Formula One 2010 - R1: Bahrain

[Mousehole]

Mark Webber plus mood music!!

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You Tube

- Big new layout meaning a lot less laps.
- First race without fuel stops. Red Bull claim they change all four tyres in 1.8 seconds. I'd be surprised if any team went under 3 seconds.
- HRT Racing's car gets it's first run out ever on Friday Morning.
- Karun Chandhok has got rid of the monobrow.

Front runners are expected to be Macca, Ferrari and Red Bull, with Merc a small step back.

[Hun]

Any Other worth a shout in both markets due to it being the start of more new rules.

[Mousehole]

If it were Australia I'd be inclined to agree.

Bahrain is all wide and huge run-offs, so mistakes won't be punished in the same way they would at Albert Park.

[Tucho]

hole can i lend 2k to make a bet

[Mousehole]

sorted

[Tucho]

Cheers big ears. Im gonna have a dabble on Schumi

[Tucho]

1500 on Schumi pole, 500 sneaky on Bender

[Mousehole]

Got to be Massa for pole for me. He's a bit of a specialist round Bahrain.

[Sir John Fashanu]

Yeah but he's a quadraspaz now.

[Hun]

ANY OTHER!!!

[Sir John Fashanu]

JARNO TRULLI NAP

[Mousehole]

There is no way on this planet that Jarno Trulli will get on the podium

[Sir John Fashanu]

why not?

[Mousehole]

He's slow in races generally and he's driving a Lotus (or as one idiot fanboy put it on the Autosport forum) a Fauxtus

[Sir John Fashanu]

Fauxtus lol

[Hun]

lol x 2

[Sir John Fashanu]

With eight drivers priced at 20/1 or under, the Bahrain Grand Prix looks to be the most open betting heat in years.


The prices for the leading contenders this weekend almost exactly match those in the ante-post drivers' market, with Fernando Alonso the 3/1 favourite to mark his Ferrari debut with a victory.


The F10 should indeed be in decent shape on Sunday afternoon but we're less convinced that he should be heading the pole-position market.


Alonso's long-run times in pre-season testing were highly impressive but the data suggests that he might face a stern challenge in qualifying trim.


Red Bull and McLaren both eclipsed the Ferrari's low-fuel pace, while Sauber also appear to be within a tenth or so of their ultimate pace.


The Swiss team in particular look primed to spring a surprise in qualifying given that their cars are experiencing less tyre degradation over the course of a stint.


The new rules state that all the participants in Q3 must start the race on the same tyres as those on which they set their best qualifying time, so it may be that some teams will risk opting for the softer tyre for the opening stint and making an early pitstop.


With so little concrete evidence available at this stage we can only guess at the tactics the strategists will adopt but it seems reasonable to expect some of the lower-profile teams to take such a gamble.


And given the prices available on the Sauber drivers we'll join them in aiming high.


We have reservations about the Swiss team's choice of drivers but Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi could set about proving us wrong on Saturday afternoon.


The pair look enormous at 80/1 and 66/1 respectively, with Victor Chandler's each-way terms of 1/4 the odds for three places looking particularly appealing for their price on the Spaniard.


The 66/1 is win-only but the Japanese rookie can be backed at 50s with those place terms, which is probably the way forward.


Also have a slice of Hill's 80/1 on Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg spoiling the party for the big teams.


The reigning GP2 champion is making his debut in Bahrain but looks primed to make a big impact.


Williams appear to be right on the shoulder of the big four teams and, like Sauber, their car appears to be very kind to its rubber.


If that means they opt to qualify on the softer tyre while the other teams stick with the hard, then the German could be in a position to take advantage.


But even if they choose not to go down that path, we are still likely to get a run for our money given Hulkenberg's form in testing.


We'll take another look at the race odds following Saturday afternoon's qualifying session.

SHROOD stuff at bettingzone.

May plonk my 10grand on these badboys at 66/1.

[Hun]

I scooped that earlier. My SHROOD betting, love.

[Sir John Fashanu]

BIG VICTOR GONE INTO HIDING, he's took a pasting and has halved his prices!

[Mousehole]

Points yes, podiums no.

I do love me some Hulkenburg, best thing out of GP2 since LEWIS.