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Bram Hengeveld

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Game: F1 2010 - The Game by Codemasters. Click here to buy it directly from Steam
Class: Formula 1
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Back to racing early this morning.

A lap after the restart I was up into 9th place as Gutierrez pitted. Raikonnen, Button and Massa were still pressuring from behind but my strategy of keeping the outside line down the back straight and a tight line into the hairpin was holding firm and also holding the outside line along the start finish straight now prevented that late move around the outside that I had previously had to defend against, the AI certainly don’t like the inside line here and provided I kept it neat and didn’t run wide around the loop I was keeping them at bay. Blue flags however started to become the biggest issue for me as they were coming out way to early and really compromising my race as I had to find a way to allow them through while still keeping my speed up enough to hold off the cars following closely behind that I was in a race with. I did manage to use them to my advantage a few times though by allowing them past at places that enabled me to keep close enough to them to have the DRS activated on the back straight, use that to defend against the cars I was racing and save more of my KERS for the run up to the final corner and then to the start \ finish line which kept them that little bit further off my tail and prevented any chance of an overtake into turn 1.

The gap to 8th place Perez was around 18 seconds so 9th looked like the best I could hope for but with most of the AI behind me seeming to be on options to my primes I was now concerned that their earlier stop would give them the opportunity to up the pace once they were no longer behind me and give them the chance to get past me when I pitted for the last time. On lap 39 as I made the run out of the hairpin and with my mind mulling over the optimum time to make my final stop out came the safety car flag!! No idea what it was for but I quickly decided to stay out rather than pit immediately and was able to pass the SC as it exited the pit lane so was not held up over the rest of the lap. From the track map I could see that my team mate had pulled into the pits so the race to hold position was on. A nice clean run into the pit lane (always find this one of the hardest to get right) and then with my new primes bolted on I was away but as I exited the pits I was passed by the Williams of Bottas and found myself in 12th position but crucially still ahead of the cars that I had been battling with before the SC came out.

‘Safety Car in this lap’ came over the radio just as I was starting sector 2 and I could see the SC and bunch of cars behind it just making their way down the back straight on the map. Put my foot down and with Bottas ahead just caught the pack up as they were turning into the hairpin, perfect timing!!. 12th soon became 10th as Bottas and the car just ahead (Ricciardo I think) tangled on the exit of the final turn and gave me a nice easy pass on the run to the start / finish line. There were a few backmarkers to negotiate on the following lap and then I had Gutierrez in my sights although Hulkenburg a lap ahead was between us. I could have unlapped myself from him on the back straight but with the possibility of blue flags then causing me problems I held station as he closed up behind the Sauber of the young Mexican. Knowing he had to concede to the resultant blue flags I stuck close to the German and as Gutierrez pulled over to let him through on the short straight to the loop onto the back straight I was past and up into 9th place again. I passed the pits around lap 44 and with several cars now making their final stops I was suddenly elevated to 6th spot so from the prospect of maybe finishing outside the points or picking up one or two at best suddenly I was up in better points and on pace to beat the teams pre-race target for me (7th).

Gradually the Raikonnen, Massa and Button trio were closing on me but apart from when Rosberg lapped me and I almost got caught out by my teammate sneaking through I was holding pretty solidly onto my position. Massa had one go up the inside into turn 1 when I ran slightly wide there but I managed to cut back inside and retake the spot. One last scare came a couple of laps from the end when surprisingly Button did go for the inside overtake down the back straight, first attempt anyone had made there but I quickly dived back up the inside of him as he moved across for the better line into the hairpin and just managed to make the corner and force him to take a wider line and compromise his exit. Crossed the line very satisfied with a 6th place finish and 8 points. An unhappy Raikonnen grabbed a solitary point in tenth leaving me as the lead Lotus driver after three races on 20 points, 2 ahead of Raikonnen. Lotus are holding 4th in the constructors with 38 points, 19 behind 3rd placed Red Bull with Ferrari leading the pack on 90 points and the Mercs second on 62.

One thing that did seem odd to me was that most of the AI seemed to do three option stints while I had two option and two prime. I don’t see how the AI in the top 10 had two sets of fresh options in addition to those they started on as all of them run options in Q2 and Q3… that doesn’t add up does it? They would have only had one set of fresh options for the race surely.. that was how it was for me anyway so it would seem that the AI do not have the same restrictions as us on tyres!!.

Team challenge. Raikonnen leads 3/2 with 1 podium to my none, Outqualifying me 2/1 and has had the faster lap then me in all 3 races while I have outraced him twice and have more points. This could be a good fight over the season.

I am hoping for better things at Bahrain when I can get my setup sorted better than I did here but overall more than happy although of course the safety car made a big difference and probably earned me 6 points more than I would otherwise have got.
 
Pole Sitter: Frede
Race Winner: Lynchy
Who will score the surprise result: Lynchy

Who do you think will be on the podium? Lynchy, Mikey, Martijn
Barcelona, Valencia Street Circuit or Jerez (or another Spanish track)? Aragon, its a track mainly used for bikes but F1 would be pretty good there aswell if they used the full layout imo.
What is your target for the race? Well, judging by my current form, my next points finish should be a 5th, so I guess I should target that, however Id just like a clean race and a good points finish.
What are your thoughts on leaving the Tilke circuits and returning to Europe? I'm happy to be back in Europe but I feel I'm gonna struggle in the next few rounds as I usually do better on the Tilke tracks. But we shall see, looking at my season so far, I could actually do quite well.
Will Lynchy rage quit the race again this week? Depends if I'm ahead of him or not. Id like to think not though.

