Sunny sakhir
question 1
Friday saw Force India pull out of FP2 due to an incident involving their team personnel on the wednesday night. What do you make of their decision and the controversy around FOM showing no coverage of the team during Qualifying?
@jo_johnson63 : I think that Force India showed respect and understanding towards their team members and acted accordingly. I personally admire them for that and don't think they should be criticised for their actions by the media or otherwise. The media or FOM should be glad that more or all teams didn't follow suit.
@ChrisJ_F1 : Due to the significant safety risk surrounding F1 this weekend, I think Force India had every right to pull out early. Especially after what happened in the incident between their mechanics and the protesters. With FOM not showing coverage on Force India, that seemed to anger a lot of fans, it was a petty response from FOM. Besides I think it bought Force India and its relevant sponsors a lot of positive publicity ... joke's on you Bernie!
@hedgeryhoops : Force India did the right thing in wanting to keep their employees safe, and no won can blame them for that. It could be possible that because they chose not to run in FP2, that it was seen that they were not conforming to the stance of the sports governing body and that they chose to punish them in this way. On an equally controversial note, the Bahrain authorities may not have been impressed by the sponsor that occupies Force India's rear and front wings and what it stood for - Kingfisher.
@Edd1969 : Decision to pull out was understandable but i think an overreaction. The TV blackout, not suprprising. It has long been known that FOM would give a blackout for not toeing the line, has been this way for years, righly or wrongly!
@jo_johnson63 : I think that Force India showed respect and understanding towards their team members and acted accordingly. I personally admire them for that and don't think they should be criticised for their actions by the media or otherwise. The media or FOM should be glad that more or all teams didn't follow suit.
@ChrisJ_F1 : Due to the significant safety risk surrounding F1 this weekend, I think Force India had every right to pull out early. Especially after what happened in the incident between their mechanics and the protesters. With FOM not showing coverage on Force India, that seemed to anger a lot of fans, it was a petty response from FOM. Besides I think it bought Force India and its relevant sponsors a lot of positive publicity ... joke's on you Bernie!
@hedgeryhoops : Force India did the right thing in wanting to keep their employees safe, and no won can blame them for that. It could be possible that because they chose not to run in FP2, that it was seen that they were not conforming to the stance of the sports governing body and that they chose to punish them in this way. On an equally controversial note, the Bahrain authorities may not have been impressed by the sponsor that occupies Force India's rear and front wings and what it stood for - Kingfisher.
@Edd1969 : Decision to pull out was understandable but i think an overreaction. The TV blackout, not suprprising. It has long been known that FOM would give a blackout for not toeing the line, has been this way for years, righly or wrongly!
question 2 - suggested by hedgeryhoops
The stewards reviewed the two incidents between Nico Rosberg and Hamilton/Alonso and have decided not to penalise him. Do you agree with their decision? If not what would you have done?
@F1_Fans_Updates : I do not agree with the stewards, I think Rosberg should have got a penalty or at least a warning for the incidents especially the Hamilton one which I thought was a bit worse than the Alonso one. I did a #F1POTD question after the race asking people what they thought the outcome of the two incidents would be and most thought Rosberg would get a penalty for both, so many was shocked when he did not get anything for either incident.
@MarussiaF1Will : It looked bad at first look but the stewards have got more camera angles and coverage than we do so came to a decision. Also, the track is wider than it looks so there was a bit of room, but he would have been punished if it was at another track that was smaller.
@TheSixYearItch : No idea why the stewards didn't penalise Rosberg, maybe because his result wasn't as high as they thought it may have been. I can't say it was dangerous driving as there wasn't an 'obstacle' that could have injured Alonso/ Hamilton but nobody else on the track felt the need to use tactics like that.
@F1_Fans_Updates : I do not agree with the stewards, I think Rosberg should have got a penalty or at least a warning for the incidents especially the Hamilton one which I thought was a bit worse than the Alonso one. I did a #F1POTD question after the race asking people what they thought the outcome of the two incidents would be and most thought Rosberg would get a penalty for both, so many was shocked when he did not get anything for either incident.
