2020 Bahrain GP - Inner Track

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We head to another Hermann Tilke track in the hot desert of the Bahrain Internaltional Circuit. This is a double header race spanning this weekend and the next. This weekend, the race runs through the normal 5.4km track layout with 15 corners. 57 laps through the floodlite night of this desert track that has hosted some thrilling races in the past. One such very memorable race is the Hamilton/Rosberg duel of 2015. This track has six layouts, namely:-

1. Grand Prix Circuit - Used for F1 races.
2. Endurance Circuit -
3. Outer Circuit - To be used for the F1 race next weekend
4. Paddock Circuit
5. Oasis\Inner Circuit
6. Oval Circuit

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Sebastien Vettel is the most successful driver to ever race this layout with four wins. Jointly followed by Hamilton and Alonso with three wins each. Ferrari is the most successful team to race this track layout with six wins. Closely followed by Mclaren with five wins and Renault with four wins.

Charles Leclerc holds the fastest pole lap record at 1:27:866, from last season [2019] in the Ferrari. This was one race win that was snatched away from a very dominant Leclerc last season at the closing laps of the race. When the Monagast was cruelly beset with powertrain issues that saw his dominant pace dwindle at the very last few laps of the race.

Lewis Hamilton was the last winner of this race, with Bottas second and Vettel third.

F1 arrive at this circuit with both the constructors and Driver championships concluded. But all remaining position are still very much open to contest. In the conbstructors championship, Redbull is quite secure in second position. However, the battle for third remains a closely fought contest, with Racing Point leading the way with 154 points, followed closely by Mclaren five points adrift. On the outside chance for third, are Renault [136] and Ferrari [130] respectively.

The drivers championship is more open than the constructors. Bottas [197] leads the way for 2nd but not comfortably, with Verstapenn [170] only 27 points behind. The margins are so close, such that Bottas cannot afford a DNF or finishing outside the points.

The battle for 3rd is a tripartite tussle between Perez who is leading the group with 100 points, very closely followed by Charles Leclerc [97] and Ricciado [96]. The margins are so tight in this group, such that any error or bad luck is likely to be very expensive.

The battle for 7th is also equally as close, spanning 3 drivers all within 5 points of the leader of the group. Sainz [75] leads this group with teammate Norris [74], just one point behind, and Albon [70] only 5 points adrift of Sainz. Gasly [63] is also an outside chance of getting this position.

There is all to fight for in the midfields, with a maximum of 78 points on the table, the battle shall remain fierce to the very last race at Abu Dhabi.

Great summation. It's hard to believe that the season is already winding down. Seems just like yesterday that we were wondering if we were even going to have a season. But on the plus side, the off season will be much shorter and 2021 testing isn't THAT far off.

And we are off!

Quali is a go!!!

Lewis continues to amaze me. I've come to almost feel sorry for Bottas. When he said the gap to Lewis was confusing, all I could think of was what it would be like to have to play one-on-one basketball against Michael Jordan, then Kobe Bryant and then Lebron James. It's got to be spirit crushing, especially with Bottas being a capable driver himself.

Wow my heart stopped for a minute. That Grosjean crash looked so nasty. Beyond relieved he is ok. That was a bad one. He looks like he is a bit injured and is being helped to the ambulance after sitting in the medical car

How Grosjean survived that I don’t know. Really amazing work by the FIA and safety. Years ago that would have been a fatality.

I’m glad he is no longer going to be in F1 next year, he has alway been a danger to others on the grid and that has never changed. This incident was 100% his fault only. He’s a complete and utter clown. Three drivers on the current grid are not good enough. Grosjean, Stroll and Latifi. Waste of precious F1 seats.

Delighted Grosjean is okay buy also delighted he is gone next year.

Seeing more footage just reaffirms that this was a miracle he survived. The halo really helped in this situation as it pierced through the barrier rather than his helmet and body. This was a horrendous Accident.everyone did a great job. The marshals medical car team and last but not least...Grosjean himself, through his training. Managed to get himself out of the worst condition.
Update: minor burns on hands and feet, broken ribs. Wow

That was 100% Strolls fault. Turned into the corner like nobody was there and on the completely wrong apex. Every car turned in wide but he turned on tight and just effed up things. On is beyond ridiculous that stroll will get to drive on 2021 and Perez is out. Stroll all by himself is going to cost the team p3 in the WCC. Shambolic

Vettel car is shaite and the dumb stewards blame Kyvatt smh

Lousy on Checo - he deserved the podium

Wow Perez? Noooooo!!!!!!!

