Talk:Hamilton wins 'incredible' Bahrain race, F1's 900th Grand Prix

Qualifying
I watched qualifying live but did not think to take notes, as I didn't think much of interest would happen except for grid position, which could be covered during the race. In the event several things worth noting happened:


 * Ricciardo was 3rd, but took a ten-place grid penalty because of an unsafe release [refers to release from the pits] on the previous race. Red Bull let him go with a wheel not properly attached. He scored no points as a result, think he ended up retiring. Commentators felt the grid penalty excessive.


 * Hamilton went off the track during his final timed lap, and ended up pitting without even completing it. Rosberg got a fun radio message telling him his pole position was safe from his Mercedes teammate, who qualified second.


 * Reigning champ Sebastian Vettel in the other Red Bull qualified a miserable 11th.

3rd practice
I also caught the tail end of 3rd practice while waiting for the qualifying to start (having parked the TV on the channel, there being nothing better on). Vettel spun off and crashed. He didn't damage his car obviously but it was stranded and he had to abandon it.

The race
I watched the race live on Sky's dedicated F1 channel. "Double quotes" are exact and 'single quotes' are paraphrases. What was happening when is my own observations; non-attributed details and quotes are from the commentary team. Here's my notes, typed into Notepad as the race went on:

Pre-start: Only Vettel, Sutil on medium tyres. All others soft. Cars are forming up after parade lap. A graphic on the track proclaims this the 900th F1 GP. Hamilton immediately overtakes teammate Rosberg for 1st Perez locks up Hamitlon, Rosberg fighting hard in first few corners, no contact but Rosberg briefly off-track Yellow lag, Vergne's back-right punctured (all above first lap) Lap 2: Vergne reaches pits despite being far away. Replaced wheel, back out. "This guy tried to kill me" - Vergne unimpressed with Maldonado (team radio) 1st lap replay, Magnussen & Raikonnen touch Discussion of Hamilton vs Rosberg: Hamitlon entitled to racing line even though not allowed to force cars off the track "There's some speed in that Lotus if they can just get it running properly" "it's less ugly [than some of the other cars]" New flashing light warnings - "We used to [use] manual gears and we used to miss them all the time, and we never ran into the back of each other." "Quite a bit of understeer" - Hulkenberg Lap 13 - "after his pit stop [Kvyat] has just set the fastest lap of the race"(!) Lap 13 - Biancci, Sutil collide. B has back-left puncture. Sutil punstures front-right, pulls up and retires. Lap 14 - Vettel: "My DRS is not working anymore"<Br> Stewards probing Biancci-Sutil collision<Br> Lap 16 - Red Bull order Riciardo to let Vettel past. R obliges.<Br> Lap 18/19 - Rosberg, Hamilton still racing hard. Several position changes.<Br> Lap 19 - Biancci gets drive-thru for causing collision,<Br> "Adrian Sutil has retred from the race", his second retirement in a row. He must have got going again after his collision.<Br> Lap 27 - Button radio: "DRS is not working"<Br> Lap 31/2 - Bottas goes off-track during battling between other Raikkonen, Riccardo in front of him. Team tell him he was forced off and they are complaining to "Charlie" [race director, I presume] [EDIT: Yes, it meant Race Director Charlie Whiting]<Br> Marshall ran from the car despit being protected by a wall. Bottas avoids hitting anything and races on.<Br> Lap 36 - Ericsson has pulled up his (Caterham?) and retired.<Br> Lap 41 - Gutierez(sp?) sideswiped, severely damaged as Maldonado exits pit lane. G out. Commentators think car may have been overturned at one point<Br> "Driver is moving"<Br> G - "Wow, what was that?"<Br> Replay: G did indeed do a barrel roll and then land back on wheels.<Br> Safety car deployed<Br> Lap 42 - magnussen stopped at side of track<Br> Commentators unsure if Maldonado could have seen G coming from behind owing to rear wheels blocking view in mirrors.<Br> "Did low nose contribute to flipping car?" - "More likely tyre on tyre."<Br> Another replay - "I think Maldonado should have seen that one coming... [G]'s going to turn into the corner, he's going to take the racing line."<Br> "Trip to the stewards?" "I think so... Possibly some penalty points as well."<Br> Lap 44 - Clutch failure confirmed for Mag retrement. Lapped cars can overtake.<Br> "I hate this stage of the safety car, letting the lapped drivers through. They're lapped."<Br> "Immensely frustrating for all watching."<Br> Lap 46 - Stewards investigationg Mald/Gut collision.<Br> Lap 47 - Cars racing again. <Br> Lap 48 - Hamilton (leader): "I've got no power"<Br> Lap ~50 - Riciardo overtakes teammate Vettel for 5th<Br> Lap 51 - "I'm really really slow down the straights" - Vettel<Br> 900th Formula One World Championship Grand Prix<Br> Lap 52 - Hamilton, Rosberg STILL racing hard. Rosberg goes briefly off-track.<Br> Lap 53 - Hamilton overtaken on 1st corner, takes it straight back.<Br> Lap 55 - Perez (3rd) set to gain Force India's second-ever podium<Br> Lap 55 - Jensen Button very slow. Retirement seems likely (despite lap 57 being the final lap)<Br> Lap 56 - Button enters pit garage, retires<Br>

Finish line:<Br> Ham<Br> ROs<Br> Per<Br> RIc (from 13th)<Br> Hul<Br> Vet<Br> Mas<Br> Bot<Br> Alo<Br> Rai<Br> Kvy<Br>

Fireworks! (it's a night race)<Br> "As good a race as we've had for a long time. Thoroughly enjoyed that."<Br> "Even Alonso had his arm up when he crossed the finish line, he finished ninth. And Hulkenbrg was 5th and was punching the air."<Br> Hamilton: "It's been an incredible day, a really tough day" and also said he's looking forward to some down time. He said 'it was incredible' or somesuch a few sentences before. Two incredibles, how incredibe.<Br> BRS (Talk)   (Contribs) 15:41, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Courtesy note
The related article also contains background details used in this report (as allowed for by the sourcing policy). BRS (Talk)   (Contribs) 00:10, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

OR Notes

 * The stuff about the Martini stripes can be found here and here (fb signup may be required).


 * I thought it would be fun to verify my broadcast notes against primary sources. In addition to whatever team and driver comments I can come up with on social media, then, here is the official results table. Also, to verify Kvyat's score of points in Malaysia, see here, which also notes Perez Did Not Start with a gearbox failure. (I didn't watch that race live, and was told not to bother catching highlights by somebody who did.)


 * If that feels a bit sparse for additional verification, fear not: F1's official presser is here.


 * Daniil Kvyat Tweet Here


 * Rosberg Tweet Here


 * Hamilton Tweets Here and Here


 * Entertaining thread of Maldonado getting torn to shreds by fans here. See also the comments on the Sky Sports article.


 * I hoped to add responses to Maldonado on Twitter to the case that fan reaction was against him, but he (wisely) said nothing. Not to worry, #CrashtorMaldonado is entertaining too. A more neutral search on his name is also overwhelmingly negative on relevant hits. Also great to see several tweets in there complaining that Maldonado got off light compared to Ricciardo.

BRS (Talk)   (Contribs) 01:13, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Esteban was hospitalised. See also Mexican tweet which looks like it confirms. Thanked fans in Mexican and English. Sauber tweet noting he returned to the circuit here.