Rate the race: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix

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What did you think of the Bahrain Grand Prix? Share your verdict on today’s race.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought were the best and worst races during a season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (8%)
  • 9 (14%)
  • 8 (27%)
  • 7 (24%)
  • 6 (10%)
  • 5 (4%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (2%)
  • 1 (8%)

Total Voters: 699

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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See the results for past seasons here:

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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267 comments on “Rate the race: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix”

  1. 1. People getting killed, protests, horrible comments across the weekend from lots of people in F1, and the opposition being ignored completely and kept away from the track at all costs. I’ve also lost respect for a lot of people I’ve admired in the past and I wish I didn’t have to. Easily the worst F1 Grand Prix weekend I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. So glad it’s over, but I’m so disappointed in F1.

    Oh, the race was a bit of a farce too with that DRS zone.

    1. You chose to watch the race.

      I respect your opinion on Bahrain – and there aren’t any of us here who endorse what is happening in the country. But you watched it so rate it on what you watched.

      1. I watched a bunch of pro-regime monarchists throwing a giant party while just over the fence people are oppressed. I saw the sport I love used as a force for evil. I believe my rating is completely justified.

        1. (@damonsmedley I completely agree with you!

          Sport should be used as a tool to help unite people of different backgrounds and heritages, not as a propoganda tool of a murderous regime..

          1. And yet F1 has nothing to do with internal politics of Bahrein. And if you knew what was happening there and why, you would know better then to say that F1 was a propaganda tool for a murderous regime!

          2. Eh, I’m done with it. People clearly still seem to think the race was a good thing…

          3. bfo (@bfo) said on 22nd April 2012, 15:27
            And yet F1 has nothing to do with internal politics of Bahrein.

            And had the people who run our fantastic sport no allowed one side to promote their views of the Bahraini situation with the slogans “uniF1ed – one nation in celebration” and “back on track”, you may have some sort of point

          4. “…a propaganda tool for a murderous regime…”

            I don’t support what is happening in Bahrain, but honestly talking I think F1 event works better as a marketing tool for the opposition than for the Government.

            How many of us would know anything about what is happening in Bahrain if F1 were not racing there? Near to none.

        2. Shane (@shane-pinnell)
          23rd April 2012, 18:16

          That comment could apply to any number of races, in almost every country that they race in…

      2. Didn’t watch it. Won’t vote.

        1. same here. with the absence of a 0 button i have abstained from the vote

        2. Voted 1 as it was a ‘terrible’ race, watched the man u game instead

        3. I guess I will vote it a 1 as well.

        4. oh, I thought not to vote like @mike, but there is some truth in what you say too @bascb and smudgersmith1. Then again, I think this should be about the on track events, and I have no real opinion on those for this weekend, so I’ll not vote.

          1. Yes, I get what you mean @bosyber, but I think that is too narrow a view of what this poll expresses, as Keith writes in his comment below (https://www.racefans.net/2012/04/22/rate-race-2012-bahrain-grand-prix/comment-page-1/#comment-994976). I did not enjoy this GP weekend at all, because of the political background in current Bahrain. I am perfectly aware that is not a good reason, but it reflects how it was not a good idea to have this race. So I will vote a 1 to reflect that

          2. Yes @bascb, I’m still thinking over it, have a day to decide for myself. I did, getting back on Saturday, check internet, only to find that things weren’t all right, even at the track with FI being invisible in quali “alcohol sponsor on car” right Bernie, if you say so. So I too didn’t enjoy it, and had to still see F1 mentioned in news too, bc. of Bahrain.

            Maybe time for @keithcollantine to put up another vote for Todt, but it would be a bit pointless right now, I feel. with some arguing he’s doing fine for the sport, and most thinking he missed the point with Bahrain, and did a bad job.

    2. I think blaming the crew isn’t fair. If a wheel nut gets cross threaded then they can’t stop that from happening from the pit lane. They need to look at the design of the nut and thread, I would have thought by now someone would have come up with a better way then nut and bolts anyway (like a quick release / rivit mechanism).

    3. I’m so sorry & I do really feel for those harmed & the lives tragically lost in the protests & chaos in the country but can we just keep politics & activism out of today’s articles please & comment on how the racing was today, if you don’t like it then go & comment on the articles relevant to it. Meanwhile, the race was top-notch compared to previous races in Bahrain. Gutsy stuff from Hamilton on Rosberg by the way & a stunning performance both Vettel & the Lotus boys, Congrats to Grosjean on his first podium in F1 8/10 i’d say if not 9 although i went for 8.

      1. “I’m so sorry & I do really feel for those harmed & the lives tragically lost in the protests & chaos in the country but can we just keep politics & activism out of today’s articles”.
        Maybe that will change when the nausea wears off, maybe not.
        No.
        The victims of the Bahraini butchers don’t get to “leave politics … out of today”.
        PS: Didn’t watch the race. Considering abandoning F1 until the current disgusting crop of selfish elitists are gone. Disillusioned by the entire pack of them, from the nasty little troll down to my (once) favorite drivers. Even should I watch another race, I no longer call myself an F1 fan, and can’t seem to bring myself to give a damn about who wins the championship, or about the driver and team I once followed so enthusiastically.

        1. People can do something. Regiater your opinion with the sponsors. Tell them you will boycott their products because of their part in promoting this weekend. Some twitter accounts for you

          @puma @alpinestars @pepejeans @gilletteuk @microsoft @intel @redbull @shell @hiltonworldwide @reebok @lenovo_uk @lucozade @monsterenergy

        2. Sorry, the website chopped out the bulk of my reply, making it completely incoherent. Will try to post again ….

      2. “I’m so sorry … but can we just keep politics & activism out of today’s articles”.
        No.
        The victims of the Bahraini butchers don’t get to “keep politics … out of today”.

        Didn’t watch the race. Considering abandoning F1 until the current disgusting crop of selfish elitists are gone. Disillusioned by the entire pack of them, from the 2 dwarves at the top down to my (once) favorite drivers. Even should I watch another race, I no longer call myself an F1 fan, and can’t seem to bring myself to give a damn about who wins the championship, or about the driver and team I once followed so enthusiastically.

        Maybe that will change when the nausea wears off, maybe not.

        1. Go ahead.The door is open.
          This is sports, not politics.
          The race was a 6. Boring….
          Honestly I have not been in Bahrain, have you?

    4. Not over till F1 has left Bahrain….

    5. This is rate the race, not rate the country or it’s regime…

      1. @f1fannl If people didn’t enjoy the race because of what’s going on in Bahrain and F1′s political endorsement of the regime in the country, that’s their opinion and they’re as entitled to their view as you are.

        1. @keith its true people are entitled to their opinion but there is a time and place for that. The topic is rate the race not race the country! F1 has a contract with the organisers of the race and they decided to honour their contractual obligation. There are other companies our there who are still doing work for the regime.. it doesn’t necessarily mean they are in support of what is going on. Not entirely sure about F1’s political endorsement of the regime though.

          1. This is a poll on how entertaining people found the race. If people didn’t enjoy the race because of the circumstances around the race, then that may affect their rating.

          2. Any chance we can do a historic rate the race on the pre-F1 Grand Prix?

            I can’t wait to read the comments for the 1939 German Grand Prix where Carcciola celebrates his win for the German Government funded Mercedes with a Nazi salute. It was his last grand prix win, his 6th German GP win, his first in a year in a team where his team mate Lang was favoured, one where the original rain master, arguably the greatest driver of the pre-war era, used the conditions skilfully at the revered Nurburgring. On track the race was brilliant, but does the political background change our appreciation of the feat?

        2. True, they’re entitled to their opinions & I’m all for individual views & the recognition they deserve but it’s unfair that they’re criticizing the great racing we’ve seen today because of the politics going on outside of the Sport, it’s absurd putting two & two together to judge HOW THE RACE WENT. Honestly, People should just keep the two subjects apart.

          1. Quite simply, it wasn’t an enjoyable race at all. I think I could have enjoyed it under normal circumstances, but it didn’t matter what happened, I couldn’t get excited. My worst experience since I started watching F1, hence a 1/10.

          2. Did you read what Keith wrote?

          3. Keith, sorry to nit-pick, but does the circumstances around the race include abysmal TV coverage and can viewers rate the race based on that? I sure think TV coverage is most part of the race since all cannot go or afford to go to a race in person.

            The TV is the one that shows them the race and if that is not satisfying, then can it be reflected on the ratings?

            I, for one believe that a good race shouldn’t have it’s numbers skewed because of the happenings outside the track.

        3. sid_prasher (@)
          22nd April 2012, 15:32

          I cant believe @keithcollantine you are justifying this…by that argument anyone can vote 1 if their favorite driver didn’t win…there is no attempt at objectivity left then.

          1. That doesn’t bear comparison at all – for the reasons explained in the article.

          2. That’s fine – all the people who only vote min or max depending on one driver will be drowned out by anyone who posts in between values. That’s how statistics works.

        4. My hypothetical dislike of Ecclestone affects my rating. My dislike for Vettel affects my rating. My dislike for Vettel winning a race affects my rating. Yet if I rate the race lower for how the Bahraini government performs it is ok, but a lower rating becase of how a driver I dislike performed is not.

          Don’t get me wrong, I want everyone to express their opinions and rate however they like, I just think it doesn’t serve the purpose of the poll. I personally chose not to vote at all.

          1. Sorry I think Keith has a point I hated this race being held thought it was ‘terrible” and voted so, who are you to decide the ‘ purpose’ of the race. We are all different

        5. @keith I think that there should be separation of politics from F1. I know what is happening in Bahrain, and it’s much different from the situation, that was happening last year. And people don’t understand that all out governments would act like this when dealing with aggressive protests, that throw Molotov’s to prove their point. People were killed on 2011 England riots, and similar protests. And the history of F1 has a lot of troublesome races,
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Grand_Prix

          Still I enjoyed the race, and good sport! Can’t wait for Spain! :)

          1. OK I agree F1 should be seperate from politics but comparing the london riots to bahrain is wrong. People died in london because of other rioters not the police. In bahrain there has been systematic torturing, killing, and cover ups. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30rqMC9-cHQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player this sort of **** didn’t happen in london.

