Rate the race: 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

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What did you think of the today’s race? Share your verdict on the Bahrain Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (9%)
  • 9 (27%)
  • 8 (35%)
  • 7 (15%)
  • 6 (8%)
  • 5 (2%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 864

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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262 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix”

  1. 8/10 It was a very good race. Almost everyone was fighting with their claws out, throughout its entirety and unlike China there was no DRS or tyre silliness which left a sour aftertaste with each overtake. If Vettel was in the battles too, it would be a 9/10.

    1. DRS was just as bad as in China, especially with the headwind… Alonso has shown that you can race without DRS. The first two laps were pure brilliance – afterwards Rosberg just got passed right, left and centre.

      Great racing between Button and Perez, great drives by Vettel, Alonso and Di Resta.

    2. In terms of actual racing this was the best race of the year so far. 8/10.
      And people say Bahrain is boring.

    3. @driftin disagree. DRS, while it didn’t ruin the race as much as in China, didn’t help.

      When DRS was first used, people had to wait until lap 2 to make their moves. Now they cannot even wait, they get alongside rather easily and they fight. Then DRS is enabled and everything goes to the trash: people pass each other midway through the straights. I mean, Alonso had a 20 km/h advantage over Rosberg when he managed to get past him in the early stages of the race. That’s not a benefit, that’s not “helping” overtakes… that’s like taking a tyre of Rosberg’s car and force him to defend.

      Thanksfully Lewis and Mark’s tyres were so bad at the end of the race that we got to see one of the greatest fights I’ve seen.

      I give it 6/10. And pleeeeeeeeease FIA, let’s try with a DRS-free race!

    4. 8/10 – withe these tyres each race should be 5 laps longer and use no DRS. The only other thing bad today was the race winner. I am really getting tired with his woo-hoo after winning without breaking a sweat.

    5. when i say that vettel is the luckiest driver ever seen in single seated racing cars, i mean what i say, and that was proved today when all his rivals just have problems of whatsoever for him to finish the race without being chased and passed by!!!!! how can anyone disclose of this fact just tell me!!!!! the race is a 5/10 because of that fact, a race isn’t great until we see 3 drivers fighting for first and not SECOND place, come on!!!!

      1. @ramysennaf1 – well just tell Ferrari to make their DRS properly and Kimi to qualify better. Don’t blame Vettel.

        1. the problem is mate, vettel has the fastest car by far and it showed when he past easily rosberg and others i think at the beginning, i don’t how this redbull gathers time and pace above all rivals !!!!!!! i want someone to explain how can this happen, gaining time lap after lap while others struggle to build on their posiition

          1. @ramysennaf1

            vettel has the fastest car by far

            No he doesn’t, hence why Webber in an identical RB9 was nowhere in the race. Vettel simply managed to get the lead quickly and manage the race from there, that’s why he finished so far ahead.

          2. If passing Rosberg early in today’s race was a mark of having the fastest car, then half the grid were in the fastest car.

            I think we could have seen Alonso challenge today had he not had problems. As it was, Vettel was lucky to see Alonso falter. Lotus really should have qualified better though.

          3. mate he got past rosberg and alonso at the start and then he build on his lead with half a second every lap after he lead, how can a driver do that if he hasn’t a speed advantage over the rivals!!! explain!!!!huh?!!!

          4. @ramysennaf1 he battled hard with Rosberg and Alonso at the beginning to get to the lead. It’s always been like that, the leader, on clean air, gets a lot of benefits. But he’s the leader, afterall.

            He can manage the tyres as he wants it, as he wasn’t battling anyone. Don’t blame Vettel for doing the right things when it matters. It’s been like this since Fangio, mate.

          5. @ramysennaf1

            the problem is mate, vettel has the fastest car by far

            Excuse me, but how is that a “problem”?

            It’s not like there’s a lottery in the start of the season about who has the best car and Vettel’s car just magically happens to win that every time. It happens because their team does the best job, it’s got nothing to do with luck of any kind.

          6. Alex (@korbendallas)
            21st April 2013, 15:29

            Vettel hardly has the fastest car “by far”. He’s an extremely talented driver with a front-running car, just like Alonso, Raikkonnen and Hamilton. Pretending he is driving a car like the RB7, or that he’s just lucky, does nothing to diminish his obvious talent.

            Today was Alonso’s first major car failure for at least a year and a half, and all it meant was that he couldn’t use DRS. When Vettel and Hamilton’s cars failed last year they each had multiple retirements. I think if anyone’s the lucky one, it’s Alonso and Raikkonnen – or rather, it’s that Ferrari and Lotus have built them and their team mates extremely fast, reliable cars.

          7. just notice the redbull compared to other cars when exiting a corner, u can feel it has more power exiting the corner while shifting gears, it’s a small thing, but it’s an important thing making u gain a tenth or a two tenth on the driver behind, same thing with webber, the redbull car has more power exiting corners, i’ve noticed that in sector 2 where there are so many corners

          8. Vettel’s win was built on the back of his battling with and passing of Rosberg and Alonso in the early laps. What you’re complaining about is the simple fact that Vettel worked for his win and drove a superb race. Same as Alonso in China.
            If you don’t like seeing talented drivers put in performances like his may I suggest watching a different sport?

          9. @fer-no65, @colossal-squid, @matt90, @tmekt +1
            Sebastian and team did a perfect job today just admit it.

          10. @ramysennaf1

            how can a driver do that if he hasn’t a speed advantage over the rivals!!!

            Oh so I assume you treat every winning driver the same then, since you obviously can’t win unless the car’s much faster?

            Besides that, Alonso held everyone up after his DRS jammed open, that’s why Vettel streaked off initially. How he maintained that though was primarily due to skill – the car was no faster than the Lotus or the Ferrari.

      2. Sorry to break it to you, but it’s not luck if Ferrari can’t design their DRS properly.

        And with regards Vettel, I’m no fan of his but he was superb today, especially in comparison to Webber.

        1. +1 @john-h

          @ramysennaf1

          when i say that vettel is the luckiest driver ever seen in single seated racing cars

          Oh, just stop, you sound like a child. Running away with a victory, built on having the fastest race pace of anyone doesn’t make someone the luckiest driver ever seen. Unless you have the word luck mixed up with skill.

          1. I think all of you people are wrong. One is just so keen on diminishing Vettel and the others all to keen to show how the respect a 3 times champion and all that and how they are of similar of opinion of the metriopathic views of the owner of this site and are sick of Vettel not getting praised.
            The truth is Vettel raced just fine and did everything he was suppose to do so yeah he did great and he is one of the best drivers but also no his first lap overtakes weren’t some big miracle ether. That doesn’t mean his car is better than him but it was obvious that he was carrying amazingly more speed that the others. They looked like GP2 cars. I’t’s something the Red Bull car seems to especially show a lot in the first 2-3 laps of a race. Maybe they have some tactic that Keeps the tires warmer when they start the race or something, i don’t know but yes he took advantage of his speed and did great but he really did had that speed. Saying Red Bull wasn’t massively faster at that time is as dishonest as saying he can’t drive. There’s no way that the reason he was closing on the back of others like they where sitting ducks was because of the difference of driving skills or else it would happen everywhere. There is a limit on the difference you can find just by the driver and his speed on those laps was just too massive.

          2. Sorry Dizzy,

            having the fastest race pace of anyone doesn’t make someone the luckiest driver ever seen. Unless you have the word luck mixed up with skill.

            Having the fastest car Skill sorry.

          3. GW –

            The difference between the cars isn’t significant (we had Mercedes on pole, both Lotuses on the podium, and the same fastest car finished 7th). Thus even with the fastest car, Vettel was still the fastest driver.

        2. @solo: great comment mate, see u agree with me that the redbulls have better pace over the others and that was at the beginning with vettel getting past easily, and showing as i said when hamilton had one hell of a time to get past webber in the end with drs !!!!!and while webber’s tyres were at 10% he still was fending off his move .

          1. There’s a difference between Solo saying that the car was fastest, and you saying Vettel is the luckiest driver ever seen though.

          2. I was looking for your comments from the last races… For some reason I couldn’t find them.

            Melbourne:
            “Kimi has the best car by far. He is the luckiest driver ever…”
            China:
            “Alonso has the best car by far. He is the luckiest driver ever…”

            So please, where have you been when these drivers dominated those GPs, hm? It’s always the same crap. When any driver wins a race… DOTD. When a Red Bull wins… “Oh, it’s all down to Newey.”

            This is becoming tiresome.

      3. These duplicate comments are getting really old rather fast. I thought such behaviour is frowned upon on this site? Please make a better effort at screening this or add a much needed Ignore functionality.

