Rate the race: 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

What did you think of 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 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (45%)
  • 9 (34%)
  • 8 (15%)
  • 7 (3%)
  • 6 (1%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (0%)
  • 3 (0%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 1,346

 Loading ...

1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

You need an F1 Fanatic account to vote. Register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

See the results for past seasons here:

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

Browse all 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix articles

Image © Force India

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

442 comments on “Rate the race: 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix”

    1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
      6th April 2014, 17:47

      agree mate! that’s what we called a grand prix

    2. Absolutely fantastic race – I cannot imagine anything to complain about. The battles between team drivers were great.

      I just feel bad for the McClaren drivers.

      1. ……and the Ferrari drivers.

        1. Yeah, I don’t feel bad for Alonso (Hamilton fan), but Raikonnen really doesn’t look at home at Ferrari… Maybe he’ll be a McLaren driver next season?

          1. Raikonnen should never have joined Ferrari , Ferrari should have taken on great Hulk!

          2. What have you got against Hulk? :)

            He should be more than happy that Ferrari didn’t select him last year and he ended up where he is now. He is currently ahead of Alonso – something he would never have achieved if he was in a second Ferrari.

            #3 in WDC is still possible for him in FI and a Mercedes seat was never on offer to anyone. So he is relatively better seats of this season and I don’t think anyone else has hopes for anything better than #3 this year.

            As for Raikkonen, he wouldn’t be regretting much since Lotus is far worse now than when he left and Ferrari is still a better seat than Lotus.

        2. …. and the Williams drivers.

          1. …and the Caterham drivers (?)

    3. @grassyf1 Totally agree ! my first race of the season, as holidays got in the way. Loved EVERYTHING of it.

      The sounds, the racing, the intra-team fights, everything… Loving this !

      1. Yeah same here. Anyone know why the cars aren’t revving to their potential? Nico’s silver arrow peaked at 12k revs in qualli, surely the sound ‘problem’ would be solved by increasing the peak revs?

        1. The regulations limit the engines to 15k, unfortunately the effect of the fuel flow rate limit is around 12k.

        2. @williamstuart it’s just a quirk of the new torquey design – the produce most of their power at 10,000-12,000rpm. i actually thought they sounded ok in bahrain, particularly when the field was bunched up.

    4. It gotta be

    5. 10/10.Brilliant.Anyone who rates this race below 8 is an absolute *******

      1. I have already rated the race with 7, so I would like to understand what am I.

        1. Wow, someone is hard to please.

        2. @idr Seriously, what did you not like? There was so much action I’m simply curious why you would rate it as low as 7?

          1. It’s not low, I think a 7 is great.

            I never understood high rates people give any normal race. In the history of F1 there have been not as much great races as the ratings people give to the current races.

          2. @idr Well, we have different standards. Perhaps @keithcollantine should write something along the lines of “5-6: good, 7-9: really great, 10: 2008-finale-esque”

        3. oh @idr … thank you for being seemingly the only other person on this website who understands a scale of 1-10.

          This race was an absolute solid 7. 8 at an absolute push.

          What this race wasn’t was a 10.

          1. a 10 would be a race long battle throughout the field, with rain half way to mix things up, a huge crash of some sort, drivers pushing to the limit, a championship title decided on the last lap with an incredible overtake in the rain.

            thus the race was an 8.

          2. This race was a 9.
            + It had race longs battles throughout the feild.
            It had a continuously dropping on track tempreture meaning different cars got stronger as the race went on.
            It had a wicked, feisty, tense, on the ragged edge battle for the win.
            IT had great passing.

            – Didn’t decide a championship. Was considerably improved by an SC, otherwise probably would have been a little bit less intense. Only one of the out of position cars really did that storming the feild thing I love so much.

        4. you joking right?

          1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
            7th April 2014, 3:02

            @sato113, you are crazy man! it was an amazing race. it almost cannot get better than this!!!!

    6. Agreed.. So when are we changing this because it’s boring and no one likes it.

      1. loved the race 100%. But why did we ever change regs? so many great races in each era. sometimes the stars just align and we get amazing races like this one. could have been with any regs.

    7. Best race I have watched in ages. 10!

    8. An absolute cracker of the race!!! My heart was pounding and I was on the edge of my seat more than a few moments in the race! Job well done this weekend boys, job well done!!!

      1. Yeah that conclusion was epic!!! I wasn’t on the edge of the seat, I was literally standing behind the seat!

    9. As the Brian Johnsos said it: fantastic racing, me son!

    10. 8/10 Brilliant fighting …intra team battle …SC spicing up things….underdogs shining … and most importantly after a looooong time BATTLE FOR THE LEAD ! fantastic !!!

      1. @hamilfan What is a 10 then?

        1. @hunocsi Brazil 2012 .

        2. Although Merc had team battles, but others weren’t near.. ROS and HAM nearer to the 3rd place Sergio.. and a scrap among all the teams…would probably be a 10..

        3. Brazil 2008.

      2. First since Malaysia 2013?

      3. Definite 10 for me, there were so many battles, and there wasn’t a dominant front runner, so everyone could enjoy it.

    11. Agreed, Hamilton and Rosberg are going to be fun to watch. Rosberg clearly didn’t like the result…

      1. Though he did enjoy it. Great reaction from them both

    12. Lewis Hamilton vc. Nico Rosberg… ALL. YEAR. LONG!!!!

    13. What a race! You write F1 off at your peril!

      1. More like this please!
        And to think I almost skipped this one too.

      2. Yep! The new regs are exactly what they needed, now all they need is to take the rev limiter off and make them sound more like the mp4-4…

        1. actually, the mp4-4 wouldn’t have revved higher than around 11,000rpm because they were still using steel crankshafts, which wouldn’t withstand higher revving.

    14. Yup, what more could we possibly ask for? Absolutely fantastic.

    15. yeah amazing race… until you see the times.
      mercedes made a 22sec gap to the next team in 10 laps and at some moment lewis was 3sec faster even with medium tyres.!! No wonder why toto wolf dont want enything to change..
      Nico was 10sec behind HAM before SC and was gifted this time and also was on softer tyres.. even so he failed to overtake his teammade (with 2s slower tyres)?
      I knew the TeamsCh was over after australia, today is also the DriversCh over.
      Rosberg reminds more and more Massa in ferrari. What wonders me is why he was so happy??Because he was not overtaken by cars 2sec slower than his merc?

      1. @cosmas, And your point is?

        1. @hohum , My point is the greater picture.
          That both championships are over in the 3rd race of the season.
          I hoped after malaysia that maybe Rosberg could challenge Hamilton for the title but after this race ( for the above reasons) i am convinced that this will not happen.
          My point is that i lose interest watching a championchip with a predetermined outcome.

          1. Your point isn’t greater picture. 3/8 of your lines are about greater picture but the rest 5/8 lines are about LH and NR difference.

    16. I’ve only listened to the race so far as I’m in the UK where only half of the races were broadcast live, free to air but, what a race. From the first lap my heart rate was elevated. Can’t wait to see the action, even if it is a second hand recording!

      1. You are so lucky to have free to air! The only “free” channels in my country is the news lol

    17. 10/10!! Great race and I was so happy to see the teams let everyone race. Fantastic race.

    18. I gave it a 9 and that was mostly from pure adrenaline. I knocked off a point for the relative lack of inter-team rivalry at the front. The intra-team rivalry was electric but it would have gotten the full 10 had there been more teams in with a shout of a podium. I’m glad to see that Checo (Perez) was able to reward my faith in his abilities. Just like Hulkenberg is undoubtedly glad he didn’t go to Lotus, I imagine Perez is thanking the blessing in disguise that was being dumped by McLaren for 2014.

    19. Looking at these comments, what will Bernie say now?

    20. I hope this will stop all the hue and cry over banning Bahrain GP

      1. @egorov thats less to do with the race itself then the bloody awful regime that puts it on and the massive security crackdown needed to make it safe.

    21. What a superb race! We have seen in the past two races how there is so much action at the start and finish but thanks to Gutierrez and Maldonado’s coming together, we had a cracker of a race! Monaco 2013 may have been the best race for some last year but that was only because there were crashes and no overtaking. But this year, we had a race with lots of overtaking and a few crashes. That is what Formula One should be about.

  1. Zantkiller (@)
    6th April 2014, 17:45

    You know what guys this new F1 is boring………

    1. I assume this is some form of sarcasm

    2. LOL I want to see the comments of Bernie and all the whiners now! I know that Luca is really unhappy, but is he ballsy/stupid enough to blame the rules at this point?

    3. Yep, somethings gotta be done about it.

    4. The race was entertaining but where would it have been without the late safety car? I don’t think we can depend on a safety car in the last third of the race leaving drivers on different tires sprinting to the end of the race. We were lucky to get a good race but the fact of the matter is it’s not likely to be the trend.

      1. Except it was already exciting before the SC.

        I though my heart would burst when the SC came out, I almost couldn’t take anymore! :)

        1. I didn’t find it exciting prior to the safety car. It was interesting as the only real question was whether Rosberg would be able to make up the gap and pass Hamilton towards the end of the race. Other than that it was pretty much the same as always, exciting at the beginning as the drivers fight for early positions, then the field pretty much strings out and there are a few DRS passes thrown in.

          I don’t see what everyone is getting so crazy about when 1 in 3 races was exciting and the excitement was generated by a late safety car. I’ll need a larger sample and hopefully one without the safety car bunching up the field ala NASCAR or IndyCar.

          1. There was loadsa battling before the saftey car!

            The williams, FI, Redbulls and even the Ferrari’s were battling like all hell. It was wicked.

  2. 9. Easy, almost 10. Was holding my breath the whole way (as a Ricciardo fan), and battles all over the place!

    1. Yeah, gave it a 9 as well. The only time without tension was the SC period really. Great race from Ricciardo. And from both FI guys as well as Mercedes showing their real pace

    2. 9
      Just because I lose connection couples times :-(

      1. So what do you guys need for a 10 ???

        1. Exactly what I thought!

          1. I gave a 9 , if there was another driver battling for the lead then 10 would have been my score . It was a fantastic race , and Maldondo the crash king needs to be put on a leash .

          2. @keirdre I applied the same metric as @greg-c and awarded a 9; it would have been 10 had not the Mercs been quite so dominant and someone else was in with a chance.

            I do think that 2014 could be a replay of Prost-Senna (no prizes for guessing who’s who!)