Racing Point going from securing a strong p3 position in WCC to now a serious fight with 2 races to go. Disaster

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What a race of mixed fortunes. I hope Grosjeans is ok enough to race next weekend. What a spectacularly horrific crash? How he got out of that mangled monocoque unscathed is baffling. Hats off to the FIA and the safety measures that they have put in place. All of it were properly tested and they all came out in flying colours. The Halo is the star of the show as it saved Grosjean's life and protected Stroll in the flipped Racing Point car.

While Hamilton and Verstapenn were exemplary as usual. Perez was particularly exceptional as he singlehandedly carried the hopes of Racing Point until that unfortunate engine failure. It is strange to see a Mercedes engine fail in a race nowadays. The pressure mounts in the shuffling fight for 3rd in the constructors championship. A super drive from both Mclaren drivers to elevate Mclaren to the 3rd spot.

The fight for the 4th spot in the drivers championship is as close as ever.

A great race for Albon to finish on the podium with his teammate for the first time. He is still miles away from Verstapenn on pace, but this podium would do wonders for his confidence. Another bad race race weekend for Bottas. This time a poor start off the grid that saw him drift backwards to fourth. Then bad luck set in to send him to the rear of the grid. With 12 point between him and Verstapenn, the next two races has now become very crucial to be error free and top drawer performances.

I smiled when Gasly finished 6th. What a hard but excellent drive on the longest stint on hard tyres.

[QUOTE=Nitrodaze;1256924The Halo is the star of the show as it saved Grosjean's life and protected Stroll in the flipped Racing Point car.
[/QUOTE]
well, yes and no.

it definately protected grosjean when he was going through the guardrail, but we have seen how difficult it was for stroll to get out of the car when he was upside down. If grosjean would have ended up upside down, he would have burned to death because he would not have been able to get out of the car on time.

I'm hating the Halo a little less today.

Romain Grosjean can speak of a miracle because he survived a near-fatal accident at the Bahrain GP, despite being hit by a barrier and stuck in a burning car. Many things worked well. However, one can have some reservations - even about the barriers at the scene.

The reason for this was a simple racing incident. The fact that the Daniil Kwiat took part in it is of no importance here. It was definitely not his fault and it is equally difficult to blame Grosjean himself for it. As a result of a seemingly minor contact, the Frenchman's car was "knocked out" from the direction on a similar basis as an F1 car would have reacted to aquaplaning, for example.

The driver can do absolutely nothing at this stage, he is just a passenger. The accident itself and the impact took place at a lower speed than Kubica's accident in Canada, but also not very fast. The force, due to the almost perfectly perpendicular impact angle, was so great that the cockpit of the car broke through the barrier. The energy of the impact and a large amount of fuel (the beginning of the race) caused the explosion and fire.

And here a few observations can be made. Both positive and negative. First of all, an incredibly high level of passive safety. The rigidity of the cockpit, resistance to impact, the ability to absorb incredible overloads - this is a truly cosmic technology that works and saves lives. Please remember how much controversy there was about the introduction of the Halo system, and yet here (not for the first time anyway) it fulfilled its role.

It also shows the dagner of having barriers with angles on the end, like this one.
But I am sure the secutrity people from FIA will take this with the track owner.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogberry

Romain Grosjean can speak of a miracle because he survived a near-fatal accident at the Bahrain GP, despite being hit by a barrier and stuck in a burning car. Many things worked well. However, one can have some reservations - even about the barriers at the scene.

The reason for this was a simple racing incident. The fact that the Daniil Kwiat took part in it is of no importance here. It was definitely not his fault and it is equally difficult to blame Grosjean himself for it. As a result of a seemingly minor contact, the Frenchman's car was "knocked out" from the direction on a similar basis as an F1 car would have reacted to aquaplaning, for example.

The driver can do absolutely nothing at this stage, he is just a passenger. The accident itself and the impact took place at a lower speed than Kubica's accident in Canada, but also not very fast. The force, due to the almost perfectly perpendicular impact angle, was so great that the cockpit of the car broke through the barrier. The energy of the impact and a large amount of fuel (the beginning of the race) caused the explosion and fire.

And here a few observations can be made. Both positive and negative. First of all, an incredibly high level of passive safety. The rigidity of the cockpit, resistance to impact, the ability to absorb incredible overloads - this is a truly cosmic technology that works and saves lives. Please remember how much controversy there was about the introduction of the Halo system, and yet here (not for the first time anyway) it fulfilled its role.