  2. 8.5/10 My fav race so far this year, battles right the way through the field.

    I was very impressed with Hamilton’s sticking power to eke out a 5th place finish and finish ahead of Rosberg. The battle between McLaren drivers was fantastic (apart from Button moaning on the radio like a baby) and Ham vs Webber. Also great performances from Seb, Kimi, Perez and Di Resta, superb recovery from Alonso.

    As for Pirelli, SORT IT OUT YOU MUPPETS! *SIGH*

    1. Same here.

      My fave race so far. But I’m getting worried about those tyres, let’s wait what they see after analyzing Massa’s tyres but I think Pirelli is under pressure and we should not wait until something serious happens.

    2. Same as well. Worrying how many failures Pirelli had this weekend. That can’t be allowed to happen again. Brilliant from Perez, he’s shut up his critics this weekend. Horrible, horrible luck for Ferrari.

    3. @hellotraverse, well at least it should be clear now that the harder compounds produce the best racing, a little harder would have been even better.

    4. I don’t think that there are any serious problems with Pirelli’s tyres. Only 2 cars had issues and Hamilton, with his merc being one of the heaviest on it’s rears, saw none of that during the race. This GP did really feed my hunger for a DRS-free race, the best overtakes were made by drivers into the (4th?) corner and continuing to the sweeping combination, awesome moves there throughout the GP!

      This race had everything!
      Dominant front runner, boring.
      Räikkönen and Grosjean playing the strategy game and coming out on top, exciting for a strategic mind.
      Real overtakes without DRS nonsense, exciting for anyone.

      Seeing Button and Perez go at eachother was an absolute treat. I’m sure that little radio message “Sergio look after the car” had a meaning far deeper than the sum of it’s words, but still “the new boy” kept at it and made it stick, brilliant.

      Webber battling Hamilton was, astonishingly, even better. Neither of them were crying on the radio to daddy and both of them are professional enough not to crash. I was on the edge of my seat praying to the allmighty Ateismo for Webber to win it! I don’t know who had the fresher set of tyres and I dont care. Atleast DRS did not spoil those magnificent moments.

      What’s up with the FIAs inability to fix their electronics!?
      How can this be the pinnacle of motorsport when they’re so completely useless with technology!? Now that I think of it, the broadcasts have hardly changed at all since I started watching (circa ’98). The only difference is the on-screen graphics.

  3. 5/10

    CONS:
    One team enormously faster than the rest of the field and totally unchallenged for the win – on top of that no decent racing between team mates like Malaysia.
    Unacceptable FIA telemetry failures… AGAIN! Sort it out!
    Tyre delaminations that fundamentally affected a race.
    I’m not even going to bother mentioning in any depth the whole ‘Bahrain issue’.

    PROS:
    Grosjean’s resurgent race performance great to see.
    The McLaren battle was fun to watch… that said Button part ruined it with his radio whining. Fantastic to see Perez stick it to him.
    Very impressed with Alonso finishing only 30 odd seconds down the road from the winner despite those back to back pit stops early on.
    Good final 15 laps in general despite not being for the win.

    1. (@nick-uk)

      One team enormously faster than the rest of the field and totally unchallenged for the win

      The McLaren battle was fun to watch… that said Button part ruined it with his radio whining. Fantastic to see Perez stick it to him.
      Very impressed with Alonso finishing only 30 odd seconds down the road from the winner despite those back to back pit stops early on.

      +1

    2. that said Button part ruined it with his radio whining

      +1 It was good to see Perez finally stamp his authority on this McLaren team and in the process show Button who’s BOSS :)

      1. Your kidding right? He sure seemed like a Boss when he got out qualified by his teammate for the 4th time in a row and managed a Boss like 9th for his best finish before today…..good call

      2. After “Multi 21” thing Button said he’d favor teammates racing without pit interference but he wasn’t very pleased with Checo’s stubbornness today…

        1. Yeah his “calm him down” message was just so senseless. Like he thought it was a joke that Perez could get in front of him on merit.

          1. To be fair, didn’t that come just after they touched?

          2. I can’t fault Button for complaining. Perez pretty much took a oiece off his tires when he hit him from behind

          3. @matt90
            It’s an extremely condescending way to word it though. He could have said ‘This is too close’ or something to that effect. It sounded like Dave Cameron telling an opposition Female MP to ‘Calm down dear’. Jenson was out of order.

          4. I think after your team mate has needlessly made contact with you, you are justified in using whatever tone or wording you want.

        2. Button just told sky that Perez was ‘too aggressive’. Does Jenson not remember the 2010 Turkey GP, he was very aggressive with Ham. What a hypocrite.

          1. Wouldn’t YOU guys complain over the radio if your team-mate just hit you from behind (damaging his own front wing in the process) in a move that could have easily led to a puncture for Yourself?

            Great racing, but hated it that Vettel won the race ;-)
            From a Button-fan, Vettel-non-fan: 8/10, I wish everybody was as biased as me in the rate the RACE (not driver)

          2. It was Hamilton who made a risky move on the inside of Button into turn one to take back the lead in Turkey 2010. Hamilton said this himself recently in an interview. Button’s overtaking was clean as it pretty much always is.

            The only bad contact I can remember from Button when overtaking a rival in recent years was with Alonso at Canada in 2011 which was pretty much 50/50 and we all know how that race ended.

            Of course Button said Perez was too aggressive. Perez rammed Button in the rear then later bashed wheels with him on the straight into turn four. Button was also very bullish after getting hit twice with the adrenaline flowing but he knew where he could push the limits. Last race people were saying Button is the easiest driver to overtake in F1 and now he’s being criticised for defending too strongly.

          3. Wouldn’t YOU guys complain over the radio

            No, I’d shut up and race like a real racer.

          4. @panache

            The only bad contact I can remember from Button when overtaking a rival in recent years was with Alonso at Canada in 2011 which was pretty much 50/50 and we all know how that race ended.

            So it’s ok for ‘Nice guy’ Jenson to be aggressive and ruin another drivers…ok

          5. *another drivers race

          6. @gdewilde

            You say to vote like you. No thanks. I gave a breakdown of why I only voted 5/10. People seem to think here that when rating a race the default score is 7 and anything up of that is good and below is bad.

    3. One team enormously faster than the rest of the field and totally unchallenged for the win

      Too bad for Webber then.

      on top of that no decent racing between team mates like Malaysia.

      Button & Perez?

      1. Button got hammered by Perez today. I hope this will stop his patronising tone when he speaks about Perez!

        1. Of course it won’t. He’ll blame it on everything except himself. This race has simply cemented my dislike of Jenson ‘2face’ Button. Such a massive hypocrite. It lends weight to my thoughts that one of big reasons Lewis got out of McLaren was to get away from Jenson’s conniving ways.

        2. @blackmamba. I hope so too. Button has been acting like he is far superior than Perez. Perez showed him who’s boss today. All he could was moan to daddy over the radio instead of racing faster. They are only 3 points apart so it’s on!!!!

      2. That comment was in regard to the win. No fight between Vettel & Webber.

        1. @nick-uk

          One team enormously faster than the rest of the field and totally unchallenged for the win

          Lotus were hardly far away from Red Bull’s pace, and I also feel that true Alonso’s pace was masked with him having to make up places without DRS.

          1. Indeed. Alonso did pretty good DRS less. That Ferrari is quick.

          2. firstLapNutcaseGrosjean (@)
            21st April 2013, 15:42

            @kingshark On the same tyres Vettel did 1.36.9 and Raikkonen 1.38.1 . This are the best times. On, softer tyres Grosjean did the best, I think somewehere 1.37 – 1.38 . So, that’s clear who had the best pace today.

          3. Exactly. Alonso/Ferrari ruined their race themselves. And Lotus had a terrible qualy. The difference wasn’t as big as it seemed. Vettel simply had the better weekend.

        2. Expecting team mates to battle for the win at every race is a bit optimistic.

      3. glad that more than one person agrees with me that one car is faster the rest of the field

        1. I know, Alonso’s Ferrari is the fastest :P

          1. (@hellotraverse)

            It’s an extremely condescending way to word it though. He could have said ‘This is too close’ or something to that effect. It sounded like Dave Cameron telling an opposition Female MP to ‘Calm down dear’. Jenson was out of order.

            Agree with this 100%, to me it was approaching the condescension levels of ‘get mark out of the way, he’s too slow,’ though not quite that bad.

    4. So last weeks race was bad as well because Alonso in the ferrari was much quicker than anything else? just wondering. Also while Vettel was awesomely quick where was Webber? You can easily make a case for the RB being a very good car and Seb outperforming it which shows up as a dominant performance.