          2. This may be a double post because I swore in my other one I thought it might get deleted, rightly, by the moderators.

            OK I agree F1 should be seperate from politics but comparing the london riots to bahrain is ridiculus. People died in london because of other rioters not the police. In bahrain there has been systematic torturing, killing, and cover ups. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30rqMC9-cHQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player this didn’t happen in london.

        6. Keith, it’s your forum here, but it’s Rate The Race not Rate the situation.

          1. And some, due to their belief that the race put others lives in danger, didn’t enjoy it.

        7. Luckily I don’t suffer from a false sense of self righteousness.

          The situation in Bahrein has always been poor. The elite control everything and it’s citizens never had a say in the matter. It’s been like that for years. Nobody here had anything to say before 2011 and in between the 2011 GP and this GP but now that Bahrein is a hot topic again everybody jumps to moral high ground and pretends to be the ever so understanding and supportive saints they’d like other people believe them to be…

          Sorry, but I won’t be joining the hypocrisy.

          Where are the cries for all the other oppressed citizens around the globe? Where were the protests against the Chinese GP last weekend. Why is there no objection against going to Russia next year. I could go on and on…

          Personally, I have better things to do than try and make myself look righteous on twitter and facebook and other social media.

          I’ll probably get a lot of hate for saying this but at least I’m being honest in admitting that I didn’t care about the situation between March 2011 and April 2012 so I don’t see any reason why I should care now.

          1. Trenthamfolk (@)
            22nd April 2012, 18:08

            @F1fanNL Well said! +1

          2. -1

            “To care about Serious Problem X would be hypocritical when Serious Problem Y is just as bad. But no one has enough time care about all of the world’s problems. Therefore I will be consistent by not caring about any of them.”

            This is a terrible argument — unfortunately it is very common.

          3. That’s not the argument I’m making.

            Many protesters here didn’t mention Bahrein once before the situation became a daily news topic and will not care or mention it anymore once F1 goes to Europe. Just like they didn’t last year.

            Now that Bahrein is a hot topic they jump on the boo train and shout “Look at me, I’m morally sound!”

            The hypocrisy is appalling.

          4. Many protesters here didn’t mention Bahrein once before the situation became a daily news topic and will not care or mention it anymore once F1 goes to Europe. Just like they didn’t last year.

            Now that Bahrein is a hot topic they jump on the boo train and shout “Look at me, I’m morally sound!”

            Perhaps because this is an F1 site? People might be concerned about Syria, but they wouldn’t shout about it here unless it became a proper topic of conversation. If F1 announced a North Korean GP, I imagine there would be lot of debate about the country. But would we be wrong to do so because we hadn’t chosen to discuss the country here even when it was a non(F1)-issue? No, of course not. So keep your accusations of hypocrisy to yourself please.

          5. @F1fanNL I’m not sure if you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds. Why would anyone comment on articles that have nothing to do with Bahrain about Bahrain? It’s only since Bahrain has been covered that anyone has commented on it. Makes sense, yes?

            And self-righteousness? Suppose it’s better than being completely insensitive and self-centred. I love F1 as much as the next guy, but if you think a race is more important than human life, then I genuinely believe you have your priorities wrong.

            Also, everyone knows that the “China argument” is well and truly debunked now. It bears zero resemblance to the situation in Bahrain. If you’ve not read the news surrounding Bahrain — fair enough. But I’d advise you to stay away from discussing it until you have, because your argument is flawed in just about every way I can think of.

            And calling people self-righteous because they disagree with you is a bit childish. One could say the same about you after everything you’ve attempted to argue.

          6. @damonsmedley

            (The situation in) Bahrein has been mentioned in round-ups in the past. At that time nobody voiced their opinion anywhere near as strongly as most are doing right now.

            And self-righteousness? Suppose it’s better than being completely insensitive and self-centred. I love F1 as much as the next guy, but if you think a race is more important than human life, then I genuinely believe you have your priorities wrong.

            You may think I’m insensitive, I really couldn’t care less about your opinion right now. As for the race being more important than human life, nobody was killed to enable the GP to go ahead as planned. This was just another race that happened to be in a country where not every citizen has the same rights and privileges. The only reason this got so much heat is because it’s F1. Nobody made a peep during the different (major) sporting events prior to this GP.

            Also, everyone knows that the “China argument” is well and truly debunked now. It bears zero resemblance to the situation in Bahrain.

            Citizens are being oppressed and silenced. The same goes for China. So much for zero resemblance.

            And calling people self-righteous because they disagree with you is a bit childish. One could say the same about you after everything you’ve attempted to argue.

            Like I said, I don’t care what you think of me. Unlike you who seems to care a great deal about what people think.

            Nothing personal, you’re not the only one on this earth who worries about how people look at them. I just don’t get people who only ‘care’ about something when it’s a hot topic and then just move on with their lives afterwards as if nothing has happened.

            Btw, if all the people who pretend to care so much really did care they would have done more than just turn off the TV on Sunday afternoon (or in most cases, change the channel without a care in the world).

          7. @F1FanNL

            At that time nobody voiced their opinion anywhere near as strongly as most are doing right now.

            Not as many did, no. But that’s understandable as not as many knew about it. But it was clear from as early as January that the race should have been cancelled.

            Nobody made a peep during the different (major) sporting events prior to this GP.

            Unfortunately, these events were so “major” that no-one knew they were even happening.

            As for the race being more important than human life, nobody was killed to enable the GP to go ahead as planned.

            Well, someone was killed over the weekend, actually. And we don’t know if it was an F1-inspired protest that caused it. But F1 has certainly caused a huge amount of tension and violence which could have been avoided.

            There were police and security forces keeping everyone away from the track and out of Manama so F1 personnel wouldn’t come across anything other than pleasant and smiling pro-F1 locals. Some naive people in F1 seem to have fallen for it, but the majority saw through it. Journalists were reprimanded and many were taken aside and given a good talking to for mentioning everything happening outside the track. One protester that died earlier had his body withheld from his family until the Grand Prix was finished. It’s all very disgusting and calling this weekend anything other than a complete failure and disaster would be lying.

            Citizens are being oppressed and silenced. The same goes for China. So much for zero resemblance.

            The government in China don’t use the race to pull the wool over the world’s eyes. Bahrain was completely politicised (UniF1ed/one nation in celebration/back on track) by the monarchy and no-one said anything. It’s clearly in breach of article 1 of the FIA’s statutes. I’ve no idea how that resembles China, where oppression and torture has nothing to do with F1 and where F1 doesn’t actually affect how the people are treated.

            Like I said, I don’t care what you think of me. Unlike you who seems to care a great deal about what people think.

            Yep, and I’m sorry for being a bit over-the-top in my previous post. I realised it was a bit aggressive/personal later on but it’s not you I’m angry at even if I completely disagree. :-)

        8. Right, but it diminishes the poll’s usefulness from the perspective of evaluating the circuits, which is how you generally use them.

          1. You can slice data like this in various ways. It can tell us more than just which tracks produce good races, so I’m not concerned about that.

            For example, the low score for Germany 2010 shows that people generally don’t like it when the race leader is told to pull over and let his team mate win.

        9. @keithcollantine In that case I am going to give every European GP a rating of “terrible” because I loathe the idea of Liberal Democracy, and the permission of those countries to let themselves be overrun by hordes of Turks, Arabs and North Africans, and permitting gay marriages, etc. That would be just plain pathetic – in other words, that would make me not enjoy Webber and Alonso gunning it through Eau Rouge? I would make an idiot out of myself. You people should just get of your high horses.

          1. I agree that would be a foolish point of view. But I don’t agree that it’s analogous to not being able to enjoy a race in the knowledge that the people of a country are being suppressed in order for the race to happen.

    6. You were asked to rate the race not rate the country’s political situation.l Despite all this you chose to watch the race so rate it and move on!

    7. F1 has nothing to do with the internal problems in the Bahrein. F1 was held in other places where were protests and similar things. Race was a solid 7 or 7,5. Pretty interesting and a great performance from Lotus, happy for them.

    8. Are you saying that they should let those protestors come in the circuit and ruin everything? How does human right and anti-government relate to F1 in the first place? Just because the government support the race? I am so disappointed in that so called “human right organisation”.

      That said, I rated 6 because of the lack of overtaking. “Vettel style” isn’t the problem as a race like the Chinese GP can still be exciting when Rosberg drove away. I expected Maclaren to have a much better result, but Lotus is a surprise (well, they are good but I don’t expect that good especially Kimi from 11>2)

    9. A pity that the rating should be given to the Grand Prix, not to the FIA’s or FOM’s decisions, not on the surrondings of the circuit and what the personnel does outside of the sessions.

      1. @fixy For that very reason I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment of Jean Todt’s Approval Rating. Do we still get those articles here?

        I’m completely disgusted with the FIA and FOM for this race happening. I elected not to watch the race and if F1’s powers that be continue to act in such a manner I may be forced to tune out of Formula One. I will not tolerate Ecclestone, Todt, and Co. standing idly by. I’ve never much cared for Ecclestone, but I am quite disappointed in Jean Todt. I liked him quite a bit when he was running Ferrari, and when he became President of FIA I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt even though I didn’t believe he was the right person for the job. Now I’m struggling to locate any respect I had for him. I’m ashamed for Formula One and it’s high time for at the very least Ecclestone to be replaced.

        1. @xxiinophobia Not for the first time, I completely agree with you.

          Apart from the bit about Jean Todt. I never liked him to begin with.

    10. Will (@willholdsworth)
      22nd April 2012, 15:27

      In all due respect mate….. I grew up in Bahrain and spent 27 years there, The unrest has been happening there since 1993…. So because a country has its issues, we shouldnt have a sport there? So we shouldnt have had any of the Bahrain grand prixs if that is what your saying. The only reason that this is been put all out of proportion is because of the media. Maybe we should stop the F1 in brazil because of the Button issue last year, or maybe stop china f1 because they have to much poverty? F1 is is about racing not about a countries issues….

