-Formula 1 - Season 2010 -

alliereyaz (alliereyaz) 2010-03-12 02:43:07 +0500 #501

i only wish that AERODYNAMICS return to f1 cars.bus all i need this and pray for this rule.

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-12 11:01:25 +0500 #502

Sutil tops first practice in Bahrain
Adrian Sutil struck the first blow of the 2010 Formula 1 season, by setting the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix for Force India. The German slightly upset the form-book by edging double world champion and pre-season favourite Fernando Alonso to the top spot with a 1m56.583s lap. The Ferrari driver's last ditch attempt was just 0.183s shy of Sutil.

Rosberg quickest in second practice
Nico Rosberg led the way in Friday afternoon practice at Sakhir, as Mercedes-powered cars filled the top four in 2010's second official session. The two works Mercedes entries were first and third with Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button surrounded them in second and fourth.

Chandhok misses out on Friday running
Karun Chandhok was forced to delay his Formula 1 debut until Saturday in Bahrain after the Hispania Racing Team failed to get his Dallara running in time for the second free practice session on Friday.

Buemi laments lack of running
Sebastien Buemi was left lamenting his lack of running in Friday's practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix after failing to complete a timed lap in the afternoon. The Toro Rosso driver was forced to watch from the sidelines all afternoon as the team worked on an unspecified problem at the rear of his car.

Ferrari duo still not making predictions
Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa say it is still impossible to predict the pecking order following Friday practice for the Bahrain GP. Force India's Adrian Sutil topped the first session while Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes on top of the times in the afternoon.

Rivals resigned to copy McLaren design
Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn thinks he and his fellow competitors have no option but to resign themselves to developing complicated venting systems in the wake of McLaren's ingenious device being approved by the FIA.

Renault lodges engine change request
Red Bull Racing's title hopes could be boosted if engine supplier Renault is given the green light to make modifications to its power unit that have been lodged for FIA approval, AUTOSPORT has learned.
Although Formula 1 operates under an engine freeze, the Renault power plant has fallen behind competitors over recent seasons as its rivals have made minor tweaks to their power units.

Renault criticises FIA's McLaren decision
Renault has hit out at the FIA's decision to approve the radical F-duct vent system on the McLaren that has caused controversy in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix. The FIA has given the green light to the complex McLaren design concept, which sees the drivers close off a vent in their cockpit to help stall the rear wing for extra straight-line speed, even though some outfits feel it is breaching regulations.

Campos relieved after team 'nightmare'
Adrian Campos says he lived through the worst nightmare of his life before the future of his Formula 1 team was secured. Campos gained an entry to compete in grand prix racing this season, but the project was only saved by an eleventh-hour deal with Colin Kolles.

Webber confident RBR has title potential
Mark Webber is confident he and his Red Bull Racing team will be able to deliver the kind of title-winning consistency this season that they lacked in 2009. With the Milton Keynes-based team heading into the campaign as one of the main contenders for championship glory, the outfit is keen to avoid the slip ups it made at times last year.

Rosberg pleased with practice gains
Nico Rosberg reckoned Mercedes made good progress once track conditions improved in the second free practice session at Sakhir today. Rosberg and team-mate Michael Schumacher were only eighth and 10th in the morning, but took first and third later on.

Hamilton: Impossible to predict grid
Lewis Hamilton has no idea of what to expect from tomorrow's first qualifying session of the season in Bahrain. He was sixth and second fastest in today's two practice sessions, but says it is impossible to have any expectations of a grid position because the teams still don't know how they compare to their rivals.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-12 12:35:16 +0500 #503

Bahrain GP Practice Session 1

Bahrain GP Practice Session 2

Hulkenberg: Williams could surprise
Nico Hulkenberg believes that Williams could surprise the 'big four' teams this year after its promising performances in winter testing.

Briatore rules out returning to F1
Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore says he is 100 per cent sure that he will never return to Formula 1.

Sutil confident of being in top 10
Adrian Sutil remains confident that Force India has the potential to run in the top 10 after going quickest in the first free practice session of 2010 at Sakhir.

Red Bull pair wanted more track time
Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber admitted they were hoping for more track time during practice in Bahrain on Friday.

De la Rosa fears Q3 may be out of reach
Pedro de la Rosa believes reaching the final qualifying segment will be challenging, despite admitting he was happy with his day's work on Friday.

Liuzzi upbeat on Force India form
Tonio Liuzzi is upbeat about Force India's form ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix following a strong Friday practice.

