Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

Honda F1 engine stuck with vibration issues until May or June

Honda will have to wait at least another month to completely cure the vibration problems that have plagued it in 2017, for its next major Formula 1 engine upgrade.

The Japanese manufacturer overhauled its package for 2017, which it admits it thought was "too easy", but that has lacked power and reliability since it was introduced in pre-season testing.

One of the biggest problems is excessive vibration on upshifts, which McLaren's Fernando Alonso says is "hurting our confidence and driveability out of the corners".

Honda is working on an upgraded power unit, due for either the Monaco or Canadian Grands Prix, with which it aims to cure its lack of performance and properly address the vibration problems.

"I don't think the drivers agree, but I think we have improved [on the vibrations] since the beginning of the season," Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa said.

"We improved gradually but it is still not completely solved of course.

"So with the next update I would like to solve clearly."

Asked by Autosport about the progress in curing the vibration issues, Hasegawa said: "We cannot tell you an exact date but here or at any grand prix, if we have the chance, we would like to update our engines."

Hasegawa also revealed that Honda made changes to its power unit in China last weekend, utilising the greater freedom afforded by the token system being scrapped for 2017.

"We updated some inlet system, so there is no limitation about tokens if we need to change the package of the engine," he said.

"But there are still limitations in terms of the number of engines for the season."

[MIKA27]

Mercedes engine modes give Williams F1 midfield edge - Sainz

Carlos Sainz Jr believes Mercedes engine modes that "no one understands" are the key factor in Williams leading Formula 1's midfield pack at the moment.

Although Sainz's Toro Rosso team is fourth in the constructors' championship, he thinks Williams holds a slight edge in both qualifying and the race and puts that down to the Mercedes engine's qualifying settings.

Asked about the gap between Williams and Toro Rosso, Sainz said: "It is not a lot. I think in qualifying they have those three tenths, but in the race we cut it back because the engine mode of Mercedes in qualifying is something that still no one understands.

"You can see from Lewis [Hamilton] the way they suddenly turn it up in Q3.

"They [Williams] obviously turn it up also. But I think in the race we can still play a bit with them even if they are a tiny bit faster."

Williams has been the leading qualifier after Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull at both the 2017 grands prix so far, with Felipe Massa starting seventh in Australia and sixth in China.

Despite feeling Williams currently has a crucial edge on power, Sainz expects the midfield battle to fluctuate all year.

"It is going to change race by race, I am 100% sure," he said on Thursday in Bahrain.

"Especially because it looks like Force India here brings an upgrade.

"We will probably bring one for Barcelona and then we will have the Renault upgrade and upgrades through the season. So it will change and vary for the moment.

"I feel like Williams have the strongest car of the midfield definitely in both qualifying and the race. And then there is the rest.

"I am not brave enough to pick up one out of the three [Haas, Force India, Renault], because it is extremely tight and then it depends on two tenths on a qualifying lap. It is exciting.

"I am enjoying it a lot this year because for me the fight is to be the best non-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull car.

"I am fighting against a very talented midfield this year. It is a different F1 to the top six, but it is an exciting one.

"I am finding a lot of motivation to push and happy to be leading it now."

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg ‘surprised’ by Alonso’s Indy 500 bid

Nico Hulkenberg, who won the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, says he would not miss a Formula 1 grand prix to race in another series.

Two years ago the Renault driver won the prestigious endurance race with Porsche. That year it took place on a weekend where there was no Formula 1.

He was, however, unable to defend the title a year later as Le Mans clashed with the Baku GP.

Now another driver, Fernando Alonso, is set to try his hand at a different series during the Formula 1 season, racing in the Indianapolis 500.

The McLaren driver will miss the Monaco GP to race in the American event.

“My case was completely different, I didn’t go away from F1 in the way he is,” Hulkenberg told Crash.net. “I would have never done it if I had to miss a race for it, especially Monaco.

“A big decision and big news obviously and he can do what he wants. I am a bit surprised like everybody about this situation.”

Alonso has less than two months to prepare for his IndyCar debut whereas Hulkenberg spent months adapting to endurance racing.

“I think it is quite tough,” he added. “I don’t know much about Indy but he has never driven these cars or an oval, so do you think you can come in and win that easily? I at least had half a year practice [for Le Mans].

“It sounds like a challenge but obviously Fernando likes challenges.”

[MIKA27]

BAHRAIN QUALIFYING: BOTTAS BEATS HAMILTON

Valtteri Bottas claimed his first Formula 1 pole position by edging out Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a tight Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying battle.

Hamilton had taken pole for each of the first two F1 races of 2017 and led the way again through Q1, Q2 and the initial runs in Q3 at Sakhir, but Bottas hit top spot on his final run with a lap of 1m28.769s.