      1. Bravo, that is what I was trying to say! :) Just bravo!

      2. A la Syria, Lybia, Egypt, Tunisia…. Its always been this way so that’s okay then?

        Twitter was a huge part in the changes in Egypt, Tunisia and Lybia, so maybe its the times we live in that give silent majority’s a voice

        1. You’re talking about a sport which once had a race go ahead when the top driver of the day was kidnapped by dissidents days before the race!

          1. False. Well, sort of. The 1958 Cuban Grand Prix was a sportscar race, not an F1 event.

          2. The sport is motor sport, or more specifically grand prix racing, even though the Cuban race was not an F1 event it was still a Grand Prix, but I take your point.

      3. You’re right, we shouldn’t hold grands prix in China or Bahrain. But holding the race this year — during serious civil unrest in which people have been killed — was taking things to a new level of moral bankruptcy.

        1. It was hardly a new level. See comments made above.

        2. OK so we’ve cancelled Bahrain for oppression & now China for poverty. Lets then be fair to people all over the world & apply this model to the rest of the races . . .

          That leaves us with only the oil rich states . . . oh wait we already cancelled those didn’t we?

          So that makes this the last F1 season ever . . . well it is 2012 I guess

      4. @will: Well said! Finally somebody who grew-up in Bahrain and not the moralistic thinkers that give their opinion based on distorted media reports. Guys: just make sure you have facts!

        Congrats to Lotus. It was very unfortunate Kimi could not really put pressure on the “finger man” (Vettel, just please stop pointing the finger like that!)

    11. The race was great…. I understand your concerns but F1 has frequently been held in countries with difficult political situations… this is at the extreme end of the scale but don’t forget that F1 has been held in countries like China (still is) – South Africa during Apartheid – Argentina during the military junta period.

      1. BRILLIANT argument! With abhorrent precedence’s like those you mentioned I feel FIA, FOM and the illustrious sponsors are simply continuing a proud tradition of complete moral bankruptcy. And long may it persist! I commend all those that argue so passionately for their right to be ENTERTAINED!!! regardless of the human cost (to others of course) or absence of scruples in justifying such entertainment.
        Oh, and let’s not forget: (making very earnest and serious face now) Contracts where signed! Sooo… alas… (sigh… snigger) it HAD to proceed, despite some faux (sorry …REAL hehehe) concerns about human rights, a bit of torture, murder and democracy kinda stuff, whateva blah blah.

        Wasn’t the racing just fabulous, chaps :) 10 out of 10
        Hip hip hurray!

        1. My point is about consistency…

          All those criticising the Bahrain GP… why aren’t you also criticising the Chinese P ? Or some of the others (Abu Dhabi, Brazil, Malaysia) ?

          This is the difficulty of mixing sport and politics… where do you draw the line and how do you maintain consistency in your political stance.

        2. Shane (@shane-pinnell)
          23rd April 2012, 18:12

          So where should they hold F1 races? Every race is held in a country that is doing something that offends someone else. Maybe not to the same degree as Bahrain, but maybe not that far off either.

          1. Exactly… which is why you need to take the politics out and focus simply on issues of practicality, security and safety…. and on those criteria the race went off successfully.

            What happened elsewhere was politics.

            Same applies in other sports… Football, Cricket, Olympics, etc…

    12. This site is called F1FANATIC. You post here, saying, you didn’t watch the race, you watch something else. Do you think , we care?? No!!

    13. Yeah, distance the race (which was good) with the politics that surround it (more than normal even for F1).
      PS here’s the arrested Channel 4 team talking from the back of the police van : http://www.channel4.com/news/channel-4-news-team-arrested-in-bahrain

    14. oh crap! I didn’t get my politics and human rights missives with my sports like I’d hoped, I’m rating this race a 1!!!

      seriously, go watch cnn. Sports aren’t required to be swayed or partake in politics, even politics that need meddling. Go watch the North/South Korea when they entered the Olympics as a single unit and how many times have they shot each other since then?

    15. I partly agree with your and the world view on Bahrain vs F1, but if you take a stand on that so why be quiet about what is going on in say China.
      It was a good race and I love this season so far.

      1. Everyone just get of your high horse and just race the race.

        Some hard close racing, some good overtakes, some good battles between different strategies and a good fight for the lead. 7/10

        1. *rate the race

          1. I keep getting these forums mixed up with the ones on bahrainfanatics.co.uk

            9/10 for me, possibly a 8/10 if I wasn’t such a Lotus and Vettel fan. Great racing, wheel to wheel action almost all the way through, a little bit of Rosberg controversy to spice it up. Would of liked to of seen a more dramatic last five laps for the lead, that would of really put the icing on the cake.

            I’m still struggling to warm to David Croft’s voice and commentating skills. I thought the same thing about Coulthard last year early on but I quickly began to like his input, I hope I warm to Croft.

          2. Imho, since so much of the talk surrounding this race has been about Bahrain and it’s political issues regarding lack of human rights, and regarding oppression, the last thing I would want to see (read) is people being oppressed from rating this race in whatever way they choose. If it is about human rights and freedoms then no-one is wrong for their opinion of this race no matter the criteria they use. It is their opinion, they have stated why it is their opinion, and they are free to express it.

            What I still struggle with is where the outcry was in 2004 and the years leading up to the knowledge of a racetrack being built and a race being held in Bahrain. The only difference is that in 2011 protestors, or those oppressed, saw Arab Spring which woke them up to go and protest publicly, and suffered backlash from those they know are in charge. And so only then was there public outcry as to F1 holding a race there. As far as I can see, there should never have been an F1 race held in Bahrain to begin with in that the oppression existed then too. The situation there was no different than it is now, just more in the media’s eyes now, and therefore the world’s.

            Thank goodness BE was free to try to hold a race in Bahrain from the getgo back before 2004, thank goodness many people globally, including F1 teams, were free to protest that decision back then and could have pressured BE to not hold that race due to oppression of Bahrain’s citizens. Thank goodness Bahrainians are free to leave the country. Thank goodness everyone here was free to watch the race or not, dump F1 forever out of principle, or not. And thank goodness the world seems to be waking up to the likes of oppressive dictatorships and some have already been ousted and killed, even if that hasn’t solved all the issues in those countries.

    16. Shane (@shane-pinnell)
      23rd April 2012, 18:15

      The opposition wasn’t completely ignored… just look at this thread. I am not saying that F1 should have raced there, just saying that it did bring the situation in Bahrain to the fore of the media consumer’s immeasurably short attention span.

      1. @Robbie – OMG, you did not just compare the oppression in a foreign country to rating a F1 race on a website. Ridiculous.

        1. No, I did not…having the rights and freedoms to state one’s opinion and have it be left at that and not be oppressed from stating one’s opinion, using as one example freedom of speech on this website, is a metaphor for what the oppressed in Bahrain are going through. ie. my point…if we are going to lament what the oppressed Bahrainians are going through we shouldn’t at the same time shoot someone down for rating the race on this site based on off-track circumstances vs. the usual on-track circumstances. It is how they feel and nobody should dictate to them how they feel. So with the opening remarks of this topic carrying a discussion about HOW to rate the race, with some saying it shouldn’t be rated based on the atmosphere in Bahrain but should only be rated like other races are, I say thank goodness we have the freedom here to choose how we rate the race. And thank goodness we have the freedom to agree or disagree. Obviously not everyone in the world does.

          So…OMG…my point is about freedom… and how ridiculous it is for someone to think anyone would equate oppression in a foreign country to rating a F1 race on a website. The two couldn’t be further away from each other in the spectrum of importance, except when you consider the importance of freedom of choice and speech.

  2. I know I will most likely get a lot of abuse for this but,

    Absolute disgrace, should not have been held.

    1/10 for me…

    1. I agree with the sentiment that it should not have been held. It did go ahead though, and I would feel wrong giving it a mark of 1 for non-racing reasons. Therefore, I’m abstaining.

    2. 10/10 for me..

  3. Taking the situation aside, the race was quite nice. I enjoyed it. Sad Kimi dropped off the lead in the last stint…

  4. Something fishy with all these punctures!

    1. Maybe they modelled it on f1 2010

  5. I’m voting on the race itself, don’t think this is the place for politics. However, think it’s questionable making all the stewarding decisions after the race- that could affect my opinion.
    8/10

    1. I agree, I voted on the actual race. I understand other peoples opinions about the situation but that didn’t affect the way I viewed the race. probably the race should not have gone ahead, but it did, so I watched it and thought it was quite good. Sorry.

      So I gave it an 8/10. Good to see Kimi so hungry for a win again, he was obviously disappointed with 2nd. What is going on at McLaren pitstops?

    2. better after, than ruin the race as it’s going along because you called the blame wrong…

  6. Rate the race is always subjective – and often people, including myself, might not vote for a perfect race when their driver didn’t win.

    My driver didn’t win today…but that was one of the best races i’ve seen. Fantastic. A 10 from me.

    1. How well your preferred team/driver does can affect your enjoyment of a race sometimes, my internet was particularly bad today so watching it wasnt enjoyable, will wait until Ive watched Beeb highlights before judging

  7. Good race, many exciting moment’s, did’nt expect the performance of the Lotus cars, Rakkinon blew a victory, I think. Really hope Rosberg does’nt get a penalty, his defensive driving was a highlight of the race. 8/10

  8. @keithcollantine – Is a Rate the Race really that appropriate for this Grand Prix? I know we always try and rate the races based solely on the contents of the races themselves, but with tensions and emotions running high all week, I anticipate a lot of people will be voting 1/10 simply because of what was happening off the track. I can see @damonsmedley and @mpj1994 have already done so. I didn’t watch the race myself, but based on what I do know of it, it cannot have been so dire that a 1/10 score is justified. The predictions championship was cancelled because it was inappropriate, so I think that maybe the Rate the Race poll should be put on hold as well.