    5. One team enormously faster than the rest of the field and totally unchallenged for the win

      You must have been watching a different race – I saw one driver who was faster than the rest of the field and largely unchallenged for the win. If the “team” was “enormously faster than the rest of the field” than it’s downright peculiar that Webber did not finish second.

    6. @nick-uk, Which team was massively faster? I presume you mean Ferarri as Alonso “finishing only 30 oddseconds behind the winner” despite 2 extra 20 odd second pit-stops and no DRS for most of the race.

      1. @hohum I understand the contradiction there, but this is ‘rate the race’ and has to be looked at in iscolation. Granted Ferrari may be quicker when you look at the bigger picture; the whole season ahead etc, but they still at this race arrived at the finish line a long time behind the leader.

        1. @nick-uk, Even with the harder tyre compounds there is a huge advantage being in front, my take, the cars are very close in performance, SV made the early winning move and then got lucky when FA had a technical problem.

          1. Exactly @hohum, the difference between Vettel and Webber in the race (even with Vettel not going full out once he had a solid lead) is no doubt for a big part due to being in free air up ahead. Similarly Grosjean was also a lot in free air and that helped him get to the podium.

    7. I don’t think that Lotus being faster than anyone else hurt the race, why did you @nick-uk?

      1. @magon4 Yeah it was a stunning victory by them… oh wait…

        1. @nick-uk oh so you did mean the best driver then! After all, race pace was with Lotus and Ferrari, not with Red Bull. Just check out GRO and RAI, and maybe WEB…

  4. 10/10. Some really cracking racing, especially between Hamilton and Webber, and Vettel’s move on Alonso.

    1. Same vote, same thoughts. Mark and Lewis had a really great battle, such a shame Webber got overtaken by Perez as well in the end. Really glad for Lewis, I didn’t think he could have get into the top 5 after the qualifying.
      I was sad for Di Resta missing out on a podium finish as he had a great drive but he didn’t have a chance against Grosjean who was on the option tires, but it was a magnificent result still. Also sad for Rosberg and Button, who had to make an extra pit stop.
      The performance of Gutierrez is starting to become really embarrassing for Sauber, he couldn’t even get in front of all the Caterhams, for which you have to congratulate Pic who managed to finish in front of him, that was bit of a Bianchi-style performance going on there, who was pretty quiet today.
      I’m also disappointed for Vergne, the only retirement after van der Garde run into the back of him. He has had a string of unfortunate races – vdG crashing into him in the pit in Sepang, Webber crashing into him in China – hope he’ll have more luck in the upcoming races.
      A massive amount of misfortune for Ferrari – they had everything against them, which is a shame as I was very interested what Massa could have get out of his strategy in the race – he was my main favorite after qualifying.
      Finally I am very happy for Kimi after a strong performance in the race, such a shame his qualifying didn’t turn out the way it could have. He could be a massive contender for WDC this year, I hope he can succeed.

      1. @hunocsi

        Hamilton managed his race perfectly. He knew that Mercedes is hard to drive when heavy and avoided racing hard to save his tyres and mounted an aggressive attack towards the end when light on fuel. On the other hand Nico went for a 4th stop.

  5. 8/10 Apart from Seb, solid actions all around.

    1. RING DING DING DING!!!
      Come on! You have to give THE VET some credit for leaving the rest of the field in his wake…come on… you know you want to :P

      1. I could swear @hellotraverse is Helmut Marko.
        It’s ok to talk up your fav driver, but you are on every single user post with a reply, telling them that Vettel is better than they think.

        1. Obviously, I could swear half the people on this site have had their children killed by Vettel the way they react so aghast towards him. So he’s right, Vettel is better than what certain delusional people think of him.

        2. Of course I am I’m not Helmut Marko. I’ve He’s got better things to do than post on a forum…*Cough*

          It just annoys me when people don’t give credit to a driver that clearly deserves it.

          1. This is rate the race, not driver of the weekend though. Vettel going unchallenged for the majority of the race is a fair reason to mark it down, as a battle for the win is always the mark of a great race.

          2. @hellotraverse. I couldn’t agree more. Vettel is a legend. No need to worry about the naysayers as Seb will consistently prove them wrong and for many years to come. Shaping up to be the greatest driver F1 has seen…

          3. “No need to worry about the naysayers as Seb will consistently prove them wrong and for many years to come. Shaping up to be the greatest driver F1 has seen…”

            lol i almost fell out my chair.

            Vettel did well, but lets face it, we know these tyres are nearly impossible to drive on when you’re battling for position through the race, this is why, for example, Rosberg finished behind Hamilton despite starting on pole compared to 9th, because Hamilton could sit and wait for Rosberg to ruin his race by battling. This is to say, Vettel was so dominant because he never had any challange all race, so he can therefore manage his tyres, and therefore pace, very nicly.

            “Greatest F1 ever seen” because he had one nice race with no challanger? give us a break, mate.

          4. @N tbf it’s quite a few more than just the one race, more like closer to 20 (at least that’s how many pole – win’s he’s had and this one he didn’t even start from pole).

            I would’ve agreed at the end of 2011 that he was no-where near the greatest f1 driver ever, just lucky to have the right car at the right time. But he’s changed my mind the last 18months. I’m still not his biggest fan, but dude, credit given where credit’s due, he’s got some mad skills and he’s not afraid to use them (although the team still try keeping him on a leash).

          5. This is to say, Vettel was so dominant because he never had any challange all race, so he can therefore manage his tyres, and therefore pace, very nicly

            And this is exactly why he is shaping up. He controls the race because he can and he does it much more often than not. He clearly sacrificed qualifying pace for race set up. He knew he needed to be in the lead. So he got it. Against lauded (and indeed brilliant) driver Alonso (before his DRS problems.)
            Vettel is just brilliant and has the measure of Alonso and Hamilton. Just have a look at his lap chart. The consistent lap delta is surreal in its near perfection.

          6. “I’m still not his biggest fan, but dude, credit given where credit’s due”

            Where did i not give him credit? I said he drove well. But ofcourse, you can drive well when you’re under no pressure at all. Vettels only real challanger going into this race was Alonso, and he had immediate problems. We knew Rosberg was going to fall back, we knew Raikkonen was starting low and playing the strategy game, this left Vettel to run out in clean-air (after a nice pass), and look after his tyres without being pressured, we know when you have no cars around you, you can focus on the road ahead, and when a drive gets in this zone he can hit consistent lap times, and look after his tyres because he isnt having to snatch a break here and there, and run off line here and there.

            Anyone who thinks this performance wasnt a one-off based on the particular circumstances at Bahrain is ill-informed and niaeve.

            Any top driver can run around with great pace looking after their tyres when they know the pressure is off. We see drivers putting in extremely accurate laptimes in FP sessions for this reason. It’s a world of difference when theres someone in your mirrors piling on the pressure, making you use your tyres in a different manner.

            Again, Vettel is decent and can pull a decent result in a good car on a good day… greatest in F1? give me a break.

          7. @N

            “Greatest F1 ever seen” because he had one nice race with no challanger? give us a break, mate.

            Anyone who thinks this performance wasnt a one-off based on the particular circumstances at Bahrain is ill-informed and niaeve./blockquote>

            If this was a one-off from Vettel, then how come he’s had so many dominant performances so many times over the last 5 years? What is that now, 15, 20, 25 “one-off” performances?

            It’s easy to say “but he wasn’t under any pressure”. But that shows ignorance for the reason he wasn’t under pressure. That was down to a) qualifying well, b) passing Alonso and Rosberg in the opening laps, and c) being the fastest man on track for the vast majority of the race. And he did it when it mattered. Claiming that others are consistent in FP is a nonsensical and irrelevant point- you gain no points for free practice.

            Above all though, the manner in which you attempt to write off the performance today as a one-off, really buried any credibility you were even trying to have.

          8. @N

            “Greatest F1 ever seen” because he had one nice race with no challanger? give us a break, mate.

            Anyone who thinks this performance wasnt a one-off based on the particular circumstances at Bahrain is ill-informed and niaeve.

            If this was a “one-off” from Vettel, then how come he’s had so many dominant performances so many times over the last 5 years? What is that now, 15, 20, 25 “one-off” performances?

            It’s easy to say “but he wasn’t under any pressure”. But that shows ignorance for the reason he wasn’t under pressure. That was down to a) qualifying well, b) passing Alonso and Rosberg in the opening laps, and c) being the fastest man on track for the vast majority of the race. And he did it when it mattered. Claiming that others are consistent in FP is a nonsensical and irrelevant point- you gain no points for free practice.