        2. @moumny 10 is something I generally reserve for the really, really spectacular races. I voted Brazil 2012 a 10, but no others since I actively joined the site in 2011 (though Canada of the same year could qualify).

        3. No safety car.

        4. More than a 2 way battle for the lead. I’d say a 3 way battle for the lead would have made it a 10. Even better would be if we had RBR, Ferrari and Merc up there fighting for the lead, instead of just merc.

        5. A race I’ll never forget. This time next year will be the last time I think of this race, as I look back and go “Last year’s Bahrain was pretty good…” and that’s it.

          That isn’t to say it isn’t a bad race – it was great. But it wasn’t a 10.

    3. Yeah he’s outperforming Vettel! Maybe Vettel really isn’t as good as everyone seems to think. I know Monza 2008, but surely if he’s being thoroughly outperformed by Ricciardo it raises some questions?

      1. his DRS is not working properly, have you watched the race, without team’s instruction he himself moved over by the time before team order received.
        Without few components not working he managed to show what a good race, instead of some of our samurais complain about the cars..
        He didn’t moan about the car, he showed his WDC character, if he has the good car he might fight for 3rd place..
        RIC is great, but I believe VET is still smart and has talent..its not about the car..

  3. Wow!

  4. 2014 is boring? Not so much. Fantastic battle for the win between Rosberg and Hamilton!

    1. This season is going to be a blast if just to watch these teammates.

  5. 8/10

    That was much better than expected; good to see team-mates having a go at each other too.

  6. owsm race… <3'd it

  7. 10. There’s nothing else to ask from a race.

    Hamilton, brilliant.

    1. Could have been another bit of dicing right until the line. But having times jojo between 0,5 and 1,03 seconds for those last 3 laps was close enough.

      1. Nah, if it was dicing up until the line they would have to make an 11 option…

    2. Lewis is very good at positioning his car to retake position when passed, he just gives you space preparing his next move instead of compromising his exit. That’s really clever.

      1. …clever indeed. And to think people on this very site once made the comment – and I am paraphrasing “Nico is more cerebral”

        1. + 1 @neuralfraud i really want to know where all this stuff abut Hamiltn not being abe to think for himself came from.

          1. Not to talk Hamilton down in any way, but to be able to position yourself properly for a retake of position when You can see that You are probably going to be overtaken isn’t exceptionally brainy – we have often seen F1 rookies do exactly that and we saw it many times today. Its mere a question of training and having been in the situation often enough. The technique seem quite simple actually, but it also depends on the next turns of the track.

          2. @palle it looks easy but most drivers defending position over defend to the point of compromising a clean exit that usually helps beating the late braking from the attacker. I like to see Kimi defending because his approach is quite different from Lewis. Kimi usually slows the pursuer down with good positioning almost like a SC restart under braking but Hamilton kind senses when he’s lost and just gets his car in a position to attack supported by better traction, he did it twice today if I’m not mistaken and in the past vs. Button we could see the same move.

        2. @neuralfraud I did think that Rosberg would have done a better job of playing a chess game against Hamilton in those last few laps after the SC. But it seems that Hamilton’s tyres held out better than Rosberg or his engineers anticipated. I do think that Hamilton has more of the killer instinct about him. Rosberg sounded a little passive-aggressive in the interviews afterwards.

          1. Driving in the slipstream of another car kills the front tires, as the lost downforce makes them slide much more.

      2. I expected nico to finally learn and just park on the apex of 1 and stuff the over-under. He needs to watch some Senna on YouTube. Or NASCAR

    3. Great race, but can’t be a 10 without a battle for the win to the end.
      Grade inflation should be reserved for the 21st century classroom.

  8. I’ve only been watching F1 for about 8 years but I don’t think I’m overstating this when I say that I think it was one of, if not the greatest race I’ve ever seen.
    an easy 10/10

  9. Great race
    Some absolutely brilliant drives…watching Ricciardo cut through the field was a joy to watch.
    Battle of the teammates, with many drivers fighting for dominance over their team mates.

    8/10

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      6th April 2014, 18:12

      Agreed. That was an absolute cracker! I kept waiting for the mid-race lull, as so often happens, but it just never came!

      The wheel to wheel action from Nico and Lewis like a much longer version of Multi-21, but without the Multi-21. Lol. To in this case, Multi-449.

      Also, what a drive by Ricciardo! 13-4th, probably my DOTW.

  10. Three things are certain in life. Death, taxes and Massa vs Bottas.

    1. And Alonso vs Hulk at some point.

      1. I bet the Chico is patting himself on the back for leaving McLaren last year and Hulkenberg for having the forth-sight to leaving Sauber and jumping to force india.

        im baffled at the size of the nose on the force india

        8/10

        1. Indeed. I Hulk and Massa have thrills when they remind their moves trying to get the Lotus seat…

          Those twin tusks are build to turn other cars around…

        2. Perez could have already been on the podium in Aus if he had stayed with McLaren though. At the very least it hasn’t been as disappointing move as most people expected.

        3. Jon, it’s a macho thing.

    2. LOL, that has got to be one of the funniest stuff I’ve heard this year.

  11. Absolute stunner, 10/10 easy

    1. it had to be one of the best battles for the lead we have seen since the days of senna and prost absolute 10/10

  12. First half of the race was mediocre at best but after SC, wheel to wheel exploded. at least we had Ham vs Nico. also Ricciardo was really impressive.

    1. Is that a joke ?

      If you find team battles all down the grid and an amazing fight for the lead mediocre then you sir are watching the wrong sport.

      1. Don’t get me wrong. It was fun surely. but I expected more than just pass and repass again. also I think clear difference between teams made it less convincing.

        1. You expected more than pass and repass?? What like lockups as drivers fight for position, rookies fighting veterans, car spinning in the air, different tyre strategies, cars on track limits or what?

    2. the race was already good before the SC – it just got even better afterwards.

    3. Really mate? I was already giving this race a 10 before the SC. The last laps where the cherry on the cake.

      1. Yeah same here, the silver arrows were making it immense even by themselves before the SC.

    1. Hell YEAHH !!!! To HELL with team orders

      Finally a race where we can see a battle between teammates.

      Simply stunning. =DDDDDDD

  13. Incredible race! Unbelievable, what more could you want! These team dynamics are fantastic: Massa/Bottas, Perez/Hulkeburg, Hamilton/Rosberg, such potential for conflict! Just superb driving from all involved. And no team orders!

    1. Totally agree, the team mate battles were epic all through the field. Fair play to Mercedes to let them race all the way to the flag.

      A quick mention for the disaster that is Pastor Maldonado; he’s very quick, but clearly he’s not a good enough racer to be in F1.

      1. God that was quite a deadly incident. Thankfully Esteban got out unscathed.

      2. Hope he gets 6 penalty points in his licence… and harsh penalty for the next race!

        1. I think he should get a race ban like Grosjean did for colliding and launching over Alonso in Spa.

        2. Yeah, I think that it should be a bit more severe than 6, but I don’t think it was as bad as Grosjean’s at spa, so maybe 10? Is that possible, then if he holds someone up in qualli in china then he will get a ban.

      3. Unbelievable how he lacks sufficient spatial awareness in corsa, just wait for his justification as to how he expected whatever. Very glad GUT is fine, really sad he got taken out while driving above avg

      4. I think Gutierrez should also take some blame because he didn’t seem to pay attention to what was happening on his inside. He should have also given some room.

        1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
          6th April 2014, 18:18

          he did gave some room. more than enough to me.
          it just Pastor carried too much speed after leaving the pitlane

      5. gasped at the replay .. that was shocking to watch . What did the bulldozer driver get as punishment?

    2. Dont forget Vettel and Ricciardo. Ricciardo is really doing very good job against Vettel.

      1. He sure is. But Vettel has had trouble with his car. He is still the team leader.

        1. I don’t know, the laps after the safety car show how much more hungry he is than Vettel, and I don’t believe there were any issues with Seb’s car at that point.

          1. There were. Vettel told the team he was down on power on the straights immediately after Ricciardo passed him. Same problem that Alonso had in qualifying.

        2. @magon4

          What troubles did he have this time??? I saw the race and besides him saying he was slow right after he got passed by his team mate I saw nothing else… to me he was just making up an excuse!
          I think Riciardo just set him straight! (I´m not even a Ricciardo fan, fact is I can´t stand him anyways.)

      2. GB (@bgp001ruled)
        7th April 2014, 3:21

        vettel
        apparently didnt have drs. but i agree: ric is going to be a handful for vettel. way stronger than poor old webber…

    3. Don’t forget Alonso/Raikonnen, that hasn’t even started yet! So much potential!

  14. The raciest race I’ve seen in a good while. Excellent racing action all-round except for Maldonado. A brilliant drive from Ricciardo and superb action from Hamilton and Rosberg. The Maldonado-Gutierrez incident once again proves Adrian Newey’s point that the low noses are more dangerous than last season’s higher noses.

    1. Ant Davidson just showed on the skypad that it was wheel-to-wheel contact that flipped Gutierrez, not Maldonado’s nose going under the car.

      1. I think a high nose would be more dangerous in that situation then. It’s odd how high and far the car flew though.

  15. 10/10 brilliant race. I’m exhausted

  16. 9. Nearly a 10, but there were some boring parts!

    Maldonado should have been disqualified in the end.

  17. 10/10
    absolutely brilliant, coming from a Rosberg fan.

    1. 10/10, coming from a Rosberg/Hulkenberg/Räikkönen/Williams fan :P

      Amazing race!

    2. Yeah, this season looks really promising. Hamilton has so often been a really good one lap racer, but fallen back when it matters, today shows how much he has improved over last year and the years previously.

  18. 10/10, I almost had an heart attack! What a stunning race!

  19. 9/10

    THAT WAS AMAZING

    FORMULA 1 2014 IS BRILLIANT AND I LOVE IT AND OH MY GOODNESS

    1. Totally agreed @magnificent-geoffrey – the first race in ages where I think an all caps comment is completely warranted!

    2. Yeah I think everything the rules intended to do came together here! Best race I’ve ever seen, but Canada 2011 is a close second (maybe not if you’re not English…).

  20. Best race I have seen in a long time. Team mate battles all through the race & field. Great battle for the lead which hasn’t been seen in a long time and Pastor needs the firing squad for that one.

    10/10

  21. LOL Nikki!

    1. Ha, yeah, that was funny. True though. What an immense race!

  22. 10/10. Haven’t had my heart beat like that in some time.