      1. Well, I just think that in the past this has been an issue. When people cast their vote based on how interesting or exicting they found the race to be, they often do it based on the performance of a certain driver. This is discouraged but it’s okay to vote based on the events building up to the race, even though the performance of a driver is much more pertinent to their interest and/or exciement because their driver actually influences the event on the track.

        Sorry, but that just seems backwards to me.

        1. The downer from knowing what this race represents affects excitement quite a lot for some people it seems.

        2. Actually, come to think of it… Are you saying that dismay at the potential for violence and deaths is more petty than what is effectively bad sportsmanship?

          1. No, I’m not saying that at all. Stop twisting my words the way you have been all week.

        3. @prisoner-monkeys…of course a rate the race is appropriate for this event, imho. The race took place, like it or not, watch it or not. Thank goodness Keith has the freedom to have this blog and to even question himself a handful of days ago, and to ask us participants whether we thought a rating of the race would be apt. As he said, some won’t be watching due to the political issues, others care differently than that and will be watching. Thank goodness we have the freedom to choose.

          I just question your comparison of how ‘normally’ people vote based on their level of excitement of a race, often based on the performance of a certain driver, and this is ‘discouraged’. By who? I think that examples of you choosing RG over NR as your DotW last weekend after China was well thought out, you gave NR his props, but ulimately you did what a lot of other posters do which is to go for the guy who you think did something the most unexpected. But even if some said you were ‘wrong’ I’m sure they just meant your point was debatable. And they gave their reasons why they thought that. You used your freedom of choice, as did others, and the debate ensued. I doubt you are now discouraged from once again ‘going against the grain’ if you see fit and you decide not to vote for the ‘obvious’ choice, but rather a choice you feel strongly about. Put another way, I sure hope you aren’t discouraged, because there is no reason for it. Please, keep putting forth your opinions and supporting them well like you always do because a lot of people died in some World Wars to ensure you that freedom.

          So if someone wants to rate this race (even as a 1/10) based on their feeling about the race before the teams even turned a wheel, that too is legitimate. They have the freedom to decided that way and hopefully will provide a compelling argument as to how they arrived at that decision. In a democracy you have the freedom to have an opinion, you are wise to have something to support said opinion, and nobody is discouraging you from stating and supporting that opinion. It’s all freedom of debate. Thank goodness.

          So I don’t see anything backwards at all. You should go ahead and vote for things in whatever way you feel strongly about and not feel discouraged by your well-thought out and argued choices, and if some want to rate a race before it has even begun, that is their choice too. Feel encouraged that we have the freedoms we do, and run with them.

          1. @PM…a slight modification of my above post…when I went to send my above post my screen took me back to the top of the page where I took closer note that Keith is asking to rate the race based on how exciting or entertaining the race was, not based on how our preferred driver or team did. So I can see moreso where it is you think we are ‘discouraged’ to rate the race based on a driver’s performance (yet as you say it seems it is ok to base it on events leading up to a race before they have even turned a wheel, which seems backwards) yet I think Keith’s intention here is to have us not to just rate races on how our favourite driver or team did with whatever emotion that might bring to a person, but to rate the race overall, taking everything into account. I think it is inevitable that sometimes (or often) people are going to vote based on a driver and his performance on the track which is what contributed to one’s feeling about the race, but as I say I think Keith wants us not to vote strictly based on whether we were happy or not with our favourite driver’s or team’s day. I think a lot of comments regarding NR’s ‘no-brainer’ of a DotW were not from fans of his, but were from those acknowledging that in their opinion he owned the weekend. And the race was rated highly because there was lots of other action that involved far more than just people’s favourites. All kinds of people’s favourites did some exciting things, so the race was rated highly, and so was NR.

            So anyway, to sum up, I see where you are coming from in saying we are discouraged to rate the race based on a driver’s performance, but I think the intention of rate the race is for us individuals to not rate the race the same way everytime, strictly based on how our fave driver/team did. I think Keith is fine with rating the race based on a driver(s) performance(s), as long as it isn’t to say ‘my driver had a bad day so therefore the race sucked’.

    1. Totally disagree. I think the majority of the people are mature enough to vote for the race. If someone didn’t watch then don’t vote.

    2. @prisoner-monkeys I think the difference is that you, as an individual, can personally gain from the predictions championship. This really doesn’t have any bearing beyond this website and is an important feature of it.

    3. Man PM you missed a bumping race. Big 10 for me.

    4. Too bad you didn’t watch. Was the best race from this season…

    5. Mixed emotions after this race and after reading some of the comments here. I feel nothing but admiration @Prisoner-Monkeys and other guys who felt this race shouldn’t, probably, take place. Vettel deserved this win. Kimi looked very strong and it seems like the vote of confidence I gave him over Grosjean was not in vain (probably too early to say).
      As much as I hate to think McLaren would do this on purpose… this is probably the fourth time, this season, Hamilton gets into the pits with an advantage over Button and exits the pits behind Button and or other drivers. Karma is what’s keeping Button behind Hamilton on points. Poor, very poor stuff from McLaren this year. The pits’ mess, human or mechanical, it has to be addressed as they are losing vital points.

  9. Really good race. Glad for Lotus. Shame on you Bernie and FIA for greediness. 5/10

  10. Awesome race….Great drive by Kimi Raikkonen..

  11. @latina a bit harsh.

    But you make a good point. I cringe every time my boys come into the pits, especially this year where consistently at least one of their drivers’ races is ruined by the pit stops – which are slow in general compared to the other big teams anyway.

  12. Better than your usual Bahrain borefest, but the tyres made the race exciting – not the track. Some good action up and down the field but I was disappointed that Raikkonens pace didn’t hold up.

    6/10

  13. Purely from a racing point of view. One of the best bahrain grand prix just wish kimi could have pushed vettel more in the last stint.

  14. 8/10 – Good action all around generally. DRS was too strong however and Raikkonen and Vettel scrapped for about a second and then it was over.

  15. Totatly agree!!! this is not unacceptable!

    And what about these tyres? They only talk about tyres?!??

  16. I love to be right! This race has been historically great, if you of course take out the 2009 race, its a track that suits Vettel, also it was hot not as hot as ealier but much hotter than in China which Seb simply didnt get along, in the end i think Lotus just blew another chance for victory much because RedBull knows how to manage a race.
    Technically the best race of the last 2 years, more overtakes and close field.

    1. Has anyone noticed the trebling voice of Christina Horner.

  17. Easy 10. This race had everything what a good dry race should have!

  18. It’s shame that it was the greatest Bahrain GP ever but there are people dying outside…

  19. Clearly a lot of people are not reading the original post… It says “Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was” not how you rate the politics in Bahrain..
    A good solid race, easily an 8 or more..

    1. If people didn’t enjoy the race because of what’s going on in Bahrain and F1’s political endorsement of the regime in the country, that’s their opinion.

      1. Was still a highly exciting race though.. There have been lots more boring races that will be rated higher, simply becuase people have their own political views. Which let’s not forget will be slightly biased based on what newspapers people read, and the fact that 99% of people that have an opinion aren’t actually in Bahrain so don’t know the true situation.. All the people in the country covering the race, say it’s correct for the race to be going ahead.

      2. I notice nobody voted down the ratings for the Chinese grand prix as a result of China’s repressive regime, its human rights record, its oppression of political opposition, its interference in free speech and access to information, its record on captial punishment, its lack of respect for individual property and rights, etc.

        I sense inconsistency in many people’s comments…. By most political measures China has as bad a record, if not worse than Bahrain’s. All those commenting or campaigning against the Bahrain GP should be saying the same about China.

        1. + 1
          All the countries that F1 goes are opressive, captalism itself it’s opressive. Of couse the circumstances in every country are completly differtent.
          I respect and unsdertand the ones that didn’t watch the race as I respect the ones that watched.

        2. I’m pretty sick of this argument. I don’t know if people keeping missing or keep ignoring the counter-argument. But even if you think people only object because the country happens to have human rights violations, it ignores that Force India got caught up in it all- it affected the weekend about as directly as possible without there being an actual track invasion or full-on attack on F1 personnel.

          1. Teams have been affected by “local” actions before… specifically in 2010 Button was subject to an armed mugging in Brazil but I don’t hear any call for the Brazil GP to cancelled…

            I’m not arguing either in favour or against… what I am arguing for is consistency… if people want the Bahrain GP cancelled for various political reasons (Human Rights, Democracy, Protest, Violence,etc) then I’d like to see some consistency from those people and consequently calls from them that other GPs should also be cancelled eg China, Brazil, Malaysia, Indian, USA… you could even make a case for the British GP being cancelled if you highlighted concerns about terrorism and last year’s riots plus the fact that British GPs have been affected by protesters interfering with the race.

            Its very easy to be a sheep and just follow the media message without actually thinking about the issues.

          2. @marlarkey Still missing the point. There aren’t protests against the race in China, because nobody cares about the race there. The race in Bahrain was politicised in a way China never has been, being used to specifically endorse the regime, and some human rights abuses in Bahrain were undoubtedly linked to F1. Last year’s London riots and the attack in Brazil were isolated incidents, not country-wide, and not something that could be predicted or reasonably expected.

            I’m not “following the media message,” I have thought about it which is why I realise it is more than just a human rights issue in the first place and why I understand that China is not the same, and I don’t appreciate being called a sheep by anybody intentionally ignoring the reasonable arguments made here and in the media without actually thinking about the issues.

          3. First, my comment about being a sheep and following the media message was meant to be a general point not targetted at you specifically. Sorry that I didn’t make that clear.

            Secondly I didn’t mean protests by citizens in China… there aren’t public protests in China (on any number of issues) because the Chinese government is highly effective at putting them down and repressing public opinion. China makes political use of sporting events (the Olympics were the biggest example) to endorse the regime.

            So… all the political arguments against the Bahrain GP apply to an even greater degree about the Chinese GP, so why is it that there has not been the same degree of call for the Chinese GP to be cancelled ? Is it only because the violence and repression in Bahrain was visible whereas in other countries it is invisible ?

