I know for a fact it won't be :lol: We're on for a long old season on evidence - only 4 drivers ever likely to win a race.

Bahrain is a horrendous circuit and Grand Prix imo

 

I think we might see some variation on the early non-power circuits but this is just gonna be a 4th year of boring processions that any Tom dick or Harry could win as long as they were in the merc. Red Bull won 4 in a row but it was never like this

Which F1 graphics set did you prefer or were your favourite?

I quite like the new graphics! A nice upgrade I thought

For me, I prefer the 1994-2003 graphics such as this:

 

More overtaking in the Bahrain Grand Prix please. Less of the borefest.

FP1 has concluded:

 

 

Ricciardo

Bottas

Raikkonen

Vettel

Hamilton

Grosjean

Gasly

Sainz

Magnussen

Hulkenberg

 

 

 

 

Liberty Media's proposals:

 

Formula 1's proposals at a glance

 

Key strategic initiatives

Power units (PU)

• The PU must be cheaper, simpler, louder, have more power and reduce the necessity of grid penalties.

• It must remain road relevant, hybrid and allow manufacturers to build unique and original PU.

• New PU rules must be attractive for new entrants and Customer teams must have access to equivalent performance.

 

Costs

• We believe how you spend the money must be more decisive and important than how much money you spend.

• While there will be some standardised elements, car differentiation must remain a core value

• Implement a cost cap that maintains Formula 1 position as the pinnacle of motorsport with a state-of-the-art technology.

 

Revenues

• The new revenue distribution criteria must be more balanced, based on meritocracy of the current performance and reward success for the teams and the Commercial Rights Holder.

• F1's unique, historical franchise and value must and will still be recognised.

• Revenue support to both cars and engine suppliers.

 

Sporting and technical rules & regulations

• We must make cars more raceable to increase overtaking opportunities.

• Engineering technology must remain a cornerstone but driver's skill must be the predominant factor in the performance of the car.

• The cars must and will remain different from each other and maintain performance differentiators like aerodynamics, suspensions and PU performance. However, we believe areas not relevant to fans need to be standardised.

 

Governance

• A simple and streamline structure between the teams, the FIA and Formula 1.

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

I think it's a good proposal but I can see Mercedes and Ferrari kicking off about a cost cap.

I mean yes it sounds great in theory but in practice it's a mere pipedream. The thing is it was going in the right direction as a spectacle a while back when they brought in KERS & DRS and all the on-track overtaking records tumbled but season after season now we're going backwards. The whole hybrid era has been a terrible idea & we won't see races full of overtakes for the foreseeable future. Ok, at least Lewis has got 3 titles out of it but for those not fans of Merc they ain't going anywhere.

 

And cost caps? Don't make me laugh :lol: Ferrari & Mercedes stick 2 fingers up to that & Liberty sit RIGHT back down again.

Look what happened in 2009, the last time cost caps were mentioned.

 

Hamilton faces a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Fair play, an actual semi-interesting Bahrain GP. I knew Vettel was never under threat at the end as we've seen many times in recent seasons overtaking at the front is nigh-on impossible. Track position is absolutely everything.

 

Decent show for Gasly though! Honda-power getting a top 4 after McLaren ditch them :lol: Bit of a stinker for parent team RBR! Can't see Danny Ric taking much more of this...

 

Also can whatever is stretching this page plz be fixed? :teresa:

What has happened to Williams? Only team not to score a single point yet.

 

Stroll and Sirotkin were the last two today too.

 

What a inspiring duo for Williams. Hardly.

 

 

Terrific result and weekend for Gasly with finishing fourth.

WHAT A RACE today, seriously, I was gripped from start to finish! Proper nailbiter. I think that Hamilton, Ricciardo or Verstappen in Bottas's shoes would've won that in the same situation, I'm afraid.

 

Williams are looking like facing a potential last place this season. They've been going backwards and now they've lost the experience of Massa. I think both Williams and Force India will struggle this year. Sauber are going to make leaps and bounds with their new Alfa Romeo partnership.

 

Incredible for Gasly and Toro Rosso Honda - what a shocker that has been this weekend.

Given the field behind the big 3 look ready to have a pretty exciting scrap, I decided to look at how the 2017 season would look if we erased Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull from the results.