    Battle for the lead, battle for essentially every other position… Fighting everywhere. Oh my word. An actual defensive drive that we haven’t seen in F1 for so… So long. Has to go down as one of the classics.

    1. What a 900th race for F1! Superb drive by Perez too.

    2. Good ‘old fashioned’ racing, even down to the dominance of the Silver Arrows!

      1. @williamstuart

        Good ‘old fashioned’ racing, even down to the dominance of the Silver Arrows!

        Or Tyrrell, you decide.

  23. WOW!! 10/10

  24. 9 – it was that good! Shame Rosberg couldn’t have got the job done but there was fantatsic racing throughout the entirety of the Grand Prix: what a great advert for F1 in 2014 and it could have not come at a better time to silence the critics.

    1. Only thing keeping it from a 10 for me was some of the battles towards the end not materialising. But really, there was not much else keeping that from a 10.

      1. Same with me

    2. @vettel1

      Shame Rosberg couldn’t have got the job done

      Shame on what !!!!!

      1. Good point because good defending is also good racing… maybe props to Lewis for resisting the attack from the guy in same machinery and faster tyres…

        1. Absolutely @jcost – I only said what I did as a fan of Rosberg’s :p

          1. +1 @vettel1

            Nico is a fierce competitor and I can’t wait for the day Red Bull is capable to fight for wind because Daniel Ricciardo (Aussie Grit Jr) will be in the mix.

            Paddy Lowe did try his best to tell his boys to hold position but Nico rightly fought for the win just like we all wanted, I hope Merc don’t try to rob us those battles.

  25. Safety car stole the 10, the racing was all going to concertina without it, it made people with the yellows stand a better chance. Again great race at Bahrain(check 2011 off). A classic race.

    1. I think The SC saved the race, the battle for the lead after that was cardiac, as well as the Hulk-Vettel-Ric-Bot-Massa battle that was awesome.

      1. @cocaine-mackeine I think too. If not, everyone was rating the race with 5 points or less… oh well, let’s see if something changes in china.

        1. Even without the SC I think I would have rated it 8. My worst problem was all the action I didn’t see, because so much was going on all over the track and all up and down the order. Sadly the SC did cost McLaren some points. Mag’s DNF was perhaps not inflicted by the SC, but I suspect Buttons crumble was caused by the SC period.

    2. No, the Safety Car made the race 10/10. Without it, no battle between Hamilton and Rosberg!

  26. My smile is as wide as Ricciardo’s. Amazing driving by Lewis. What a Race! What a Race! 10/10
    Brilliant. Simply Brilliant!

  27. 10.

    I only watched the second half and it was amazing. Can’t wait to watch the recording.

  28. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

    That’s up there with some of the best racing I have ever seen!

    Hats off to everyone involved!

  29. Yeah Bahrain is sooooo boring…

    1. Frankly that was what I half and half expected before the race;-)

  30. OMGosh, Superb race……

    Well done Lewis and well done Nico these silver arrows are mighty. Good work Ricciardo, nice move on SV.

    Boring this wasn’t, can we please put to bed this negativity now

  31. 9.

    Not a ten because it was a Mercedes only afair for P1 but this race is slap in the face of those looking down on this brave new world of Formula 1.

    Take the “Mercedes Domination Show” out of the equation and you have a packed field with lots of overtaking opportunities to grab and when this happen the result usually is great racing.

    “The Mercedes Domination Show – World Tour” continues, nest stop: Shanghai :)

    On Lewis and Nico, very good race but gotta single out Mr. Hamilton for his ability to fight back overtakes.

    1. How come “take the Mercedes…out of the equation”?!? If you rate the race, you have to rate everything, right? Or there is two F1 championships? One for Merc and another for the rest?

      Honestly, I can’t understand. Last year everyone was annoyed that RBR won everything, bla, bla, bla, no competition, bla, bla, bla. But last year we had three different winners for the first three races. And this year, not only we have two, as we already know that they’ll (nico and ham) going to fight to win the next race, and the next after, bla, bla, bla.

      And we saw the rest of the teams (force, rbr, willians, ferrari) on a 20 seconds distance?!? After the safety car? Yeah, great F1 indeed!

      1. @yes-master Man I just took Merc out to point that the rest is very compact. I’m sure if Merc manages to stay as a domination force for 3/4 straight years it will be a major problem for me as fan of racing but it’s a 3 races old new era and I hope other catch up before the end of this season (hoping for the best but expecting the worst anyway).

        Their advantage is big (managed to build a 24s lead in 10 laps!) but it is up to others to do their job better. Unfortunately we get some dominant force more often than not. In the last 20 years we’ve had Ferrari, Renault (at some point), Brawn, Red Bull and now Mercedes…

        1. @jcost I realized that. Don’t take it some kind of attack. Not my purpose.
          But, what you confirmed is my point. Nothing changed. Or, wait, something change, the winning team. Till this moment, they failed to bring back the competition promised, as a way to end a F1 only-one-team-can-and-will-win-championship. You see, this race was good, or very good, in the last 15 laps or so, due to the safety car’s entry. That’s a fact which we shouldn’t set aside when rating the race. And compact group battles, F1 races always had, but not for the championship title…so nothing changed there too. And that said, what really changed for better?

        2. This was the best F1 races for many years.
          The downside for me is that I don’t see any other team managing to catch up the 2 to 3 second gap to Merc for a very long time; it’s going to take years.
          Second negative is the racing is going to be in two parts. Lewis & Nico racing for 1st & 2nd – and then the other Merc powered teams racing for the 3rd through 8th. Only with a bit of luck will Red Bull have a shout.
          Ferrari and all the remaining Ferrari powered teams are a really sad sight. Especially in the hands of Fernando and Kimi.
          As a Ferrari, Kimi and Fernando fan, I only hope that there is quick and significant change at Ferrari – so that this once proud racing heritage can recover some pride!

  32. Another boring race. Ofc it was fun to watch Nico vs Ham, but if the new f1 championship is going to be only that, i’m sorry to say, what a waste.

    I still can’t find to see what are the positive aspects of the regulations changes. Maybe in the future, when the F1 comes to Europe. But, for now F1 is only Merc, and only in the third race we saw some kind of competition between…the mercedes pilots. Ok, a round 6.

    1. @yes-master, it seems clear that you haven’t watched many F1 seasons yet. At least based on this comment.
      Some of the best seasons have been a man against man dispute. And the racing was fantastic today!

      1. @magon4, yeas, you’re right, I start watchin F1 today. And you know what? Was boring! Do you know why? Check the distance between the second to the third…even with a safety car in with 15 laps to the finish. Do the math.

        What I’m trying to say is, if the reason to make so many changes was to bring back competition, something is clearly failing. And as the challenge was to rate the race, not only the last 5 laps between mercedes pilots (which I agree, was a great dispute, the best till now), i have to give a 6.

        1. You seem to have misunderstood why the new rules were brought in. It wasn’t to bring back competition as you say, but because the old rules were relying on old technologies that were becoming increasingly obsolete and ran the risk of the engine manufacturers upping and leaving the sport because of their increasingly irrelevance.

          Tightening up the gap between teams was what people hoped would happen as a consequence of the rule change, in response to the fact Red Bull have had the best car for the past few years. It was not however a reason why they changed the rules. And so what if the Mercedes is streets ahead, they did by far the best job and it is up to the other teams to catch up. At least they have two evenly matched drivers who will push each other all season long. Unlike last year where you knew Vettel would win by the end of the first lap. That was some of the best racing wheel to wheel for ages, not just the Mercedes but behind them as well.

        2. Ricardo, F1 is not about each and every car having the same capacity. Then Indy or GP2 are a better sport. We have had many seasons where one car was better than all the others, and some of those championships have been very exciting (Senna vs Prost in the 80s), some have been boring (Mansell vs Patrese, for example). All is good. Race was fantastic!

          1. @debaser91 @magon4 Well, I think we agree on almost everything. I understand the purpose of the rules, but as we all know, F1 lacks competition for a long long time now. And I mean competition to win the championship. I know that F1 is not about each car having the same capacity. I know that. And because of that I never understood why so many people criticized Vettel and RBR for straight winnings. But, since they changed everything, and promised better competition, I thought something new and exciting would happen and put F1 to another level…but no, or not yet. Like I said, today’s race, concerned to the title competition, only started with the safety car entry. And for me, that’s not quite exciting as having a race from the beginning, like it should be by now. Will be interesting to see the audience rate level this year. And like you all, I’m not against F1 innovations, au contraire, I want F1 to get better and better. I love F1 as you all do! And these last 15 laps (not the entire race) should be the example for the rest of the championship.

        3. Did you not watch the pack fighting for the podium just behind?

        4. It’s not a spec series and the risk of a team emerging as a dominant force is very likely. FIA tries its best with rules, but falls short of a spec series a la Indy or feeder series like GP2. F1 history has taught us that as technology matures tops teams tend to be closer to each other, sure 2,5 seconds a lap is too much but it’s so new to everyone that we can’t really predict much.

          In fact, F1 is not very different for other non-spec series. Even in rally we see emergence of dominant machines at some point. Look at Moto GP usually praised by many, but the last few years you could only aspire for victories if you were riding either for Honda or Yamaha…

        5. @yes-master

          if the reason to make so many changes was to bring back competition

          It wasn’t.

