2025 CAMELS & STICKY SAND GULF AIR BAHRAIN GP

[White six]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Time to abolish driver of the day lol

[Everso Biggyballies]

Breaking News.... no not to do with George Russell and his improper DRS.... that is still to come.

Hulkenberg disqualified after Sauber fails post-race checks

Nico had finished 13th but was scrubbed from the classification after his Sauber was found with excessive plank wear.

Checks during post-race scrutineering revealed Hulk’s car had worn the underside beyond the allowable limit.

“The plank assembly of Car 27 was measured and found to be 8.4mm (LHS), 8.5mm (car centerline) and 8.4mm (RHS),” officials noted in the penalty report.

“This is below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 e) of the Technical Regulations.”

As a technical breach, the punishment was disqualification from the race.

Hulk is the third driver to recently fall foul of plank wear regulations, with both Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly sprung at last month’s Japanese Grand Prix for the same infraction.

The exclusion sees all drivers who finished behind Nico gain one position in the classification. So it doesnt affect points. In effect it changes little other than a few positions at the end.

None the less here are the revised results for the record.


Updated Bahrain GP Race Results

Pos Num Driver Team Laps/Diff
1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 57 Laps
2 63 George Russell Mercedes + 15.499s
3 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes + 16.273s
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari + 19.679s
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari + 27.993s
6 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda + 34.395s
7 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine – Renault + 36.002s
8 31 Esteban Ocon Haas – Ferrari + 44.244s
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull – Honda + 45.061s
10 87 Oliver Bearman Haas – Ferrari + 47.594s
11 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes + 48.016s
12 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes + 48.839s
13 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda + 56.314s
14 7 Jack Doohan Alpine – Renault + 57.806s
15 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – Mercedes + 60.34s
16 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls – Honda + 64.435s
17 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin – Mercedes + 65.489s
18 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber – Ferrari + 66.872s


55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes + 12Ls
27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – Ferrari. DSQ Technical breach.

[Fulton]

Russell looks ready to win a world championship. Another solid result for him and his team overall.

[Everso Biggyballies]

We do have a verdict on the George Russell DRS problem. Too hard basket., Nothing to read here!

Russell guilty of DRS breach, escapes punishment

Officials found George Russell in breach of DRS usage rules during the Bahrain GP but opted not to apply a penalty..

Basically he was let off because he had a good collection of Brownie points for turning up on time for the National Anthem.
(Im not saying he should have been penalised, I dont.... more just a comment as to how pathetic the whole penalty crapola is becoming.)

As we know George had assorted electrical gremlins throughout the race, starting with his transponder having gone AWOL. As part of that, he was instructed how to override a number of systems which unknowingly activated DRS as he pressed another button on the steering wheel.

FIA Stewards statement.

“The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an external party,” the stewards’ report detailed.

“Therefore the FIA authorised manual activation of the DRS in accordance with Article 22.1 h).

“At the time the driver was experiencing a brake-by-wire issue and other electronic issues.

“He was at that time advised to use an auxiliary button in the cockpit which serves as a back up radio button but also serves as a manual DRS activation button.

“On the straight between turns 10 and 11 he tried to radio the team using this button but instead accidentally activated the DRS.

“The DRS was activated for a distance of 37 metres on a straight of approximately 700 metres.

“Whilst he gained 0.02 seconds, he gave up 0.28 seconds at the next corner to compensate.

“This was confirmed by telemetry.

“Accordingly whilst technically a breach occurred the Stewards decide that as there was no sporting advantage gained, no penalty is imposed.”

[Aty]

What happened with Alonso after being seen holding separated steering wheel?

[Everso Biggyballies]

What happened with Alonso after being seen holding separated steering wheel?

He simply put it back on again then returned to the pits for a new steering wheel. All good..



Seriously, Nando reported to his team during FP2 that he was struggling with steering and that the computer functions on the steering wheel were not operating correctly. Nando was pushing buttons trying to kick-start the steering wheel functions when it came adrift from the column, leaving him unable to steer. (As you can see in the video above which you have to click 'watch on you tube' to see.)

