2015 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 19th April 2015

Posted: 19.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

For Kimi Raikkonen this is the first podium since his return to Ferrari. During the race he recovered 19 seconds on Rosberg.

This is Scuderia’s 684^th podium finish. Today the team consolidated second place in the Constructors’ Championship with 107 points.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “I am really happy for Kimi: today I can officially state that he’s back. He showed what a race animal he is, and if he had had a few more laps perhaps… Also, I am happy for the team, because they worked really well. Sebastian made a couple of mistakes today, one at the beginning, which forced us to change his race strategy, whereas in the case of Kimi we followed our plans. He was not totally convinced about it at a point, but showed a great deal of discipline in following instructions from the pit-wall. As for Seb, he actually made something wrong, otherwise we could have had two drivers on the rostrum; but he’s a human being as we all are. He’s a fantastic driver and let’s not forget now what he has already achieved so far. I wish to thank everybody back at Maranello, because they were able to work on the engine development, but also on every single component, achieving over three months what normally would have required twice as much. I can’t tell if we are going to catch the Mercedes, but I do like the idea of putting some pressure on them. Today we were aware of the gap between them and ourselves, and that required an aggressive strategy. Having said that, with regard to the Friday log runs where we had showed a good pace, the temperature was much lower today, and we had to react accordingly.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “After a difficult year last year and a beginning of the season that was a bit unlucky, it’s great to be back on the podium. I have mixed emotions, it’s a great feeling  to be back,  but we want to be on the top. The start was really good , I managed to pass Nico, but then I lost the position and there I lost a bit of time. The strategy was perfect, we did the right calls and the right tyre  choice  , I was happy with the car , we kept up a good speed through the whole race. In the last laps I was getting closer and closer and could see Hamilton, but the race was at its end, we would have needed more laps to try to do something. I think we are still a little bit  behind the Mercedes but in some circuits and some conditions we ca be very competitive, especially in the race. Today we did our best , we  have to be happy with the result , we did the maximum and took some good points for the team. We keep improving step by step, we just have to keep working doing the same things in the same direction,and I’m sure we’ll get there.”

Sebastian Vettel: “It didn’t seem to be the perfect day for me. I couldn’t get into the rhythm and lost positions when it mattered not to lose them for the final result. In general, I struggled a bit with the rear end and exiting the corners, which made me vulnerable to Nico’s attacks and prevented me from getting as close as I needed to Valtteri to chase him down the straight with DRS. Towards the end, I was struggling to get past in the fight against the Williams. When it was important to be quick, I always seemed to get stuck in traffic, and thus damaged my tyres. Overall, though, I think it has been another very positive weekend. It’s s shame I damaged the front wing in the race and I had to come in for a new nose, otherwise I think fourth place would have been secured, or even third. Anyway, that’s how it went. I was trying to push, and when you’re following another car you obviously lose a lot of downforce. With hindsight, it was probably more than I expected. I think I tried a bit too hard and ran wide. On the other hand, I am very happy for Kimi. I’ts good that he was able to pass Nico (Rosberg) towards the end. For the team, it’s obviously a great result. It’s a long way to go for the season and up to this point we can be very, very happy. It’s still a big surprise how good we are but there’s still a bit of a gap.”

Bahrain Grand Prix – Kimi a splendid second, Seb fifth

Posted: 19.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 19 April – One runner-up spot and one fifth place for Ferrari come the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen staged a great climb up the order, which ended in him passing Nico Rosberg two laps from the end.
The Finn crossed the line 3 seconds behind the Mercedes of race winner Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel finished fifth, spending much of the race trying to pass Valtteri Bottas in the Williams, while never having a real chance to attack. Now the Formula 1 circus has a three week break before the action resumes at the first European leg of the 2015 Championship, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona circuit.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 18 April 2015

Posted: 18.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “It was a positive day even if it’s a bit disappointing to finish fourth, because our aim is to be at the front. My last lap was quite good, I made a small mistake and ran wide a little bit in one corner, but it was nearly nothing, it did not cost me a lot of time. It was very close with everybody. On the track there was more grip than I expected and probably I could have pushed a little bit more, but I was not sure I could. My car was working well today, the position on the grid is not ideal but it’s a good starting point for the race. Tomorrow we’ll try to make a good start, and move on from there with a good first lap. To get ahead of Rosberg would help a lot, and then we’ll see what we can do. We’ll do our maximum”.