Glock frustrated by Virgin problems
Timo Glock was frustrated after managing just eight laps in Friday's practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Button satisfied with first day in Bahrain
World champion Jenson Button expressed himself satisfied with his first grand prix day as a McLaren driver after setting the fourth fastest time in the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Todt in favour of 107 per cent rule
FIA president Jean Todt says he is in favour of reintroducing the 107 per cent rule for Formula 1 qualifying.

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-12 12:40:00 +0500 #504

Ferrari seem to have mega mechanical grip. Extremely well balanced under braking. A clear illustration was when Alonso and Vettel were running together and once Alonso passed the Red Bull, it could keep up with the Ferrari quite easily till they got to the middle sector which looks crap with the new addition, tight twisty corners one after another, it was here that the Ferrari seemed to have the legs on Red Bull.
Another thing of note was Button and Hamilton running on track at the same time, Button on options and Hamilton on primes. Hamilton had to come in and change tires while Button managed to get the laps done on options. Maybe it's a sign of things to come. Button is a very smooth driver and that just might help him this season with the way cars need to be run.
The Sauber bubble might be about to explode unless they were doing a very different program to others. Non of the teams really showed their true pace today, mot notably Mclaren and Ferrari, who seem to have something in hand. Pole might be good but doubt drivers, who are serious title contenders, will sacrifice their race for it.

@genius83
FIA need to have the 107% rule in place for next year. Teams running close to the pace of GP2 cars is certainly not accepted in F1. It can be done this season but with only 70% of the teams required to pass that rule next season, it shouldn't be so hard provided teams like HRT last that long.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-12 12:52:38 +0500 #505

@UK
I think HRT will survive this season and I think we should give them some time because this is their first run of the season. As for next year I think HRT is going to become AUDI or VW and their base will be in Germany in the old Opel WRC factory. HRT is only 2 seconds off the 107% rule today and I think they are doing some heavy fuel run, for me Virgin is far more dangerous because of continuous problems they are having.

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-12 14:28:38 +0500 #506

Hill to join stewards' panel at two races
The FIA has confirmed that Damon Hill will be among the drivers who assist the stewards at grands prix later in the 2010 season. In a new innovation for this year, a former driver will join the three regular stewards at each race to help make decisions on penalties and similar issues.

Domenicali: We are not favourites
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has played down suggestions that the Italian team and new signing Fernando Alonso head into the opening grand prix weekend as favourites. Domenicali told the BBC on Friday that he believed his team was not the pace-setter based on testing form, but that he was pleased that Ferrari was back in the fight after a disappointing campaign in 2009.

Senna happy after 'great start' for HRT
Bruno Senna labelled his first laps at the wheel of the HRT F1 car as a 'great start' following the team's maiden outing in practice in Bahrain. Senna, whose team had not turned a wheel before today, managed three installation laps in the morning and then completed 17 rounds in the second session.

FIA still chasing Briatore sanction
FIA president Jean Todt says the governing body is working to make sure that former Renault boss Flavio Briatore gets some sort of sanction for his involvement in the race-fixing scandal.
Briatore was banned from the sport last year, but a French court overruled the FIA decision due to irregularities in the ban imposed.

@genius83

Sorry sir, i beg to differ with you or anyone who says the new teams should be given time. They should all have come prepared. This is " supposedly " the pinnacle of motor racing. You don't show up here eleven seconds a lap slower than the competition, and that too a time from a team which might not be the bench mark.
HRT to become VW? hmm highly doubtful. I 'll believe that when i see it, been hearing rumours about Audi arriving in F1 for ten years. As for the 107% rule, i think HRT are something like 5-6 seconds outside it, not 2 seconds. What they have achieved is being able to lap something like two, three tenths faster than GP2 Asia series pole position lap which followed right after free practice 2. Virgin is another concern and they would be outside 107% too on today's times i think. All this is because of Bernie's wish to get a 24 or 26 car grid, be it filling it up with any crap thats available, which pretty much seems to be the case right now.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-12 14:35:18 +0500 #507

'No hurry' to appoint F1 commissioner
FIA president Jean Todt says he is still keen to appoint a dedicated Formula 1 commissioner to oversee the running of the world championship but will not hurry the choice.