 

Across the 20 races, we'd have seen victories for:

 

Felipe Massa (Williams) - Australia, Bahrain, Brazil (3)

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) - China, Monaco, Singapore (3)

Sergio Pérez (Force India) - Russia, Spain, Canada, Malaysia (4)

Lance Stroll (Williams) - Azerbaijan (1)

Romain Grosjean (Haas) - Austria (1)

Nico Hulkenburg (Renault) - GB, Belgium, UAE (3)

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - Hungary (1)

Esteban Ocon (Force India) - Italy, Japan, USA, Mexico (4)

 

That's 8 different drivers across 6 different teams, quite a spread! Only Sauber would've failed to win a race.

 

In the championship, Force India were run away winners, with a few 1-2s. Sergio Pérez led the championship for the most part, with Esteban Ocon nipping ahead after Italy and USA only to lose out. (In brackets were their overall finish in the championship)

 

1 (7) Sergio PÉREZ - Force India - Mercedes - 317

2 (8) Esteban OCON - Force India - Mercedes - 300

3 (11) Felipe MASSA - Williams - Mercedes - 217

4 (9) Carlos SAINZ JR. - Toro Rosso - Ferrari / Renault - 184

5 (10) Nico HÜLKENBURG - Renault - 170

6 (13) Romain GROSJEAN - Haas - Ferrari - 149

7 (12) Lance STROLL - Williams - Mercedes - 138

8 (14) Kevin MAGNUSSEN - Haas - Ferrari - 117

9 (15) Fernando ALONSO - McLaren - Honda - 99

10 (16) Stoffel VANDOORNE - McLaren - Honda - 91

 

11 (19) Daniil KVYAT - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 70

12 (17) Jolyon PALMER - Renault - 68

13 (18) Pascal WEHRLEIN - Sauber - Ferrari - 41

14 (20) Marcus ERICSSON - Sauber - Ferrari - 30

15 (21) Pierre GASLY - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 18

16 (22) Antonio GIOVINAZZI - Sauber - Ferrari - 6

17 (23) Brendon HARTLEY - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 5

18 (24) Jenson BUTTON - McLaren - Honda - 0

19 (25) Paul DI RESTA - Williams - Mercedes - 0

 

And in the constructors championship...

 

1 Force India - Mercedes - 617

2 Williams - Mercedes - 355

3 Renault - 266

4 Haas - Ferrari - 266

5 Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 249

6 McLaren - Honda - 190

7 Sauber - Ferrari - 77

 

It got me thinking, perhaps having a 'B-League' championship would be fun. So we'd have the overall championship like normal, and then a B-League system for the rest of the teams to fight for honours. Though that would only work under the current circumstances. I'll post an update on how the B-league would be shaping up after the Chinese GP this weekend. Thus far we've had victories for Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and it looks as though it will be much tighter this season.

Edited April 9, 20187 yr by Midge

Given the field behind the big 3 look ready to have a pretty exciting scrap, I decided to look at how the 2017 season would look if we erased Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull from the results.

 

Across the 20 races, we'd have seen victories for:

 

Felipe Massa (Williams) - Australia, Bahrain, Brazil (3)

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) - China, Monaco, Singapore (3)

Sergio Pérez (Force India) - Russia, Spain, Canada, Malaysia (4)

Lance Stroll (Williams) - Azerbaijan (1)

Romain Grosjean (Haas) - Austria (1)

Nico Hulkenburg (Renault) - GB, Belgium, UAE (3)

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - Hungary (1)

Esteban Ocon (Force India) - Italy, Japan, USA, Mexico (4)

 

That's 8 different drivers across 6 different teams, quite a spread! Only Sauber would've failed to win a race.

 

In the championship, Force India were run away winners, with a few 1-2s. Sergio Pérez led the championship for the most part, with Esteban Ocon nipping ahead after Italy and USA only to lose out. (In brackets were their overall finish in the championship)

 

1 (7) Sergio PÉREZ - Force India - Mercedes - 317

2 (8) Esteban OCON - Force India - Mercedes - 300

3 (11) Felipe MASSA - Williams - Mercedes - 217

4 (9) Carlos SAINZ JR. - Toro Rosso - Ferrari / Renault - 184

5 (10) Nico HÜLKENBURG - Renault - 170

6 (13) Romain GROSJEAN - Haas - Ferrari - 149

7 (12) Lance STROLL - Williams - Mercedes - 138

8 (14) Kevin MAGNUSSEN - Haas - Ferrari - 117

9 (15) Fernando ALONSO - McLaren - Honda - 99

10 (16) Stoffel VANDOORNE - McLaren - Honda - 91

 

11 (19) Daniil KVYAT - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 70

12 (17) Jolyon PALMER - Renault - 68

13 (18) Pascal WEHRLEIN - Sauber - Ferrari - 41

14 (20) Marcus ERICSSON - Sauber - Ferrari - 30

15 (21) Pierre GASLY - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 18

16 (22) Antonio GIOVINAZZI - Sauber - Ferrari - 6

17 (23) Brendon HARTLEY - Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 5

18 (24) Jenson BUTTON - McLaren - Honda - 0

19 (25) Paul DI RESTA - Williams - Mercedes - 0

 

And in the constructors championship...