            Above all though, the manner in which you attempt to write off the performance today as a one-off, really buried any credibility you were even trying to have.

          9. “If this was a “one-off” from Vettel, then how come he’s had so many dominant performances so many times over the last 5 years?”

            Firstly, were did i say anythink about his performances over the past few years? Secondly, I specifically mentioned this particular performance being dominant because of tyres, in so much that he was able to maximise tyre performance because he wasnt being pushed on them. His main, and only real competitor was out of the equation early on. You know, theres a reason Rosberg, who started on the podium, 8 places ahead of Hamilton in 9th, finished in 10th, while Hamilton finished 5th, this is because Hamilton was sat behind a train of cars for most of the race looking after his pace. While Rosberg was having to defend/push/defend/push.

            Just because i said this dominant performance was a one-off has nothing to do with his previous results in previous seasons. Im talking about here and now, with these ‘new’ pirellis. Unless you dont following the sport this year, you should know these tyres behave massivly different when you’re runing around to a delta, to being pushed. This is why we saw no defending in China because drivers didnt wanna put them beyond pressure on the tyres. This race in Bahrain was so much more exciting because drivers were actually racing, it was exciting for us as viewers, but not for the drivers, well, except Vettel, who could drive around like it was a FP session.

            “c) being the fastest man on track for the vast majority of the race. And he did it when it mattered. Claiming that others are consistent in FP is a nonsensical and irrelevant point- you gain no points for free practice.”

            Mate, what? I said we see any driver being consistent in FP sessions because they know theres no pressure for racing, they can just consentrate on their braking points/apex and know they arnt under pressure to fight, exactly how Vettel was in this race. He wasnt under pressure from anyone, therefore hes not snatching any brakes, hes not over driving the tyres, and when you dont over drive these tyres, you can have very good pace.

          10. @N

            Firstly, were did i say anythink about his performances over the past few years?

            You didn’t, but you assumed that Psynrg ‘s comment was based on today’s performance (“one nice race with no challanger (sp)” ring any bells?). How do you know his praise wasn’t based on the nice wins being pretty common for Vettel?

            Secondly, I specifically mentioned this particular performance being dominant because of tyres, in so much that he was able to maximise tyre performance because he wasnt being pushed on them.

            Again, it’s easy to talk about not being pushed, as if finding yourself in first place, with clean air happens randomly or something. But there are good (skill related) reasons a driver finds himself in such a position (i.e. raw speed (from driver and car), and racecraft). Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, for instance, had to play the “strategy game” to get forward, as a result of not being fast enough in qualifying.

            I said we see any driver being consistent in FP sessions because they know theres no pressure for racing, they can just consentrate on their braking points/apex and know they arnt under pressure to fight, exactly how Vettel was in this race. He wasnt under pressure from anyone, therefore hes not snatching any brakes, hes not over driving the tyres, and when you dont over drive these tyres, you can have very good pace.

            And I refer you back to the point that for Vettel to have that luxury, he had to qualify on the front row, clear his opponents, and be the fastest driver throughout the race.

          11. I’m good with all this. Yet again after many occasions we find ourselves discussing if Vettel lucked it and/or had it easy. The fact that this discussion is repeated time and again is evidence enough that Vettel is THE driver of this generation.
            And this is against grids with a deep and rich pool of extreme talent with more WC’s racing than at any time in F1’s history.

            Sit back, watch and revel in this history in the making.

            My fave driver? Lewis Hamilton by a long shot. As far as I’m concerned, the sun shines etc.

            But I see something very very special when I watch Vettel and I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience!

          12. @psynrg totally agree. Lewis brought me back to the sport after ’04-’06 being a bit hit and miss on excitement and he’s kept me on the edge of my seat more than anyone else since. But I really can’t wait to see Vettel in 5years thinking of how good he is now!

      2. I agree with @tkcom. Not taking anything away from VET, it’s just that he dominating the race didn’t help make it fun to watch. If he’d had to fight for the win it’d been a 9 or 10/10 for me.

        1. Actually Vettel completely owning Alonso – the best racer alive according to most of the bloggers on here – with a brilliant overtake made the race hugely entertaining for me.

          1. well its 1-1 as alonso did him at turn 1. Then after that the race was ruined by his wing breaking. We have no idea how it would of ended and anyone claiming they do are well…wrong.

        2. @tkcom @matt90 @chebeto0 – I agree with you guys, there wasn’t much of a fight for the lead beyond the first few laps, which means that the race being voted down is fair. Around 8/10 from me, for those opening laps, and many battles throughout the field.

      3. @traverse “THE VET” ! I thought he was a proctologist.

        1. @hohum Trust you to find a *Cough* “hole” in my comment ;)

  6. 9/10 Solid race with plenty of close battles. Shame about Alonso & Massa I think the Ferrari would have been pretty solid today but Finger Boy was out on his own.

    Great fight at the end with Ham/Web & Alo/Per

  7. Give the boys some good Rubber and they will show their power !!!!! Hoho #longlastingrubber

    1. I hated the tire choice to be honest. The two compounds behaved more or less the same. What the point of having two compounds then?

      1. Considering that the Mediums lasted 15 laps tops, I wouldn’t even want to imagine what would’ve happend with the Softs, so…

      2. @favomodo, without these more durable tyres we would not have had nearly as much sustained wheel to wheel racing, harder of course would have been even better.

  8. Pros
    – Alonso’s amazing drive proving we don’t need DRS
    – Kimi on the podium
    – Tons of great battles

    Cons
    – Alonso’s failure meant he wasn’t scrapping at the front
    – Vettel’s victory
    – Button’s complaining

    1. “Pros
      – Alonso’s amazing drive proving we don’t need DRS”

      To be fair, after his stops to fix DRS, he was way down the order and therefore in much better machinery than the slower cars. Once he caught up to quicker cars, it wasnt so easy to pass.

      1. Key word: “wasn’t so easy to pass” just like it’s supposed to be, fight for a couple of laps, not get within one second and pass

  9. 8. It was exciting throughout, but it disappointing that nobody could challenge Vettel, and despite DRS was better than last week, it was still a bit much at times. Alonso proved that there is no need for DRS at tracks like this.

    1. Really wish I could edit.

      8. It was exciting throughout, but it was disappointing that nobody could challenge Vettel, and despite DRS being better than last week, it was still a bit too much at times. Alonso proved that there is no need for DRS at tracks like this.

  10. Very good in my book. Tremendous battles towards the end. I hope Perez will not be punished. The star of the race for me. I also hope Ferrari had their share of bad luck today. Catastrophic race for them – DRS failure for Alonso, puncture and front wing for Massa. Good job from Lotus guys and very strong performance from Vettel.

  11. My respect for Perez has hugely increased, what a gripping display of racing! Fair enough to McLaren, they sure did let their drivers race!

    1. On a related note, Taki Inoue’s twitter comments on Pérez show that he’s just as good as F1 punditry as he is at F1 driving.

    2. Button was complaining like an old lady and then got slapped in the face by Checo for having no desire to race.

      1. He was driving like an old lady, too.

    3. My respect for Perez has hugely increased

      +1
      My respect for Button has hugely decreased.

  12. 9/10.

    Clearly best race of the season although wasnt decided on the track for alonso.

    Kimi strikes again. Awesome job!

  13. The winner was a foregone conclusion as soon as Pirelli changed the tyre allocation at the eleventh hour. Some nice racing down the field, but DRS spoiled many potentially good battles and Pirelli’s politicking sullied what could have been a very good race. 3 from me.

    1. @red-andy, I’m sure many people wish that Vettel had not won, but don’t blame the harder tyres for that, Alonso should have been able to win today if his car had not had a problem.
      At least with the harder tyres we got to see some proper racing.

  14. Vettel was unchallenged up front, but otherwise very enjoyable from start to finish. Compared to only a few years ago, the racing is so much better.

    1. Yeah, I knew Vettel was going to win as soon as he passed Alonso at the beginning. It looked so easy, as if he had extra 100hp or something. That car has so much grip. Good hands from Vettel also help a lot. Other than that, the race was as good as you’d want every race to be.

      1. He almost had 100hp extra – he used KERS for the overtake and Alonso didn’t expect it at this moment.

  15. Lots of battles, but none of them really did matter, as it was al sorted out after a few laps. Easy win for Vettel, really really boring. Only Perez gave a good show today…

    As for the tires. What is the point of 2 different compounds if there isn’t any significant difference between them? Bad call from Pirelli to lose the soft tire for this race.

  16. And they said you can’t race with these tyres!

    1. Quantic-Dreams
      21st April 2013, 15:12

      you shoudl have heard the team radio feed on pits channel, they were all been told to run to a laptime & save tyres so there still not really racing.