Ask Frederik and Mattias a question.

Mattias: Why is it that every time you get passed by a Mercedes, you report them to the stewards? is it a desperate action because you cant beat them on track?

Frede: Seeing as the battle seems quite close between you and Mercedes, will you be resorting to the same tactics as your team mate to stop them from getting too far ahead?
 
Not so sure about the rules, but it seems obvious to me that Matte approached the corner in a way which made it clear that you were going to be side by side through the corner - and as you JUST overtook matte a split second before you made contact, I am sure that Matte was not aware of you taking the corner as he wasn't there - he was in fact in front of you through the main part of the corner.

I would, however, not classify it as a direct break of the rules, as I am pretty aware that the rules are pretty static and say that if you are in front it's your corner. But imo that is not the case here.
 
Season 6 Bahrain Grand Prix

No/Driver -
03/Jamie-lee Mayers
Competitor - Caterham
Time - Lap 2
Session - Race

Fact - Car number 3 made a mistake under braking into T1 and caused an incident with cars 7 and 17.

Decision - The stewards have decided no further action against Car 3 as the driver yielded and allowed both cars to rejoin AND received an in game 10 second penalty for the incident

----
No/Driver - 15/Josh Johnson
Competitor - Force India
Time - Lap 1
Session - Race

Fact - Car number 15 made contact with Car 6 into turn 1 on the first lap, partially knocking the latter off the circuit.

Decision - The stewards have decided no further action will be taken on the incident. Time lost by Car 6 was minimal whilst Car 15 fell down to last position.
---------

No/Driver - 01/Mikey Woolford
Competitor - Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
Time - Lap 12
Session - Race

Fact - Car 1 made a mistake under braking for T1 on lap 12 and made contact with Car 6 sending it into a half spin.

Decision - The stewards have decided no further action will be taken with this matter. Car 1 waited, lost time and a couple of positions due to the incident.
----------

No/Driver - 02/Saif Mehmood
Competitor - Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
Time - Lap 11
Session - Race

Fact - Car numbers 2 and 6 made contact on the exit of turn 11 and Car 6 temporarily left the track and rejoined.

Decision -
The stewards have decided no further action will be taken with this matter. Car 2 was simply completing an overtake and Car 6 was in a position at that point to concede the position as the corner was no longer theirs.
----------

No/Driver - 07/Martijn Boontje
Competitor - Sauber
Time - Lap 29
Session - Race

Fact - Car 7 made contact with the bollard in turn 10 and his car was destroyed.

Decision - The stewards have decided Car 7 will NOT be reinstated into the race results. Drivers know the consequences of touching the bollards when they are suspended in the air. Car 7 made contact with the bollard whilst cutting the corner in a substantial manner and thus was at fault for the incident.
 
Pole Sitter: Frede
Race Winner: Saif
Who will score the surprise result: Lynchy

Who do you think will be on the podium? Me, Frede, Saif

Barcelona, Valencia Street Circuit or Jerez (or another Spanish track)?
Valencia - I loved that track.

What is your target for the race?
Hopefully I'm fighting for the win but I'd be happy enough with a podium.

What are your thoughts on leaving the Tilke circuits and returning to Europe?
I quite like both types of circuit, so it doesn't really make too much of a difference to me.

Will Lynchy rage quit the race again this week?
I very rarely see someone rage quite two weeks in a row, so no.

Ask Frederik and Mattias a question.
Frede: Do you like Kevin Magnussen?
Mattias: Do you like Marcus Ericsson?
 
Pole Sitter: Alistair
Race Winner: Mikey
Who will score the surprise result: Shboob

Who do you think will be on the podium?
Mikey, Alistair, shboob

Barcelona, Valencia Street Circuit or Jerez (or another Spanish track)?
- Valencia has been pretty nice for me in the past.

What is your target for the race?
- I will aim for another great position.

What are your thoughts on leaving the Tilke circuits and returning to Europe?
- I like pretty much all the tracks on the calendar, so it should be okay for me.

Will Lynchy rage quit the race again this week?
- Wouldn't surprise me :D

Ask Frederik and Mattias a question.
Matte: What's the temperature in Sweden right now?


Frede: What are your views on the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari so far?
- I think it's pretty interesting. The Mercedes guys are the title favorites as they have been all season, but it is obvious that we are coming fast in the Ferraris, and we are in fact leading the championships right now + we have been pretty consistent throughout the first 4 races. I am pretty sure that it will be close.

Frede: Seeing as the battle seems quite close between you and Mercedes, will you be resorting to the same tactics as your team mate to stop them from getting too far ahead?
- Matte and I have been very good to help each other during the season, especially as we have found a great strategy. We help each other a lot, and it really seemed to have been working till now - It is very important to keep our focus and to use the correct strategies in order to win.

Frede: Do you like Kevin Magnussen?
- I know him personally, so that must be a yes :)
 
It surprises me that we get a 'no further action' much more often. Not even warnings or points on a license. Its almost like that if you wait the incident was ok.. People should be more careful, as I noticed that there are many more little incidents lately that due cause timeloss. In my case, Jamie waited which is good ofcourse, but he didnt get a warning or a point on his license for it, so it might not scare him if it happens the next time (its an example). It will people make less cautious.
 
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