Ritter v4.0

Good post race interviews from Alonso (trying to be positive) and Ricciardo (happy as usual and chuffed at the close racing).

9.5 Degrees

Don't want to be a contrarian, but I think there were team orders between Rosberg and Hamilton. How does a guy with the advantage of tires to the point of 1+ second per lap and DRS not get by? The code of bring home the cars is = to hold position.

Gator_86_951

There were a number of attempted passes after that. This isn't WWE, sorry.

Chads996

Outstanding race. Best F1 I have seen in years. Practically ***** out from the drop of the green flag. Love seeing other teams getting up to the front with Williams reaching past glory and Force India getting to the podium. Great, great stuff.

If this is the level of racing to expect - bring it. Who cares about the sound of the cars...I can live with that if I am sitting on the edge of my seat for the whole race.

Good stuff...

333pg333

ARRGHHHH....just half a lap more would have done it!!! Have no idea if Vettel is finally getting his share of the 'luck' that seemed to cruel the previous incumbent RBR #2 driver but he does sound like a bit of a whinger at the moment. Perhaps it's all true. Or perhaps Ricci is just schooling him...

When Honda comes along and Williams drop the Merc motor...wonder if RBR might pick a new powerplant. Be interesting as they've been down on power for about what, 5 seasons?

Veloce Raptor

Excellent race.

The more I watch, the more I am viscerally offended at how bad these butt-ugly cars sound. I have thrashed rental Tauruses and Impalas on track and they have sounded much better.

In fact, it seems that the broadcast is piping very little engine/exhaust sound into the feed compared with last season & years past.

333pg333

I reckon they sound like Fairground bumper cars. Someone should invent an App that converts the sound to the old days. Now there's an idea!

Veloce Raptor

Or, alternately, drop all the FIA pillowbiters who came up with this ridiculous bull**** into the Marianas Trench, and return to race cars that sound like the pinnacle of motorsports...

multi21

Formula 1 is set to look at ways to increase the level of sound produced its new turbocharged engines.

The lower noise level has been criticised by many fans and paddock figures in the early stages of the season, including Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and reigning quadruple World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

But following meetings with the sport's key players in Bahrain, the FIA is to set up a working group to address the issue, and it is hoped that the changes can be tested for the first time at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test.

"It's something we have been addressing with all the manufacturers involved in Formula 1, to address the thing even with the new regulations," Todt told media in the Sakhir paddock. "We must see if we can implement in the short, medium, long term, a bigger noise. And that we will do and we will get unanimous agreement.

"After Barcelona there will be two days of testing, so hopefully there is something that can be tested."

Larry Herman

Dave, the problem with dumping these new cars is you will lose all of the aspects that just made this race. The lower aero, the huge torque of the turbo motor, the larger wing slot all made for the passing that you just saw. Give them time, the sound will come back and the ugly noses will go away.

Veloce Raptor

It's not the VOLUME of the sound.

It's the TONE. Again, I have driven rental cars on track that sound much better.

Maybe, maybe not. The FIA pillowbiters could easily change aero, make a larger wing slot, etc etc etc and still have let these cars sound like the pinnacle of motorsports, not like a bunch of Spec Miatas that have been riced up with Pep Boys glasspacks.

At these prices & budgets, IMO it should not have to take time for the alleged pinnacle of motorsports to sound as such.

Hell, even the Ford eco-boost turbo V6's in the new DP cars sound good.

These turds sound like turds.

Coochas

Why did the turbo V6 cars of the past sound a bit better and why did they all make those great flames between shifts and the new ones do not? Are the new cars burning so much more efficiently that we don't see that excess fuel burn any more?

Nizer

Let them/get them to rev to 18k and I trust they'll sound just fine. Heck, just get someone to let them rev to current regulated 15k limit vs functional 12k limit we've been getting and they'll probably sound a lot better.

The Q&A in this 2011 article is sounding pretty prescient at the moment: http://www.formula1.com/news/intervi...1/7/12241.html

LuigiVampa

"Daniel is quicker than you."

Who ever thought that Vettel would be told to move aside for his team mate and that he would actually do it?

Three races and Ricciardo seems to have outraced him each time. Were the rumors true? Did Vettel just have the better car and Weber got the left overs? Or is Ricciardo just a better driver than Vettel? Interesting to see how the season plays out. Was it the car the past four years or was it the driver?

Hammy versus Nico - give me more of this. As a matter of fact all the intra-team battles were assume to watch. Team orders at Mercedes? I don't think so. "Bring them home" means you have to be responsible for your actions. If you are going to make a pass you better do it cleanly.

Fix the engine note and this could be the best F1 season ever!

500

Daniel was fantastic yesterday. Certainly had a better run then Vettel. I don't think we can jump to the conclusion that he has outperformed Vettel three races in a row though... Malaysia definitely saw Vettel looking good and Australia was inconclusive as Vettel had car problems in qualifying and then early in the race.

I remember when Daniel first drove a Red Bull in one of those end-of-season young driver tests and was super-fast. I expect he will be a regular and constant challenger this year, but I would not write Seb off either.

Great racing up and down the order yesterday, but it is clear that Mercedes has a level of dominance beyond anything I've seen for years... With the fast pace of change with the new regs, it will be interesting to see how that holds through the season. Hopefully Hamilton and Rosberg will have more wheel-to-wheel races.