      1. Wheel-to-wheel racing was what I meant and there was plenty of that.

        I don’t understand why target lap-times are a bad thing, though. It’s basically same as all the different fuel conservation modes except that it cannot be controlled automatically.

        Besides, if the compounds were made harder, it would change F1 into a downforce championship and Red Bull would win everything.

    2. @tmekt, They said you can’t race with the softer tyres, the medium/hard combo is almost “normal” and that is why the drivers were able to race.

      1. @hohum

        That’s only partially true.

        The complaints mainly happened in Malaysia and China. Malaysia had the same compounds as today and in China the softs were only used for a couple of laps (basically making medium the race tyre). The races are definitely comparable in my original purpose.

  17. Good racing all round except at the front which is a shame. I thought the tyres were a joke today. Not sure who was DoD.

  18. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
    21st April 2013, 14:48

    Race was abolute ****. More than half of a race I didn’t completely comprehend what was happening.
    And, clearly, Red Bull has no pace at all, like some fans said.

  19. 8.5/10 – Extremely entertaining, even with Vettel in control throughtout, after taking Alonso & Rosberg. Loads of battling throughout, especially with the Mclarens.

  20. I’ll give it an 8. There was some great acing and good strategy but I think this has ‘a what might have been’ feel.. If Raikkonen had qualified where he should have done, and Alonso hadn’t had his problem then I think it would have been pretty epic with those three fighting for the victory. Lots of things to commend though, and much more enjoyable than the farce with the tyres last week, but DRS was still too easy. And Raikkonen really needs to sort out his qualifying!

    1. nobody can stop Vet today ROFL

      he was 2 sec faster than anyone today.

    2. @debaser91: +1. Hopefully we will see this tight battle between Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso You write about in some of the races to come this year.

  21. 5 – a boring race with fake racing

    1. I don’t think it was fake racing. A lot of it was between drivers on similar aged tyres, and whilst the DRS was maybe a little too strong at times, the overtaken driver had the opportunity to get the place back into T4.

  22. 9/10 from me. Brilliant racing, just a shame none of it was for the lead.

  23. Solid 8: there was a lot of action throughout the field and throughout the duration of the race (except from up front), and great performances from a lot of drivers, notably Vettel & Perez I thought.

  24. This races showed many reasons why you dont need DRS in F1.

    Red bull should thank the FIA for their tyre choice to. Did them a favour again

  25. Well it was a good race but the tyres should be better IMO. Also a very good race from Hamilton to finish ahead of his teammate.

  26. Favourite of the year. 10.

    1. I should just clarify I’ve been revising for a Finance exam so the F1 might just seem really exciting compared to all that taxation and debt talk, nevertheless it was a really enjoyable race with plenty of action.

  27. That race would have been so much better without DRS.

    We were seeing a great scrap between the top 3 over the 1st laps, Then as soon as DRS was activated the battle was over as Vettel & Alonso easily DRS-ed there was by Rosberg.
    Also many other great battles during the race destroyed thanks to DRS.

    Tyre’s were not as stupid as China but there was still far too much tyre saving, All you heard over the team radio was drivers been told to do a specific laptime & a few cases where again they were been told not to fight the cars around them.
    The fact Vettel showed he could go 3-4 seconds faster than he had been towards the end shows just how much tyre saving there doing now.

    1. Vettel made those passes without DRS

    2. Vettel was able to save his tyres because he spent the whole race in clean air, alonsos drs failed very quickly, I was amazed he was only losing less than a second per lap to vettel even though the flap was stuck open. Unfortunately alonsos limping car held everyone up for long enough for vettel to pull a comfortable gap, and also bunched everyone up, meaning vettel was the only driver who didn’t have to fight for the rest of the race, giving him an easy victory. Simply awesome racing from quite a few drivers (Hamilton, webber, perez, button, raikkonen, grosjean and Alonso). Very surprised with alonsos performance considering he had an extra trip through the pits and no drs, surely he’d have won without that problem, but thays racing, take the good with the bad – solid 8 from me too

  28. Incredible amount of racing (seemed like there was a huge battle on every lap), but no real fight for the victory. So 9/10.

  29. 5 average… good fights in the midfield ( but sometimes behind the line (Button-Perez, Perez-Alonso)), but no real fight for the first position at all….

  30. It was okay. No real challenge up front, probably due to Alonso’s issue.

  31. This races showed many reasons why you dont need DRS in F1.

    Red bull should thank the FIA for their tyre choice to. Did them a favour again

  32. great racing, on the edge and generally clean. shame about DRS on start/finish straight (although actually seemed OK on the back straight, kept the field nicely bunched) and pretty woeful tyres

  33. Last year:

    1 VET
    2 RAI
    3 GRO

    2013:

    1 VET
    2 RAI
    3 GRO

    DEJAVU!!!!

  34. 8.5/10

    A bit like China last week, no battle for the lead but great racing otherwise. Best race of the season so far. I’m not fan of Di Resta really but I would have loved to see him on podium, although I’m also happy for Grosjean, since it has been difficult season for him so far. Also delighted to see great drive from Perez.

  35. 8/10 All it needed was a battle for the lead.

  36. 8/10

    Typical Seb snoozer up front, but from 3rd place down it was absolutely fantastic! Simply brilliant to see the return to form of Grosjean and Perez, Alonso’s fantastic recovery and some genuinly good racing.

    In fact, the best parts of the race happened outside the DRS zones. Perhaps the FIA should take notice of that!

  37. 9/10 – Fantastic all the way through with Perez providing much of the entertainment (disappointed to see Button moaning about him), just lacked a battle for the lead.

    1. Lacking a battle for the lead is the most important thing, but no we have to see vettel with all the luck, driving for victory from lap 7!!!!! what the heck

      1. @ramysennaf1 – Just like how in your opinion Alonso had all the luck in China then. What the heck with that China race, eh?

  38. 7/10. Not the best of the year by any stretch, but not terrible either.

    High point of the race for me was Pérez driving like a maniac to 6th. Everyone complaining about him racing Button too aggressively, I don’t get it – McLaren has always been the billed team that lets their guys race and that’s what you got out of that.

    Di Resta is finally putting together results that would justify his complaining about wanting a promotion, Hamilton and Webber had a very entertaining scrap in the closing laps, Alonso did very well to salvage 8th from a disastrous race, and Vettel just drove the race he wanted to drive today.

    1. I don’t think many are complaining about Perez’s driving. Except for Button himself. It was quite simple, if Button was that concerned and given Perez was clearly the quicker driver Button should have let him past. That way they wouldn’t have been holding each other up and letting the cars behind catch them. He obviously didn’t want to let Perez through, but then don’t whinge over the radio when the guy tries to overtake you and you are clearly the slower car.

  39. 8/10 – Fantastic race, we just lacked a serious battle for the lead beyond lap 5. Awesome racecraft by almost everybody today, even by the likes of Perez, Grosjean etc.

  40. 8/10. Some great racing, really brave stuff. Some of the best moves we’ve seen this year. The difference in tyre compounds wasn’t ridiculous, which is nice. Overall probably the best race of 2013 so far – and I usually hate Bahrain! Perez was great to watch today, though I think Witmarsh might already be regretting that “chat” he had with him :) On a personal note, it’s great to see Williams ahead of Sauber and Torro Rosso, Maldonado almost picking up his first point. Bring on the Spanish upgrades!!

  41. 6/10 The track proved to be very good, it renders it self to fightbacks. The DRS proved to be overpowered and the tyres didn’t survived to the conditions ultimately hindering the race. There was no fight for the lead, Redbull and Vettel showed how good they are at Bahrain and that’s all fair but drama had a part on it. Ferrari had a glitch but they were looking at 2nd realistically. In the end a bit of a downer after qualifying.

  42. Many things to take note of today.
    Di Resta really impressed me as he kept his podium chances alive.
    Perez even more so, as he went toe to toe with Button and Alonso.
    Hamilton, well what’s not to love about his aggressiveness (his efficient overtake on Perez got me as well). Alonso though, keeping himself in the points despite his DRS handicap, I do wonder how many on the grid could pull that off?

    I’ll definitely forgive the lack of battles for the lead today. Too impressed with the rest of the field to care.

  43. I gave it a 6, because the race result (podium, at least) was pretty readable within first 10 laps. And it turned out to be the case. There was no suspense whatsoever, but it was a mighty fine display of wheel-to-wheel racing down the field, absolutely fabulous.