 

1 Force India - Mercedes - 617

2 Williams - Mercedes - 355

3 Renault - 266

4 Haas - Ferrari - 266

5 Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 249

6 McLaren - Honda - 190

7 Sauber - Ferrari - 77

 

It got me thinking, perhaps having a 'B-League' championship would be fun. So we'd have the overall championship like normal, and then a B-League system for the rest of the teams to fight for honours. Though that would only work under the current circumstances. I'll post an update on how the B-league would be shaping up after the Chinese GP this weekend. Thus far we've had victories for Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and it looks as though it will be much tighter this season.

Thanks for doing this, Lenny.

 

It is very interesting to see what it have looked like without the "Big Three". It's great that the midfield is closely tight together. A good couple of points for Sauber with 9th place for Marcus Ericsson. First time he scored since 2015.

 

 

Yes - also I thought it was interesting as to just how far ahead of Lance Stroll that Felipe Massa pulled. One place and 3 points apart with the big 3 included, but with them excluded Felipe was absolutely miles ahead.

Excellent race today. Always enjoy seeing Hamilton being put back in the box marked “thoroughly average, flattered by dominant car”

Excellent race today. Always enjoy seeing Hamilton being put back in the box marked “thoroughly average, flattered by dominant car”

 

Yeah it was an incredible race today. I can't imagine what Danny would be able to do in a Merc or a Ferrari. Those passes were amazing, just a shame that Max doesn't know the definition of patience otherwise it probably would have been a Red Bull 1-2

Another incredible race; thoroughly enjoyed that. Was enjoying it enough at the point Bottas managed to undercut Vettel and then pass Raikkonen without losing his lead over Seb, let alone the rest.

 

Always delightful when Danny Ric manages to win the race.

 

Max is continuing to show his immaturity this season. Though he can win races and is obviously fast, he must've cost the team so many points by now. I'd say he lost a couple of points today but Red Bull would've been on for a certain 1-2 without his collision with Vettel, and in fact he would likely have won without the needless overtake manoeuvre on Lewis that went wrong.

 

I'll update the B-league results and standings shortly!

B-LEAGUE RESULTS - CHINESE GRAND PRIX 2018

 

DRIVERS

 

1. Nico HÜLKENBURG (Renault) [6]

2. Fernando ALONSO (McLaren) [7]

3. Carlos SAINZ JR. (Renault) [9]

4. Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas) [10]

5. Esteban OCON (Force India) [11]

6. Sergio PÉREZ (Force India) [12]

7. Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren) [13]

8. Lance STROLL (Williams) [14]

9. Sergey SIROTKIN (Williams [15]

10. Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber) [16]

--

11. Romain GROSJEAN (Haas) [17]

12. Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso) [18]

13. Charles LECLERC (Sauber) [19]

14. Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso) [20]

 

STANDINGS - AFTER 3 ROUNDS

 

1 (2) Nico HÜLKENBURG (Renault) - 58

2 (1) Fernando ALONSO (McLaren) - 55

3 (4) Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren) - 31

4 (6) Carlos SAINZ JR. (Renault) - 31

5 (5) Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas) - 30

6 (3) Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso) - 25

7 (7) Esteban OCON (Force India) - 24

8 (8) Sergio PÉREZ (Force India) - 18

9 (10) Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber) - 9

10 (9) Charles LECLERC (Sauber) - 8

11 (11) Lance STROLL (Williams) - 8

12 (12) Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso) - 2

13 (14) Sergey SIROTKIN (Williams) - 2

14 (13) Romain GROSJEAN (Haas) - 2

 

CONSTRUCTORS

 

1 (2) Renault - 89

2 (1) McLaren - Renault - 86

3 (4) Force India - Mercedes - 42

4 (5) Haas - Ferrari - 32

5 (3) Toro Rosso - Honda - 27

6 (6) Sauber - Ferrari - 17

7 (7) Williams - Mercedes - 10