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I agree. Safety on the car is now ahead of safety at the track. Fatalities in motorsport are mostly due to unsafe elements at the track. I think this incident has invited the FIA to look more closely at safety at the race track. Amco barriers work safely well along straights, but this accident has shown it useless as a barrier where there is run off to the barrier. I would favor tyre barriers over Amco barriers in this circumstances really . Tyres would absorb the impact of the trajectory much better and safer l think.

The safety elements of the car saved Grosjeans from the unsafe element of the barrier. The survival capsule of the monocoque, the Halo, the high shoulders of the pilot cavity of the Chassis and the seat belt etc. Now the FIA need to review the placement of Amco barriers at various points of race tracks to ensure the charactertics of Grosjean's accident do not re-occur in the future. Chances are a reoccurence of this sort of accident may result in a fatality. If Grosjean had been knocked out by the impact, a worst case of the Lauda moment could have occured with Grosjean burnt very badly in the survival capsule.

It is also a concern to see the chassis of the Haas split into two as it did after the impact. It is that split that exposed and ruptured the fuel sacks and consequentially resulted in the explosive fireball that engulfed the scene of the accident. This incident have also exposed a weakness in the design of the chassis. It may well be particular to the design of the Haas chassis. But nonetheless, l suspect they would all be reviewed to better understand the nature of the weakness in the chassis that allowed the car to split in half as it did.

The car splitting in two is no mayor issue, the connection between the engine and the monocoque is not so strong anyway. That should not expose the fuel tank, because that is an integral part of the safety cell.

I think the barrier has punctured the fuel tank through the carbon or kevlar protection. That shouldn't happen, but i'm not sure its possible to avoid it in all cases.

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Originally Posted by denkimi

The car splitting in two is no mayor issue, the connection between the engine and the monocoque is not so strong anyway. That should not expose the fuel tank, because that is an integral part of the safety cell.

I think the barrier has punctured the fuel tank through the carbon or kevlar protection. That shouldn't happen, but i'm not sure its possible to avoid it in all cases.

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I think the chassis splitting ought to be imnvestiigated. Since Albon had a similar crash on friday but the Redbull car retained its longitudinal structure. The speed at which Grosjean's car crashed was quite similar to Albon's case. The main difference was that Albon bounced off tyre barriers and Grosjean pierced into Amco barriers.

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Its not the chassis that has split. Its the powertrain that has detached from the chassis. The chassis ends behind the air inlet, and the engine and all the rest is bolted to that.

As i said, the car splitting is not really an issue. The barrier puncturing the fuel tank is.

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Originally Posted by denkimi

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Its not the chassis that has split. Its the powertrain that has detached from the chassis. The chassis ends behind the air inlet, and the engine and all the rest is bolted to that.

As i said, the car splitting is not really an issue. The barrier puncturing the fuel tank is.

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What you are refering to is the survival capsule. The chassis is a combination of the survival capsule and the powertrain. The chassis is what the suspensions and tyres are coupled to. In F1 cars the powertrain is part of the chassis as it bears part of the load that a framed chassis [of road cars for instance] would bear. As a result, ideally one would want it to withstand an impact and not separate from the survival capsule. If it had done that, the survival capsule may not have lodge itself into the Amco barrier as it did. It may also have reduced the chances of the fuel sacks from rupturing and causing the fireball that happened.

The powertrain is a combination of the engine, gearbox and electric motors that boost horsepower output.

Glad Romain is OK .
Astonished , actually .

In the telecast , Ross stated that the fuel tank didn't likely rupture , as 1OOkg of would have been a waaaaaaay bigger fireball .

The survival cell is designed to have , in the case of a big one such as this
, everything separate from it , to dissipate energy .
It worked .

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Glad Romain is OK .
Astonished , actually .

In the telecast , Ross stated that the fuel tank didn't likely rupture , as 1OOkg of would have been a waaaaaaay bigger fireball .

The survival cell is designed to have , in the case of a big one such as this
, everything separate from it , to dissipate energy .
It worked .

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I think he was saying the fuel did not escape through the filling nozzle which is suppose to be inside the fuel sack. They are trying to establish if the seams of the carbon fibre wrapper around the fuel failed and released fuel that ignited. Of course the powertrain is suppose to break away to dissipate energy for highly violent crashes. On this occasion, the separation may have caused the survival capsule to become a projectile that pierced through the gaps of the Amco barrier it seems. Probably, the process of the survival capsule piercing through the Amco barrier caused the powertrain to separate from the Survival capsule. We wait to hear the result of the investigation.

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Romain is OK .
Astonished , actually .