            In my view it boils down to practicality, security and safety for the sporting event itself. And on those grounds the disruption and issues only had a limited affect on the sporting event itself, no more than has been experienced in other countries at different times and sports.

  20. 9/10 –

    A very entertaining race. Vettel managed to some very icy pressure from Kimi, and prove why he is a double champion. It was great to see the Lotuses find so much pace through the race, and see another new face on the podium. There was loads of fighting throughout the field as usual, including some risque stuff from Rosberg (he’s learned how to stretch the defensive rules like Mike :) ).

    Fantastic season in prospect.

    1. Thats what i told my mother :D..Michael has taught some stuff to Rosberg lol

  21. McLaren! I have no words. Another race, another mess – actually two of them – in the pits. Involving the left rear wheel man.

  22. Gave it 2. The race was held in terrible conditions, but the race was good, so gave it an extra point

  23. >rate the race
    >people rate what’s happening everywhere but not on the circuit

    Makes perfect sense.

    As for me – I slept well – 1/10

    1. Yeah you slee,p you don’t do anything about it.

    2. Should not have voted if you didn’t watch..

      1. That is his opinion. You should respect it.

      2. And, in fact, I did watch the race, well, most of it, I just couldn’t help but fell asleep at some point.

        Happens all the time at Tilke circuit.

  24. 8/10 for me. That seems to be my favourite this season.

    It would have been 9 if Raikkonen had managed to take it down to the last lap with Vettel but nevertheless it was good fun while it lasted.

    Glad to see Lotus on the podium too, great news for them and it only serves to mess the order up a little bit.

    I think the race did have plenty of easy DRS passes but there were plenty without it too. Di Resta breezing past 2 other drivers, I forget who, was probably the best for me.

    Massa had a good race so well done to him.

    Sparing a thought for McLaren, couldn’t have gone much worse for them today though I don’t think that Hamilton was in contention for the win, Vettel pulled out a bigger advantage than he did last year!

    1. @andrewtanner

      It was Mandonado and Perez if I remember correctly (could have been Kobayashi though, not sure). That pass was amazing! The thing is, many of the passes into turn 4 happened because the cars closed quite a lot in the DRS zone, setting up for the pass in the next straight.

      1. LOL at “Mandonado”! Typo :P

      2. @guilherme Thanks for that. There were plenty of surprise moves through the quick left-rights.

  25. Fantastic race! Hope not too many people vote 1 just because of the whole situation..

  26. Toss up between 7/10 and 8/10 for me, went with a 7 but probably the best Bahrian race i have seen.

    I know that people will rate this 1/10 because of political situation but lets separate the political stuff and the F1, its a bit petty and silly rating this 1/10, your not demonstrating anything…

  27. Rate the Race! 7/10 for me. One of the best Bahrain GPs, its a shame that Kimi couldn’t keep the pace at the last stint. Hamiltons overtake made me lol, thats balls

  28. It’s a shame that easily best race at this circuit so far had to occur at a time where the race shouldn’t have gone ahead.

  29. The race was not bad for a Bahrain GP but I think it shouldn’t be held in the first place. Nice to see Raikkonen on the podium again. And I do hope that Rosberg will get not classified.

  30. It was a great race, but it simply should not have gone ahead. 1/10

  31. 10/10

    Probably the best race of the year. If only Räikkönen kept the pressure on…

  32. What else to rate this race 1/10?
    This race should not have happened. The fact that it did happen was an embarrassement for Formula 1, and I hope the FIA will learn from this.

  33. I’m here to rate the race, and not the socio-political situation arund it. Whether the race should have been held or not have been discussed at length already.

    Based on that view, I’m giving it a 7/10. The first three stints were really good, there was a lot of action. Vettel finally found the car to his liking and delivered the result. It may be too early too say, but I wonder if Red Bull will dominate again come the Spanish Grand Prix – as a fan of Vettel, I really want him to win the title, but I want it to be hard-fought too, so I hope this equilibrium between the top 4 teams is maintained!

    Amazing race for the Lotus team – the cars were fast throughout the race, and Kimi showed a really strong pace on his first stint on the mediums, putting pressure on Vettel who was on softs. I’m really glad they could capitalise on their early pace, as I expect them to lose ground on the development battle. Kimi was the driver of the day for me, coming second after starting 11th, and of course, congratulations on Grosjean on his first podium. If he keeps driving as he did in China and Bahrain, he may have secured his short-term future in F1 already. I suspect this podium will be the first of many for him.

    Awful race from Mercedes. Hembery was downplaying their tyre degradation problems, but they were clearly struggling today. I find it abysmal that Schumacher, with all the option tyres he had a his disposal with a car that has a very high top speed could only manage 10th (would be 11th without Button’s retirement) in a race with such an effective DRS zone – which was too big and poorly placed in my opinion.

    Rating the season, it is impossible not to give a 10 out of 10. Four different drivers winning the first four races for four different teams. Last time it happened was in 1983 with Piquet (Brabham), Watson (McLaren), Prost (Renault) and Tambay (Ferrari). We’re in to an epic season!

  34. 8 for me. Great race with lots of action.

  35. I’m sure this will get swamped by the same sort of crowd who “review bomb” movies and games on Metacritic. To be honest with race predictions canceled I’m surprised this even went up.

    So long as this pool is up, it gets an 8/10 from me. Great race overall. My main issues were the anti-climactic battle between Raikkonen and Vettel, and lots of teams playing easy with their tires. I appreciate the new tires making the races exciting, but I fear we’re starting to trend a little too far into the strategy side and less towards the racing side. I didn’t seem like anyone could really go flat out at any point in the race unless they wanted to shred their tires.

    My only other major disappointment was Rosberg’s conduct, any by extension the FIA’s response to it. Deliberately running a driver off course not once, but twice, is bad enough in GP2 when you’re dealing with young and inexperienced drivers. In F1, that kind of stuff should not be acceptable practice. Time will tell how the FIA rule, but why they didn’t call him in for a drive-through or stop and go after that is beyond me, especially considering how trigger happy they were with the mid-race penalties last year.

    1. Agreed re: the tires and the Rosberg maneuvers.

      I was holding off judgement on the Pirellis this year until we were a few races in, but this race was just hampered by too much worry over them, I feel. As you put it, there’s racing and strategy. Racing obviously involves strategy, but I don’t think any one factor should dominate it so much as the tires clearly are doing.

  36. sid_prasher (@)
    22nd April 2012, 15:19

    didn’t expect this after the predictions competition was taken off. voting an 8 – it was the best bahrain GP ever. could have been 10 if kimi had stayed close in the last stint…

    Sad that the race was mired by all that happened around it – and i will be even more sad when the world media will move and forget the plight of the people there. It was nothing but a story for them.

  37. Does anyone have any info on the poor Ferrari mechanic who died today? Ferraritweeted about him after the race. http://inagist.com/all/194058525759119361/

    1. @carsvschildren That’s awful :(

  38. I’m sure this will get swamped by the same sort of crowd who “review bomb” movies and games on Metacritic. To be honest with race predictions canceled I’m surprised this even went up.

    So long as this poll is up, it gets an 8/10 from me. Great race overall. My main issues were the anti-climactic battle between Raikkonen and Vettel, and lots of teams playing easy with their tires. I appreciate the new tires making the races exciting, but I fear we’re starting to trend a little too far into the strategy side and less towards the racing side. I didn’t seem like anyone could really go flat out at any point in the race unless they wanted to shred their tires.

    My only other major disappointment was Rosberg’s conduct, any by extension the FIA’s response to it. Deliberately running a driver off course not once, but twice, is bad enough in GP2 when you’re dealing with young and inexperienced drivers. In F1, that kind of stuff should not be acceptable practice. Time will tell how the FIA rule, but why they didn’t call him in for a drive-through or stop and go after that is beyond me, especially considering how trigger happy they were with the mid-race penalties last year.

    1. Apologies for the double post. Went to edit a typo, thought I deleted the last one but apparently you can’t do that. Oops.

  39. 10/10. Kimi is back!

  40. Rating the race, not the context. Gave it a 7. Had a very small but exciting battle for the lead (briefly), pit-stop drama and some overtaking and defending (if you can even call Rosberg’s moves ‘defending’).
    Watched the race for my love and passion of ‘racing’, although I’m not ignorant of everything that is happening in the country.
    I don’t feel ashamed of watching it – although I agree it should’ve been cancelled altogether.

  41. 10 for button puncture, but consider it’s bahrain. 1 for me..

  42. I think it deserved an 8.5 rating. So, as it’s currently having 8 on average, and many people are, uncomprehensively, rating it 1, I gave it a 9.

  43. I voted 8. I fully understand why people have voted 1 and I had thought of doing it as well. But as I went to vote I read the instruction “Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was” and being honest even though I think the whole weekend has been very damaging for F1, I thoroughly enjoyed the race itself.

  44. Best of bahrain race great performance of lotus renault

  45. I gave it an 8, but to be honst I think we’re spoiled a little bit, last year this would have been a solid 9 or even a 10 , especially in Bahrein!

    Politics aside, great race, though I wished raikonnen would have won it , all in all great overtakes, great racing and exciting through the end :)

  46. 6/10 from me – good race, but my enjoyment was marred by the whole thing going on around the circuit.

    And before anyone shoots me, yes, the whole mess going on around the race really did impact my enjoyment of the actual race. Especially the smugness of the Crown Prince when he sauntered into the Lotus garage after the race.

  47. That’s what I’m talking about! Great race and fantastic drive from Seb! Some great battles in the middle of the pack, particularly involving Rosberg (I wonder if Barrichello happened to be in that McLaren, would he already be doing a publicity tour for his book called ‘Rosberg tried to kill me’). It’s a bit of a shame they used team orders at Lotus to get Raikkonen ahead of Grosjean, but even more of a shame that we didn’t hear ‘Fernano, Felipe is faster than you’ or ‘Fernano, Felipe is on a different strategy’ when Felipe on fresh options got right on the tail of Alonso, who was on primes and quite slower. Not that it was even remotely possible to have been said, considering the state of affairs at the Ferrari. All in all, very entertaining Grand Prix, easily 9/10.