Hamilton dropped a chunk of time in the second sector of his final lap, and also had an oversteer moment at the final corner, so failed to improve. He ended up second fastest by just 0.023 seconds.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was almost half a second further back in third, suggesting he "tried a bit too hard" on his final Q3 run, which was slower than his first.

Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull split the two Ferraris by setting the fourth fastest time on his final run, just 0.022s clear of Kimi Raikkonen.

Max Verstappen was a tenth further back in the second Red Bull, while works Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg beat Felipe Massa's Williams to the seventh fastest time, with a lap that was within two tenths of Verstappen's.

Romain Grosjean again got the Haas team into Q3, ending up eighth fastest, well down on Massa and three tenths clear of Jolyon Palmer's Renault.

Palmer made Q3 for the first time in his F1 career, but eventually qualified over 1.2s down on Renault team-mate Hulkenberg.

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat missed out on making the top-10 shootout by less than half a tenth of a second, running wide at the final corner and failing to improve on his final Q2 run.

Lance Stroll made only one run after his Williams spent a long period receiving adjustments in the garage and he ended up only 12th fastest.

Returnee Pascal Wehrlein qualified a brilliant 13th in the Sauber, on a track he starred at last season for Manor, ahead of the Force India of fellow Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon, and the McLaren-Honda of Fernando Alonso, who didn't set a time in Q2 after "we broke the power unit".

Alonso scraped his McLaren-Honda into Q2 thanks to the Toro Rosso of fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr stopping at the final corner in the dying moments of Q1.

This relegated Sainz to 16th thanks to rivals earlier improving their times, and it also forced Sergio Perez to back off while on a hot lap in his Force India.

Perez still improved by nearly four tenths of a second, but this still left him down in 18th place, 0.005s behind the second McLaren-Honda of Stoffel Vandoorne, who had outpaced Alonso fractionally during the initial runs in Q1.

Marcus Ericsson was only 19th quickest, over half a second slower than Sauber team-mate Wehrlein, while Haas's Kevin Magnussen qualified slowest of all after aborting his final flying lap for the yellow flags displayed for Sainz's stricken Toro Rosso.

[MIKA27]

HORNER: I THINK HE NEEDS TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST

Christian Horner cannot understand why Fernando Alonso is choosing to ditch the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in the Indianapolis 500 which the Red Bull F1 chief says is a crazy race and maybe the Spaniard needs to see a shrink.

Speaking during the Friday press conference, Horner said. “It’s a difficult one for Fernando, he’s having a tough time. Zak has a problem of a depressed driver on his hands and he’s trying to keep him motivated and come up with this idea to send him to Indianapolis. He must be barking mad, it’s the nuttiest race I’ve ever seen!

“No testing, he’s going to just jump in the car… Turn 1 is a proper turn, it’s easy flat the whole way round. I think he needs to see a psychiatrist, personally!”

“Would we let our drivers do it? No. I think if a driver commits to a team it’s like disappearing with another girlfriend half way through the year, doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.”

“Perhaps if the races didn’t clash, or do it at the end of his Formula One career… but McLaren have got this approach which is perhaps different to ours, but good for them.”

But McLaren chief Zak Brown, who orchestrated the Indy 500 opportunity for Alonso, explained, “Fernando’s not scared! He’s going to get some testing in, he is studying Indianapolis.”

“It’s obviously going to be a challenge but he wants a challenge and a rookie driver won it last year, not that we’re setting any expectations.”

“We think he’s going to have a car capable of running at the front, I think he will be extremely prepared and I think he’s going to put on a good show.”

“He’s very smart and that’s what you need to be around Indianapolis. I think it’s going to be good, everybody’s going to be watching,” predicted Brown.

[MIKA27]

Vettel: ‘Gap to Mercedes more than expected’

Sebastian Vettel has conceded he was a little surprised by Mercedes' pace in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The joint-World Championship leader was forced to settle for P3 on the grid for Sunday's race after finishing four tenths behind the Mercedes duo.

"Overall I was very happy with how qualifying went and how the car felt," Vettel said.

We had a few issues yesterday and we tweaked the balance in the right direction.

"I was very happy with my first lap but saw both of them were ahead.

"When I saw the time I was a bit down as four tenths was more than I expected.

"The next lap I tried a bit too hard everywhere as I had nothing to lose but it didn't work. Hopefully we can do a bit more tomorrow."

[MIKA27]

Nico Hulkenberg Bahrain F1 qualifying lap as good as 2010 Brazil pole

Nico Hulkenberg says he completed the best qualifying lap of his career to secure seventh place on the grid for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The German driver gave Renault its second seventh-place start in a row, having also occupied that position in China last weekend.

Hulkenberg finished a second off pole position and less than three tenths behind the quickest Red Bull, powered by the same Renault engine.

