| Row 1 | 1. Lewis Hamilton 1’29.493 Mercedes | |
| 2. Nico Rosberg 1’29.570 Mercedes | ||
| Row 2 | 3. Sebastian Vettel 1’30.012 Ferrari | |
| 4. Kimi Raikkonen 1’30.244 Ferrari | ||
| Row 3 | 5. Daniel Ricciardo 1’30.854 Red Bull | |
| 6. Valtteri Bottas 1’31.153 Williams | ||
| Row 4 | 7. Felipe Massa 1’31.155 Williams | |
| 8. Nico Hulkenberg 1’31.620 Force India | ||
| Row 5 | 9. Romain Grosjean 1’31.756 Haas | |
| 10. Max Verstappen 1’31.772 Toro Rosso | ||
| Row 6 | 11. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’31.816 Toro Rosso | |
| 12. Stoffel Vandoorne 1’31.934 McLaren | ||
| Row 7 | 13. Esteban Gutierrez 1’31.945 Haas | |
| 14. Jenson Button 1’31.998 McLaren | ||
| Row 8 | 15. Daniil Kvyat 1’32.241 Red Bull | |
| 16. Pascal Wehrlein 1’32.806 Manor | ||
| Row 9 | 17. Marcus Ericsson 1’32.840 Sauber | |
| 18. Sergio Perez 1’32.911 Force India | ||
| Row 10 | 19. Jolyon Palmer 1’33.438 Renault | |
| 20. Rio Haryanto 1’34.190 Manor | ||
| Row 11 | 21. Felipe Nasr 1’34.388 Sauber | |
| 22. Kevin Magnussen* 1’33.181 Renault |
*Will start from the pits after failing to stop at the weigh bridge
2016 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Haas mechanic credited for saving Grosjean’s race
- Grosjean takes back-to-back Driver of the Weekend wins
- Another decent race despite qualifying gloom
- 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
Malik (@)
2nd April 2016, 17:01
Unexpected !
Stig Semper Fi (@stigsemperfi)
2nd April 2016, 17:01
I thought they were gonna change Q3 to the way it used to be. Did I miss something?
Strontium (@strontium)
2nd April 2016, 17:04
@stigsemperfi I’m afraid you did, they had the option of that or keep the Australia system and teams said it was all (revert) or nothing (stay the same), so sadly it was nothing.
On reflection maybe that was a mistake. That was pathetically bad.
Politics
2nd April 2016, 18:13
@strontium
I don’t think it was. They had to prove a point. If they’d just folded to the silly non-choice they were given, they would’ve given up what little power they have. There’s a reason why Don Bernie has been seen running around, throwing his hands in the air and screaming “windbags!” and “pawns!” – because that’s precisely what he wants the teams and drivers to be. But this time, they deliberately voted for the worst option instead of the somewhat less bad one, because they weren’t given a good option. The mechanism that lead to this decision is very similar to going on strike. It’s a way of stating “Without us, you are nothing”, when you are treated like not much more than nothing.
Of course, this is a bad thing, from a short-term perspective. Quali was horrible. Again. And if Hülkenberg and the Williamses hadn’t acted somewhat irrationally in Q2, it would’ve become even more painful.
But the teams’ vote could prove essential to a significant improvement in the long run.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
2nd April 2016, 17:01
This is the first time since god knows when the leading Mercedes driver (after the first run in Q3) is not on pole position.
Likewise, Hamilton’s time is the fastest ever around Bahrain. Faster than Webber’s 1’29.527 in FP4 of 2005.
F1 performance (@patent)
2nd April 2016, 17:19
Yes, they are very fast (maybe the fastest ever) in 1 lap and it is awesome. But they are much more slower during races against 2004-2005 partly beacuse of the 100kg/race fuel limit and the tyres. It is sure we don’t need more aero downforce. We need only better tyres (wider and more durable) and more powerful and effective PUs (natural development without token system) and maybe we don’t need the 100kg/race fuel limit.
Push on the limit as long as possible, and save as short as possible.
DaveD (@daved)
2nd April 2016, 17:33
@patent
You #nailedit. That is exactly what needs to be done: wider tyres, less downforce, engine development without the silly token systems. And I don’t see any point to the fuel limits now. The cars are so efficient that they wouldn’t not load up with lots of extra fuel anyway as the extra weight would be a disadvantage.
Alex McFarlane
2nd April 2016, 18:00
If the 2004 cars had had to carry enough fuel to last the race they might have been a few seconds slower themselves.
Apart from the sound, and how much they cost, these engines are probably the best part of these new cars. They’re hugely powerful, and very torquey making them more of a challenge to drive than the NA engines, which is something many of us wanted.
Re-fuelling
2nd April 2016, 18:19
Fuel loads are what changed the most between 2004 and 2016. Without re-fuelling, race cars are sluggish to drive and tend to kill their tyres if not handled with much care. The 100 kilo limit even helps to mitigate this fact. But re-fuelling has a bit of an image problem among fans, even though I doubt that it’s been thought through 100%.