    1. (I wonder if Barrichello happened to be in that McLaren, would he already be doing a publicity tour for his book called ‘Rosberg tried to kill me’).

      pfftthffp!!! <–the sound of me doing a spit-take

      (Good one!)

  48. Prisoner Monkeys on F1Fanatic on 23rd November, 2011:
    “No, I don’t think it was harsh at all. Raikkonen might have a top driver when he left the sport, but he has no experiece with DRS, Pirelli or fuel-heavy cars. Just one of these rules would leave serious questions about a driver’s ability, but Riakkonen has to answer to all three. For some reason, people seem to think he can be compeittive from the get-go, but there is no way this is remotely possible.”

    No offence, I just had to post this since I’ve been saving it for Räikkönen’s first podium :)

    1. +20.
      P.S. BTW Where is he now??

  49. Good race. Kimi, welcome back! :)

  50. 7 – same as China. Although a 6 would have been a bit more appropriate for both races.

    All about the first 15 laps today, Grosjean and then Raikkonen closing in on Vettel, Massa matching Alonso’s pace, watching Di Resta performing well and pulling off triple-overtakes on track, the usual middle of the field action and that’s pretty much it.

    A weekend to forget for a lot of the guys out there. McLaren, Sauber, Torro Rosso, Williams…
    Ricciardo – a huge dissapointment, starting sixth and becoming practically invisible for the whole race even since the first lap.

    If it wasn’t for Lotus, for the mishaps that threw McLaren in the middle of the pack and for the fourth different winner this season, I’m afraid this would have been an insanely boring race.

    On a more-or-less related note, after what happened this weekend, the political situation and FIA and Ecclestone’s reactions, the awful coverage (Force India, Torro Rosso, Williams completely overlooked, important battles overlooked, Raikkonen closing in on Vettel overlooked on multiple occasions etc.) and the fact that we might not have the same context that animated today’s race in the future, I’m now convinced Bahrain should be dropped from the calendar.

    As an European circuits fan I’m also convinced Bahrain is just the first on a list of Middle-East / Asian circuits that we could very well do without…

    1. I think you sum up my feelings on the race pretty well, and I appreciate that, because I couldn’t quite put my finger on exactly what was bugging me most about it. It wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t nearly as entertained by it as many others apparently were.

  51. What people choose to feel about the situation outside the track is very complex.
    I’ve voted on the race, so I went for 7/10. It was amazing to see the pace of the Lotus cars climbing through the field, and Raikkonen looked fantastic.
    I think there needs to be a question asked about the tyres though. Yes they are throwing up totally unpredictable races (four different race winners show that). But are they now creating synthetic racing where even the teams are unable to accurately dial in the cars to extract the most from the tyres?
    Ominous from RBR.
    Horrendous from Mclaren, there need to be some stern words with the pit crew in Woking, and get that Ferrari wheel nut solution in place ASAP.

  52. It was ok race, considering the standards that have been set in last 2 seasons, and for that reason only I gave it 6/10.

    But, I’m very disappointed with the editor of this site that continued to promote personal political views on the situation in Bahrain even after the FIA’s decision has been made. I agree that this GP should’ve been skipped and that it probably isn’t the right time to host a GP there, but than again – is this site about sport or politics around sport? I came because of the sport to this site about 2 years ago, and I loved it, but all of this is leaving a bitter taste and I doubt I’ll be back any time soon.

  53. I think something needs to be done about the people’s entitlement to their so-called opinions. Greatly disgusted with Keith’s and Damon (Smedley)’s behaviour throughout the weekend. I’ll be sticking around simply because the community is decent enough, but…yeah. I’m willing to bet that, starting from tomorrow, nobody will care about the situation in Bahrain anymore, at least not until next year. Shameful. Immature. Stupid.

    I’m relieved that this weekend is over.

    As for the race, 8/10. Not the best race so far by any stretch of the imagination, but lots of excitement and some surprising results. Macca’s throwing it all away with those horrible pit stops. Gutted for Button as well.

    Nice to see Seb at the top again. Really pleased with him, Raikkonen, Di Resta and Massa today. Speaking of the latter, those upgrades should help him and Fernando get some podiums, that’s for sure. Just a few more similar performances and maybe, just maybe, he’ll keep his spot at Ferrari until the end of the season.

    1. Have to agree +1. Hopefully won’t have to listen to the trendy protesters from here on.

      I really did not know what to expect from Kimmi this year. I hope he keeps it up as he is super to watch. Also happy to see another team in the mix, go lotus.

      1. The trendy protesters are incensed by a small number of individuals who run our fantastic sport – permanently.

        Bahrain is just bar far the worst example of their absolute ineptitude and many believe – corruption

      2. +1. In a week we wont see concerned posts on Bahrain.

        I mean common, we are rating the race and not it’s surroundings. We know what has happened is wrong and the race shouldn’t have gone ahead, but since it has gone ahead, why don’t we all rate the race itself rather than arguing about morality?

    2. +1 any day.

    3. “I think something needs to be done about the people’s entitlement to their so-called opinions.”

      You’re not Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah, by any chance ?

    4. Pamphlet (@pamphlet) said on 22nd April 2012, 15:54
      I think something needs to be done about the people’s entitlement to their so-called opinions. Greatly disgusted with Keith’s and Damon (Smedley)’s behaviour throughout the weekend

      OMG – I can’t decide whether to laugh hysterically or weep. Maybe if you have barbed wire errected around your house, permanently patrolled by brutal mercenarys who fired shotguns at you every time you opened your door and kidnapped and killed your relatives and friends……..

      …….Forget it!!! Its not worth it is it. Some people are beyond redemption!

      At least they can voice their “so-called opinions”.

      After that comment though @pamphlet, I’m almost tempted to say you’ve persuaded me to agree with you

    5. @Pamphlet Fair enough, you’re allowed your opinion just as I’m allowed mine… or am I? You just said that you were “greatly disgusted by (my) behaviour”, but what are you referring to? Having an opinion that differs from your own?

      But whatever. I’ll try not to be too upset by it all. Instead, how about you tell us all why you believe F1 had any right to be disrupted? Why should F1 get involved in politics? Why can’t we put human life (or any life for that matter) above a race? Can you honestly tell us that F1 hasn’t exacerbated the already fragile situation? I disagreed with you the whole time in the lead-up (and during) the event, but I don’t think it’s fair to say you’re disgusted because of it.

      1. Oh my, silly silly! I meant to say “how about you tell us all why you believe F1 had any right to disrupt Bahrain’s political situation?”. Fingers = engaged. Brain = …kinda.

  54. I rate the race a 3. I didn’t want F1 to go there in the fiest place but after I saw my favourite team failling for the fourth consecutive time, the weekend couldn’t get any worse. It went to a rating of 4,5 untill Jenson got problems. It stays 3,0 because Lewis still got some points.

    And there is only one of the drivers that I don’t like (I’m sorry) and it’s the driver who wins. If Kimi would have won the race it might have been a 5,5.. But I’m not happy with the podium.

    1. I think you may have failed on your rating process:
      “Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.”

    2. @spafrancorchamps – You must have been feeling pretty dirty when Vettel took pole and won on you last year.

    3. @Tom, noted.

      @david-a – If I need to be honest, I hated last season yeah. On a certain moment I stopped watching qualify because it was no surprise who would take pole. Vettel on pole just gives you boring races. He is almost unbeatable when he starts on pole. He can control a race perfectly. He will get more trouble this season, since he is not a second quicker anymore but still.

      I like this season more. The field is real close so it is more of a surprise each weekend. But the tyres are rubbish. Drivers should be able to push like hell and not drive conservative just to make the tyres work.. You see drivers like Schumacher & Hamilton struggling while we know their full potential. I wish Bridgestone never left..

  55. I watched, but I didn’t rate it. Although I thought it was a pretty good race, it was sad. World leaders were against it, amnesty orgs were against it, the press was against it (some even got locked out), most fans were against it (myself included), and the teams played along with it even though they didn’t want to go and were too scared to say so. It was sad that Force India got hammered for not wanting to be in the middle of a war. It was sad cause F1 races are to celebrate, but we couldn’t. F1 basically flipped the whole world the bird. It was a decent race.. just a sad one too. I can live with the artificial gimmicks, but it’s gonna take while for this one to go down. I’m really having a struggle here.

    1. Wow!! You are disturbed by the happenings in Bahrain and support what is said and felt by world leaders, amnesty orgs., press, most fans (including you and the teams). In spite of all this, you watch the race itself but decline to vote as if voting is immoral and watching the race has no effect.

      Brilliant!!

    2. You sir a a saint,you have made the greatest sacrifice, not voting to rate the race.

  56. One like we like to watch, China I rated also a 9, cool season so far.
    Thank you Kimi, and a French on the podium since 14 years and Jean Alesi in Francorchamps.
    Well done Lotus :)

  57. well said Pamphlet,
    i to feel for people of the world that don’t/cant have a say in how there country is run,
    we as a site can not help, go to a site that can and take your views with you,
    i come here to talk/read F1 nothing else.
    i gave it a 8, Kimi kept me on the edge of my seat,
    McLaren need a kick in the pants for another stuff up.

  58. What Mr Collantine has said:”Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.”.
    This is for all those who gave the race one per cent, which is a pretty sizable no. of people. The teams who witnessed the horror themselves(Sauber, Force India) showed great sportsmanship in turning up for the race… thumbs up to them. And thumbs down, to all those self-professed “pundits” who spoke about supposed atrocities when they themselves were in the safety of their living room, thousands of miles away.