          1. Humm, maybe officially. But I think the people that in work in Mercedes team have a different opinion (probably non public) on that. Merc was about to leave F1 because….? Lack of efficiency, they say? I don’t think so. I believe they wanted to win. Simple as that. And they should! But they couldn’t. So, we can discuss the purpose of the changes, is F1 greener, should motors make more noise, etc, but, in the end of the day, all they want is to be more competitive. And Merc saw the opportunity coming in 2009. Because, without these changes no team except RBR could be an excepted winning team. But, now, that changed. Mercedes is clearly the winning team for this year. We’ll have a group of 4/5 teams fighting for the podium (most of the time, for 3rd places) and that’s it. Hopefully, we’ll have a two pilot fight for the title. That be good. It would be like always was. No great change there. But I want more. I desire at least 3 teams fighting for the title. Now, are these rules changes able to open that kind of scenario, even if we want to believe the major reason was to make cars more efficient? Don’t know. Can’t say for the moment. Like lot’s of fans said, F1 was not able yet to make a 3 team title fight. So, I think this is a unique opportunity to change that. But, no team has shown to be able to follow Merc, so, in this point, I’m a little pessimistic. Hey, but shan’t stop watching F1! And if the rest of the season is going to be as good as it was in the last 15 laps of the Bahrain GP (not the entire race), for me that’s fine :)

          2. @keithcollantine, Humm, maybe officially, Keith. But I think the people that in work in Mercedes team have a different opinion (probably non public) on that. Merc was about to leave F1 because….? Lack of efficiency, they say? I don’t think so. I believe they wanted to win. Simple as that. And they should! But they couldn’t. So, we can discuss the purpose of the changes, is F1 greener, should motors make more noise, etc, but, in the end of the day, all they want is to be more competitive. And Merc saw the opportunity coming in 2009. Because, without these changes no team except RBR could be an excepted winning team. But, now, that changed. Mercedes is clearly the winning team for this year. We’ll have a group of 4/5 teams fighting for the podium (most of the time, for 3rd places) and that’s it. Hopefully, we’ll have a two pilot fight for the title. That be good. It would be like always was. No great change there. But I want more. I desire at least 3 teams fighting for the title. Now, are these rules changes able to open that kind of scenario, even if we want to believe the major reason was to make cars more efficient? Don’t know. Can’t say for the moment. Like lot’s of fans said, F1 was not able yet to make a 3 team title fight. So, I think this is a unique opportunity to change that. But, no team has shown to be able to follow Merc, so, in this point, I’m a little pessimistic. Hey, but shan’t stop watching F1! And if the rest of the season is going to be as good as it was in the last 15 laps of the Bahrain GP (not the entire race), for me that’s fine :)

    2. Trying a bit too hard to sound edgy, aren’t we.

      1. Probably not so euphoric as the majority. If I have to give an 8, 9 or 10, the reason had to be the safety car entry reason. Till that moment, the race was boring, like the previous. But, yeah, a 6 is a probably a bad rate too. So, to be fair, a 7 (at most).

        1. Really?.That was brilliant racing throughout the field, certainly not boring. Watching Schumacher use team orders in the Ferrari was boring and nearly killed the sport. If you though t
          that was boring go watch something else please.

        2. @yes-master, I can only conclude from your comments that you are only interested in watching 1 paricular team winning races and whatever that team is it is not Mercedes.

          1. @hohum: I suspect @yes-master is a newcomer and FIAT fan. All the god comments/answers he get are probably a waste of time and good energy.

          2. @hohum Oh, please, don’t say that. I’m not anti-teams or anti-pilots. I love F1! I want every team to be at their best level. No question about it. The thing is quite simple. With all the changes, I thought that F1 should be better, more competitive. And it’s not. Or not yet. And I hope it changes. But if Mercedes is the team to win this year, why not? Merc is making a great job, as Ham and Nico. So you see, you concluded wrong. ;)

          3. Ha ha so true i bet you he is a fan of a Ferrari driver i guarantee that. Guess what if every team has Merc engine then Merc would still win dont see Mclaren anywere near do you. Merc have the best package.

            If your wondering why people criticised Vet/RBull then why are you moaning now atleast we have 2 teammates fighting?. Your clearly a non Merc fan because no just no do we have midfield racing like this, this was a 1 off classic race you don’t see this oftent yet you still moan.

          4. @yes-master

            Im not attacking you just think your very wrong as we dont see these battles often you cant tell me you did not enjoy this

          5. @yes-master, Ricardo, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and conclude that you are just hard to please.

          6. @hohum @Dan, I have to say, you all have sense of humour. Yes, I’m hard to please. I’m no moaner. I’m not a Ferrari fan. I’m not an anti-Mercedes either. I’m just a guy with a different opinion. But, that’s not important. We all enjoyed this race, even if in different levels (you, the entire race; me, after safety car).
            Hope to see a better race in China. Hope to see improvements from RBR and Ferrari and McLaren, and that Force and Willians keep the good job. And, in particular, I hope to maintain these good discussions with you guys, as it reveals we watch and love F1. The rest is history. Have fun ;)

    3. how can we see better race than that? smh

  33. Wow, F1 is totally boring… /S /S /S
    What a race that was!

  34. 10/10 awesome race, Mercedes drivers rock. clean and wheel to wheel race just loved it.

  35. Solid 8 for me, the race was fantastic stunning battles between teammates Ham/Ros, Hulk/Perez, Massa/Bot, Ric/Vettel. As a tifoso sad to see Ferrari so far behind if the car was competitive maybe we could have seen a great battle between Alonso and Raikkonen. Aldo Costa the father of the W05 who was sucked from Ferrari is now on the podium

    1. I don’t know what’s going on at Ferrari, the last few years they have not really been contenders, what’s more a lot of their key guys have been poached my other teams (Williams especially) so maybe this is just the beginning…

  36. Fikri Harish (@)
    6th April 2014, 17:50

    The Ferrari fan inside me is crying in the deepest corner of my heart.

    But the F1 fan inside can’t stop smiling for what I consider to be one of the best 100 minutes of my life.

    Absolute brilliance!

    1. +1 brother

    2. MALLI (@mallikarjuna)
      6th April 2014, 19:25

      +3 brother

    3. @fihar: You have my deepest sympathy and I love Your comment.

    4. Agree – best F1 race in a long time.
      I’m now officially embarrassed that I’m a Ferrari fan!
      Feel sorry for all Farrari powered teams and both Fernando and Kimi; as they will end their careers driving cars that are just fighting to get into the points – just like today.

    5. Damn, you just nailed it! I also agree. +1

  37. The best race since the 2012 Brazilian GP. 10/10/

    1. I think Brazil 2008 was the most thrilling race I’ve ever seen.

  38. Couldn’t have been better today!!

  39. That was a 10. Lewis Hamilton take a bow that was stunning. Nico as well. When was the last time we had racing back and forth like that for the lead of the race? Turkey 2010 maybe. And between team mates as well? Wow. Loved Ricciardo’s move on Vettel but seriously the racing was brilliant. Ferrari shoot themselves in the foot again, hire two of the best drivers in the sport and they spent the whole race being overtaken lol

    1. *the racing was brilliant throughout the field the whole race. Shout out for Perez as well, he drove superbly.

  40. Piotr (@piotrzukowski)
    6th April 2014, 17:51

    Fantastic race! Gave it a 9

  41. Incredible.. you know what.. the Bahrain grand Prix is gonna be the highest rated race for the second year in a row.

    1. Hold on, it’s a long season! Here’s hoping the British GP is great this year, I couldn’t make it last year, but it could be a lot more exciting with these regulations.

  42. Great race, wow. Gave it a 9

  43. I haven’t enjoyed a race that much in a long time. Absolutely glued to the tv for the entirety. 2014’s looking good if this is a sign of things to come! 9/10

  44. Lads this season is awful rubbish…
    But seriously, an absolute classic. I have no idea how Hamilton managed to hold off Nico, but I don’t care. 10/10 stuff.

  45. 10/10 from me.

    I couldn’t think of a single reason to move it down. Outstanding, with battles start to finish and absolutely phenomenal after the safety car.

    Wow!

  46. Almost yawned to death. 10/10.

    1. Talking of nearly dying, my bladder at the end of the race…

  47. I don’t think I’ve seen such a good race in quite a while! 10/10

  48. If there ever were to be a double point race…

  49. Been watching since late 2011. That’s the only race (except Brazil in 2012) that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Easy 10/10.

  50. The start and the last ten laps were great, but I was actually quite bored for the middle part of the race. 8/10.

    1. And before someone asks how I could be bored: DRS. I don’t like to see drivers overtaking others on straights just before corners. That defeats the point of having corners in the first place.

    2. I don’t now about you, but I saw drivers overtaking everywhere!

  51. That was a 10. Great wheel to wheel, intra-team fair and tough fight – gripping action throughout. Thrilled for Checo and well done to RBR and of course Mercedes.

  52. What a race, shame everyone wants to change F1 this year :)

  53. A-mazing race. 10/10. Absolutely fantastic.

  54. So much credit to Mercedes for allowing that to happen, if that’s what we’re in store for the rest of the season then I’m all for it! Wow

  55. Yep, at last, that was fun, gave it a 9 ! :)

  56. 10! It doesn’t get any better than this. You can remove all the sound you want, if we just get races like this then the sound doesn’t matter.

  57. Team mates battling, world-champions battling, and no ‘hold positions’ to spoil it.

    That’s all I want from my motor-racing.

    10.

  58. Clucky (@cluckyblokebird)
    6th April 2014, 17:56

    Bloody awesome. 10/10 and I’m not a Hamilton fan. Can we shut up about the sound now? Thanks.

  59. 10. Excellent race. Everyone fighting, everybody was pushing, the whole race was thrilling and the last laps were the best since the 2013 British GP. This race was the best since Brazil 2012. Also congrats to Perez, he made an awesome job, I hope McLaren learns about his mistake.

  60. It was looking like a solid 2, but the second hour was some of the best racing in years!

  61. Noah’s ark formation means the only racing is between team mates and not other drivers and cars.

    Race was okay for 47 laps but having a safety car made 10 laps of real good racing.

    Funny how vettel thought he was slow down the straights after ricciardo got him.

    1. Noah’s ark formation means the only racing is between team mates and not other drivers and cars.

      Did you really not see any racing between different teams?

  62. If you can find fault with that then you may as well stop watching motor sports. That’s as good as it gets.

    1. +1;-) Only problem is, when it is this good, You miss out on much of the action, because so much happens at the same time, that FOM has to chose what to show us. And while they showed us the replays a lot of stuff happened.

    2. You know what, after reading this comments today and people praising the race, I think I’m gonna stop watching F1. I’ve been watching since 1994 but seeing all this 2011 new fans rating this 10/10. I think what I’m gonna do is stop reading this site commentaries and rate the race posts. Hope Keith will comment on the race, I hope he says its a 3 like I did, cause this F1 is not racing.

      1. It would be useful to know why you didn’t like it.

  63. @keithcollantine silly idea putting this article up straight after the finish dont you think? let people digest it a bit.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      6th April 2014, 18:01

      @sato113 – I think rate the race should be your immediate view. How enjoyable was it? You know that now.

    2. It is always posted right after the race.

      1. @gabal i know it is. my argument is it shouldn’t be.

  64. 10/10. I don’t remember getting so excited with a race in a long time.

  65. Well done to the Brackley boys. Rosberg was faster, but Hamilton defended superbly whenever it mattered. Other than that, great battles all around. Good tussle, between Williams, RB and of course Force India. Congratulations to Perez!

