[morini]

Max was unlucky i thought and Lewis lucky personally i thought it was a lovely move and caught him cold. 

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one then. As Hamilton said post race, Max was past him and he had already backed out. Left him nowhere to go so (as even Horner said) a racing incident. 50/50 at best, Max did that to himself I'm afraid - he's made a few mistakes this season and I'm starting to wonder if he's trying a bit too hard. I have to say, Hamilton was seemingly very cautious in the opening laps, but he didn't mess about getting past the slower cars once he got going. That 3 in 1 was ballsy even with DRS assistance (other cars had DRS when he pulled that one off too). Perhaps he was bringing those softs in gently at the start? Who knows? Great save for him though.

Shame about DR, I honestly think he's one of the best on the grid but not getting chance to show it. He's better than Vettel for sure.

[morini]

Yep, thought Fernando was outstanding today, loved his move down the inside of a sleeping Lewis

He didn't keep it for long though as Lewis breezed back past him. Also, beaten by a Honda, that's going to sting!

[forzaferrari]

He didn't keep it for long though as Lewis breezed back past him. Also, beaten by a Honda, that's going to sting!

Youre right, but then again Lewis IS driving a Merc. Only on the wind up bud

[morini]

He didn't keep it for long though as Lewis breezed back past him. Also, beaten by a Honda, that's going to sting!

Youre right, but then again Lewis IS driving a Merc. Only on the wind up bud

BUT!!! That McLaren has a Renault donkey, same as RBR and Max got past Hamilton as well (didn't end well for him, but he'll watch the replay and wish he'd left some room).

I've got no quibbles, actually think that was a big save as I was fully expecting Ferrari to manage a gap at the front all race. I was quite pleased it didn't work out like that. Vettel did a good job managing to stay ahead on those worn softs, but I thought Bottas was a bit too timid to be honest.

[Monster Hesh]

Wall of text for ya!

Vetty Vetty Vetty, Ferrari, championship is on, yes! 
What a performance all weekend. Thoroughly deserved that win, after nursing those tyres "These tyre's were done!" man, I bet that felt so good for him when he crossed the line. I was thinking for the last 15 laps, those tyres are gonna pop, just like Silverstone last year. His precision and control out of corners was unreal, that was a proven champions drive.
They team just need to get all elements working right, the whole Raikonnen thing is unfortunate. If it was a successful pit, that race would of been completely different final 15 laps (or w/e many laps left : P). Alot of "what if" with the two stop strategy.

Mercedes race sims on Friday showed they were close and they were. What I think their issue is, they run to numbers. We saw it in Monaco a few years ago, AUS last race, and Lewis on the radio talking nothing but laptime deltas. 
This I think cost Bottas. Strategy sims and numbers had Bottas race engineer dictating their pace, run to the delta. Where Ferrari and Vettel were driving to the tyres and reacting to the race.

Toro Rosso Honda. Full test complete, Honda are in!! and the whole F1 world is happy. No issues, no lack of power after a certain amount of time. Easily fended off Haas undercut attempts.
Haas, great show from MAG, a clean performance from him and the team, unfortunate for traffic during undercut attempts Williams and GROSJEAN. Grosjean, what a TW4T!! Ugly drive, hitting others, causing his car to dismantle. Blocking his teammate who was on fresh tyres trying to under cut TR. was seriously embarrassing show.

A so so show from Renault, I'm gonna call Sainz back to TR next year replacing Hartley, not that Hartley is bad he had a solid race also. It's just the RedBull roster and I think they'll want to keep Sainz. Especially if Honda keep this up, like I say I think RedBull may be making their decision before Renault engine deadline.

McLaren, well. I think it was a reasonable weekend save. A good amount of positions gained to get both drivers in in the points. Third in the championship, YES! They will be happy with that, despite how those points may have come, Haas then RedBull gifting them positions. They need to learn, quickly, from qualifying and turn those negative into performance gains. They just need to shut up and get on with it. Their press releases big themselves up way too much.

Points for Sauber, awesome that is so good to see,their development is going to be fascinating. They were really fighting during the race with Force india, how they can fall so badly is a little baffling they have been consistently fourth the past few seasons. Now battling outside the points. 

And Williams, well what were we to expect....