  59. I hope all the races to be like this one,to keep ourselves on tension untill the end of the race and with a lot of overtaking and breathtaking duels.Kimi a pleasent surprise to seem challenge Vettel(witch drove without mistake) for the win,I thought it will be possibile,but second place after 4 races and 2 years out of F1 is very impressive and the same for Grosjean.I am pretty happy about this season and I hope RedBull will not go like last year with pole after pole and win after win :) .McLaren were disappointing in this race and MercedeGP the same.I hope to be a spectacular season with fight for the championship untill the last race.I want to ask If someone of you know or did understand what KImi said at the end of the race on Team Radio?Ahh and yes why did Vettel and Rosberg stop right after the finish?

    1. @ionutf1fanatic They probably stopped at the end to make sure they didn’t run out of fuel. There is a strict minimum weight the cars must be at the end of the race (around 650kg or something like that), if they are below that they can be excluded from the result. That’s also the reason why they try to pick up debris on the tyres on the in lap.
      Also I know in quali but possible in the race as well, there must be a certain amount of fuel left in the tanks for the FIA to test it’s contents, another reason to not risk running out completely.

      1. Thanks a lot for answer very useful :) .Nice to see someone reply my comment:) Really appreciate it :)

      2. I think Rosberg was starting to experience an exhaust issue, same as Button’s. That’s why the team told him to stop the car at the end of the start-finish straight. At least it’s a hypothesis that’s been circling round the internet since yesterday.

        Alonso and Massa also stopped somewhere on the circuit before reaching the pits, after the race. It would be interesting to find out whether this was a fuel consumption issue or if there were mechanical failures involved.

        However, Sakhir is rather well known for taking its toll on race cars and F1 material is known for being built right at the edge of its resistance, so I wouldn’t say its something THAT unusual to see cars stopping right after crossing the line. :)

  60. 2.

    Like with USA 2005, it should have never gone ahead.

    But however, the racing was better than at USA 2005, so the teams and drivers get a sympathy point from me.

  61. Trenthamfolk (@)
    22nd April 2012, 16:53

    I didn’t hear anyone complaining about the appalling human rights record in China last weekend… I suppose it’s all OK when your HD telly was made there? Hypocrite’s in abundance…

    I rate the race as a 7 – It was very enjoyable, but I am disappointed with the Mclaren performance. I also see that Nico has turned into Jacques Villeneuve: Bags a race victory and promptly turns into an arrogant moron!

  62. petebaldwin (@)
    22nd April 2012, 17:13

    I have my opinions on everything surrounding the race and in my opinion, it shouldn’t have gone ahead. However – it did and as it turns out, it was a good race. Lots of overtaking but yet again, it was fairly anticlimatic. For the second race running, it was shaping up to be an epic last few laps but it just didn’t happen…

    8/10 for me.

  63. I gave it a 7. Not as exciting as China but still a good race. Especially considering the race was on a Tilke track that has only provided boring races in the past.

    Maybe Valencia will be exciting too this year…

    I loved Vettel’s victory and Raikkonen’s (Lotus) impressive performance.
    McLaren was hugely disappointing as was Nico Rosberg.

  64. I find it amusing just how much people are carrying on about everything that surrounded the race.
    If your views on the situation are so strong why address it here on a site about formula one.
    Understandably a race did occur in this country, but if your going to behaviour as if you care so much about all that is happening then complaining about a “motor race” is the last thing that needs to be addressed about the troubles in that country.
    Im guessing ill be met with criticism.

    But as far as the race, great race, plenty of overtaking and not just drs related and plenty of action.
    8/10

  65. So glad I was able to concentrate on racing without thinking the politics even once during the race.
    I’m pleased that the race was held normally. Of course I hope the violence and subordination of human rights would end in Bahrain, but this is F1 site, not human rights page.

  66. Politics aside I watched and gave the race an 8.
    Vettel’s qualifying pole lap was very telling IMO, Speed replayed it ‘in the cockpit’ f, unlike the other fast guys there was not a not a puff of tire smoke the whole lap, awesomely smooth !
    Reckon the opposition knew it was going to be a long day after that…..

  67. Very entertaining race. I gave it an 8.

    The only thing that I regret is that from now onwards people will start to use F1 races to address political issues of each country where a race is held. It’s a big mistake to mix politics with the sport. I remember when Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped in Cuba back in 1958 but the race was held anyway. Fangio itself didn’t give the incident any importance at all, nor he sided with any of the participants involved from the political point of view. Also, he never let anyone to involve him in politics here in Argentina as in his opinion it was inappropriate to mix politics with the sport. I personally has the chance to discuss the issue with him many years ago of course.

    Now there are too many “virtual human rights watchers” sitting comfortably at their homes judging whatever happens in a given country without knowledge at all of what’s really going on in each case. And I’m not saying this specifically on Bahrain’s situation but in general due to the globalization phenomena. People should be more careful on expressing opinions and judging other cultures and societies which have a completely different view of the world as we westerners have.

  68. I would rate the race but BBC showed hardly any of it!!

  69. “Rate the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix out of ten” NOT “rate your opinion of whats happing in Bahrain”

    I said 8 Brillaint action in the first phase of the race right through the field. Top 4 fighting in the second stint after Raikknonen missed his 1 chance to get past the race which was sitting at 9-10 pittered away to end with a strong 8. WELL DONE ALL DRIVERS, TEAMS FOR PUTTING ON A GREAT SHOW

  70. And i watched it live on sky but the BBC’s coverage was awful

  71. Regardless of the politics… Another boooring race…
    DRS is ridiculous, and it’s Pirelli that wind every race really… The big factors in F! ar DRS and deliberately poor tyres. How is that comparable to F1 in the past, when there were real cars and drivers…
    The FIA is like FIFA and IOC, a bunch of money grabbing ****** who care nothing for the sport.

  72. Looking only at the race itself, I gave it 8/10.
    Good racing, decent enough battle for the lead, plenty of surprises throughout the race, so a fairly good race overall.
    I still think F1 shouldn’t have raced here, but you could write a book on that.

  73. US Williams Fan
    22nd April 2012, 18:21

    did not watch and thus will not vote. as far as those that are whining about objectivity….. don’t you think that there are hamilton or vettel or schumacher groupies who will rate a race higher if they do well? perhaps if one of the williams drivers was on podium (wishful thinking i know) i might be subconciously inclined to give it a 10.

    let fans determine their reasoning for their vote!

  74. 9/10 I was against the race going ahead due to all the politics and fighting in the background etc, but watched it purely from the perspective of the racing and the championship- and I’m glad I did watch it. The racing was fantastic- probably the best Bahraini Grand Prix IN TERMS OF THE RACING.

    We saw a different winner again, and the brilliant result for Lotus, very happy that Raikonnen has still got the touch, and Grosjean who performed great as well. Unlucky for McLaren and their pit-stops, they’ll surely bounce back.

    I’m a bit miffed by Schumacher’s comments post-race, although I understand what he is getting at, how the drivers aren’t able to fully attack due to tire conservation.

  75. The race was 8/10 for me. Great work of Lotus, Kimmi was agai a champion in the track, and wel done by Grosjean. Vettel is a well deserved champion also.
    Schumacher make a great race and also Rosberg.
    Off race I rate 0/10 !!! Ecclestone is the cancer of Formula1 in the last 20 years. And Todt was embarrasing.

  76. No vote. The race brought the attention of the world onto the clueless, outdated, and repressive leadership of both Bahrain and F1, so some unlikely good may yet come of this mess.

  77. I think it’s a bit hypocritical to object F1 racing in Bahrain. No one outside Bahrain really cared or knew about the protests until this GP.

    First half of the race was exciting, but the last 14 laps were boring. I’ll give it 8/10.

  78. Rated the race a 7. I think it was quite enjoyable thanks to the Raikkonen-Vettel battle.

  79. I can only watch the BBC highlights. Is it just me or did the highlights make it seem like a very boring race? I voted 5 and was quite shocked when I saw how much higher the average vote is. I’m usually right on the average.

  80. 6. The race itself was okay, nothing too special, but with good racing throughout. Pleased for Lotus and particularly Grosjean getting his break.

    But the events surrounding the weekend, from the protests, the violent suppression, the protestor tragically killed yesterday, the trouble experienced by Force India and Sauber, the blackout of Force India, the propaganda act from the regime, and the announcement of widespread arrests of protestors and journalists today. A very bad taste has been left in my mouth which has overshadowed the grand prix.

    Everybody in F1 needs to take a long, hard look at itself between now and Spain, and heads should probably roll. Preferably Bernie’s and Jean Todt’s.

  81. The race was actually a decent race, there was enough going on throughout for decent viewing and for that i rated it highly, however this doesnt cover up the fact that it shouldnt of happened in the first place and that bernie only cares about how much money he can make, if f1 is to restore its image, by for one stop thinking about money and start focusing on racing then this event can be seen as the last in the line of greedy decision made by the management, if not im sorry to say but as forever with this sport it will be seen as a party for the rich, and the drivers would are actually decent people will be seen as the same greedy indviduals my opinion is its time bernie left and made way for some1 with morals

  82. Gave the race an 8 as it was very good racing.

    Probably this race should never have happened though. But I’m with those who think that anyone who couldn’t enjoy the race because of the political situation shouldn’t have taken the example of those who didn’t watch at all and abstained from the poll. Only my opinion and I respect those who think differently.

    1. “should have taken the example”

  83. Great race, overall. Battles at the front, in the middle, and even at the back had everyone on their toes. Considering Vettel was so short on fuel, I wonder if Kimi could have caught him if that had just one more lap! Oh well. Next time, Kimi! 8/10

  84. 9 for me.

    Too bad all Baraihn protester thing will be forgotten tomorrow,
    Wonder if bashing F1 will do any changes there, furthermore even the f1 fans choose not watching the rest of the season doubt will have any impact, we are just F1 fans talk what you know.

  85. A weekend of mixed emotions for me given the political situation.
    In the end however, I’m glad they did race. 8/10.
    Absoloutly loving f1 as ever and awareness of the Bahrainian peoples plight has touched me. win/win

  86. Racing in Bahrain is and always has been ‘Terrible’. It will take a lot more than DRS, KERS and tyre degradation to change that.