He said his qualifying lap was as good as the one that secured him his first and so far only pole position in F1 in the 2010 Brazilian GP, when he was driving for Williams.

"It was seriously, together with Brazil 2010, the best lap in my career," said Hulkenberg.

"Especially around here, which I always found a struggle to hook it all up perfectly.

"But today it was smooth. It was beautiful. A great lap."

The Renault driver, who is yet to score a point this season, said his car's one-lap pace had not come as a surprise to him.

"I felt since winter testing it was there," he said. "From the beginning the car was good with that.

"In Barcelona we did a sub-1m20s lap time under normal circumstances, not underweight.

"We are still learning about the car. Trying different set-ups to understand the car more and more."

Both Renaults will start in the top 10, with Jolyon Palmer reaching Q3 for the first time in his F1 career.

Palmer joked that it felt unusual to do a full hour of qualifying when he could "normally have my feet up with a Coke and watch TV", but added it had required taking a set-up lead from Hulkenberg after struggling in practice.

"I was 20th in FP3 and the car was all over the place," Palmer said. "And Nico's just been on a really steady but quick weekend.

"So we tried to see a little bit what they were doing on the other side of the garage and it certainly helped."

He admitted his Q3 lap itself had not been very strong, as he ended up 1.2s adrift of Hulkenberg.

"I had a scruffy lap and then I hit recharge mode around the lap instead of another button, so I lost the energy power for a little bit," Palmer said.

"From that I lost a bit of time and then I chased it and lost even more.

"So Q3 was not very good but the whole time together was much better."

[MIKA27]

Honda puzzled by recurring MGU-H problems in Bahrain

Honda has identified a recurring MGU-H problem as the reason Fernando Alonso's engine failed in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso escaped Q1 and felt 13th or 14th on the grid was possible, but he ended up 15th after failing to complete a lap in Q2 because of the engine problem.

He will require a new unit for the race.

Motorsport.com understands the MGU-H failure sent debris into the internal combustion engine and also damaged that beyond repair.

Alonso's failure follows two terminal MGU-H problems for teammate Stoffel Vandoorne that occurred in Friday practice.

A new unit failed in the first session, and a replacement unit that was run in March's Australian Grand Prix broke in FP2.

Honda motorsport chief Yusuke Hasegawa said the Japanese manufacturer has yet to fully understand the cause, or why these failures have occurred suddenly in Bahrain.

"We are not sure the exact cause, but definitely a mechanical failure of the MGU-H," said Hasegawa. "It is something around the bearings, it was sticking.  It happened (three) times here, which is very unfortunate.

"They are all dead so we have to replace. We're not sure why it happened just here three times, but we are suspecting something happened in this environment. Possibly because the temperatures are very high."

Hasegawa expressed confidence the McLaren-Honda cars will finish Sunday's race, given Alonso will start with a new MGU-H and Vandoorne's unit is still at low mileage.

However, there are concerns within McLaren that the MGU-H problem will recur in the race.

When asked to comment on the performance of the Honda engine, Alonso said the lack of reliability made this a pointless exercise.

"There is no point for us talking driveability," said Alonso, who later engaged in a serious private discussion with Hasegawa in the McLaren team offices.

"We cannot complete a lap or doing qualifying. I don't care too much about the driveability if I cannot finish a race so far this year, or if I cannot finish qualifying now."

[MIKA27]

Verstappen asking for respect after Massa "ruined my lap"

Max Verstappen says Felipe Massa “ruined” his final lap in Bahrain Grand Prix Formula 1 qualifying by overtaking him into the final corner.

The Red Bull driver ended up only sixth on the grid after topping final practice, and while he felt that performance had probably been misleading, he believes he could have qualified higher than where he ended up.

“First in FP3 doesn’t say a lot but still we looked competitive,” said Verstappen. “Qualifying was very positive as well, every run just getting faster, basically.

“I felt really good, but on my last run I was behind Lewis [Hamilton] and we were just preparing our laps.

“Just before I wanted to prepare into the last corner, Felipe dived in front of me then just stopped.

“There was a big gap behind us, so it was like, ‘why did you do that?’

“I just had to stay in first gear all round the corner to make a gap to him, that basically ruined my lap because you have cold tyres, you have a very bad exit out of that last corner and then it’s ruined.”

When asked if he would discuss the matter with the Williams driver, Verstappen said jokingly amid much laughter: “Well he’s a Brazilian – so there’s not much to discuss."

He later added: “At Turn 1 the tyres were too cold, so you understeer and it snowballs.

“It’s a bit of a shame – we could respect each other on that to keep a bit of a gap instead of trying to squeeze in just before the last corner.”

Despite the disappointing qualifying session, Verstappen is optimistic that Red Bull is making progress and he can move forward in the race.

“It was a positive qualifying in general, so it will be interesting tomorrow,” he said.

