you can’t hear any crowd at all in the background at times it’s like watching a test session – there’s no sense of the event.

     Compare this to Monza for example – Oil money & shiny facilities do not alone a good race make.

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5. 

   Chua said on 27th April 2009, 5:34

   Thanks for the great photos, Keith. Can always count on you for a reliable source of amazing wallpapers after race weekends. I quite liked the pictures of the start, with the cars approaching the first corner 5-6 cars wide.

   Guys, to be fair, not a “spectacular” race is not quite the same as not a “great” race. Just wanted to point that out

   Am I correct in thinking that Bahrain is the circuit with probably the highest concentration of grandstands in one area? As in, there are hardly any stands (in the farther parts of the track) apart from the main ones are there?

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6. 

   mertyazan said on 27th April 2009, 8:51

   Extremely boring race.

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7. 

   Erico said on 27th April 2009, 10:40

   The first picture says it all, if Button has to be the champion this year, he has only one opponent to defeat — Lewis Hamilton — fullstop

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   • 

     James G said on 27th April 2009, 16:36

     So you think that Sebastian Vettel is not in any way a threat? I disagree.

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   • 

     Wesley said on 27th April 2009, 21:02

     I agree with Erico,no way you can ignore Vettel….and just wait for the Red Bull diffuser update.

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   • 

     Wesley said on 27th April 2009, 21:04

     *EDIT*
     I mean I agree with James G.

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   • 

     kramkroc said on 27th April 2009, 22:31

     i agree..
     Hamilton is getting better and better,
     he will be a serious treat to Button (and vettel)…

     Reply
8. 

   Dan said on 27th April 2009, 11:35

   Would be great if you could put all the pictures into a downloadable file.

   

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9. 

   PJA said on 27th April 2009, 13:57

   The pictures of the start show how much sand was on the track, something I hadn’t noticed on the TV footage of the start.

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10. 

    Clay said on 27th April 2009, 14:27

    Erico, I don’t know how you can say that Jenson’s only real competitor for the title this year will be Lewis. The McLaren keeps cars behind it well enough only through KERS, but unless Lewis can get in front at the start and hold off the pack through an entire race (including Jenson or Vettel doing banzai laps while Lewis is in the pits) he won’t win a race. Hell, he hasn’t even been on the podium yet and you’re stating he will be Jenson’s biggest championship threat!

    It’s a bit like me saying Kimi is looking good for his second title…

    The biggest challenge to Jenson will come from now on. If Brawn can keep the updates coming for the car, and if the Red Bull proves to be hard to adapt to a double diffuser, the championship is Jenson’s to lose.

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11. 

    Erico said on 27th April 2009, 14:55

    Clay, my point is given that both(Button, Hamilton) are driving mercedes motors and also that Mclaren are likely to have equal if not better Aero by mid season, this thing’s may as well boil down to KERS vs No-KERS.

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12. 

    PJA said on 27th April 2009, 16:36

    While I don’t think Hamilton is currently a rival for Button in the championship, it is feasible he could be there or there abouts by the end of the season.

    I think if any team could manage to develop their car into a regular race winner in the next few races, it is possible that they could take the championship down to the last race again.

    I think it all depends all the different development rates of the teams, we have already seen McLaren make a big improvement on the first race, whereas both BMW drivers have criticised their teams rate of development. Will Brawn be able to keep their advantage throughout the season and how successful will other teams integrate a double diffuser into their cars?

    At the moment Button is the favourite for the title and I would say his main rival is Vettel. Unless Barrichello can close the gap on Button soon I would rule him out, and even though Toyota have one of the best three cars at the moment I don’t think either driver can make the difference required, and as Sundays race showed I think poor strategy will cost them.

    Regarding KERS, wasn’t the Force India technical link up with McLaren supposed to include this? Does anyone know when Force India are due to get KERS.

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13. 

    Chaz said on 27th April 2009, 17:25

    Great shots. I really hope someone will post a good quality close-up picture showing how and or what mechanism the Red Bull shark fin attaches to the back wing. I particularly also want to see how this works when the back wing adjustments are needed. Fingers crossed…

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14. 

    Raceaddict said on 27th April 2009, 17:40

    Chaz, good question. I found a pic (fourth one down):

    http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/311581/f1-2009-red-bull.html

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    • 

      Chaz said on 27th April 2009, 18:06

      Nice one, thanks for posting Raceaddict. It looks like the shark fin simply clips onto the back wing or perhaps its screwed on with/under those clips. The strength of the carbon fibre fin constantly amazes me…

      Reply
15. 

    Andrew White said on 27th April 2009, 22:55

    A great selection of pictures; the best of the season so far I think

    Reply