  87. Poor quality race. Schumacher is right.

    It is inexcusable to have a set of tires to last maximum 15 laps (soft) and 20 (medium) with performance degrading so drastically. Many drivers were just trying to save tires and not truly racing. We do not watch F1 to admire tire management more than drivers or cars.

    1. Really, because I noticed a lot of racing out there. Do you seriously suggest we go back to the Bridgestones of 2010, which produced so many processional races?

  88. Bahrain should be erase from the F1 calendar (as well as Valenciana by the way) : apart from the political controversy we had this week (protesters, F1.com being hacked etc), the track managed to transform one of the most interesting season we ever had into a half-boring/half-exciting race. The first part of the race was quite interesting, but after the first pitstops, there was nothing to watch anymore. Raikkonen got stuck 3 seconds behind Vettel, Grosjean 7-8s behind Raikkonen (let’s not even talk about Mark Webber…). The only interesting thing I can remember is Rosberg pushing Alonso offtrack…
    That’s too bad because with Lotus and Red Bull making big improvements, we had everything to get an action-packed race. This track sucks.

  89. It was a very good race , especially the challenge between Vettel and Kimi , wonderful track and organize, although that some people tried to fail that race but alot went to the circuit and it seems they got a very wonderful enjoying time , for me I will go for 8.5 out of 10.

    Nice race and looking to see it there again.

  90. Putting the off track stuff surrounding the race to one side I rated the race as 6/10.

    I think the race overall was perhaps what a typical F1 2012 race will be like. The cars from the top 4 teams all seam to be evenly matched and close on pace depending on circuit, conditions, driver preference etc. The racing seems to be close without producing lots of on track changes of position aside from those caused by tyre issues.

    That said it was interesting to see Paul Di Resta make his strategy work and the Mclarens and Mercedes relatively struggling.

    However hard I try to still enjoy races only live on sky in the uk, I feel as if not watching them live is affecting my enjoyment and entertainment, and therefore how highly I’m rating the races. Listening on the radio and live timing just isn’t the same as watching live, and during the highlights show I tend to be thinking of what bits are missing rather then just enjoying the race.

  91. I voted 1 out of 10. I also did not watch the race. I refuse to watch a race when the FIA are sanctioning the oppression of the people.

  92. I think the race was good. And I’ll probably get hell for this, but I think it was good for the situation in Bahrain. The “arab Spring” has become old news on no one is covering it. F1 coming to town has brought every side’s agenda to the forefront so their opinions were heard by the world stage. F1 races in many contentious places around the world… China comes to mind, Russia will soon be on the grid, the US has indefinitely held people in Guantanamo that haven’t had a trial, don’t get me started on Brazil… Every country has it’s skeletons in their closet. F1 brings the world’s magnifying glass to the situation and people will leave with a more informed understanding of that region after watching a race there. I don’t think the world is leaving with a totally “pro-government” perspective on Bahrain after having watched this race. That is one thing I love about F1, I am a more informed citizen of this planet by following this sport because the realities of the world directly affect it.

    1. The Pink Bengal
      23rd April 2012, 10:14

      The “arab Spring” has become old news on no one is covering it. F1 coming to town has brought every side’s agenda to the forefront

      A good and valid point in my humble opinion.
      There really hasn’t been much on the news about the situation. If F1 didn’t go to Bahrain, there would have been even less and to be honest, it would probably not even have entered my mind.

  93. On this track it was a pretty good race. Good racing through the field and some on-the-edge driving. Definately watchable. The other upside is that Bahrain’s opposition movement got about a billion dollars worth of air time around the world to further their cause. Had the race been cancelled everyone would have completely forgotten about the issue. F1 managements’ reputation got a black eye though.

    The other upside is that it gave our family a context to discuss human rights with our teenagers. They’d usually run a mile to avoid political discussions. That’s not to say that people should be oppressed or die just to give some middle class kids an education of course.

    Channel 10’s coverage in Australia had a two lap commercial break at lap 7, 11, and then somewhere in the low 20’s, 30’s, and the mid 40’s from memory. Certainly more than you get with the OneHD telecast. I guess that’s the price you pay for a free to air broadcast.

    1. I watch the One/ten broadcast and also have my laptop connected to the TV with the pirate sky/bbc broadcasts for when the adds come on. I just switch between to two almost never miss any of it. Its brilliant.

      1. Can you PM me the in’s and out’s of how that’s done?

  94. I’d give it a 9!

    Wanted to go to bathroom around lap 20, Kimi made me wait until the last lap!

    I’d imagine this race was not as exiting for people who are not Kimi or Lotus fans. But Kimi got huge fan base and he made a lot of people come back to watch F1 with his return. Considering Kimi’s driving ability it’s just ignorant thinking he would have lost his edge with two years away. He is not just World Champion (*cough* reliable McLaren 2005 *cough*) , he is one of the fastest World Champions.

    Watch out for Lotus 1-2 in Spain and then Kimi will dominate Monaco!!

    Go Go Kimi, 2nd World Championship, you got this!!!!

    ps. This is an epic F1 season. I think it’s only going to get more exiting!!

    1. If you were watching in Australia there were plenty of opportunities to go to the bathroom. Ads ads ads ads ads ads, and more ads.

      1. “”bearforce1 (@bearforce1) said on 23rd April 2012, 5:51

        I watch the One/ten broadcast and also have my laptop connected to the TV with the pirate sky/bbc broadcasts for when the adds come on. I just switch between to two almost never miss any of it. Its brilliant.

        This.

  95. It seems to me cancelling the predictions contest is a fairly feckless gesture. If you want to do something useful, how about hosting a link to Human Rights or whatever, or solicit donations on their behalf. I hate slippery slope type arguments, but China is hardly an admirable society. So how do you evaluate the relevance of a host country’s worthiness? Ah, hell, just race!

  96. I’ve rated the race 8 because it appeared to be an interesting one. A good drive by Paul Di Resta helped my enjoyment considering my other preferred drivers had poor races. Kimi chasing Seb and some overtaking in various places as well as the aggressive defending by Nico was entertaining. Unfortunately McLaren’s terrible race, particularly Button retiring was frustrating. Heikki’s puncture at the start was also annoying. Hopefully McLaren will really look into their pit stop situation. Maybe it was just 3 occurrences of bad luck (Button in China & Hamilton x 2) but it is costing them dearly. To top it off Sebastian is back on P1 and I got fed up of that early in 2011 never mind the possibility of it all happening again in 2012.

    As much as I gave the race an 8, because I think that’s what the race deserved, I actually went to bed (finished at 11:45pm in Aus) feeling seriously disappointed with the experience of watching it. A few things contributed to this, primarily I didn’t see my chosen drivers or teams doing well which of course is never great but I additionally couldn’t get the live timing to work at all and combined with chatting to my parents on Skype during the races and my netbook being slow meant following the race was actually harder than normal, I love analysing the races as they progress and I missed this hugely, Twitter was quiet and I can’t run F1 Fanatic live on the netbook without causing Skype to chug so there was little in the social side of the race which I realise I enjoy more than I thought. Compounding all of this was the sheer stupidity of the weekend. The whole Force India debacle in qualifying annoyed me, the bone headedness of Bernie and others when discussing the evident troubles was infuriating and I just never enjoyed the F1 this weekend as I normally do. The race was an 8 but my enjoyment of the F1 weekend was a solid 1.

    Oh and Ten running the race in standard definition having become used to One HD in Australia is another maddening ingredient to a weekend of F1 I’ll be soon forgetting.

    Roll on testing.

  97. Perhaps there should have been a second poll, on the same page, about whether we agree to the race being held or not. That way people can separate their view on whether the race should have been held (I would have voted no) and how the race itself was as a spectacle (I actually voted 10; lots of strong performances all around)

  98. How on earth do the McLaren pit crew keep their jobs, given their performances so far this season? Woking is a tip-top engineering outfit, and anyone can see that there is a serious problem with the pit-stop routine of the left rear tyre.
    Why is it taking them so long to fix it? Jenson lost a possible win in China because of it, Lewis lost position TWICE in Bahrain….and we havent even started going over last season.
    Maybe it’s Martin Whitmarsh.

    1. Trying to improve equipment (weight) and as result suffering from reliability, maybe.

  99. Normally Bahrain is a boring circuit for me, but the combination of helicopter angles and actual racing made this race a 9 for me.

  100. 9 from me.
    If Lotus improve their race decision making, I think Kimi is strong candidate for Championship.
    They had a plan on going SOFT 1 and 3 stint, why didn’t they?! :( Kimi had clear air and would have caught Grosjean on MEDIUMs. Then he would have ripped Vettel apart on new SOFTs. Instead they chocked! They used up SOFT to gain minimal time that also got wasted during overtaking Grosjean.

    Afraid of China? Seriously they wanted Kimi go half of distance on two stopper there.

  101. Not a bad race for Bahrain.

  102. Best race that Bahrain ever showed.
    Great battles all around the field, shame for Raikkonen missed victory, but it was a really good race.

    8/10

  103. 1. the Man United vs Everton game was 10x more entertaining. Plus no mancs or scousers were killed during the coverage of it.

  104. Shane (@shane-pinnell)
    23rd April 2012, 18:26

    7/10 – Would have been 8 but the tires played a little too big of a role in the race. A better balance between tires and drivers and chassis is needed to get a higher rating for me. On track action was good, nice close fights too, just too much focusing on tire wear.

  105. 7/10. The race was good but that bitter taste in my mouth kinda spoiled it.

  106. Bit late in voting but I only gave it 6.

    My vote was only based on the race and not on any of the protests.

    The main reason for my vote was because the BBC highlights package really felt lacking this weekend, I don’t know if the quality had dipped from the first two races or it was because I had enjoyed full live coverage from China and so going back to the highlights again was a bigger let down than at the start of the season.

    Some of the cuts did seem more noticeable such as not seeing Grosjean overtake Webber for third in the early laps.

    If I had seen the full race live I probably would have given it a higher rating, but just seeing the highlights did affect my enjoyment of the race so I had to give it a 6.

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