Alt+F1: 41 - Bahrain GP 2015

Sebastian please save us from the Mercedes devils.

Yay! Vrooooom...

Pastor Malfinishedaracedo!

Why is there a picture of Carl Sagan

I too would also like to know...

@athadam: why not?

In the first 2 minutes they talk about the revolution of the Earth and cosmology on a weird tangent ("Bahrain isn't moving, we're moving")? I haven't listened to all of it.

Kimmiiiii

Actually watched this race live, it was on at 10:30am eastern on NBCSN

Every time Carl Sagan comes up, I end up thinking of this.

@bushlemon: Finns are not huggers.

Maldonado started several places behind where Massa would have been, the mistake he made was far more hilarious than described. For some reason he stopped the car like a meter before the 18th slot, when he was supposed to start in 16th. So he gave himself a 2 place (and a bit) penalty and then got penalized for it! I was laughing so hard.

@hammondoftexas: I know right! I finally didn't have to fight to stay up till 2AM just to fall sleep. (I don't have DVR) I thought it was a pretty good race and I was really hoping Ferrari would take it to Mercedes. While they didn't catch Hamilton (To bad his brakes didn't fault on the second to last lap instead of right near the end.) this time it seems like it at least won't be a runaway for Mercedes this year.

I don't understand why they have trouble believing Alonso unlapped himself. Surely this occurs in other motorsports where your faster than the leader at that point in the race,so you get back onto the lead lap.

This race was great fun.

Alonso did pass Räikkönen, because his primes were dead on those last 2 laps. He was loosing 2 second per lap to the top 3.

As for 08 being Räikkönens last podium, remember that he was on Lotus for 2 years and even won race on both of those 2012 and 2013 seasons.

I thought the Sagan picture was because of Drew's awesome comment about studying if Pastor has a different gravitational pull.

Kiiiimmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

One analysis I read said that had Ferrari called Kimi in when his tires started going instead of leaving him out those 2 laps (the BBC guys seemed puzzled as to why they were leaving him out when it was obvious he was fighting with the tires), there was a good chance he could have won the entire race.

@ben_h: Absolutely. He would have not only get those lost 4 seconds back, but also get more laps to catch up Hamilton at the end. 1 minute more of racing would have probably been enough, with Hamiltons brake by wire system being broken.

At the same time when those primes go, they go almost instantly. So can't really blame Ferrari playing it safe there, even if the overall tactic was adventurous.

Meat Racing

Just Maldonado doing Maldonado things.

automatically my favorite podcast thumbnail ever <3

Bahrain is becoming my favorite track. I love the night race and the track looks great at night.

@dannyodwyer@drewbert Alonso unlapping himself, Kimi wasn't happy

Onboard Alonso:

@hassun: That was.... AWESOME

So @dannyodwyer and @drewbert - the question about weighing drivers reminded me of one of the best examples of a team cheating in F1 history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrell_Racing#1984_controversy

Here's the essential part of it...

It had been observed in races that, after Tyrrell's final pit stop, lead shot could be seen escaping from the top of the car. It turned out that Tyrrell were running the car underweight during the race then, in the closing stages, topping up water injection supply tanks with an additional 2 gallons of water mixed with 140 lb of lead shot to ensure it made the weight limit. As this was pumped in under significant pressure, some escaped through the tank vent and rained down on neighbouring pits, in sufficient quantities for other teams to sweep the shot away before their drivers pitted.

Tyrrell (who won world championships with Jackie Stewart in the 1970s) were banned for the 1984 season. There were other politics at play but it's a fascinating example of getting around the weight limits for cars.

@songhunter: WOOP

@t_wester: any ideas what kimi is saying during that moment?

Drew you gotta keep track of the pitstops!

You constantly have notes about "wow this guy has gained 14 places!" when he is lets say one of three cars that hasnt pitted. When he then pits 2 laps later you dont have a note of him suddenly loosing 12 places :)

Also no love for Ericsson which gained like 5 places in the first lap ;)

Wow. I expected more from you guys. What I got was complete ignorance.

Jeff Gerstmann is just Dr. Tracksuit's manager. Nothing more, nothing less.

@dannyodwyer and @drewbert, the Titanium "skid blocks" are not just there to give off the sweet sparks, although that would be a good enough reason on it's own!

There are a set of systems designed to prevent the cars running too low to the ground for safety reasons (you want to run your car as low as possible, but get it too low and the car will "bottom out" which has led to fatal crashes in the past) which comprise skid blocks and a wooden plank (high-tech stuff). After the race te wooden plank is checked to make sure it isn't too worn (which would indicate the car was running too low)

In previous years the skid blocks were made of a heavy metal, and other teams suspected that Red Bull were using the pull of this heavier material to alter the pitch of the wooden plank to prevent it wearing down even when they ran their car below the legal limit. The FIA could never prove this was happening, but switching the skid block to a lighter metal like titanium made it impossible anyway, while also turning the grid into the most expensive packet of sparklers ever created.

Love the show, nyoooooom!

@afroofdoom: Thanks for that explanation. I was just about to post that I wasn't a fan of the skid blocks because they served no purpose other than spitting sparks, and how I'm not a braindead moron who is easily amused by sparky things. Glad I was wrong.

Crap. This following-multiple-racing-disciplines thing is going to kick my ass this year, isn't it? I thought I could have a quiet weekend to myself, maybe play some video games, maybe go outside, hang out with friends. Nope, racing's on. Shit.

You can most definitely un-lap yourself if you have the speed. It just ends up being ultimately pointless most of the time. I remember Kamui doing it last year and Vettel having a little fit.

Best unlapping I can remember was Irvine on Senna in Japan '93.

Irv the Swerve (in his first GP) had unlapped himself, which Ayrton took exception to and punched him square in the face after the race...

@drewbert@dannyodwyer The F1 app is actually pretty great. You can use it to watch races after the fact, just need to be careful that you don't accidentally click the news tab and have the result spoiled for you. All you need to do is download the lap data for the race session then click play right when the lights go out. The timing itself is very detailed, showing you gaps, intervals and time spent on the various tyres.

Also the content produced for the app is actually pretty decent. There's car cornering analysis by ex F1 mechanic Gary Anderson (can be a little dry but is very detailed), onboard pole laps, and various driver interviews.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a schedule to follow when it comes to knowing when races are on?

I'd like to start watching races, but trying to figure out when races are on in my time zone is a pain in the butt.

@beast_from_eng: Rematched the race and he was just talking tire strategy, I remembered him being vocal about backmarkers but that was before.

@heatdrive88: f1fanatic.co.uk great site btw, have a google calendar you can add, or you can use www.f1calendar.com

@t_wester: Perfect! Thanks for that.

@bushlemon: That's great. Kimi overjoyed as always.

Seeing Kimi race a goddamn lawnmover always puts a smile on my face, i like that somehow this is the most enthusiastic and talkative he has ever been about anything.

As a half finn i can confirm this.