Round 2: Bahrain 2016: Pseudo-qualifying take 2

Greetings Internet, 

So despite the teams and drivers discarding the elimination format on an Australian morning we started this afternoon with exactly the same state of play facing us in Bahrain. However in some respects this iteration of the generally despised version of qualifying was bizarrely more tolerable than it was in Australia... well apart from Q2 which was as hopeless as it was last time. Naturally it still was far removed from the way things used to be, but potentially the fact there was a marginal improvement indicates that somehow a proper qualifying approach can be rescued from the depths of the elimination format. Of course there are some very significant limitations which would prevent those improvements from taking a real effect. These include tyre allocations, re-fuelling processes and the actual timings themselves. One thing that this second consecutive use of the format demonstrates that it has no real impact on mixing the grid up at the front of the field. All it can do is trap midfield cars out of position which is a long way from the actual evil master plan that Bernie had in mind.

Qualifying Part 1
So here we go again, the start of an elimination qualifying - and everyone queued up at the end of the pit lane waiting for the green light, the same green light that Magnussen will be faced with tomorrow as he has to start from the pit lane. Like we saw in Melbourne a little tussle for track position broke out at the front of the line as Raikkonen passed Hamilon out of turn one. But as normal in this mad new world of qualifying none of that actually matters because the attention is directed to the back of the field as the eliminations began. This started with Nasr and Haryanto being trapped at the bottom of the grid with no change of reply.

So Renault were next because they had enough time to fight back, Magnussen moved up but Palmer was less fortunate and ended up eliminated. Perez was next as Force India sent him out with not enough time to complete a lap, and just like Kvyat in Australia became the unfortunate victim of the new system. Where there are losers there are also winners, and in this case the big winner was Pascal Wehrlein on a giant killing mission of epic proportions, only a few tenths of breaking out of Q1. It is the highest qualifying position for any Manor driver since the rebranding 

Qualifying Part 2

Enthusiasm for the new system reached another all-time low when even the lighting system at the end of the pit lane refused to let the cars take to the track. Instead a well placed marshal found a green flag to get things underway... hurrah. The delay in releasing the field ate into the elimination time and resulted in a lot of drivers being left without a response after the first runs. Effectively only Hulkenberg had a chance to fight to improve his position. This was not good news for Grosjean - who after the first run had placed the Haas inside the top eight and poised for a Q3 position for the debut team.

Hulkenberg was able to beat Romain and thus drop the Frenchman into 9th place which under the new system becomes a very fortunate place to start the race. Becoming the first driver to have free tyre choice for the race tomorrow and might be in prime place for another points scoring run. At the front of the field Mercedes were finding that Ferrari were a lot closer than they expected and the middle of the pack was very closely matched so even if the second part of qualifying was about as lively as a morgue there is hope for tomorrow.

The grand finale of qualifying

This part of qualifying was the source of most concern after Australia because is it was a bit crap last time. This version was better by a little bit, but we still didn't have all the cars at the end of the session fighting for every place not just the ones at the very front. However the first runs in Q3 set up the second half to be very interesting. For a brief moment we had a Ferarri 1-2 because Hamilton slid wide in the final corner thus only setting the third fastest time. Third became fourth when Rosberg took provisional pole. 

Hulkenberg in 8th was eliminated before he completed his in-lap and the two Williams' had no time to fight back against Ricciardo's Red Bull. Because Daniel had no real competition from behind and no real hope of beating the top four he didn't come back out either. So one lap down and four cars effectively eliminated. 

At least there was a battle for pole this time as Hamilton fought back from the his unfortunate first run, and his next lap was devastatingly fast, and the fastest lap time of the Bahrain GP circuit ever... Rosberg tried to respond but fell 0.077s short of pole position, and we still ended up with the same top four as we had in Australia... Elimination qualifying certainly does produce mixed up grids at the front...

The Bonus Points Championship
Even though it was another daft qualifying session with this new format, I shall have to cave and give full points this time

• 10pts - Pascal Wehrlein - A giant killing performance, defeating both Renaults, both Saubers and a Force India
• 8pts - Stoffel Vandoorne - Alonso's replacement arrived in style by out qualifying his team-mate, world champion Jenson Button on his debut
• 6pts - Romain Grosjean - So close to making it into the final part of qualifying for the Haas team
• 5pts - Lewis Hamilton - The fastest ever lap deserves points, beating the records set in the V10 era demonstrating that the new cars may have smaller engines but can still be faster
• 4pts - Rio Haryanto - Even the other Manor out-qualified someone to place ahead of Nasr on the grid tomorrow
• 3pts - Valtteri Bottas - For taking to the track and setting a new faster lap in Q2 when no-one else felt the need to bother joining in
• 2pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Comfortably beating his team-mate and dragging Red Bull into the top five
• ,1pt - Mad Max Verstappen - Well done for not swearing today, well done you.

• -1pt - Bernie Ecclestone - For exclaiming that he was surprised that the drivers could read and write after the GPDA letter with is interview with Eddie Jordan
• -1pt - Jean Todt - For refusing to allow the drivers/teams the ability to vote to keep the older qualifying from last year persisting with the melee of this new format. 

Looking to Tomorrow

Well at the moment I don't know how tomorrow is going to play out especially in terms of blog HQ coverage with other things going at the time. But in terms of the race itself, some of it might be very interesting while other aspects might turn out to be far more mundane and far more traditional with the two Mercedes vanishing off into the distance. However if Ferrari can repeat their special trick off the start line, things might get very interesting indeed - and one hopes for interesting.

The middle of the pack however is very closely contested with lots of cars within a few tenths of one another on pace, in a race which hopefully won't be interrupted by a red flag intervention we might see a closer indication of the relative performances. We might also see a race where drivers have the ability to fight one another given the numerous overtaking options that the sakhir circuit offers. Hopefully the nocturnal venture proves to be another entertaining chapter in the early stages of this season. But with less injuries that is.