“We can be close to Ferrari – Mercedes is still a little bit too quick but normally when it’s hard on the tyres they tend to struggle a bit more, so you never know.

“We all know that in qualifying Mercedes and Ferrari can turn their engines up a little bit more than us unfortunately, but in the race normally we look a little bit more competitive.”

[capitalpg]

Easter Bunny brought this Ferrari fan a nice gift today!
Strategy worked, pace was good, stayed away from any trouble, so all in all a solid race.

Would have loved Lewis to receive a more severe sanction in order to get Kimi up on the podium, but I'll take the W.

Hoping for continued advancements by Ferrari, but at least there's reason to be hopeful thus far.

Now onto Alonso at Indy!

[skalls]

Merc and ferrari are going to trade blows all year.  Seems like some tracks favor one or the other.  Too bad Valterri couldn't get the tires working for him.

Haas got some more points, too bad Kevin had to end his race too soon.  Ton of cars retired this year.

McLaren Honda looks so so so sad.  Can't wait to see Alonso at Indy.

[RijkdeGooier]

Enjoyed the race immensely, eventhough my personal favorite Max was out with failed breaks after lap 13?.

Vettel was excellent??

[Baldy]

Yeah it's a great race when the cars are competitive and the track allows passing. 

Wonder if Stroll or McLaren will finish a race this year.  It's sad when the safety car have to slow down in order not to lap McLaren. 

Normally don't pay too much attention to the Indy 500 anymore but will this year because of Hinchcliff and Alonso.  Honda is competitive in Indy and arrogantly thought they can coast into F1.  Unfortunately I fear this will scare away other manufacturers from entering F1.

[Schumi5]

Quite the enjoyable race, especially for us tifosi!  Would love to see Kimi doing more as the car is clearly there this year.  Shaping up to be quite the battle this year which should be great for us fans.  Hamilton should definitely have received a stiffer penalty for his antics heading into the pits. He is obviously a talented driver and occasionally I even seen glimpses of him actually showing some class but then invariably he can't help himself but to do something stupid and low brow and remind us all of how much a clown he can be.

[MIKA27]

Wow, thanks for posting guys, was a good race although I completely hate team orders such as Bottas being asked to move, no doubt about that, so much for no team orders..

I believe if the guy in front is "So slow" then overtake him! If you can't well that's just stiff.

Otherwise as much as I am a Mercedes fan, I'm loving Ferrari up there, it is refreshing to see other teams on the podium and believe this season will be on of the better ones.

Apologies I didn't post race results yet, being Easter break here I had a couple days off.

[MIKA27]

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX: VETTEL AND FERRARI OUTFOX MERCEDES

Sebastian Vettel scored his second victory of the 2017 Formula 1 World championship season, triumphing at the Bahrain Grand Prix despite starting behind the pace setting Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas who finished second and third respectively.
From the start Vettel blitzed past a sluggish starting Hamilton (on the dirty side of the track) and tucked in behind pole winner Bottas, he then proceeded to harass and stalk the leader who had to pull out all the defensive moves he had in his arsenal to keep the red car at bay.

With little chance of getting by and a slew of rivals lining up behind him, Vettel pitted the Ferrari on lap 11, bolting on another set of Pirelli super soft tyres. He emerged 12th and in clean air.

The next couple of laps were incident packed, first Max Verstappen (who followed Vettel’s example and pitted early) suffered brake failure on his Red Bull and ended up in the wall. Race over.

Moments later, in a separate incident, Williams rookie Lance Stroll turned into Carlos Sainz who was emerging from a pitstop. The pair collided, with the Williams coming to halt in the middle of the track on the exit of Turn 1. A very short shift for the pair of them.

The safety car was deployed to allow marshals to clear the track, which prompted Bottas and Hamilton to pit, the latter doing so in front of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, but slowing him down in the process while Mercedes fumbled Bottas’ stop.

As a result the stewards gave Hamilton a five seconds penalty for impeding Ricciardo during the flurry of pit stops.

On track Vettel still led from Bottas, both on super soft tyres and on a two stop strategy, with Ricciardo third and Hamilton fourth, the latter opting for the yellow band softs and a one stop plan apparently in place at this point.

Vettel was on it immediately after the restart, while Ricciardo went backwards. Hamilton was also on the move and was soon harrying his teammate who was told to let the triple World Champion through. He would be told to do so again, later in the race.

Hamilton then put the hammer down and was soon making a dent into Vettel’s lead despite running the harder tyre. Ferrari pitted Vettel and bolted on a set of softs, upon which the German reversed the roles and started hunting down the Mercedes.

When it was clear Hamilton did not have the rubber to make it to the end, Mercedes pitted him and again Hamilton had to chase. But he ran out of laps as Vettel took the chquered flag for his third win in Bahrain, his 44th grand prix victory and with topping the championship table after three rounds.