Sebastian Vettel: “Sebastian Vettel: “In the end it is a great success for us to be able to split the Mercedes. Again, we seem to be a bit closer; but then everybody seemed to be a bit closer this weekend. So, hopefully, we can be another step closer tomorrow. In the beginning of qualifying i was not entirely happy, but then it got better and better. The last lap was very important and we were able to get it right. Now I can’t tell whether I will be able to win the race tomorrow. Let’s not forget that this is only the fourth race of the season; we are very happy with where we are, how competitive we are. We’ll go step by step, we’ll try our best possible race tomorrow, and if this means we can put pressure on the Mercedes, then we’ll do it. But the target is still to look after ourselves; if there is a chance to fight one or two of them, for sure we’ll go for it”.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Seb on the front row

Posted: 18.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Vettel second fastest, Raikkonen fourth

Sakhir, 18 April –The SF15-Ts of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from second and fourth spots on the grid respectively. At the end of today’s qualifying at the Sakhir circuit, where the temperature was around the 25 degree mark, pole position went to Lewis Hamilton who posted a 1.32.571 in his Mercedes. To claim his front row slot, Vettel did a 1.32.982, beating Nico Rosberg (1.33.129) in the other Mercedes. Raikkonen was fourth fastest with a 1.33.227 and therefore starts from the second row.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Very small gaps

Posted: 18.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 18 April – The Ferraris finished the final free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in second and fourth places. Fastest was Lewis Hamilton, who posted a 1.34.599 in the Mercedes. Just a whisker slower was Sebastian Vettel in the SF15-T (1.34.668,) with the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg next in 1.34.968, while Kimi Raikkonen was fourth with a 1.35.141.
During this final 60 minute session, the work centred on qualifying trim at the Sakhir circuit, with the Ferrari men alternating between the Medium and then Soft Pirelli compounds being used at this race.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 17th April 2015

Posted: 17.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “I still haven’t had a look at the lap times of the session, but I think we are not as good as we want to be. In the second session it was a bit tricky with the set-up, we had some problems with the handling and we struggled in a few places. This evening we’ll analyse all the data in order  to improve and do a better job tomorrow. Having a clear qualifying  makes life easier in the race. I don’t know if we can challenge Mercedes, tomorrow is another day, conditions can change and this plays a big part, so let’s wait and see.”

Sebastian Vettel: “I came out of the garage and had a problem. I hit the brakes but suddenly there was a blow and I couldn’t brake properly. Therefore I hit Sergio Perez in the corner. Of course I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do anything else in that moment. I was looking for Sergio to say sorry, but he was still sitting in the car. My fast lap was not perfect, but everything in the car feels good. Of course tonight it was quite different from this afternoon, as it was much colder. It’s hard to say if we got closer to Mercedes, everybody seemed to be closer to them but I’m sure they didn’t show everything today.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2

Posted: 17.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 17 April  – Nico Rosberg was fastest in the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Once the sun had set, the floodlights turned the Sakhir track from night to day, as the Mercedes driver did a 1.34.647 to beat his team-mate Lewis Hamilton (1.34.762.) Third was the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, who posted a 1.35.174, followed by Sebastian Vettel, who did a 1.35.277 in the other SF15-T. The German’s session came to a premature end after his front wing was damaged in a coming-together with the Force India of Sergio Perez. The Friday programme was thus completed, the second session providing valuable data, taking place as it did at the same time of day as qualifying and the race.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1

Posted: 17.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 17 April – The fourth round of the Formula 1 World Championship got underway with the two Ferraris topping the first time sheet at the Sakhir circuit.
Just a few days after the Chinese Grand Prix, the SF15-Ts of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were first and second in the first free practice. The two Ferrari men concentrated on the usual task of working on set-up, with Kimi quickest in 1.37.827 and Sebastian second with a 1.38.029. Third was Valtteri Bottas with a 1.38.390 in the Williams.

Just a handful of laps for the Ferrari duo – 13 for Kimi and 12 for Sebastian- as they sat out much of the session in the pits, because the track is still very dusty. Vettel also had a sensor problem that had to be sorted out.