  66. That has to be one of the greatest races of recent times. Amazing battles throughout the field and even at the front. Very cool.

  67. 10
    Simple as that.
    I looked like a little, excited child while watching this amazing race. Istant classic

  68. Oh and I also loved how there was so much overtaking and attempts to pass outside the DRS zones. Defensive driving was on show once again which makes passes that much better when they finally come off!

  69. Easily 10/10, epic race.

    Changes throughout the grid including the lead which is to often recently been non-existent.

    Maldonado deserves to be banned from F1…. again and again stupid suicidal moves. I understand drivers do silly things now and again, they are only human. But Pastor is just crazy, so dangerous and he could easily end up seriously hurting someone. Or worse…

  70. 9 for the race + 1 point for having Brian Johnson on the podium. What a spectacle!

  71. I didn’t expect that. Real racing, everything worked perfectly today.
    Shame on Ferrari, they are terrible.

  72. petebaldwin (@)
    6th April 2014, 18:00

    Lots of close battles enhanced by DRS throughout the field. Absolutely great race!

  73. hopefully the racing will make the people complaining about noise realise what F1 is really about

  74. Very good race, great overtaking. 8/10

    Two minus points:
    – Safety car is always giving a random advantage or disadvantage to some drivers. Plus it was way too long
    – Live timing is useless. Can’t follow strategy.

    How many laps did the Mercs have to pull that 24 second gap? 10 or 11? Crazy. Doesn’t bode well for a win by any other team this season.

    1. Number 1 is part of the core of F1.

      And number 2 is not directly related to the race itself.

      1. I used the F1 app, which worked almost great during this race. Not without errors, but I could follow the strategies, keep track of each drivers no of pitstops, which tyres he was on, how many laps old the tyres was, how far behind the driver in front he was, laptimes, sector times etc. etc. For an action packed race like this, the App is almost a must.

  75. I don’t like voting 10. I had to really consider what would make the race better. I couldn’t think of much besides ideally wanting more than 1 team involved at the front. But we still had a battle for the lead and battles all the way through the field, and I found the Mercedes dominance after the safety car somewhat awe inspiring (if not so good for actual racing). 10- there wasn’t enough to detract from the great bits to warrant less.

  76. wow..not taxi racing definitely :) Rated – 10

  77. This is the best Formula 1 race I’ve watched since 2012. Truly, absolutely astounding! I haven’t shouted so much at a TV in a very long time.

  78. Absolutely perfect race! Only one bad thing – and that’s Maldonator… Pity about Williams because of him.

    I follow F1 since 1999 and I think this was the best dry race I have ever saw!!!

  79. Michael Brown (@)
    6th April 2014, 18:02

    9/10. Better than the entire 2013 season

    1. My thoughts exactly.

  80. 9. Amazing race. Fantastic final result Hamilton, Rosberg, Perez and Ricciardo. Only reason that I can not give a 10 is I am Magnussen and McLaren fan and they did not finish. Never seen so many overtakings in one race.

  81. WOW! WOW! What a race…it was like watching a Moto GP or World Superbikes race. Phew! One thing’s sure – Mercedes-Benz has not only the best cars on the grid, but also the BEST drivers! Take that Sebastian Vettel…would you be able to handle racing like this?

    Take that you Red Bull, Ferrari and FOM naysayers…

  82. 10/10! What a race! Smashdonado might have caused a bad accident, but he helped the racing!

  83. Epic, epic race! I thought that the safety car was going to ruin the HAM/ROS battle, but it just made it that more spectacular to watch Hamilton fend off Rosberg’s car with better tires. That’s probably the best race I’ve seen.

  84. 10/10. Best race in a while. A lot of inter team battles and the two Mercedes almost touching. This is how every F1 race should be.

  85. Driver of the weekend is gonna be a tough one though.

    1. @ultimateuzair oh yeah, it will be hard to pick just one.

      1. Maldonado? ;-)

        1. @palle Possibly, I mean erm… he did make the last 10 laps of the race exciting!

  86. What a race. One of the best dry races in the last few years.

  87. Absolutely astonishing race. Mercedes cars were a lot faster but the battle they had it was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
    Hamilton, Rosberg, Perez, Ricciardo all had excellent races.
    I can say if the gap to Mercedes closes, I will adore the new era of F1. There are much more to come. Let’s wait and see!

  88. Great race! I gave it 8/10 mostly due to the Merc dominance leaving little question as to which team would win, but overall simply awesome.

  89. Montezemolo does have bad luck.

    The same week he starts lobbying for changes in the name of racing we get the best race in ages :P

  90. 8 !

    The first part of the race was kinda boring. Then, can’t give it more because we knew right from the start who’s gonna take positions 1 and 2.

  91. Easily 10. The only guys not voting for 10 are Montezemolo, Ecclestone and Horner.

  92. Best since canada 2011

  93. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    6th April 2014, 18:09

    9.
    Niki Lauda said it best.
    “Anyone who thinks that was boring, is an idiot.”

    Insanely terrific race!

  94. 10
    I’m still shaking. Wow oh wow.

  95. What a great race! Btw, Hulkenberg got OWNED by Perez, both racing for the first time under equal terms…

  96. 9, only because it was nearly lockstep from team to team. Otherwise, I was on the edge of my seat all race long. Maldonado was himself, who’s surprised? Perez taking the podium STILL has me smiling. Day made, and I still have work coming.

  97. Neil (@neilosjames)
    6th April 2014, 18:09

    10/10, one of the best races I’ve ever seen. Lots of non-DRS passing, lots of wheel to wheel, great offensive and defensive driving right down the field.

    Awesome battle between Hamilton and Rosberg… nice bit of action between Ricciardo and Vettel, and Perez/Hulk and Massa/Bottas. And they were all fighting Button and the Ferraris too, even a bit of Toros.

    The only downside was that Mercedes smoked everyone by such an insane margin. But that didn’t take away from the quality of the race.

  98. Dare I say it, that was the best race I haves seen in a long time!

    Rosberg and Hamilton, Ricciardo climbing through the ranks, Hulk and Perez, Hulk and Alonso, Bottas and Massa, that unfortunate accident due to Maldonado’s incompetence and the safety car put the cherry on top at the end.

    10/10 from me!

  99. Absolutely fantastic race! I can’t remember when was the last time I saw so many wheel to wheel battles. It was hard to track everything during the race, because all those battles were very interesting and highly entertaining. And the most important thing – there was a real hard battle for the win. Reminded me Schumacher-Hakkinen times.

  100. 9/10 just because I am a Ferrari fan and it was a pain to watch them being so slow…

    1. I think if I was a Ferrari fan I would agree, must be hard to watch… especially with Costa going up on the podium. LdM and his ‘motivation’ these last years must now be questioned. They fought for an engine formula over aero for so long, and when it does come along they are nowhere and instead seem to be wanting to go back to the V8 era! Ridiculous.

      Finally, very interesting to see Fernando celebrate so much crossing the line in front of Kimi. He turned the weekend around. 3-0 and to be honest I can’t see it getting much better for Kimi this year, which requires more than turning up and just driving.

  101. It wasn’t breathtaking like the very best races, but I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Great, clean racing up and down the field with some thrilling moments. A comfortable 9.

  102. Didn’t comment during the race on F1 Fanatic live because I just didn’t want to look away from the race. That was absolutely phenomonal! Although questions must be asked about these low noses after that incident, very little doubt that was the cause.

    10/10. Easy.

    1. Having seen Davidson’s piece on the incident I shall alter my comment about noses.

      I still think they need to be looked at however, I’ve no doubt these noses could cause an incident very similar if caught the wrong way.

  103. This was absolutely amazing , my heart didn’t had a second to rest.
    All the teammates the Mercedes battle, RBR, Force India, Williams

  104. Exciting race but horrible results ;-)
    Almost every interteam battle the wrong driver was on top…

    1. By definition the right driver was on top…

  105. 10 without a single doubt, definitely one of the best dry races I can remember watching. It seemed like the whole race was one big wheel-to-wheel battle that just went on and on. Sadly, not all of it was clean but I guess you can’t have it all.

    Best of all, we even had a battle for the lead. And what a battle it was!

  106. Dan, Nicos and Lewis have been the best so far, this season!

  107. 9/10. Or maybe 9.9/10. Would have been perfect if it wasn´t for some battles not materialising/being somewhat anti-climactic in the last 3 laps. That said, I´m extremely hesitant to give 10s as I couldn´t then give something even better a better vote (imagine this one with 2-3 teams at the front (instead of one), last-lap-passes and repasses and that as a championship-decider. Quite theoretical, i know).

  108. Here’s something you wont hear very often

    Thanks Herman Tilke

    I truely believe the track layout made this race- S/F straight, another straight, then the quick left right. That first half of the lap might not be the most inspiring layout in terms of 1 lap, but for a race it makes for fantastic viewing and has done for a few years now

  109. Great race, easily the best dry race in ages! I think I voted a 9 for Brazil 2012 and maybe Europe 2012, this was even closer to a 10.

    Pre-safety car was closer to an 8, though. Even at that it was a lot better than most races last year.

  110. Perfect race I only rated 9 because red bull wasn’t on the podium otherwise I would’ve rated 10

  111. The only reason I gave this race a 9 is because it didn’t give me that final tick that I give races 10/10 for. It’s difficult to put my finger on it, but I’ve given 10/10 to races like Canada ’11, Valencia ’12 and Brazil ’12. I couldn’t quite rekindle that feeling during this race.

    Not saying that the race was boring. Far from it. Battles all the way down the field, and a conveniently timed safety car which bunched it all up with 10-12 laps to go to show us what the cars can really do.

    Mercedes walkover? Maybe, but surely this now gives us a similar scenario to ’88. The top team has 2 great drivers who will want to do anything they can to win. That’s only going to result in great battles for the lead at various moments throughout the year, which can only be good for the fans.

    And if they both retire? Then that just means the epic scrap we had between FI/Williams/RedBull etc. is for 1st place rather than 3rd.

    This really is shaping up to be one of the best seasons of F1 ever..

    1. Very well said.

  112. Now that’s racing…. 10/10 from start to finish.

  113. Luth (@soulofaetherym)
    6th April 2014, 18:18

    This is a Grand Prix. 10/10

    All in all this race had everything: from fights for the lead, to scuffles between backmarkers, to proper teammate battles; it had excitement, it had overtakes (with and without DRS), it had crashes, but above all, it had RACING, with fuel saving almost unnoticeable throughout the entire race, and giving us the spectacle that was missing in Australia and Malaysia.