Vettel said aftewards, “It was a really great day. It was the last half of the out lap when all the fireworks were going off I was like: I love what I do. It was a great team effort today and I felt like we are quick. I tried to put Valtteri under pressure.”

“The early pit stop worked. When the safety car came I was like: not again! I thought we would have lost the advantage but I had a good feeling yesterday. Lewis was obviously a threat again towards the end but the car was a dream,” added Vettel.

Hamilton was second with teammate Bottas a distant third. The Mercedes juggernaut well and truly halted by Vettel and Ferrari in the battle of Bahrain.

Hamilton summed up, “Congratulations to Seb. The pitlane was my fault and apologies to the team. I tried my hardest to catch up. We will push hard together, keep fighting. Losing points for the team is definitely painful but it is what it is. I am getting old!”

Bottas commented, “It was really tricky race. I struggled with the pace all through the race. I was limited and was out of tools on the steering wheel and I was oversteering all through the race and that’s why they pace was slow. But it was the best weekend for me so far and I think there is a lot more to come from me with this team.”

Kimi Raikkonen was again comprehensively overshadowed by his teammate and unable to offer any kind of support to Vettel in the battle with the two Silver Arrows. Nevertheless the veteran Finn managed to finish fourth amid another race packed with complaints over the radio to his crew.

Ricciardo was fifth, but it was clear that despite some early pace the Red Bull in its current guise is simply no match for Mercedes and Ferrari, and doing their drivers no favours.

Race Report

At the race start, pole sitter Bottas led through Turn One. Hamilton, though, lost out and was passed by Vettel as the field streamed through the first corner.

Verstappen made an excellent start to rise from sixth on the grid to fourth by the end of lap one, the Dutchman profiting from Hamilton’s poor start and the fact that the Briton backed up Ricciardo as they went into the first corner, with the result that the Australian was demoted to fifth ahead of Williams’ Felipe Massa. Ferrari’s Raikkonen, meanwhile, dropped to seventh from fifth on the grid.

Over the opening laps, Bottas was unable to carve out a significant lead and by the time the drivers were starting their 1oth lap, just three seconds separated the top five drivers.

With a Vettel was the first to take a strategic gamble, pitting on lap 11 to take on more supersofts. Verstappen noted it and request similar action but when he emerged from his first stop he almost immediately arrowed off track and into the barriers, reporting brake failure.

Moments later Vettel’s early stop reaped dividends when the Safety Car was called into action when Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll collided in Turn One, with the Williams’ driver’s car stranded on track.

Bottas pitted and Vettel inherited the lead. Hamilton was brought into the pits at the same time as his team-mate and as he approached the pit entry the Briton slowed dramatically to minimise waiting time in the stacked stop.

As a consequence Ricciardo, also on his way to pit lane, was held up badly. The incident eventually led to a five-second penalty for Hamilton, who was punished for driving unnecessarily slowly in the pit lane.

When they emerged supersoft-shod Vettel led from the similarly equipped Bottas, while Ricciardo and Hamilton, both now on softs, were in third and fourth respectively.

When the safety car left the track, Ricciardo’s tyres appeared to be far from the right operating window and he was rapidly passed by Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen.

At the front, Vettel began to eke out a gap to Bottas and by lap 26 the German had 4.8 seconds in hand over Bottas and a second more over Hamilton. On lap 27, though, Hamilton surged past Bottas to claim P2.

Soon after, Ricciardo was also the move. Raikkonen had passed Massa and on lap 29 the Brazilian was passed by the Red Bull driver, under DRS and under braking through Turn One.

On lap 31 Bottas pitted for the final time, taking on soft tyres. Ahead Hamilton was catching Vettel, whose supersoft tyres, by lap 32, were beginning to look spent. With the gap to Hamilton shrinking Ferrari opted to put the German on lap 34.

Vettel took on a set of softs for his final stint and rejoined in P3 behind Raikkonen. He was soon past his team-mate, however, and then he began to chase down Hamilton, lapping a second quicker than the Briton as he ate into the 15.7 seconds deficit.

By lap 39 the gap was down to 12.1 seconds and closing. Behind them, Bottas was now third ahead of Ricciardo who had inherited fourth when Raikkonen made his final stop for soft tyres. The Australian then made his final stop, for supersofts on lap 40 and prepared for a late-race blast from fifth place.

Hamilton made his final stop on lap 42, serving his five-second penalty and taking on soft tyres. He dropped to third, 9.4 seconds behind Bottas and 19s behind Vettel who was now looking comfortable in pursuit of his second win of the season.

The race looked like it might open up again in the final stages after Hamilton passed Bottas and then began to scythe through a 13-second gap to Vettel, but the German held his nerve and applied the pace necessary to keep Hamilton at bay to take the 44th win of his career.