@MarussiaF1Will : It looked bad at first look but the stewards have got more camera angles and coverage than we do so came to a decision. Also, the track is wider than it looks so there was a bit of room, but he would have been punished if it was at another track that was smaller.
@TheSixYearItch : No idea why the stewards didn't penalise Rosberg, maybe because his result wasn't as high as they thought it may have been. I can't say it was dangerous driving as there wasn't an 'obstacle' that could have injured Alonso/ Hamilton but nobody else on the track felt the need to use tactics like that.
question 3
Bahrain was our first dry race of the season which saw the first win for RBR and a double podium for Lotus. Do you think that this indicates that even without weather intervening that the grid is a lot closer this year and that we will continue to see a variety of drivers and constructors on the podium for the rest of the season?
@RobLMyers : Yes, in my opinion, the championships are going to be close this year. A number of teams and drivers look capable of winning races. No one team has been able to show consistent pace in all conditions and the difficult to master tyres will make for unpredictable results.
@IcyWingsUK : The grid is certainly a lot closer this year, and this has produced some excellent racing. It remains to be seen how long it takes the typical front runners to pull away from the rest now we return to Europe and the teams upgrade their cars. If the likes of Mercedes, Force India and Sauber can keep up development, and help to create some great races through the year, we should see some more interesting results.
@BenF1_ : I think the results were again a bit deceiving, and didn't represent the true running order, but it is clear that the field is more tightly packed. McLaren messing up their pitstops for Hamilton cost them dearly, and RBR just made the best of the situation, as they did on countless occasions last year. As for more drivers on the podium, we have yet to see Webber, Massa or Schumacher on the podium for the top teams, and you'd guess we'd see those three up there at some point. I wouldn't be surprised to see more teams up there as well, but it all depends on the updates the teams bring to Barcelona.
@RobLMyers : Yes, in my opinion, the championships are going to be close this year. A number of teams and drivers look capable of winning races. No one team has been able to show consistent pace in all conditions and the difficult to master tyres will make for unpredictable results.
@IcyWingsUK : The grid is certainly a lot closer this year, and this has produced some excellent racing. It remains to be seen how long it takes the typical front runners to pull away from the rest now we return to Europe and the teams upgrade their cars. If the likes of Mercedes, Force India and Sauber can keep up development, and help to create some great races through the year, we should see some more interesting results.
@BenF1_ : I think the results were again a bit deceiving, and didn't represent the true running order, but it is clear that the field is more tightly packed. McLaren messing up their pitstops for Hamilton cost them dearly, and RBR just made the best of the situation, as they did on countless occasions last year. As for more drivers on the podium, we have yet to see Webber, Massa or Schumacher on the podium for the top teams, and you'd guess we'd see those three up there at some point. I wouldn't be surprised to see more teams up there as well, but it all depends on the updates the teams bring to Barcelona.
bonus question
Who was your driver of the day and why?
@NigelBeechey: My driver of the day would have been Kimi had he been a bit braven and taken the lead on lap 36! Instead i'm going for Romain as the F1 underdog.
@EmTheEmu : (Giraffe) Grosjean as he's finally proven that he has the potential to score podiums, maybe even wins - as long as he can keep out of trouble!
@Donz358 : Paul Di Resta did a fantastic job this weekend – equaling his best result if my memory serves me well. He deserves a lot more recognition than he got this weekend!
@joshbohn22 : My driver of the day for the #BahrainGP is Paul Di Resta! 2 stops and amazing overtake on 2 drivers! #bbcf1
@NigelBeechey: My driver of the day would have been Kimi had he been a bit braven and taken the lead on lap 36! Instead i'm going for Romain as the F1 underdog.
@EmTheEmu : (Giraffe) Grosjean as he's finally proven that he has the potential to score podiums, maybe even wins - as long as he can keep out of trouble!
@Donz358 : Paul Di Resta did a fantastic job this weekend – equaling his best result if my memory serves me well. He deserves a lot more recognition than he got this weekend!
@joshbohn22 : My driver of the day for the #BahrainGP is Paul Di Resta! 2 stops and amazing overtake on 2 drivers! #bbcf1