    Mercedes dominated, but the battle that ensued between Rosberg and Hamilton had us all guessing who was going to come out on top; the fight for 3rd was open until the very last lap where Ricciardo charged through the field to almost pip Perez out the podium; and behind there was always something worth watching.

    It’s worth noticing as well how these new ‘safer’ noses have caused the second launch of an F1 car in 3 races, with Maldonado crashing onto Gutierrez, his nose going underneath the latter one’s car, making him spin into the air.

    This was a proper race, the first one in around a whole season, there was action everywhere, battles everywhere, fuel saving and tyre saving were masked making F1’s 900th GP worth the watch.

    1. @soulofaetherym actually, Sky did a video analysis and it was wheel-over-wheel accident, low noses had nothing to do with Gutierez flipping.

      1. Luth (@soulofaetherym)
        6th April 2014, 19:14

        Interesting. Good to know :).

  114. 10/10
    Without a doubt.. One of the best race I’ve seen

  115. contrived entertainment – team orders rosberg only put on a show – safety car bunched them up for finale 10 laps

  116. Be silent yea critics!

    Ham-Rosnfight most exciting figh since villeneuve-Arnoux!!!

  117. Amazing race. Just what we needed to forget for a while all the complains about the new rules.

  118. That was an incredibly great race! So much fight going on all around the track and so many intra-team battles – Mercedes, Force India, Williams et al. Mercedes letting both drivers race each other till the last lap! Good to see a Force India on podium. I think it was long overdue for them. Great wheel to wheel action, some good execution of strategy, some racing incidents, some stupid moments of madness; this race had it all! A 10/10 for me!

  119. The only time I’m that close to the edge of the seat during an F1 race usually is when championships are decided. Maybe not the best race out of the 900 but surely one of the best for a long time. 10/10!

  120. Great!

    Now can we stop with the engine noise debate and other attempts to artificially “spice things up”?

  121. very rare .. fantastic race.. 10

  122. I think this one goes to 11!

  123. 1% for 1 Point? What is wrong with you?

  124. After this FANTASTIC FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX, please stop showing us the likes of Luca di Montezemolo, Adrian Newey and other frustrated guys… Let Ferrari build a better car and power unit and Renault also built a better power unit. The rules are the same for everybody

    Listen to Ron Dennis, Paddy Lowe, Toto Wolff, Pat Symonds. Let the others learn and improve their packages.

    Fantastic job for Mercedes – Great race Lewis and Nico !!!

    1. MALLI (@mallikarjuna)
      6th April 2014, 20:01

      +1 mate.
      merecedes powered taxies r faster than ferrari .
      lol

  125. I’m a fool. I’ve spent 40 years following F1, I should’ve been following this taxi cab racing.

    10/10.

  126. That was really a very brilliant race. Gripping from the word go. A BIG win for Lewis. Bahrain is a track where Nico has a measure on Lewis and it was not to be today.

    The W05 is in a class of its own. But so long as the Merc boffins let them race, I have no complaints.

  127. Amazing race. Battles all along, epic battle for the lead, and we witnessed one of the best drives from Hamilton.
    Ricciardo was brilliant too, and Perez, what a race from him, kind of shuting up his critics.

  128. 9

    What a timing for this race to come. Everyone was saying how boring current F1 has become and here you go, bang on the target and providing a very entertaining race after really long time. There were battles all round the places- lead, middle pack, back runners. Great drive from Lewis and Perez.
    Ricciardo again doing very good coming from middle of pack and same goes for Hulk.

    Bit disappointed with Williams and Ferrari’s result . Expected more from both teams.

  129. 10 for me Nico would not have even had a chance without safety car if hecoulnt do it when right behind Ham. How would he gain 9 seconds then pass. Nico is so cocky “i will win next race, i was fastest car, im leading WC” Yeh why are you leading Nico i wonder. Maybe becuase your temmate retired.

  130. I struggle to remember the last time we had a close fight for the lead going into the closing stages of a Grand Prix. Either way this race and race weekend in all has set the benchmark for; A) What sort of pace these 2014 cars (the fastest at least) are capable of compared to last years so-much-downforce-we’re-glued-to-the-track cars; and B) That even with such fuel restrictions close and competitive racing is possible. Although whether it’s truly competitive is debatable.

    1. @royal-spark
      Satsuki! I approve!

      I am certainly glad to see that Fuel isn’t such a big factor so far.
      Of course it’s an element to the race, and I’m glad that it is… But it’s good to see that it’s not defining the quality of the racing like the tyres were last year.

      1. Aaaand, as soon as I say that, you change profile pic to Ryūko :P

  131. The last race I gave a 10 was Brazil 2012.

    Today was a 10. It had everything except rain, and is a fantastic advertisement for Formula 1 2014.

  132. 10 for me. Who cares if Merc are two seconds quicker if there are two of them and they are allowed to fight? Ferrari and Red Bull should keep quiet and concentrate on their car issues – they are not far away from the non-works Merc runners and the racing is really close. Really glad that Gutierrez is Ok – a flip is really scary, but how would he be if Maldonado’s nose was at cockpit edge height like last year?

  133. by far a great race. team mate on team mate…what would their bosses say? haha

  134. 9/10 – It was so thrilling that I ate so much midnight snack. Let’s see: eggs, bacon, biscuits, wedges, 2 cups of tea..

  135. 10/10

    The battles from the begging till the end,the lighting, team spirit , the atmosphere and the safety car …. All amazing.

  136. 9/10 Nothing is perfect but this race was top notch stuff, hope to see more in the coming races.

    So who still thinks the new regs are stupid?

  137. What an incredible, for the first time this season drivers seemed willing to go for it. Unfortunately Maldonado’s punt brought an end to an interesting 2-stop versus 3-stop battle, but boy did it spice things up!

    *usual complaint about DRS*

    In the end I gave it a 9/10, not the perfect 10/10 because I felt that the FOM tried really hard to make the strategy impossible to understand, with lack of tyre stops and complicated graphics and everything! But other than that, a truly sensational race, possibly the best since Canada ’11.

    1. @andae23 I felt DRS helped spice it up even further! The 2012 and 2013 races were also really good partly due to DRS, it allowed drivers to come back at one another and all sorts!

      1. @craig-o Meh. The racing just doesn’t need it, I mean, just look at that GP2 race from earlier today!

  138. 10/10. Absolutely mega. I will never forget the following 5 races:
    2011 Canadian Grand Prix
    2012 European Grand Prix
    2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
    2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
    2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

  139. 10/10 for me
    Action from start to finish
    Best race I’ve seen in years

  140. Brilliant race feel bad for Alonso and the McLaren drivers though

  141. 9/10, really a great race from start to finish. There were so many battles going on that I was sure we are missing something else by focusing on one battle.

  142. Ooof, easily and by far a 10 from me. I have seen races and I have seen battles, but not this many and this clean I might add. There were fights all the way down the grid, but the Hamilton-Rosberg one overshadowed them all. And it was especially fantastic to watch Williams and FI really driving the Ferrari’s and Red Bulls hard. Towards the end I thought I’d have a heart attack with the Ricciardo – Perez finish, and my hands were shaking for a good 10 minutes afterwords.

  143. I gave it a 10; perhaps there could have been even more fighting for the lead, but this is F1 and I think even having a dominant team that finally shows just how fast they are while fighting a battle between the two drivers for the lead, then behind that a great fight for all positions, is just about the best it can offer. And it didn’t even need the SC to be a great race, though that made it a stunner.

  144. 10 out of 10.

    Brilliant race. . Best I’ve seen in a long time!
    Lewis, what a racer!!
    This will definitely silence his detractors.

  145. Absolutely fantastic racing! 10/10!!!

    So much action and no team orders, all the teams fighting from wire to wire. If they’d just suspend Maldanado, I’d call this a perfect weekend.

  146. 9/10 Not a fan of the dirty from Hamilton that commentators thought to be “friendly”.
    Pushing someone off the track is not a valid defensive move. Also my heart broke when I saw Mercedes pulling away around 2.5 seconds per lap, that’s worse domination than we had in 2004.

    1. dirty driving*

      1. @mcquiz Huh every driver ahead was doing same thing if your on inside you run wide next turn. You just hurt Nico lost. Lol imagine Ham on softs do you think he would lose that race how manytimes did Nico overtake and outbrake himself.

    2. Agreed. Just imagine if there was another car fighting Lewis and Nico at the end

    3. @mcquiz There was no “dirty driving” from Hamilton at all – it was all completely legal and fair. The stewards didn’t get involved and they had no reason to.

  147. 9. It was one of the best races I’ve seen in a while.

    I would have given it a 10 if there was one more driver / team that could mix it up with the Mercs.

    But without a doubt the best race I’ve seen in a while. Really enjoyed it

  148. I gave a rate 9 for Bahrain race. That was the race , I was waiting for. As a Ferrari fan, that was not the performance I hoped for, but let’s hope that the squared will soon recover , and fight for better positions.

  149. 10!!
    Who was criticising F1 for being really boring, again? :P

  150. 8/10
    I discovered I like intra-team battles more than extra-team battles. It was great to see the Mercedes, Force India and Williams duos battling between each other, though the Safety Car (gladly) helped.

  151. Antonio (@antoniocorleone)
    6th April 2014, 19:40

    10/10
    We had everything in this race. Wheel to wheel racing, overtaking, mistakes, fight for the lead, different strategies… For God’s sake, we even had a car spinning in the air. What the heck can you ask for more.

  152. That’s a little piece of what F1 should be.

  153. 10/10 Incredible race all around with battles almost everywhere on the grid. I don’t think any team has a clear number 1 driver which should make these battles between teammates even more exciting. I just hope that the grid can catch up to Mercedes so we don’t have a 30 second gap between 2nd and 3rd every race.

  154. 9/10 from me. Would have been 10/10 but the FIA rules regarding how long the safety car stays out was the only (LONG) spanner in the works! Awesome race apart from that :)

  155. 10/10 great race and it just shows how much of a great driver Lewis is and that Hamilton is the better driver than Rosberg. good to see Chilton finish another race and finish in 13th giving them 10th in the constructors again.