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Dawgz!! :eek: :angryfire :eek: :hot::hot::eek:

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Originally Posted by Tazio

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Dawgz!! :eek: :angryfire :eek: :hot::hot::eek:

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It's photos like this one that remind us how horrific the crashes of past days were, when a number of drivers burned to death. From the sounds of things, they estimated only a couple liters of fuel was exposed in the crash. I'm glad Romain is ok.


Though overall in the trend of fire, I have to admit I quite enjoyed when Checo was still hard on the gas pedal while flames were engulfing the entire back of the car. I hope he manages another podium to remember him by before his departure. But if not, that fire out the back reminds me of how he wasn't one to usually give up easily. I'll miss him being in the sport.




Lewis seemed to be well in control all race, but that concern over a safety car at the end could have come back to haunt Mercedes had the pink car lit up a couple laps earlier.

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Originally Posted by airshifter

It's photos like this one that remind us how horrific the crashes of past days were, when a number of drivers burned to death. From the sounds of things, they estimated only a couple liters of fuel was exposed in the crash. I'm glad Romain is ok.


Though overall in the trend of fire, I have to admit I quite enjoyed when Checo was still hard on the gas pedal while flames were engulfing the entire back of the car. I hope he manages another podium to remember him by before his departure. But if not, that fire out the back reminds me of how he wasn't one to usually give up easily. I'll miss him being in the sport.




Lewis seemed to be well in control all race, but that concern over a safety car at the end could have come back to haunt Mercedes had the pink car lit up a couple laps earlier.

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Checo drove the car till the very last ounce of power from the engine was used up. That is a true and through racer

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Originally Posted by airshifter

It's photos like this one that remind us how horrific the crashes of past days were, when a number of drivers burned to death. From the sounds of things, they estimated only a couple liters of fuel was exposed in the crash. I'm glad Romain is ok.


Though overall in the trend of fire, I have to admit I quite enjoyed when Checo was still hard on the gas pedal while flames were engulfing the entire back of the car. I hope he manages another podium to remember him by before his departure. But if not, that fire out the back reminds me of how he wasn't one to usually give up easily. I'll miss him being in the sport.

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Fire can be friendly, as well as dangerous! :crazy:

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Checo drove the car till the very last ounce of power from the engine was used up. That is a true and through racer

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That he did. And he put a stamp on the fact that he was headed towards the podium. With the dice rolling the way they have, I can't really blame him.

Nice! Finally for both Perez and Ocon. Well done!

I truly believe that Max is a jerk. Charles blamed himself for the incident even though I think it was more Perez' fault AND Charles never hit Max. But Max has the gall to say he (Charles) should accept fault. Jerk.
Stroll never had a chance to win and he needs to go.
Russell was great but I am not sure if he could do that all year, especially if he has to go against Lewis.

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

I truly believe that Max is a jerk. Charles blamed himself for the incident even though I think it was more Perez' fault AND Charles never hit Max. But Max has the gall to say he (Charles) should accept fault. Jerk.
Stroll never had a chance to win and he needs to go.
Russell was great but I am not sure if he could do that all year, especially if he has to go against Lewis.

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It was LeClercs fault.
And as far as this race has shown me. Russell is an upgrade to Bottas.
I'll take this performance, and his pedigree, along with uncanny maturity over Bottas.
As i predicted. As soon as Russell took the lead, bottas faded.
No fight, nothing. on the last restart, russell forced him into a mistake ( which pretty much destoryed his tires with that double flatspot) and made a magnificent pass.
2 things are clear from this race. Russell should be in that Mercedes and Perez should be in the RBR
The fact that perez was pushed out for a washed up vettel is beyond ridiculous. unfortunately that's what happens when Daddy owns the team.
And that clown mazepin will be in an F1 seat next year too. SMH

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

I truly believe that Max is a jerk. Charles blamed himself for the incident even though I think it was more Perez' fault AND Charles never hit Max. But Max has the gall to say he (Charles) should accept fault. Jerk.
Stroll never had a chance to win and he needs to go.
Russell was great but I am not sure if he could do that all year, especially if he has to go against Lewis.

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Sorry buddy, not Perez's fault at all. Leclerc was abit too ambitious for a move that was not there really. Very unlucky for Verstapenn and he was right, it was Leclerc's fault. These are the sort of things he does that really pisses off Vettel. Today he caused an unnecessary crash. Incidentally this was a race that he could have won as well if he stayed on track to the end.

Mclaren also did not do a good job. They squandered a chance to win this race as somehow they took Sainz out of a strong podium position.

leclerc was at fault for hitting perez, but max took himself out. instead of braking he tried to go around, without realising he would not be able to turn at that speed on the gravel. a rookie mistake for someone who is in his 6th season.