  44. What a race! Throughly enjoyed it. I give it an 8.

  45. I gave it 6/10, would have been higher with DRS which really hurt the racing again today.

    There was lots of good racing outside DRS zones but down the main straght much of the DRS moves were too easy & it pretty much killed what was a thrilling fight in the early laps before DRS was turned on.

    I’d also suggest that Alonso’s race showed that we don’t need DRS, He was still able to make good overtakes without it & they were more exciting to watch than any anything the DRS created.

    1. i never really enjoyed that race to be honest.

      drs was silly and broke up some good fighting between drivers & the way the tyre strategy played out made the race very difficult to follow. you had drivers on different strategies who were racing each other despite not actually been anywhere near each other on the circuit & there was so many pit stops that it was hard to figure out who’s place was genuine & who was only there because of where strategy was at that point.

      ive been following f1 since 1982 & that was only the 2nd race i’ve struggled to follow, the other was istanbul 2011 which suffered a similar issue with the # of stops & way strategy played out.

      i think i will give it 3-10.

  46. 7/10. Pity no fight for the lead, but good dices all the way down. Would have given it a 6 until the Webber-Hamilton scrap near the end. Good stuff.

  47. I think Lap 1 and 2 for Vettel to me was just enough to show his class.

    Overtook 2 cars within that short period from start is no easy feat.

    1. I agree, how can anyone argue that he should not have won after he scrapped his way to the front early on without destroying his tyres. Alonso may well have re-taken the lead had he not had his DRS problem.

  48. The man of the race for me was Grosjean, loads of great passes today and showing speed one has seen he is been able to have before. Congrats to him! Great race in general with loads of exiting fights!

  49. 9/10 good race – had wheel-to-wheel racing and strategy but DRS was again too much. 2 zones are ok if they make them shorter but overtaking without DRS is possible. Alonso and Vettel showed how it’s done.

  50. when i say that vettel is the luckiest driver ever seen in single seated racing cars, i mean what i say, and that was proved today when all his rivals just have problems of whatsoever for him to finish the race without being chased and passed by!!!!! how can anyone disclose of this fact just tell me!!!!! the race is a 5/10 because of that fact, a race isn’t great until we see 3 drivers fighting for first and not SECOND place, come on!!!!

    1. @ramysennaf1 Indeed – I thought Alonso had this one in the bag, and probably would have won had it not been for his DRS randomly breaking.

      1. I don’t think he would have had the pace to match Vettel (or maybe Lotuses even), DRS doesn’t make that big of a difference. Besides, Vettel drove the race without DRS as well (because he was at the front).

    2. Where were you in Valencia last year?

    3. @ramysennaf1 10 or so years ago and before, when everything used to end up working perfectly like Red Bull and Vettel did today, it was admired. Now you’re calling it luck. Teams and drivers don’t just luck into those type of situations. They break their back working for it.

      At best, you could say a tinge of bad luck for Alonso as the DRS flap issue is a rare problem. But to keep beating the Lucky Vettel drum, c’mon!

  51. i never really enjoyed that race to be honest.

    drs was silly and broke up some good fighting between drivers & the way the tyre strategy played out made the race very difficult to follow. you had drivers on different strategies who were racing each other despite not actually been anywhere near each other on the circuit & there was so many pit stops that it was hard to figure out who’s place was genuine & who was only there because of where strategy was at that point.

    ive been following f1 since 1982 & that was only the 2nd race i’ve struggled to follow, the other was istanbul 2011 which suffered a similar issue with the # of stops & way strategy played out.

    i think i will give it 3-10.

  52. Great battles in the midfield, so far the best race, i give it 8. Perez and Rosberg were positively aggressive, nice finish by Di Resta, hoped both FI finished in points, Alonso, bad luck.

  53. Was a good race, despite Vettel winning. Interesting to hear about the gods of thrash metal hanging around with McLaren.
    I find it funny how, after one race of Pérez finishing in front of Button, that a lot of people are calling for Pérez to be number 1. Seriously? The great racing between the two drivers showed that Pérez is back on form, and from the start until Button’s unscheduled 4th stop, they were never more than 2 or 3 corners apart.

    1. @pielighter – What? Where did you see gods of Thrash Metal? I didn’t see Belladonna or Scott Ian there… Odd :/

      1. @huhhii During the race we had a shot of Metallica in the McLaren garage.

        1. @pielighter – I know. For me Metallica are just nowhere near the “Gods of Thrash” status. Anthrax, Megadeth and few European bands does it much better.

    2. If you were in the live chat, I for one said “will Perez be #1?” But my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek. That said, he did outrace and, perhaps, outmuscle Button rather thoroughly today.

      I’m a Button fan, but as an American, checo is the closest to “home team” I have (though Alexander Rossi put in a good show with a first race podium in GP2, so I have hope!). So I was happy to see him do so well.

  54. I have a lot more respect for Vettel being able to pull away in the opening laps in the past. We’ve now seen Hamilton and Rosberg struggle to do so. I know his car is better but even so.

  55. 9/10. It’s a shame we didn’t have a battle for the lead, but the race was awesome. Tons of great battles, the opposite of what we saw in China.

  56. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    21st April 2013, 15:16

    8

    Easily the best race of the year.

    Pros:
    – Incredible pass from Vettel on Alonso on the opening laps.
    – Really exiting battles between multiple drivers for the entire race.
    – DRS could have been a bit shorter along the pit straight, but other than that it was spot on perfect.
    – Pirelli made the right choice of scrapping the soft tyre in favour of the medium. Provided drivers the ability to push and fight.
    – Good to see Sergio “getting his elbows out”, and being largely quicker than Button throughout the race.
    – Amazing fight back from Alonso after the DRS failure.
    – Lewis coming out of seemingly nowhere to take 5th on THE LAST LAP!!
    – Good too see Grosjean getting a podium.
    – Vettel’s helmet is just awesome!
    – Great defensive driving by Rosberg despite having a rather handicapped car in terms of pace.

    Cons:
    – Fernando’s DRS failure ruined his chances.
    – No competition for Vettel, but that’s hardly his fault.
    – Nico’s pace (or lack thereof)
    – Would have liked to see Massa get into the sharp end of the points, unfortunately the tyres just failed on him TWICE!
    – DRS on the pit straight could have been maybe 50m shorter, but really not too bad.

    All in all, a great race! Really enjoyed it! I sure hope that these set backs for Alonso don’t come back and bite him in the end.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      21st April 2013, 15:19

      Con:
      – Felt so bad for Paul Di Resta. He really deserved a podium today, but through no fault of his own, just didn’t happen.

      I’ve been critical of Paul, but can’t fault him today.

    2. @tophercheese21
      – Vettel’s helmet is just awesome!

      I’d agree – my favorite Vettel helmet and one of my favorite helmet’s in general. Now to be retired. :)

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        22nd April 2013, 11:53

        @Uan I think he should keep using it for the rest of the season.

        It’s easily the best and most creative helmet on the grid, and in recent memory for that matter.

  57. Quantic-Dreams
    21st April 2013, 15:16

    would have been a truly great race had it not been for the dumb racing system.

    had it not been for the drs we would have had a great scrap at the front instead of that been ruined as soon as the silly system was enabled.
    those 1st 3 laps were brilliant, then drs was on & we just saw a lot of easy drs passing once again, all too easy & completely soul-less. totally boring to see that sort of thing.

  58. Balaji (@armchair-racer)
    21st April 2013, 15:16

    8/10 – Great race overall. The only disappointment was the one-sided fight for the top spot…but other than that everything else was very close with some great drives and great battles through-out the field.

    Also Perez & Grojean finally showed their true potential which was a huge positive and Lotus-Raikonnen really look like the real deal this season which is just great for the championship.

    Overall I would say things are interestingly poised before the European leg of the Championship.

  59. 7/10 Great battles, now I recall the first three laps between Rosberg Vettel and Alonso, then Button vs Perez and finally Webber/Hamilton/Perez/Alonso but there were a few more. I don’t rate it higher because the ridiculous amount of pit stops made the race really hard to follow.

  60. Sad to say that im done with F1 after 37 years.
    i no longer enjoy the racing, i loathe the drs system to the point where i turned off last week & tuned out today.
    the tyres are dumb, listning to drivers been told not to race & to run only to a pre determined lap time isn’t racing & isn’t what i enjoy watching.

    i had planned a trip to spa but have now called off that trip.

    all this artificial stuff & gimmicks have seen f1 lose a long time fan who’s brought tons of merchandise & attended a dozen races.

    goodbye & goodnight :(

    1. listening to drivers been told not to race

      When did that happen today?

