Round 2: Bahrain - Bahrain International Circuit (27Sep18 @ 9pm EDT)

[AaronWebb85]

Last Season's Results:
1st: McSendit
2nd: ForzaAlonso14
3rd: Odemdemz98
Pole: Odemdemz98 (01:27.889)
FL: ranga (01:30.707)

Pre-Race Interview
1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?
2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia? 
3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?

 

[sold1ersix]

Pre-Race Interview
1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?
It was tough - qualified P13 and climbed up to P9 before a T11 collision that compromised tire strategy. Once I was able to limp back to the pits and replace my front wing, it was impossible to keep pace. Additionally I had to move over to let leaders through and it allowed drivers that were behind me to overtake as well. I ended the race by retiring in the pits as it became painfully evident that could not keep pace after my 2nd pit stop. 

2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia?
Fuel and ERS management were as expected. Tire temps and degradation were also as expected but strategy was compromised when having to pit on lap 8 instead of lap 12. 

3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?
Bahrain is a great power track. I'm a really big fan of the double left apex of T9 and T10. 

 

[Dano1Z]

1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?
Very ugly start to the season. Retired out of qualifying, started at the back. Incurred wing damage on the first corner, had to pit first lap, came out on cooler tires hit a curb and lost it. Not happy at all with my performance.
2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia?
I had a really good feeling with the car through practice all week. I've switched to a wheel for full time this year and still getting a handle on how the car reacts to oversteer and understeer. ERS management is tough with also trying to juggle manual gears and fuel mixture the entire race.
3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?
I'm definitely feeling more confident in the race car this week. Have put in a lot of practice with new wheel settings and am feeling good. Still room to improve but should be in the points this week.

 

[nickthequick]

1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?
Usually Australia is a very tough track but some good practice with Mebbe led me to find a nice stable setup.  Can't do any better than a 1-2 for the Prancing Horse

2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia?
Everything worked out according to plan.  I made sure my setup and my driving were good on the tires so this ended up giving me a late push to the end.

3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?
Normally its a fun track to battle on, but I am having a hard time putting down fast times but still allowing for a stable setup.  It feels like quite a trade off for each.

 

[AaronWebb85]

1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?

The race was actually a positive for me, even though the result was negative. I was showing some good pace as I am adjusting to wheel and manual gears. Even considering an issue which caused me to adjust race strategy and pit for a new wing, I was well into the points. Alfa Romeo Sauber has never had higher expectations with 2 time champion McSendit coming to the team, I don't think they would have been disappointed with a double points finish, but due to some technical issues with my pedals, a DNF was instead the result.

2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia? 

I was actually doing a good job of managing all three. I had actually saved up a good portion of my ERS and fuel to be able to push on fresh tires towards the end. Had I not had my early incident which caused me to pit for a wing, I think a 1 stop was definitely possible based on my tire wear numbers.

3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?

Bahrain is an interesting race. It always provides good racing, with it's width and several good overtaking opportunities. I don't much like the track though. I never seem to be able to get that flow here, hopefully it will be different this time around. I ordered new pedals, as my old are intermittently dysfunctional, so depending on when they arrive (Scheduled for Thursday) I may be racing again on the Pad which I am more than comfortable with. 

 

[McSendit]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Pre-Race Interview[/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Started my season off how I wanted. Felt like I could have possibly challenged for the win with some better driving, but the main goal was the make it home in one piece.  :lol: [/font]


[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia? [/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Great. I find that I can get into a rhythm managing fuel and ERS, and after awhile I'm not even thinking about it.[/font]


[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I used to always say I hated this track, but it's grown on me as of late. It's not one of the most enjoyable to drive, but the nature of the corners always produces good battles. You need to be confident on the brakes to be quick here, and good at saving tires.[/font]

 

[Axton_118]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?[/font]
I was thrilled to race for the first time this season. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my setup dialed in and it cost me big time. I think with how my preseason went, I drastically underperformed.
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia? [/font]
Fuel was aplenty, ERS was well managed and my tires stayed in their prime with how many times I had to pit.

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I am not a huge fan of Bahrain but I’m relatively quick here. A top 10 shouldn’t be out of the question as long as there isn’t anything catastrophic. I enjoy how racey Bahrain can be if you get 2 people of equal car/skill. I hate how inconsistent I can be at times here.[/font]

 

[boojiprime]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]1. How was your first race of the season? Have you met your team's expectations?[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Went in with conservative expectations and came out surprised! Had a terrible Qualifying as I crashed into the wall while warming up my tires causing me to start near last, but I worked my way up from the back, P7! I was mainly concerned with being consistent, rather than being too aggressive. I don't have the pace of the front runners but I've got my eye on that F1.5 Championship! Australia is a favorite so we'll see about the upcoming races! I hope I made my team proud with a solid 1st race finish as a Rookie.[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2. How was your fuel, ERS and tires management in Australia? [/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Was super happy with how I managed the race. Tire wise it would've been a two stopper for me had I not been involved in a racing incident in the last bit of the race which caused me to replace my wing and lose 2 places. Didn't place too much emphasis on managing the ERS too aggressively, mainly keeping it on medium-high. I could've used more fuel throughout the race, as I had a surplus at the end. Again, the name of the game for me was consistency.[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]3. Tell us how you feel about Bahrain, what do you like or hate about it?[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Bahrain is always exciting, especially at night. I love how you stay on limit on the high-speed corners and am curious about how many two stops there will be. I'm most concerned with T1-2, T8, and T10, one, because Lap 1 is always exciting but dangerous on those turns, and two, getting a fast setup that has just enough oversteer through those corners is difficult. Do I go conservative or be a bit more liberal with the oversteer to slide my back end around those corners?... I guess we'll find out! [/font]