Happy Hulkenberg eyeing Q3
Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg says he is targeting a place in the top ten in tomorrow's qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

@UK
I am only missing one thing the Rally of former WorldChampions in their respective Championship winning cars. Also do you think Michal will drive his Ferrari or will go for Benetton in that Rally.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-12 15:15:02 +0500 #508

@UK
Bro, I have done a rough calculations on Practice Session 2 to see the 107% time of Nico Rosberg's time. So here is the calculations.
Nico Rosberg's Time = 1:55.409 which is 115.409 secs
Bruno Senna's Time = 2.06.968 which is 126.968 secs
107% time of Nico Rosberg's Time = 115.409 * 1.07 = 123.48763 which is ~ 123.488 or 2.03.488.
So Bruno Senna was only 3.5 secs outside Nico Rosberg's time.

As for F1 pinnacle of Motorsports, Yes it is but even in pinnacle of Motorsports we have Rookie status in drivers level then why teams are not allowed to take the same status too. Bro, every sport has their own benchmark tournaments like Football has WorldCup but even out of the 32 qualified teams only at most 10 teams are real deal others are not up to that level like those teams. In Cricket, Test is the pinnacle of cricket but young players debut in that too some showed high class performance others don't at their debut but that doesnot means they could not get better. In Tennis, only 32 players are classified but 256 players compete in the first round of any GrandSlam which is the pinnacle of tennis. I have learn one thing from my experience practice makes perfect and I have a firm belief in this that every one should be given a chance to show his/her/their talent so you could judge the difference between the best and not so best. Just take my example I was a clean sheet about F1 when I started posting on F1 in this forum now some other members thinks that I am watching F1 from my childhood and thatswhy I have so much knowledge.

PS. The last 3 lines are only intended to show an example and not to show off myself.

mani1 (mani1) 2010-03-12 15:23:52 +0500 #509

What do you guys make up of Mercedes pace in todays testing? Were other teams hiding their true pace? If yes, why? doesn't makes sense, especially 1 day before qualifying.

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-12 16:53:30 +0500 #510

@genius83
I always sucked at maths, so never take any figures i toss out seriously:) But just to underline my point again, 3.5 outside Rosberg's time, which a) I don't know if it was done on very low fuel, b) A Mercedes driver is unlikely to be the pole sitter. The fastest time will come from Mclaren in all probability and it will be quite a lot quicker, followed by Ferrari and Red Bull, and then Mercedes, unless the new aero package Mercedes brought today has given them a significant amount of time which they didn't want to show, which i doubt very much. There was something about the way Ferrari and Mclaren went about things today that gave an impression that they have things pretty much under control. Red Bull would be much the same but they had and have had reliability issues in winter testing. Anyway, all that will become clear only after free practice 3, but to be 3.5 seconds off the pace, unacceptable.
Using your argument about soccer, tennis and cricket, for starters i don't think anyone is likely to die or kill someone in that sport if they are not up to the mark. Secondly, no one comes unprepared to any of those events. If a grand slam starts with 256 players, they are people who have been playing for a long time and preparing for that moment, to get in a grand slam. Even the qualifiers, they go through tournaments and try to qualifying for the main draw of a grand slam. Once there, the most damage they can do is lose, it's their loss, they don't affect someone else nor put someone else in danger.
Soccer, every team has to qualify for the world cup except the hosts. I think even the defending champions have to qualify ( not quite sure about that ) Again, they are people who have done that all their life, play soccer. They might not be good enough on a world stage but they were the best or one of the best in the group they qualified from and at the most they will lose or make the opposition look very good but doubt anyone would die.
Cricket is almost the same. Once in awhile you get the odd guy, a freak of nature, who is so exceptional that he makes it to the top level without playing a lot of first class cricket. Those cases are very rare and usually happen in our country that has no structure for cricket at school or college level.
F1 is different to all that. As the famous saying goes, "there are only three sports in the world, automobile racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing, the rest are games" or something along those lines. These guys are having their lives put at stake and putting the lives of others they race against at risk too. All this is happening in the name of getting more cars on the grid. They were selected in a flawed manner, and are being thrown at the deep end now. It would have been best to make these teams skip the four fly away races and given time to test more. Nick Wirth managed to kill one driver and it shouldn't take the life of another young and up coming driver for us to realize that we have our priorities all wrong. These guys are a hazard to themselves and others on track and when we go to circuits like Monaco, Hungaroring, Singapore or Valencia, they could be the difference between a driver winning or losing. They are under prepared and not like they have huge budgets that would allow them to close the gap to the front runners.
We agree to disagree i think:)

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-12 17:10:57 +0500 #511

Sorry, i forgot about the rally of champions. I have no idea what that is or where it's going to take place. As for Michael Schumacher, he can drive either. He did win in a Ferrari, so unless Ferrari stop him from using their car, which i suspect the way LDM has been talking, he might well do. Schumacher a couple of years back claimed in an interview that the Benetton of 1994, B194, was the best car he ever had.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-13 02:30:18 +0500 #512

@UK
I agree to disagree.