    2. You dont like, then dont watch it. I for one found it incredible!!!

  61. Problematic: Yes, it was an exciting race all from start to end with lot of hard midfield battles. But there was no real challenge to Vettel’s lead. The Lotuses aren’t able to race from start. In true spirit of the old Benetton team they rely on team strategy and late stint speed and consistency. Therefore they have still not posed a real threat for VET or ALO in first position. There is also something wrong with the DRS (not just because ALO had malfunctions). The way the tracks are built nowadays in combination with the DRS system creates a gritty race with lots of overtaking. Although less exciting, some aspects of old F1 were better: the commitment and fearlessness, precision and raw racing mindset made sure that a succesfull overtaking procedure had much more tension build-up and was a lot more difficult to make it stick.

      1. some aspects of old F1 were better: the commitment and fearlessness, precision and raw racing mindset made sure that a succesfull overtaking procedure had much more tension build-up and was a lot more difficult to make it stick.

        I agree.

        now much of the time there isnt really a good fight, the driver behind catches, uses drs & drives straght past the one ahead quickly & relatively easily.

        that is the biggest aspect of the new f1 i cannot stand. i love watching a good, hard fought scrap where any overtake isn’t obvious beforehand & is actually exciting to watch when it does occur.

  62. Entertaining, solid race. Above average, so 6/10.

    1. Something to add: I don’t see Rosberg guilty of anything but if the won’t receive a penalty for colliding with Webber than Webbers penalty from last weekend is a joke.

      1. Except that Rosberg had enough of his car alongside Webber that Mark should have yielded, but Rosberg did get there with quite a bit of a dive so who knows what will be the outcome

  63. Race shows there can be racing without DRS, without different tyre compounds and without tires that fall off a cliff. 3 delaminations in a race weekend shows the tires are still not where they should be.

    The Lotus is not qualifying where itcan. Kimi’s and Grojeans qualifying performances should now begin to be questioned. This is simply not an issue of inability to get heat ito the tires over a single lap.

    Great aggressive drive from Perez. Button’s comments are far more patronising and disrespectfull than Vettels comments toward Webber earlier in the season. Perez would have finished ahead of both Webber and Lewis if they had let him past Button at that stage, as he would have made up more time, but he was overtaken by Grojean, and so was Button. If Perez continue to drive like this, then Button will be in trouble. Perez being too aggresive is absolute nonsense from Jenson, as he was also aggresive in his defence. He was RACING.

    Good drive from DiResta, and great drive from Lewis to end up in 5th. Seems to support the notion that his car was set-up more for a race, whilst Rosbergs was setup for quali. Hopefully we will get confirmation of that. Also, as he confirmed, something seemed to happen to the car after his pit-stop that made the car better balanced, hence his better pace. Merc need to sort out stuff like this.

    What is going on with Webber? He should have been penalised for turning into Rosberg. Reminded me of his incident with Lewis in Singapore 2010 (i think). Why do people still fantasise that he is on the same level with Vettel? Favouritism or not, Vettel is on a different level to Webber. Simple.

    As for Ferrari, what can i say? Pirelli ruined Massa’a race. Alonso did well to recover.

    7/10 – As there was still far too much tyre management, and DRS was far too strong.

  64. vettel wins tend to be quite boring… if there would’ve been a real battle for the lead it would’ve been way more intresting! however, watching grosjean hunt down the field was very intresting, and i must give a LOT of credit to alonso, finishing in 7th despite 2 early pit stops and not using drs is a fantastic performance… 8/10

  65. 9/10. Great racing.

  66. Best race of the season so far, 9/10. Phenomenal drive by Vettel, great non-DRS passes from him at the early stage. Lots of battles for position, and it looked like most of the drivers had to really work for their overtakes, with all those multiple passes and repasses.
    Jenson ‘the-real-racing-between-teammates-fan’ Button really made my day on his radio. Yep, that’s a world champion for you. Cudos to Perez, who seems to be reclaiming his chutzpah. Macca’s race pace is improving somewhat, so there’s a hope for them still. Grosjean also hets an honorable mention for his maturity during the battles, unlike Webber who once again has shown that it’s not the Red Bull that matters but rather how you use it. And it seems that the famous Merc downward spiral is beginning already, just 4 races into the season.

  67. What is with this public castigation of Checco from Whitmarsh and Button like he is some child that stepped out of line??? The guy did well. As Ant showed, it was Jenson who slowed down mid corner on the exit that caused the contact. Jenson also pushed him onto the concrete run off aggressively.

    1. You are just putting a spin on events to suit your own agenda.

      Button like any driver is completely entitled to place his car to cover the inside and get a good exit. Perez misjudged the situation and rammed Button like Alonso misjudged Vettel’s braking into turn 2 in China. Then Perez moved across on Button and brushed wheels at high speed on the run into turn four. Button defended aggressively when edging Perez off the track and Perez made the same move on Alonso later in the race. It was a legitimate move.

      1. By the letter of the regulations, yes Button being aggressive and pushing Perez off track on the exit was allowed, just like Perez did to Alonso. However, for the former this was his team mate and so in my opinion this was basically hypocritical by Jenson.

        No one is doubting it was illegal (otherwise there would have been a penalty), however questioning your team mate’s racing, and doing the exact same thing doesn’t wash with most fans.

        1. *(No one is doubting it was legal)

  68. The race started promisingly, but after mid-distance I found it a little boring and even dozed off for a lap or two. Thankfully it bounced back towards the end again.

    There was some good action in the race, with scraps right down the field. Generally happy with the result, it reflected where people deserved to be and who the more competitive teams are (with exception of Ferrari Alonso). A harsh, but honest, 6/10 from me.

  69. 8 for me. Alonso missing out due to DRS failure killed it for me however, Perez did make it up to me by exposing what a whiner Button is. Good for Perez, that good ol latin-american blood is showing! If Button says something to him in the debrief, Perez would probably kick his bum! XD
    Oh and so much for the whiners at RBR. I thought they couldn´t make their rubber last!

  70. It was an excellent race, battles right to the end. Once again Alonso, Kimi Hamilton and Vettel impress. They really are the elite. Good race for Di Resta and encouraging performances for Grosjean and Perez.

    1. 8/10 for me.

  71. Great race, and great drives. F1 have a lot a good drivers this season.
    Vettel, Kimi and Grosjean were flawless. Di Resta was great too, as Hamilton and Perez.
    Rosberg and Massa showed why they are number 2 drivers.

  72. i want some of you guys to just watch and compare the redbull and ferrari or a merc, just watch sector 2 of this race from tv pod cam of vettel, how his car has more pace or more power while exiting the corners while shifting, anyone agree with me if redbull has that edge over the other cars leaving him with a big advantage at the end of any race not just this one, as i said a small detail, but this will leave with an advantage of gaining a tenth every half lap on anyone behind him , even if he isn’t in the lead

    1. Stop whining already, the bulls have always been good at Bahrain… just a week ago in China, they were struggling while Alonso had an easy win like Vettel had today.
      Hadn’t Ferrari (or Alonso) screwed it up again big time (opening the flap after it failed on him), we could have seen an intense battle for the lead between Vettel and Alonso.

    2. That’s right, Red Bull make the best car. Good for them, despite what Alonso says they are also the best ‘team’. About time Ferrari and McLaren catch up.

  73. 8/10. Other than fight for first, it was a fantastic race!

    A lot of what ifs though,
    – What if Alonso had not had his DRS problems, a fight for first?
    – What if Raikkonen and Grosjean had qualified higher, againg a fight for first?
    – What if Hamilton had started higher, would he have gone backwards like Rosberg?
    – What if Massa had not had his delaminations, would he have finished on the Podium?

    It is amazing that Alonso had such a good pace inspite of doing long stints on those tires and without DRS. He showed today that we could probably do without DRS on many race tracks.

    Perez was amazing, I think this will be the turning point in his season. He is going to thrash Button rest of the season. Not only did he race very hard, but also managed to preserve his tires. He might start even consistently beat the Mercedes and might even show up on the podium in the next few races.

    Vettel is in a class of his own and the Red Bull looks amazing in his hands. I still think Alonso or Raikkonen will win the title this year. They both are just too good.

    1. “- What if Hamilton had started higher, would he have gone backwards like Rosberg?”

      I think its very much possible. Rosbery fell away because he was involved in alot of battles/defending, Hamilton was able to sit back behind this little train and manage his pace, this came good for him in the end.

      1. True, although Webber and Hamilton were at least able to race at the end and not go completely off the cliff. I think Pirelli deserve some credit for changing the tyre allocation for this race and getting rid of the super-crumble tyre.

        I am however worried about Hamilton’s recent BBC column where he says he has had to change his style completely. If you watch the onboards, you can see him shifting the gears much slower than a couple of years back. I think the days of anyone making moves like he did at Monza in 2007 are long gone, which, is a shame.