Strontium (@strontium)
2nd April 2016, 17:02
Well that was rubbish.
Did I not see Lewis Hamilton reversing in the pit lane at the end then?
AceAce
2nd April 2016, 17:03
Fernando will probably start singing the shep song after watching the kid dynamite fly and outdo Button. I’m with Martin Brundle I don’t think Nando wants to race anymore.
Herbert, not Brundle
2nd April 2016, 18:25
Herbert’s comments were a shame and obviously driven by personal antipathy rather than sense.
On the other hand, Button does have a bit of a problem now. So far it’s Button-Alonso 0:1 and Button-Vandoorne 0:1
(AceAce)Brundle, not Herbert
3rd April 2016, 15:59
I was speaking on Martin Brundle tweet.
RP (@slotopen)
3rd April 2016, 0:11
What’s the difference between But and Van? 0:1 sec
What’s the difference between Alonso and Van? ~30 million
x303 (@x303)
2nd April 2016, 17:03
And Manor outqualifies Sauber…
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
2nd April 2016, 17:04
F1 might like standing on its own tail, but there remains a single indisputable fact: our world champion is a bit special.
Dom (@3dom)
2nd April 2016, 23:36
Agreed @william-brierty . That lap was fantastic. When the guy across the garage thinks he did everything right and you still beat him after struggling all weekend, you know it’s special. Delivered when it mattered
Lumi
2nd April 2016, 17:04
That was a MEGA lap from Lewis. MEGA LAP!
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
2nd April 2016, 17:06
+0.077 to Rosberg. Not much.
Strontium (@strontium)
2nd April 2016, 17:58
I do think it’s a shame that Nico will go undoubtedly relatively unnoticed for his efforts when he was so close.
rantingmrp (@rantingmrp)
2nd April 2016, 22:05
It is, a bit, when you consider that Lewis has not had a good weekend until quali, with Nico consistently faster – by 0.505 in FP1, 0.241 in FP2, that bad run in Q3, etc.
That he broke the lap record tells you he really got it all together on that lap.
Alex McFarlane
2nd April 2016, 17:05
Well, that was dull. With the midfield looking really tight this year there could have been some exciting action under the old system.
Nice to see Ferrari will keep Merc honest this season. Great lap from Lewis but shame that with 2 minutes to go nobody had a chance to try and top it.
ForzaAlanRabbit (@jojobudgie)
2nd April 2016, 17:08
Seriously what was wrong with old qualifying. Disappointing.
Notable mention to Hamilton’s pole lap.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
2nd April 2016, 17:13
I thought both Q1 & Q2 were worse than they were in Melbourne. Was less track action Less tension/excitement & the segments were both over early again with more drivers eliminated sitting in the pits or while on slow in laps.
Q3 was better because Ferrari did a 2nd run but ultimately it still wasn’t as good as under the old format where more often than not you would have the top 10 all out the end & we still had the positions decided with 3 minutes still to go.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
2nd April 2016, 17:13
In all fairness it was less catastrophic than in Australia. The tension was more palpable at the end of Q3 but it was due to Lewis’ error in his first run.
But in the end it is the same predictable result at the front. Altough the aim for the new format was to shuffle the grid at the front, this is the second time it fails miserably in that matter.
I hope but doubt that they’ll learn that lesson at the qualifications meeting tomorrow.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
2nd April 2016, 17:37
This qualifying if anything showed that a Q3 single-lap shoot-out would have a more desired effect of mixing things up in the front, while still being a skill based competition unlike a ridiculous ballast or ballot.
Put Q1 and Q2 back to previous regs, they always had amazing crescendos with action throughout the sessions. Just change Q3 which sometimes would end in everyone sitting in their garage anyway to a single lap shoot-out which punishes every single mistake and really piles on the pressure that Hamilton succumbed to in his first lap.
I really hope this doesn’t get solved amicably to be honest and turns out to be the straw that broke the camels back in terms of ousting Ecclestone. I’d truly love for this issue to get gridlocked until the fans, media, teams and drivers completely unite against him. The media already seems to be on the attack, and he arched his back up heavily against the drivers and teams both this weekend already. A few more races of this farce and there’s going to be fireworks.
miki
2nd April 2016, 17:20
Is this W07 car is most balanced car of the era. of 2006 – 2016 ?
Watching it so balanced makes me think would it beats the F2004 or F2002
Wil-Liam (@wil-liam)
2nd April 2016, 18:16
I think the w07 will beat the f2004 and f2002 in quali but will be smashed in race mode @keithcollantine? What do you think
Dom (@3dom)
2nd April 2016, 23:42
@wil-liam only reason it’d get smashed in the race would be due to changes in tyres and no refuelling in this era. with same tyres and fuel loads there would be serious competition
LATG
2nd April 2016, 17:20
It just doesn’t work. In Q3 we could have seen Williams and red bull duel if we had last year’s format but that’s missing. The car performance in top 8 is not as close as the midfield behind and the elimination order is largely fixed by relative car performance.