With Hamilton second and Bottas third, fourth place went to Raikkonen who finished 16.8 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. Massa was sixth for Williams, while Force India’s Sergio Perez enjoyed a great evening’s work to rise from P18 on the grid to seventh place at the flag.

Romain Grosjean was eighth for Haas and the final points placings went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon in the second Force India.

The McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne was pushed off the grid with engine issues, the Belgian unable to start the race a year after making his debut for the team at the same venue.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: I’VE NEVER RACED WITH LESS POWER IN MY LIFE

Fernando Alonso castigated Honda on Sunday after his McLaren team endured a Bahrain Grand Prix nightmare, with Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne failing to make it even as far as the starting grid.

McLaren said Vandoorne, who had qualified 17th, had been ruled out by a Honda power unit problem similar to those he suffered in Friday practice.

McLaren remained last in the Formula One standings, without a point from three races and hampered by woeful reliability and a lack of performance.

Double world champion Alonso, who also had an engine failure in qualifying, started 15th and rose to 11th before retiring two laps from the end.

The Spaniard, who will miss next month’s Monaco Grand Prix to race the Indianapolis 500, had already made his feelings evident in radio outbursts heard by a television audience of millions around the world.

“How they can overtake me?,” he exclaimed after being passed by another rival. “(They are) 300 metres behind me, and they overtake me on the straight.

“I’ve never raced with less power in my life.”

Vandoorne posted a photograph on Twitter, with a caption laced with dark humour, of himself exercising on a treadmill.

“Going for a run, you guys up to anything this Sunday?” he enquired.

Honda’s motorsport head Yusuke Hasegawa had said on Saturday that the Japanese manufacturer was not sure of the exact cause of the failures.

“It is something around the bearings, it was sticking. It happened (three) times here, which is very unfortunate,” he told reporters.

Alonso, asked then about the drive-ability of the engine, was withering in response: “I don’t care too much about the drive-ability if I can’t finish a race or a lap in qualifying now.”

Vandoorne finished 10th on his debut in Bahrain last year as a one-off replacement for Alonso, who had been ruled out by a big accident in the opening race in Australia.

McLaren, who have not won a grand prix since 2012, were sixth overall in 2016 after ending the previous season in ninth place.

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS: AS A DRIVER IT IS THE WORST THING YOU WANT TO HEAR

A deflated Valtteri Bottas admitted that he felt very disappointed to be asked to let his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to pass him during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Finn had started the race from his maiden pole position, but lacked competitive pace and struggled with his rear tyres on his way to finishing third behind Ferrari’s victorious Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton.

“You know, honestly, as a racing driver it is the worst thing you want to hear,” said Bottas. “But that’s how it is and although I didn’t like it for my personal race, I am a team player and I understand.”

Team radio messages suggested Bottas was given instructions to let Hamilton pass him in the closing stages of an incident-filled race at least three times.

“For sure, I did it because there was potential that Lewis could challenge Sebastian,” said Bottas. “In the end, it didn’t happen, but the team tried which I completely understand.”

“Personally, it is tough for me, but that’s life. I just didn’t have enough pace today and we need to find the reasons for that. I think, overall, this was the best weekend for me with the team, but there is much more to come,” added the Finn.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES: WE DON’T LIKE THAT AT ALL

Formula 1 world champions Mercedes have indicated they may increasingly have to favour Lewis Hamilton over new team mate Valtteri Bottas to counter the threat posed by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

In practice, that is likely to mean the reluctant imposition of more of the so-called ‘team orders’ used in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“We don’t like that at all,” team boss Toto Wolff told reporters after Bottas twice obeyed radio instructions to let the faster Hamilton through to chase eventual winner and championship leader Vettel.

“It’s not what we have done in the last couple of years but the situation is different now so it needs a proper analysis of what it means and where we are.”

Mercedes have never had a designated number one driver, and Wolff said the desire was to give both equal opportunity at the start of the race.

The team won all but two races last season but are no longer dominant in a championship that has for the past three years been an internal battle.

Vettel has now won two of three races and is seven points clear of Hamilton.

Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel’s 2007 champion team mate who has yet to stand on the podium this season and not been on pole since 2008, slipped 34 points behind — half as many as the German.

Bottas, who joined Mercedes in January as replacement for now-retired world champion Nico Rosberg, is 23 adrift of his team mate.

Wolff said the situation at Ferrari had to be taken into consideration.

“That is the interesting question that we need to analyse at the moment and I don’t want to pre-empt what the consequence will be, or if there will be a consequence,” he added.

The disparity between the current Mercedes pairing is more marked than before, with Bottas yet to win a race and Hamilton surpassed only by Michael Schumacher in the all-time lists with 54 victories.

Bahrain was Bottas’s first career pole position, whereas Hamilton has 63 and could sail past Schumacher’s record of 68 later in the year.