He pulled up, reattached the wheel and drove back to the pits where they gave him a new wheel and sent him back out.

As far as I know the FIA have asked Aston for a full explanation of cause (design or part failure) and what is in place to ensure it cant / wont happen again. On receipt of the report they will conduct an enquiry and 'there may be consequences'.

My honest opinion, whilst pushing buttons he simpoly decided to unclip and then re attach the wheel to see if that reconnected the electrical functions

Bottom line is, fortunately for Fernando it was nothing serious. He still managed to attend the National Anthem on time and was appropriately dressed. (With no rainbows on his T shirt)

[PTRACER]

At one point I was wondering whether there was some electronic jamming system operating in the nearby area, because of how many things went wrong during that race. Even the safety car accidentally got called out at one point

Re: The result - Pastry's win was so utterly dominant I am starting to think he is the championship favourite and not Norris. It's not only Bahrain that makes me feel that way.

[Star]

Well, that was a better race than last weekend, then again it wasn't hard to improve on Japan was it? I was thrilled to see Oscar Piastri take the win on his 50th race start and he never looked in doubt. He didn't have to fight like his teammate did. The only worry was after the safety car where he'd lost the good gap he'd built up, as it goes, it was never an issue for him thankfully.

Norris was a bit over eager at the start it seems and Verstappen was happy to tell on him too. Norris got a great start and the penalty he picked up for his start didn't seem to phase him either. He really was going for it all race long, he had some exciting battles out there as he fought his way up to the podium. That looked to be in doubt for a while, the Ferrari's looked much racier and they were, especially on the medium tyre, they didn't do so well when they moved onto the softs it seemed, or at least Leclerc didn't. George Russell drove really well and when you consider the car issues he had, he did so well to hold onto 2nd place, another lap or two and I think he'd have lost it to Norris. George's teammate Antonelli seemed to be doing really well for a while there too, only he seemed to fade towards the end of the race.

Gasly did so well in that Alpine, a shame for him that Verstappen overtook him on the last lap. Lawson looks like he's struggling in the RB but Carlos Sainz was really feisty in that Williams. He did so well, until they had to retire him the way they did. Albon looked good too, but Sainz was pushing even harder it seemed to me. Bearman was another driver pushing really hard and he deserved his point as did Ocon in the sister Haas, a good day for them. After a hard race, it was a shame for Hulkenberg that he got disqualified due to a skid block infringement. That is how it goes sometimes though.

Overall, it was a much better race than last weekend, and any race where Oscar wins is even better in my opinion. I agree with you @PTRACER for me, Piastri is the much better all round driver.

[Everso Biggyballies]

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando still leads, now by an increased margin..... however Oscars win jumps him up to 2nd ahead of Max. Just 3 points behind Lando. George stays 4th Antonelli swapped with Leclerc. Lewis jumps ahead of Albon to go 7th.


# Driver Team Points
1.. Lando Norris 77
2. Oscar Piastri 74
3. Max Verstappen 69
4. George Russell 63
5. Charles Leclerc 32
6.. Andre Antonelli. 30
7. Lewis Hamilton 25
8. Alex Albon 18

One point I failed to make in my previous notes. on the Drivers Championship is that people are already talking of Max in relation to performance "trigger points" and exit clauses for Max to be released from his contract by. Most of them from my understanding are based on a percentage level to the leader based on points (sometimes position as well).

Just to say Max at the moment is far frrom the level of a release cause trigger point.
He is still just 8 points from the Championship lead, even following his poorest showing of the year. His first result lower than 2nd!

8 points in these days of easy points is just 1 x 6th place finish. Its a long way from over for Max, certainly way too soon to be talking of performance clauses being triggered. Especially given that Red Bull have a major upgrade package coming for Imola, a package that could effectively be a major 'B' spec car, not that that is guaranteed to be a magic want.

Summary is, dont write Max off yet, certainly not of his first race finish of the year lower than a 2nd place. 8 points deficit from P1 is nothing.

[MonteCristo]