Further down we still have to spend 3 minutes watching drivers get weighted rather than posing an improved lap time on track. That definitely spices up the qualifying
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
2nd April 2016, 17:20
Lewis had us fooled all along. Well, he had me fooled anyway.
Sviatoslav (@)
2nd April 2016, 17:21
I see the only thing: McLaren fails to deliver for the second year in a row, because even the new team with mediocre drivers can go faster.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
2nd April 2016, 17:36
Are you talking about Haas? They are a very promising team, and Grosjean is a very good driver.
Sviatoslav (@)
2nd April 2016, 20:43
Everyone just loves to tell that Grosjean is great and blah-blah-blah. I never liked him, because he was slow, he then was slower than (even) Kimi, and he almost killed Alonso (Spa-2012)? and he has had more crushes then Alonso+Webber both. I would love to see him go.
As for the team itself…well, when the team principal tells they aren’t ready for racing, but then they achieve first points in the first race and now they get better results on a single lap than McLaren….you do start to understand that McLaren-Honda is a bad combination.
evered7 (@evered7)
2nd April 2016, 17:29
Where did that McLaren pace of yesterday go?
Two things: Hoping for a better race than the qualifying and hoping this is the last we see of this qualifying.
Seems like Mercs, RB improved by 3s from last year. Ferrari might have too but for Vettel’s mistake. Williams by 2.2.
ia
2nd April 2016, 17:40
Funny that “best F1 driver” Jenson Button got schooled by an hardly prepared rookie.
Strontium (@strontium)
2nd April 2016, 18:04
There are many drivers who are considered best F1 driver but I think most people would say button isn’t quite at the very top. As for getting schooled, it was incredibly close, I wouldn’t describe that as having “got schooled”.
Furthermore I imagine he had a fair amount of preparation in the simulator, unlike replacement drivers at poorer teams.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
2nd April 2016, 17:43
I vote for the ballot. Let’s just have the drivers get up there and vote for who they want to be on pole with a microphone, or pull drivers names out of a hat. Make it perfectly clear to everyone watching at home that Ecclestone is the mastermind of that idea. Blast it in the media entirely, have everyone switch off, and then we’ll finally be done with the old gremlin.
Sviatoslav (@)
2nd April 2016, 20:45
Stop here, please, I am sure there will be people who will actually like it.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
2nd April 2016, 17:47
Well that was even worse than Melbourne.
Q1 and Q2 were awful – the only highlight was a Manor getting to 16th
The stuff up at the start of Q2 – at least 90 seconds “lost” because of a system breakdown and they couldn’t even stop the clock? Love to know if it compromised anybody’s attempt to get a second lap in.
Was just fantastic watching no action for the final minutes of each session. I think this is the only motor racing qualifying format I know where the result is known and the cars have finished running before the end of the session.
Ridiculous – surely it will be thrown out for China. Oh wait…. It’s F1!
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
2nd April 2016, 17:54
Can somebody explain to me why Hamilton was allowed to keep his first lap time? He clearly went with all four wheels outside the white line and must’ve gained an advantage as he also set the fastest sector time at that moment. His laptime should have been disallowed meaning he would have been eliminated first.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
2nd April 2016, 18:02
That’s interesting. I think it’s a stretch to say he gained an advantage from it just because he did a fastest sector. They said when they were looking at a replay of it after qualifying on the big screen that he lost 4 tenths in that corner alone, so it was probably an immense lap otherwise.
evered7 (@evered7)
2nd April 2016, 18:17
Well, if they are truly into punishing drivers for their mistakes, it should have been discounted. If all 4 wheels are not on track, the lap doesn’t count. Simple.
Archit (@architjain07)
2nd April 2016, 20:49
Every track, the stewards decide for the corners, if by going all four off will gain or lose time for the drivers and that way they penalize drivers! Like the section between last two turns at Austria! They deem here that if you go off the track, you will only lose time and hence they don’t penalize as the driver is not gaining any advantage!
evered7 (@evered7)
2nd April 2016, 21:39
There in lies the issue. Why not have one rule for all tracks? Sure, the lap times won’t be as fast since the drivers will have to slow down and cannot carry the same speed. But at least it will be an easier rule to implement.
Dom (@3dom)
2nd April 2016, 23:49
“They said when they were looking at a replay of it after qualifying on the big screen that he lost 4 tenths in that corner alone, ”
@xtwl @skipgamer @evered7
He ran wide by mistake, it lost him time, no advantage gained, so no penalty
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
3rd April 2016, 9:12
@3dom I did not have live timing and started off with the info he had set the fastest third sector at that time as shown on TV. This must have been his sector from Q2 though. Either way I still agree with @evered7 that it could be much simpler by just saying drivers have to stay within the white lines with at least two wheels…