The Finn is also still settling into his new surroundings, whereas Hamilton has been there since 2013 and is the sport’s biggest personality.

Hamilton had been on pole for six races in a row until Bottas broke the sequence in Bahrain and Wolff said Mercedes appeared to be still slightly ahead of Ferrari on single lap pace.

“In the race it’s pretty evenly matched I would say. So I think that’s going to be a close one for the next couple of races.”

MIKA: I can understand Mercedes opinion if this were halway through the season, but we are 3 races in!? WTF!

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VETTEL: I JUST LOVE WHAT I DO

On his way to winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel found his mind wandering already to next week’s first in-season Formula One test and how much he was looking forward to it.

The four-times world champion, now seven points clear of Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton after winning two of the first three races, is enjoying his best start to a season since his dominant 2011 Red Bull campaign.

That year he also won two of the first three and went on to take his second title.

The German, who did not start in Bahrain a year ago in a season that Ferrari completed without a win, is having the time of his life again and relishing the battle with Mercedes.

“The last half of the in-lap (after the finish) when all the fireworks were there and track was lit up, it was ‘I just love what I do’. I didn’t find any words,” he said. “I’m really enjoying it, the car has been a pleasure.”

Last year was the first, and to date only, no-start of Vettel’s Formula 1 career, with the car breaking down on the formation lap at the desert circuit, but Sunday proved an evening to savour. The groundwork for a title challenge laid last year is bearing fruit.

Vettel won in Australia, finished second to Hamilton in China and was then first again in Bahrain — a race he won with Red Bull in 2012 and 2013.

“Compared to last year, I’ve started the race. That helped,” he said. “Australia obviously was a massive boost for all the team and yeah, you can see when they are singing down there (below the podium), and the whole factory has really come alive so that’s great and we need to just make sure we keep it going.”

“I think the team has obviously done a really, really great job, a lot of hard work, commitment and… things start to click,” he added.

“Hopefully that sort of success now in the first couple of races helps us to build up some sort of momentum that maybe these guys (Mercedes) had in the past and the last couple of years, so they will be the ones to beat.”

Mercedes have won the last three drivers’ and constructors’ titles but are now facing their biggest challenge of the V6 turbo hybrid era.

“We are now completely confident that our victory in Melbourne wasn’t just a one-off and that we will be at the forefront of this World Championship until the last,” said Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne in a statement.

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VERSTAPPEN: WE COULD HAVE NAILED BOTH MERCEDES

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was not able to give his excellent start of the Bahrain Grand Prix a good follow up and believes that second place was his for the taking on the night.

The Dutch teenager was forced to retire on the 13th lap, after the brakes of his RB13 failed and resulted in him driving into the wall.

At that point Verstappen looked feisty, and called for the team to follow the example of Ferrari and Vettel to pit early. This they did but the fruits of the call were never realised.

Verstappen explained afterwards, “My left rear brake overheated. I braked and then lost brake pressure. Then you lose your rear brakes, putting all the stress on the front. Your then lock your wheels up and are unable to stop.”

“That was of course very disappointing. Even more so when you are running in a very good position and was also able to get on the podium.”

“At the start, I had a bit too much wheel spin, but afterwards I stayed as long as possible in the slipstream and chose the right line in turn one, giving me a good exit for the next corner.”

This meant he could keep his team mate Daniel Ricciardo at bay and after the first lap he went from P6 to P4, “At a certain point you are on the inside for the next corner and then it’s fine.”

The strategy was looking very promising according to Verstappen, “I think it was good what we did. If we hadn’t have a brake issue, we would have finished in second and could have nailed both Mercedes. That would have been very good.”

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RICCIARDO: I GENUINELY THOUGHT WE HAD A CHANCE TO WIN

Daniel Ricciardo believed he had a chance to win the Bahrain Grand Prix, and early in the race he certainly looked up for it but in the end, on Pirelli soft tyres, his Red Bull lacked the pace to match Ferrari and Mercedes.

Indeed the team have looked a lot closer to the pace setters in Bahrain than they did in the first two races.

Ricciardo reflected after the race, “It was a race of two halves really. At the beginning I genuinely thought we had a chance to win. That stint was looking very competitive and I could see Valtteri was struggling.”

“I was at the tail end of the front pack and I could see everyone else in front of me – they were sliding and looked like they were struggling more. It was easy for me to stay there and I was looking after my tyres, so at that point I was thinking it could be on today, not only for a podium but for a win.”

“The safety car worked for me in that we jumped up to third but it wasn’t so good for our tyres and that’s where we lost a lot of ground. Even once we settled into a pace and the chaos settled we fell back and I was struggling with grip at the front and rear. We never really got that [soft] tyre working for us today.”

