The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

I was a bit surprised to see Red Bull struggle in qualifying. Really enjoying the midfield battle so far. It's fun to see the mix of teams and how driver mistakes are leaving them out. That seems to be new this year after several years where it felt like every team would have their cars right next to each other on the grid. Bummed about Williams right now.

For the race... it will be very interesting to see how Vettel reacts to having Leclerc ahead of him at the start.

In before Seb barrels like a bull into turn one trying to overtake and crashes into Leclerc.

I won't be a spoiler, but I will say that Bahrain was one of the most exciting races in the last few years!
I'll give it another 24 hours before adding my thoughts

I think the Statute of Limitations has expired... Definitely a good race. It was really fun to see Ferrari running comfortably ahead and I like Leclerc. I was into Vettel a few years ago, but he seems so brooding now that he's hard to still root for. He can still be very good but his propensity for mistakes in key moments makes me wonder at what point Ferrari are going to be done with him.

Really sad for Ricciardo, but he chose this path himself. Really happy to see McLaren continuing to be strong in the early going. They seem to have turned a corner. I wonder if Alonso could have brought home a 5th place. Red Bull look a bit lost at the moment. The car is clearly not that much better than the midfield runners. I'm admittedly a Verstappen fan, but given Gasly's performance, I wonder if the car only still looks better because Verstappen is really good.

The regulations do seem to be working as far as passing and closing up the field (non-Williams division)... which should make this one of the better seasons of the last few.

So, today is May 1st.

It is the 25th anniversary of one of the most monumental, and tragic, events in motorsports history.

Ayrton Senna, triple F1 world champion, still at the peak of his powers, crashes and dies while leading an F1 race.
Arguably the best race car driver the world has ever known, not to mention perhaps the most intense, enigmatic and fascinating driver in F1 history , was gone in an instant.

There is a BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT documentary/movie on his life, called "Senna" :

Wow! Can't wait to watch it. It looks fantastic.

I was fortunate enough to be able to see it in the theater; really excellent film.

Zandvoort has officially been announced for next year's calendar... super excited. I just need to know the date so I can book tickets. Then I'll have to convince the wife.

Badgers wrote:Zandvoort has officially been announced for next year's calendar... super excited. I just need to know the date so I can book tickets. Then I'll have to convince the wife.

That will be a crazy atmosphere!
SO. MUCH. ORANGE.
I hope you get to go!

On a side note, I wonder if there is any word on whether they will keep the track layout as it is? I really like the natural landscape, and turn 1 looks like a decent passing place, but it doesn't seem to be well-suited for passing otherwise...

Yeah that's a great question Reg. The last thing F1 needs is another tight circuit with no overtaking all race

If you are a non-F1 fan stumbling into this post ... keep reading .. as I will tell you that Niki Lauda ... one of the toughest, hard-as-nails, blue-collar guys in F1 history, has just passed...

He had maybe the most unbelievable 'sports comeback' story of all time .... nearly burned to death in a crash, then returning, bloody bandages and all, just 6 weeks later....

CLICK HERE FOR HIS FASCINATING BIO!

Niki was pure courage in human form.

I remember when that happened - really ugly... I think he even was recently (back then) on SI, prior to the crash... or maybe I'm thinking of someone else...