  74. 7.

    + the closest, most hectic start of a race this season
    + constant fighting for position from the edge of the podium downwards through the field
    + Sergio Perez
    + Alonso’s recovery race without DRS
    + finally a race in which we saw at least SOME agressive driving in exchange for delta lap times
    + battle for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th at the end of the race
    + again, Sergio Perez

    – it was still a procession afterall and an relaxing cruise for Vettel
    – both Ferraris getting excluded from the fight due to those two things everyone keeps talking about (DRS and Pirellis)
    – Di Resta would have deserved to be on the podium and he probably would have had a chance in defending from Grosjean without DRS.

  75. LOL… 3 time back to back WDC still a lot to prove… That’s hilarious.

    Vettel finished the champ in 2007 two places behind Webber in an STR, the next year still in STR he finished three places higher than Webber and famously took a win in the wet in an inferior car leading from pole.

    But then on it really shows that all of Vettels success has come because of the car, demonstrated by the fact that Webber always finished one place behind Vettel in the champ since 2009…

    By the way, it is sarcasm:
    2009: Vet 2nd, Web 4th
    2010: Vet 1st, Web 3rd
    2011: Vet 1st, Web 3rd
    2012: Vet 1st, Web 6th
    This year: Vet 1st, Web 5th

    Why don’t just people enjoy great racing we are having and admire the skilled showed by some of the best drivers in the world (Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Raikonen etc.)?

    1. This was meant as a reply to a certain @ramy

      1. +1, I respect all f1 drivers vettel alonso hamilton kimi… but everyone needs to give vettel more credit! its my personnel opinion, I dont want to start bickering about whose the best driver on the forum..but just give some credit when its due!! instead of calling him lucky and fastest car and all the other usual things..

    2. If Vettel wins the championship this season, I think the remaining doubters will probably change their mind (at least most of them). He’s certainly proved he can race in these last 18 months or so.

  76. I think Pirelli need to look at there tyre construction because the sort of failures we saw this weekend is a bit concerning. They may well be caused by debris, However I’ve never seen tyres fail the way the Pirelli’s did this weekend & this many failures caused by debris on 1 weekend indicates the current construction is more prone to debris failures than they should be.

    Going back to 2004, I remember the Michelin’s were very prone to debris failure’s & there was a series of them through the mid part of the season which caused some big accidents & a few near misses.
    After some investigation Michelin discovered that there recommended tyre pressure’s were too low & made the compound very prone to failure if the surface was cut to a specific depth or in a specific direction.

    Although the exact details were never made public, The speculation was that they increased the depth of the tread, strengthened the construction of the canvas & raised there recommended tyre pressures.

  77. Better than the average trip to the dentist, @keithcollantine ?

  78. A good race, lots of hard aggressive and mostly fair wheel-to-wheel action all the way through the field. Great to see both Lotus cars on the podium, Hamilton with a hugely impressive performance,The brawling Mclarens but bitterly dissapointing to see Alonso suffer a failure and lose so many points today The deficit up to 30 points now.
    But still an 8/10 for all the tremendous action everywhere except for the lead

  79. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    21st April 2013, 16:12

    7 cause the DRS fail in Alonso prevented us from enjoying an even better race. Kudos to Perez!!!

  80. 9/10 – lots of different strategies, lots of wheel to wheel racing, technical issues, teammate battles. The only thing stopping it from being a perfect race, in my books, was the lack of challenge for the win!

  81. Great race – to improve, need more Merc and McLaren and less Red Bull… Lets wait for Europe! Nice F1 Season so far ! :)

  82. Wasn’t impressive throughout, but a lot of fine moments, fine battles and Grosjean/Di Resta and Webber/Hamilton/Alonso/Perez really kept the race alive at the end.

    Voted 8/10. Don’t mind Vettel winning, but even if I wasn’t a fan, Alonso’s DRS problem was very unfortunate.

  83. gave it a 4 out of 10. DRS truly destroyed the race. This is the pinnacle of motorsport, not a mickey mouse like WWE. some drivers fair play went for moves at turn 4 but the moves on the main straight with the DRS was a joke

  84. 50% always lost when there’s no battle for 1st place.
    -10% because of this whole tyre saga.
    So a 4.

  85. 9/10. Another great race from champion Vettel! He is the best F1 racing driver after Schumacher. Great work by Lotus Team. Great race for Perez and Button. Also for Di Resta and Hamilton. Good race also for Rosberg with a car without rae pace.
    Another big mistake of Alonso & his team. Bad race for Webber, again.

    1. -Said no one ever

  86. Was so said watching Nico lose all those places.

  87. 8.5/10
    It would have been perfect if I only someone made it hard or Vettel to win,at least Roseberg gave it a good fight at the start if only it continued….

  88. 0/10 – Because the meteorite that I scheduled to hit Vettel never came.

  89. as i rate every race
    +5 to start off
    +1 good overtaking and aggressiv driving by alot of drivers
    +1 alot of good drivers today, grosjean and perez impressed me today
    +1 different stratgies made the race even better
    +1 for rosbergs aggresiveness even though he didnt get what his driving deserved

    -1 vettels work wasent cut out and would have been better if alonso challenged him

    so race rating 8

  90. There was always something in those 57 laps!

  91. I was between 6 or 7 out of 10, then voted for 7 just because of two or three things.
    Altough Vettel has won, this GP first of all lacked audience, and with some countries wanting the F1 GP (mine actually), it’s a shame that audience in Bahrain can’t relate to that.
    The high point was Perez performance, for me, battling Button. And that’s why it was a seven. But genneraly speaking this GP lacked adrenaline….

    1. Yes, the empty grandstands must have made the atmosphere rubbish. Are there any figures available for the attendance?

      1. It actually looked pretty crowded both on grand stands and outside at the big screen.

  92. The battles mid pack were excellent. We witnessed some awesome clean racing today. I only wish someone had the car to challenge Vettel. 7/10

  93. With DRS and the tires, I really don’t think the racing could get much better than this, honestly.

  94. Was an entertaining race. Too bad Alonso got problems and could not challenge Vettel for the top step of the podium.

    Again Räikkönen showed his in it to win it and was sad he didn’t qualify any higher. With Alonso out it would have been fun to see a battle for the lead between Räikkönen and Vettel.

    Perez did good and Button was such a hypocrite, that McLaren cant be fun to drive but come on Jenson, man up.

    Am I counting it right if there was three rear wheel failures? That and the seven lap tires from Shanghai, time to make something that works maybe? I know that I will not buy Pirellis for my car :P

  95. 1 out of 10. I don’t watch or support races that take place in countries with oppressive regimes.

    1. Thank you for enlightening me on why we don’t have race in France.

    2. dont race a race you didnt watch

      1. *rate a race

    3. 1 out of 10 for Austin then I guess

  96. gutted i had to miss the last 20 laps.

  97. Clucky (@cluckyblokebird)
    22nd April 2013, 1:07

    The only thing that let it down was Vettel not having to battle for the win. 9/10

  98. 6. some good action sprinkled around, the best was at the end. drs and the leader utterly alone have zero entertainment value to me. strong drive from dlr, finally.

  99. Good racing & some fine dicing . The tyres delaminating is something to be seriously rectified and the medium
    and option tyres are much too similar. DRS plays an idiot in some of the races this season so far. Well done
    Lotus , great to see the team tuning up so well. Hope they can keep it up. Mercedes lacks race pace, and needs
    to look at setup of the car when under full fuel load.

  100. David not Coulthard (@)
    22nd April 2013, 6:59

    Not bad – just not that special either for me.

    8/10
    The entertainment, including the race and strategy and all those things):7
    A propaganda victory for the Bahraini Government those against KERS – Ask Fernando:1
    _________________________________________________+
    8

  101. I gave it a nine, even though I felt sorry for Fernando, otherwise, nice middle field feuds, correct even when limit, made me stand up a couple of times, so good, good race !

  102. Good race, not the best but great action to keep us all interested enough!

    I don’t think DRS was such a big issue here. It made the challenges for position more spectacular as drivers defended… and it’s another example of defensive driving being far from extinct!

  103. 6. DRS was too strong, tyres were too weak, and a race-winning contender was taken out of the running my a mechanical fault pertaining to a stupid piece of wing regulation.

  104. I gave it 7.5 (rounded up to an 8) the same as the previous two races. Early on I though it seemed a bit dull and was set to give it a 6 but then there was quite a bit of action, mainly involving Perez, so I increased my rating, I also enjoyed the battle between Webber and Hamilton over the final few laps.

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