  156. 8/10
    A better start would have made 9/10
    And other cars succesfully chasing the Mercs would have made it 10/10
    In fact, a Villeneuve vs Arnoux finish would hace made it 11/10…

    1. A better start for who?

      1. For everybody, except Massa.
        It was a emotionless start…

  157. I gave this race an 8 because there was too much worrying about Ham Ros battle at the end and it’s not good for my health )

  158. 9/10, if the Safety Car period had been 4-5 laps shorter it could had been a 10/10. :D

  159. 10/10! It felt so wonderful to watch a grand prix that had my heart racing again, it’s been over year since I’ve felt that!

    I wouldn’t even mind if Merc won every race by over a minute, so long as we see Lewis and Nico racing like that!

  160. Just watched the recorded race, the detractors are right, F1 is really boring, no overtaking, the leader way out in front unchallenged, oops, sorry I watched the wrong recording that was one of last years races.

  161. 7… OK an 8 just. Would have been a touch better if the safety car hadn’t been out for so long. To be fair I missed the 1st 15 – 20 laps so that is always going to give me a different view point and the fact I can’t see them (the first laps) on the BBC until 10pm means I rating on what I saw. Great race though, best of the year by far. Not a 10 though, I’ve only ever graded Spa and Brazil a 10 (I think).

  162. I reckon this race will probably get an average rating of 9.1 which will make it the 3rd highest rated race on F1F

  163. As good as it gets boys! Wonder what all the naysayers of the 2014 formula have to say now…most proper and least predictable (save for the Mercedes domination) grand prix in years. 10/10

  164. Matthew McMahon
    6th April 2014, 21:34

    900th Grand Prix and if I could I’d give it 900/10. Amazing race!

  165. i have a problem. i voted 9/10, simply because i rated the last two races higher than what the majority said. however, the majority here said 10/10. looking back at it, i should’ve voted that too.

    so yes, what a race that was! absolutely fantastic to watch!

  166. 10\10
    Perfect race, one of the best in past couple of years.
    And the season is so far perfect! I’m glad it’s not loud anymore, I couldn’t stand that noise engines used to make. (I’m risking your wrath here, but what the hell).

  167. How weird, last year the highest rated race was here in Bahrain, might be the same once again?
    Hope not, because then we’d have an even better race than this one, and this was great! Lauda said this was the best he’s ever seen, he might be right, it was an epic.

  168. 9/10. The best race in F1; for a very long time! A few points though –

    – If anyone is still in doubt, Lewis is silencing his critics and cementing his reputation as one of the best racers in F1.

    – His best performances always seem to come at a time when F1 most needs a boost – as he did when he single highhandedly silenced the “no overtaking in F1” criticism in 2010; earning plaudits from Norbert Haug and Ross Brawn at the time.

    – Though absolutely great for the show, the “no team orders” at Mercedes will end in tears eventually for one or both drivers; sooner or later. This is a risk they can probably take.

    – This race runs the risk of making the FIA consider introducing a random Safety Car rule in order to “spice” up the show. It’s not like there’s no precedent. This is what led to the advent of the “cheese” Pirelli tyres.

    – And finally, the race showed that tyre behavior is still a lottery; as it has been the past 4 yrs. Even Pirelli had no idea the difference between the Options and Prime would change so drastically!

  169. That was excellent. Lots of really good racing, Mercedes guys racing each other, Red Bulls racing each other, Force India very competitive too. That was pretty outstanding, 9/10. Saving that 10/10 for a last lap pass (ex. Canadian GP 2011). Still a very enjoyable race. Looking forward to China!

  170. best race i’ve watched in a long time. its funny though most races that are exciting Hanilton always stars in them

  171. 10. A loud Thank You to the teams for keeping team-orders to an absolute minimum. They seem to have learned the lesson, and despite the nail biting moments for them, when their drivers battle it out against each other, they let us enjoy the show and the drivers get to compete fairly. The absence of TO, the new formula of F1 and the SC provided us with a race to talk about for years to come. Just feel sorry for those teams who ended this epic race with a double DNF. I look forward to learn if any drivers or teams needed to back off due to fuel consumption issues and the DRS also seemed to be well tuned for this race. If only I had had many multiple camera angles and screens to follow it all.

  172. An epic race 10/10

  173. Where are those guys who have watched F1 for 25 odd years and are not going to watch any GPs?

    1. They missed it!

  174. I think people are getting slightly carried away with the rating, probably (and understandably so) because it’s been so long since we’ve had any real battle for the lead and such brilliant drama up and down the field.

    But it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten how good F1 can really get.

    This was a Grand Prix jam-packed with action, tension, drama from start to finish. Team mates flouting the pleas of their superiors, two different approaches to strategy that kept us guessing throughout the race’s entirety, and a spectacular crash that hopefully sends a message to the FIA that changing the shape of the noses won’t deny us fans the occasional amazing sight of a flying/flipping/barrel-rolling car. You can’t ask for much more.

    But was it as good as Brazil 2012? Not quite. Plenty of on-track drama, but it lacked that extra spice – a championship wasn’t at stake, and final-race showdowns will always have that added bit of tension (or at least they did before they messed with the points).

    Was it as good as Canada 2011? Nowhere near. That is the definition of a race that had pretty much everything you could ask for.

    A 10/10 race is one where you get a special feeling inside, one that tells you that you’ve just watched something very special. Think long and hard, did you get that feeling as Hamilton crossed the line? If the answer is yes, you need to go and watch one of the two aforementioned races. If not, it’s because this race was a very good 9/10. Excellent Grand Prix, but to make it a 10 it needs something truly sensational – a driver coming back from nowhere, for example.

    1. Yes I know Riccardo and others were way back on the grid, but I mean in the context of something like Vettel in Brazil 2012: his championship charge seemed in tatters and he produced an amazing drive to turn it around. Button had dropped back to last in Canada and then somehow won from there.

    2. @jonny705 I completely agree. And I got this feeling when I watched the 2011 Canadian GP as Button crossed the line, that was the best GP in recent memory. 2012 Brazil was also a great race but not as good as 2011 Canada or 2008 Brazil, it was also ruined by a Vettel championship win.

      But yes, after a boring as crap 2013, we had forgotten what kind of a GP F1 could actually produce.

    3. Yours is not to decide what is 10/10 for other people, after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder… Let’s just all agree that it was a cracking-good race!

  175. The race was very exciting, i like it.

  176. Fantastic race .Bit disappointed as a Williams fan but just think where the team was last year I suppose. Can’t help feeling the team need to progress quickly whilst they have
    Slight engine advantage.

  177. 9/10. I hope this in-team fight between Ham and Nico continue.

  178. Great race, best a Grand Prix in a while. Did anybody notice the engines. I didn’t during the race but I did at the start. Shame for McLaren, Ferrari and Williams,missed chances. Pleased for FI.

  179. 8 – maybe a little harsh, it was very good and I think I’ve almost got over the lack of noise. For me 10 should be reserved for the exceptional, Britain 2008, Canada 2011 for example but it was very good and it was Bahrain!

  180. One of the most thrilling races we’ve seen. This was a 90s race. Häkkinen vs Shumacher vs Coulthard vs Villeneuve scenario.
    I almost could not watch the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg, I feared they soon would crash into each other. But no. They kept it absolutely on the edge, very professional!!

  181. Wow. Just wow!

  182. 10, we’d be lucky to see a better race this season.

  183. 10/10 can’t ask anymore from a Grand Prix than what we saw today. And thank you Paddy Lowe and Mercedes for allowing your boys to race. What a treat!

  184. Stephen Higgins
    6th April 2014, 23:40

    Dear Bernie and Luca.

    Shut up and retire.

  185. I think we should all vote 10 just so Bernie doesn’t have another excuse to go “spice up the show”. (as if he ever checks fan sites, ha!)

    Seriously though, what an awesome race. I got handicapped a bit by only watching the BBC highlights, so missed a lot of the mid race battle between the Force Indias and Williams’. But even though the two i was rooting for, Bottas and Rosberg, ultimately lost out, I have to admit it was amazing to watch.

    What an advantage the Mercedes have though, first time we’ve seen the full potential – 2 seconds plus while trading places between corners! As long as nico and lewis are as evenly matched throughout the season, could be an epic for the WDC (but not the WCC it would seem).

  186. Well. We went to a wedding today (yes, the pink kind) and when we got home I plonked myself in front of the last half of the Grand Prix while he brought me tea and toast. And what a Grand Prix! I’ve just watched the BBC replay and I still gripped the sofa in excitement. That race was the perfect riposte to all critics of the new formula and to Luca in particular. This wasn’t ‘taxi’ racing, this was pure ‘balls out’ racing between engine manufacturers, teams and team-mates – excellent stuff and long may it continue!
    I have real enthusiasm for the quality of the next generation of F1 drivers; Magnusson, Kvyatt, Ricciardo and Bottas all look like the real deal. Shame about Maldonado, though.

  187. Fantastic race. Loads of wheel to wheel action. What made it better was that I wasnt expecting it. Didnt seem to be much of the old team orders being played out either. Dont think Rosberg was to much of a happy bunny with coming second! Cant wait to see what Lewis and Nico get up to in the next race!

  188. Epic race. Probably the best dry race since China 2011 and just when F1 needed it most. In my opinion an 8 is a race with action throughout with tension at the start, middle and end. A nine is the same but everything is just a bit better, more action, more strategy, more surprises. A 10 is a nine that’s even better and has some sort of heroic that will stay with you for years, Canada 2011, Brazil 2012 just to name some recent examples. And this race joins that list, jaw dropping overtakes, a huge spectacular crash where no one got hurt, split strategies and a brilliant heroic drive from Lewis Hamilton. When he crossed the line I through my hat up in celebration (despite it being a Mclaren one ;) ). I’m sure anyone who understood the tyre difference would think Nico would be flying past him, but instead we watched a Kart race at 200mph. Coupled with Perez’s return to the podium and Ricciardo’s superb drive this has been one of the best races in a long time.

  189. What an absolute amazing race, there was never one lap on which I wasn’t at the edge of my seat. We had everything from DNFs, to safety cars, and most important, with all the good, actually excellent fights I actually had forgotten about the new power units, and the noise controversy. I think it is easy to sometimes forget that Formula 1 is an evolution, here is for bumpy but actually not bad start at all. Looking forward for more exciting races, whilst being cautions about the second half of the season. I have my list of favorite drivers, and none of them did well today, however, that won’t take away from what an excellent race it was, those Ferrari die hard fans, of fheeps, should really take their time to get past the fact Ferrari isn’t doing good, and not rate race based on where they end.