P.S. MORINI, you're gonna enjoy MotoGP, its on Tuesday this week!

[LotusLover]

Max was unlucky i thought and Lewis lucky personally i thought it was a lovely move and caught him cold. 

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one then. As Hamilton said post race, Max was past him and he had already backed out. Left him nowhere to go so (as even Horner said) a racing incident. 50/50 at best, Max did that to himself I'm afraid - he's made a few mistakes this season and I'm starting to wonder if he's trying a bit too hard. I have to say, Hamilton was seemingly very cautious in the opening laps, but he didn't mess about getting past the slower cars once he got going. That 3 in 1 was ballsy even with DRS assistance (other cars had DRS when he pulled that one off too). Perhaps he was bringing those softs in gently at the start? Who knows? Great save for him though.

Shame about DR, I honestly think he's one of the best on the grid but not getting chance to show it. He's better than Vettel for sure.

We always disagree lol, I have watched it several times now Max had his pants down, and done him into the corner, I do think LH didn't have much room for error and it was a pure racing incident nothing more., but in this game there is rarely much room for error. For me LH was very honest in post interview maybe he stretched "the along side turning in" comment but he did say in all fairness he needed to have a good look. I said this in Sky Sports, DRS and Blue flagging is terrible. It completely negates some racing for the spectators. LH had lady luck firmly by his side especially today, could of been a lot worse.

Go go Vettel!! Ferrari can p1ss off though, ruining Kimis race once again!!

[Monster Hesh]

I think blue flags need to stay. These cars are hard enough to overtake, so we could get a procession behind the slowest car on the grid as every stacks up behind them trying to lap.
DRS perhaps, but it is starting to work as intended, cars level into braking zones.

Racing incident 50/50, although Lewis put Hulkenberg in the same position Max put him in. No clash because Hulk backed out on the outside exit of turn 1. Something I think Lewis should of done, if Max could see/sense Lewis's front wing closer to his front wheels, fine, Max is at fault. Lewis front wheels were next to Max's rears, he should of backed out. My view.

[LotusLover]

I think blue flags need to stay. These cars are hard enough to overtake, so we could get a procession behind the slowest car on the grid as every stacks up behind them trying to lap.
DRS perhaps, but it is starting to work as intended, cars level into braking zones.

Racing incident 50/50, although Lewis put Hulkenberg in the same position Max put him in. No clash because Hulk backed out on the outside exit of turn 1. Something I think Lewis should of done, if Max could see/sense Lewis's front wing closer to his front wheels, fine, Max is at fault. Lewis front wheels were next to Max's rears, he should of backed out. My view.

Totally agree on the Max v Lewis incident, blue flags imo  basically state you have a clear track between you and opponent but this imo is simply not the case there are other drivers on track use you skill to get past, they used to have to and sometimes they did sometimes it helped the driver behind, all part of racing imo.

[BrendanSylvester]

Wall of text for ya! .......... Force india, how they can fall so badly is a little baffling they have been consistently fourth the past few seasons. Now battling outside the points. 

And Williams, well what were we to expect....

I think Force India were caught out by the halo, and had to spend a lot of money (they don't have much) re-designing their chassis to incorporate it. Being a low budget team, this had obviously impacted them.

The only thing I want to say about Williams, is that drivers make a difference - look at Force India. They have two very good drivers, and that makes the difference, because although that car is not worthy of points, Ocon drove well enough to pass Carlos Sainz to get 10th place. He took a position from a works car!

I enjoyed your wall of text, very interesting points, and thoroughly enjoyed that Bahrain Grand Prix!!

[Purple-banana]

What a nail biter! my fingers were down to nubs by the time Seb took the chequered flag.

No doubt Seb was lucky in Aus with the VSC - but today was a masterclass in race & tyre management and a very gutsy call from him & the pit-wall when Merc revealed their strategy - especially considering he set the fastest lap at the time after his stop, so he obviously wasn't planning on 39 laps when he rejoined!

I am still pessimistic (but hopeful) about the prospect of a season-long fight though. This was always going to be a track better suited to Ferrari, yet on race-pace Mercedes were not far away at all. I fully expect normal service to be resumed in China.

I wouldn't want to be Bottas right now