The desert by night

Posted: 17.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 17 April –Night races have always been particularly enticing to drivers and Esteban Gutierrez is no exception to that rule. “I really like the fact that the Bahrain race is held at night,” Scuderia Ferrari’s third driver told ferrari.com. “Because, not only does it help the drivers, it also helps with the handling of the car. The fact it’s a few degrees cooler certainly helps cool all the mechanical components and, at a track where there are many heavy braking points, that is a not inconsiderable advantage. The braking system has to be specifically set up for this race and that’s no easy task: of the eight corners, the hardest is definitely the first one, where you go from around 320 km/h to 60, within the space of just 160 metres.

“The wind is always a very important factor at Sakhir and its direction can have a significant impact on lap time. In terms of set-up, the circuit requires a medium level of aerodynamic downforce. While it’s true there are some long straights, where that isn’t strictly necessary, the downforce level comes into its own in the quick corners like turns 7 and 8 and 12 and 13.

Fuel consumption is high and so striving for maximum efficiency will be vital when it comes to defining the strategy.“Even though temperatures will be lower at night, the sand will still be blown onto the track,” concludes Esteban. “And this means the tyres will suffer considerable wear and so we can expect to see a high number of pit stops on Sunday.”

Sebastian Vettel – A unique track

Posted: 16.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 16 April – Sebastian Vettel seems to like the challenge ahead of him and Scuderia Ferrari this weekend in Bahrain: “It’s another weekend on another track, with different conditions. I would say we can be happy with our season so far, but we must find confirmations.

This is also the first night race of the year, and it will be exciting, so let’s hope we have a good car. This track calls for power and good brakes system, because here we have long straights followed by heavy braking areas. To some respects it is a unique track, where finding a good pace is not always easy. It will be hot, but not as much as Malaysia, given the fact that we race at night. In any case, we have shown that our car can be good in bot cold and hot conditions, so we hope this trend will continue here. If we can look after our tyres we can put some pressure on the team ahead of us.

At the moment we know how strong Mercedes are, they have a very good package, but so do we, and we must make sure that we keep improving it to close the gap. Whatever is going on between the two Mercedes drivers does not affect us: we must look after ourselves, the rest is not in our hands”.

Kimi Raikkonen – A track that makes the difference

Posted: 16.04.2015
Source: Ferrari

Sakhir, 16 April – Kimi Raikkonen started talking about the Shanghai race on his Thursday press meeting, that took place at the Sakhir circuit. “In the last race in China we did our maximum” said the finnish driver. “It was the first race with no problems, but obvioulsly we want more and we’ll keep working to improve in every single area.The team is working very well, it’s a solid group of people that go in the same direction.

Every track is different, but the behavior of the car has been good in every place we’ve been and I don’t see reason why it shouldn’t be the same here. From tomorrow, we’ll go through our programme and we’ll see. Now it’s too early to make prediction about the weekend. Every year on the same track it’s slightly different and every car behaves in a different way.

The Bahrain track is nice, the layout allows you to overtake and this can make a big difference in the race. The second practice is much later than the first one and that’s when you can understand the situation a bit more. We have to do our best to have a clear weekend. We still have a lot of work to do if we want to do always better and fight for wins.”

 

Bahrain: heavy acceleration and braking

Posted: 15.03.2015
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 15 April – No sooner had the race in China ended that all the Formula One teams headed off for Bahrain, for the second part of the first back-to-back of the season. The weather awaiting the teams couldn’t be more different to that left behind in Shanghai. “Sakhir is a very tough track, partly because of the weather, mainly the heat, and also because the circuit is technically demanding,” explains Simone Resta, Scuderia Ferrari’s Chief Designer, talking to ferrari.com. One of the main features of the circuit is the heavy acceleration and braking, factors that put the car under a lot of stress both in terms of traction coming out of the corners and when braking. Therefore the cooling system has to be the right size to ensure the discs are cooled properly.

Furthermore, the fact the Bahrain Grand Prix is, since last year, a night race, means that data from the first free practice session is less relevant as it takes place at a different time of day to qualifying and the race. “Of the tracks that feature in the early part of the season, Sakhir is the one that most highlights the performance of the power unit, both from the V6 engine and from the hybrid part. However, we should not forget that speed down the straight is also influenced by the level of aerodynamic downforce used. In the early part of the season, each circuit feels new and we have to get an idea of what our performance level will be, not so much in outright terms, but when compared to that of our competitors.”