  190. As much as I dislike the new regulations, that was a good race. I gave it an 8/10. I thought the end was helped by the SC though. It packed the field tighter which made the ending more climactic.

  191. I look at it this way the FIA introduced these new rules to cut spending but if you look into it Mercedes have spent a awful lot of money on the new engine. Formula 1 is no longer exciting anymore if we keep seeing Mercedes dominate this season and the next what would these new engines have achieved. On this site a lot of people are giving the race a 10 but I am confused as to why they would. After 10 laps at the start of the race Mercedes where way out front to me that is not exciting racing at all. They had this lead all the way up to the safety car, where after that they pulled out a 20 second gap in another 10 laps. Yes there where some great battles behind but still there where just 2 drivers from the same team battling at the front. For me that is not entertaining motor racing.

  192. Easy 10/10
    Loved everything about this race

  193. I’m an Alonso/Ferrari fan and that race was a 10/10. Most exciting in years. It was about the performance differences between teams, thats why teammates were together and we don’t get THAT many intrateam battles in a single race… EVER. Super fun to watch and can’t believe Nico couldn’t get passed and keep position despite being on softs. Thats why Hamilton will take WDC this year, hes simply better.

    With a safety car near the end, gaps closed down and a 10-lap sprint to the end, the Merc drivers still finished 24+ seconds ahead of everyone WHILE battling eachother. Yes, everyone else was battling too but it shows Merc’s supremacy.

  194. 3 would be a good rate for this sad spectacle they called a race today. Not sure how 47% of you guys say the race was good ? It was because LH won ? I don’t get it. This is the best of the 3 races this year but wow what an awful “race”. Everybody struggling from the start, watching % of fuel consumed ? are you kidding me ? now even with drs they can’t pass, one team doing 2secs faster laps than the others ? cars flying cause the new noses are like a level to pull up cars from the road ? first lap message to Rosberg was to save fuel ? wow, if you thought Pirrelli’s last years fiasco was awful, this new year is the WORST year in F1 history no doubt about it.

    1. Oh dear… I almost feel for you, you seem so sad.

    2. first lap message to Rosberg was to watch the tire use as they were planning to go longer than Lewis. It almost worked as he had better tires at the end of the stint.

      Lewis got told twice during the race that he was good on fuel and to use the ‘overtake’ when needed. Rosberg was given similar messages.

      The noses weren’t at fault for the barrel role – that was caused by tire to tire and Maldanado being blind. There was racing up and down the field. Who cares if its two teammates fighting for the win. For the last five years we have had one car way out in front on his own. At least now we have 2 evenly matched drivers being allowed to race hard while there is nothing in the battle behind them. The tires worked great as they went off enough that 3 stops became attractive but not obviously the best. Fuel wasn’t an issue. DRS was the best it has ever been, allowing the pack to stay close to together and we finally got to see just how much pace the Merc’s actually have.

      Incredible race. If you moan about that, then go and watch a different sport cause this was one of the best races I have seen in years.

    3. Is that you Mr di Montezemolo?

  195. Let’s hope, the guys didn’t used up all the mojo that was available for this year. Btw, I think the stewards could’ve punished LH and Massa for their not too fair moves but that would have hurt Nico’s reputation.

  196. Unbelievable race, teammates fighting it out, Force India and Williams racing at the front, last minute nail bitter, best race in memory (maybe I have a short memory)!

    10/10

  197. Gave it 1/10! Watching Ferrari drivers struggling with what is the absolutely worst Ferrari car I can remember was a pain to watch!

    1. Haven’t you read the taxt above ?
      “Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.”

      How could you rate that race 1/10 ???

      1. Yes I know the rules but for me f1 without Ferrari isn’t exciting!

        1. At least we know to remove the votes for ‘1’ before we calculate the average then.

          1. I don’t understand why you should do that. Think what you may about my reasoning behind my voting but I am still a viewer and a very loyal f1 fan. Each and every one wants to see something, you ‘d be gravely mistaken if you think I only watch f1 to see my favorite team win. I want to see Ferrari fight even when it gets beaten by more skilled opponents I want to see retire because of a huge effort! I didn’t enjoy 2002 or 2004 but it sure as anything it was better than 2013 or 1992 or 2014 looks to be.

  198. money (@carlos-danger)
    7th April 2014, 8:20

    what a race

  199. 9/10 Almost perfect race with great fights everywhere on the field. The race for the lead was outstanding.

    Why not perfect ? Because Mercedes, despite giving us a wonderful show, was waaaay in front of the other teams. But if the Hamilton/Rosberg fight goes on like this on every race, I’m happy !

    1. Nevertheless, don’t forget that F1 2014 racing is still (and sadly) about fuel&tyre management. Drivers were told on radio to save fuel, like in the first 2 races. They were not able to push to the limit during the entire race, even if they pushed more than in Australia & Malaysia.

      So maybe what we saw in Bahrain was exceptionnal, due to race circumstances/track configuration.

  200. Vince Duggan (@vince-dugganvirginactive-co-za)
    7th April 2014, 10:06

    Lessons to be learned from the best race for several seasons:

    Races are good when there is a lot of competition. Most of the competition in this race was between teammates, because their cars where closely matched. There were also some nice midfield dices between closely matched cars like Force In dia, Ferrari and Williams.

    The lesson is to get a lot of teams able to produce similarly matched cars, so that up to ten different cars could win on the day.

    How to do that? Reduce the cost of producing a competitive car. You do that not by putting unenforcable cost caps, but by reducing what designers can do. They spend a fortune on getting the last 0.01% of aero performance. Just reduce the complexity allowed, by having simpler wings, underbody aero etc, then freeze development after (say) 5 races. Chassis and suspension etc can be done as well. Then it comes down to power of the engine. That’s already frozen, but should perhaps only be frozen after (say) one full season, and then kept for 2 more. Allow certain upgrades at the end of each season to allow for proper R&D (which is what we want anyway, R&D that can be transferred to road cars)

    If this means that GP2 catches up, then do similar things in that class, and so on down…

  201. Awesome race, full of tension, drama and amazing racing throughout. Not the ratings page I know but I’ve given it a 9

    In the context of a divisive new formula with all the impact on engine sounds, new aero rules and car aesthetics, fuel saving, reliability and tyres not up to the increased torque demands, it was a wonderful riposte from Formula 1 to Bernie, LDM and the other bashers and right under their (ugly) noses too.

    Yesterday we had a dry race at a hitherto boring track where the tyres were both able to withstand punishment and the compounds were close enough to make alternative strategies workable. Fuel saving didn’t appear to be too much of an issue either, though no doubt the safety car helped with both tyres and fuel. Nor was there a reliability disaster with cars dropping out left right and centre. And, finally, we seem to have a DRS which gets cars alongside one another at the braking point so that the move isn’t over halfway along the pit straight.

    This is different to 2011-2013 – while we have one team which is undeniably stronger than the rest, we seem to have two drivers who are relatively evenly matched and who are allowed to race. No Mulit-21 here. At the moment, Rosberg is leading and on the pace, though I think Hamilton is the more complete racer. In previous years how many times was Mark Webber anonymous in races where Vettel ran away with it? This reminds me more of Prost v Senna in 89 or Hill v Villeneuve in 1996 than Schumi in 2000-2004 or Vettel in 2011.

    Why not a 10? Probably being really stingy but the only things lacking (and possibly ominous) for me were a driver from another team being able to compete with the two Mercs and the fact that the final 10 laps were made all the more dramatic because of the safety car. For me an ideal race would be one with close racing throughout that wasn’t dependent on a random event (Singapore ’08 aside) like a safety car or rain. What the safety car did mean was that the Mercs went hammer and tongs at each other for ten laps without having to worry about fuel or tyres too much. And when they were freed from those constraints, I am still shocked at how quick they were. All the more credit goes to Mercedes then for letting them race.

    My only hope is that we have more races like this, at least one other team catches up in Europe and that the titles are sewn up by Brazil so we don’t have either Rosberg or Hamilton lucking into a WDC because of the double points rule.

  202. 9/10. Great race, lots if excitement, no team orders and at night. However, one great race doesn’t fix the current issues. The first two races were the most boring i’ve seen in a long time. Hopefully the rest of the season will be as great at Bahrain and then the critics, myself included, will shut up and enjoy the racing.

  203. Fantastic race although it is questionable as to whether the safety car should have been deployed.

  204. 8 out of 10, may be deserve 9 but Pastor did something stupid and FIA needs to LOOK in it.

    If this Race don’t make you FEEL alive then nothing on EARTH will

  205. What a race, I gave it a 9.

    I only saw the BBC highlights show and it is never the same if I don’t see the full race live, I never enjoy it as much, but I still thought it was still one of the best races for ages.

    After the opening two Grand Prix my expectations were not that high, but as the race went I kept increasing the rating I would give the race, when it finished I probably would have given it a 8.5 rounded up to a 9 but having given it some more thought and factored in the fact I didn’t see the race in full I changed this to a 9 outright.

    I shows all the people complaining about the new regulations after the first two were a bit premature.

  206. 10/10 for racing, but gave it 8/10 because it was in Bahrain. Politics aside, there isn’t the interest there for F1 and that was very apparent in the half-empty stands. You can hear the crowds this year and in any traditional F1 country they would have been deafening with action like that!

  207. I gave it 8. 4 for the first 46 laps, 3 for the final 10 and an extra point because this was just about the only interesting race the track formerly known as ‘Bore-rain’ has ever produced.

  208. 9. If there was another team mixing it up with the Mercedes at the front then I would have given it a 10. Great race though!

  209. 9/10.

    Yes, you won’t agree with me, but while we see such a fierce battle at the closing stages of a race, it’s not everyday that it’s for 1st place at the end of an already action-packed race.

    Yes, the safety car did its job, but the timing was rather close to perfect, if not perfect.

    Still, I think processional races still have their place, it’s one of those things that makes great races great.

    1. but while we see such a fierce battle at the closing stages of a race *pretty much every other weekend or two

  210. Awesome race but only after the SC restart.
    8/10.

  211. With this kind of technology, you can easily control everything on your screen with a simple tap or flick.
    Cyber Monday allows you to have all the opportunities from gadgets to shoes, from bags to
    furniture all of it is presented so you could
    get your hands on everything you want. Coupon has been used
    not only as a means to lure customers to patronize old products; it is also now often used as promotional offers for new commodities and services.

Comments are closed.