But the optimism was shortlived as Ricciardo’s teammate, Max Verstappen, suffered brake failure which resulted in him ending up in the wall and out of the race.

After the safety car period Ricciardo started to struggle with lack of grip, the soft tyres were not working on the RB13, and he was soon gobbled up by his rivals.

Ricciardo added, “That tyre was just not happening for us today! At the restart it never felt switched on, as we say. Struggling to get the restart, so Lewis got me… basically the whole first lap I was sliding. So that’s why I went back.”

“That tyre actually never really came good, we were on Massa’s pace but we know we were quicker than that. It was a strange turn of events from the beginning of the race,” concluded the Australian.

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MASSA: MAX BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY

A war of words has erupted between teenager Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Williams veteran Felipe Massa in the wake of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen accused Massa of impeding him during his final Q3 run, and when asked if he had discussed the matter with Massa afterwards the Dutchman quipped, “He is Brazilian, so there is not much to talk about.”

Massa was told about the comments and according to UOL he spoke to Verstappen, “I said to him today: Be careful what you say because you’re going to have to go to Brazil to race there. Be careful what you say.”

“No doubt it was not right to talk about the Brazilians without even knowing what he said I was talking, “he said.

“For sure it’s wasn’t right to talk about Brazilians without knowing what he was talking about.”

Massa also suggested that Verstappen had no reason to complain about his driving during qualifying, “He does not know what he was talking about because I did not get in his way.”

“Maybe I was the cat that gets the blame because his teammate out-qualified him,” added Massa.

The Brazilian has always been wary of the young Dutchman, indeed Massa advised the youngster to be careful and to calm down in the wake of his spectacular collision with Romain Grosjean during the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix.

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Water pressure issue to blame for Stoffel Vandoorne's DNS

McLaren has confirmed that a water pressure problem was to blame for Stoffel Vandoorne failing to start the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Belgian driver had qualified in 17th place and was gearing up for the race on the grid when an issue was discovered on his car.

It was pushed back to the pits, with McLaren announcing shortly after that Vandoorne would not be making the race start.

He was disappointed and frustrated with the problems, particularly after a stressful Friday of practice where his car suffered two MGU-H failures.

“It’s a real shame that we weren’t even able to start the race,” he said. “The team discovered a water-pressure issue on the way to the grid.

“It’s disappointing, obviously, that we come all the way here and can’t even start the race. We knew from the beginning of the season that the situation we were in was going to be difficult.

“We’ll get on top of these issues, and I’m confident that I can do a good job when everything comes together.

“We’re going through a hard time – it’s not fun for us to go through this – but this is what it is at the moment, and shows that.

“It’s frustrating when you do all the preparation work, put in so much effort, we drivers train a lot, and then not being able to start is a shame.

“It’s been an extremely difficult weekend for me, having two failures on Friday in FP1 and FP2, and now in the race: it’s obviously very disappointing.

“But I’ll keep my head down, I’ll work hard with the team, and I’m sure there will be some improvements at some point.

“When they will be, it’s difficult to say, but I’m confident that they’ll come. We’ve lost quite a bit of mileage so it’s definitely not an ideal situation, and we need to make a good step forward soon.”

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Toto Wolff: Generator failure caused early struggles for Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that a generator failure on the grid was the cause of the early struggles Valtteri Bottas experienced at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Finnish driver started on pole position but was unable to open up a gap due to his tyre pressures being too high in the opening stint.

He lost the lead to Sebastian Vettel through the first pitstop phase and Bottas later slipped behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was on an alternative strategy.

Hamilton eventually finished second, ahead of Bottas, but a five-second time penalty for holding up Daniel Ricciardo at the pit entry prevented him from properly challenging Vettel.

“It was another reminder that we need to get everything right in order to deliver,” said Mercedes motorsport boss, Wolff.

“Ultimately, this was a day of marginal losses which cost us the win - however, as we saw particularly with Lewis, the pace was there in the car at the times when we were able to extract it.

“Our first loss came on the grid when a generator failure left Valtteri with too high starting pressures; that limited his pace in the opening stint, meaning we could not open a gap to the field and, with Lewis running behind Vettel, our strategic choices were pretty limited.

“We were on the back foot and then Ferrari played the undercut perfectly to come out ahead. We got lucky with the safety car which gave us an opportunity to recover but a problem with the wheel guns meant we lost time and positions with both cars.

“With the cars running different tyre compounds, we had to make the tough unpopular call for Valtteri to let Lewis pass; it's not something we like to do but, when the moment comes that the race win is in danger, we will always do what we need to in order to get it.

“After that, we offset Lewis' strategy as much as possible to give him the chance of closing down Sebastian in the final laps, but after he had served the five-second penalty, it left him with too much to do.”

Mercedes slipped to second in the Constructors' championship, three points behind Ferrari.