I don't know what is the real name of that event thatswhy I named it as Rally of Champions. The details of that event is every former F1 Champion who is alive today will take part in that event and drive his championship winning car. Former F1 champions like Jody Sheckter, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Damon Hill, Alan Prost, Jacques Villenueve, Nigel Mansell, Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Sir Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Mika Hakkinen are their in Bahrain as this event will happen may be today or tomorrow just before the qualifying/race.
The cars that will take part
1950 Ferrari 125 'Thinwall'
1951 Ferrari 375
1952 Ferrari 500 F2
1954 Mercedes-Benz W196
1952 Ferrari Tipo 500 F2
1957 Maserati 250F
1960 Cooper-Climax T53
1962 BRM P57 'stackpipe'
1963 Lotus-Climax 25
1964 Ferrari 1512
1968 Lotus-Ford 49
1969 Matra-Ford MS80
1972 Lotus-Ford 72
1973 Tyrrell-Ford 006
1976 McLaren-Ford M23
1978 Lotus-Ford 79
1979 Ferrari 312T4
1982 Williams-Ford FW08
1983 Brabham-BMW BT52
1988 McLaren-Honda MP4/4
1996 Williams-Renault FW18
2007 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-22

Funny thing is no car from Michal's winning year's is present. May be Michal will not take part in this event.
The following Link from Autosports Forum will give you ore info.
The 60th anniversary of the F1 World Championship in Bahrain 2010

Bumpy turn six presents set-up headache
A bump in the middle of turn six has caught the attention of a number of drivers after two sessions of free practice on Friday.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-13 03:10:14 +0500 #513

New teams: are they safe to share the track with?
There has been a lot of discussion today in Bahrain about the new teams and their pace, or lack of it.
Today the fastest car, Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes lapped in 1m 55.409 and the slowest, the Hispania of Bruno Senna managed a 2m 06.968, only just over a second faster than the fastest GP2 time today.
The FIA has made it clear that it would like to re-introduce the 107% rule for qualifying, whereby any car which cannot set a time within 107% of the pole is not allowed to race. Senna’s time was outside the 107% time, which is 8 seconds slower, but the Virgin and the Lotus were well inside.

This 107% rule was dropped when qualifying with race fuel on board was introduced, but FIA president Jean Todt has just said that he wants to see it back. But he accepts that there is no way to get the 100% unanimous vote among teams required by the rules in order to make it happen this year. To pass it for 2011 requires just 70% majority, which means all the established teams, leaving the new teams in the minority.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is also in favour and believes that it should be pushed through for this season on safety grounds if required.
But there are two fundamental problems with the 107% rule. The first is that it comes at too late a stage in the weekend. The most dangerous time is the first part of qualifying, where the cars are being driven on the limit and you have a combination of inexperienced drivers, high closing speeds and traffic.
The slow cars are eliminated after Q1. To have them in a race where all the cars are fat with fuel at the start and it all takes time to get going, is not so much of a problem. So why allow them on track at the most dangerous time of the weekend in order to stop them being there when everyone is travelling more slowly?
The second problem is that if you say a car travelling at 7% off the pace of the fastest car is a danger, how do you square that with free practice, where you can have some front running cars on low fuel quali simulations while others are full of fuel and lapping five or six seconds slower, as we saw this afternoon? That is almost 7% of difference.
In other words, although it might seem a good time to bring it back, in practice the argument is undermined by the conditions in practice.
There will be discussions and it is quite possible that the rule will return for 2011, more to set a benchmark for future entries than anything else, but I think that the Hispania car will get up to speed in the next few races and will be well inside the cut off anyway. As its driver Karun Chandhok has pointed out, the car is built by Dallara, who build GP2 cars. So with a lot more downforce and almost 200 more horsepower the F1 car must be substantially faster. People are underestimating Hispania. Let’s see where they are in four races time.
If voted in, the 107% rule will apply next year for the team which wins the 13th grid slot, which will go out to tender in a few days.

@UK
I have highlighted the needed para to start the discussion.
James has raised some really good points and certainly the most dangerous time will be in Q1 when all the 24 cars are on the track to post a quick time. Secondly as James said I also thinks if practice sessions are the bench marks of what could happen then some teams have used heavy fuel race simulations and others are doing low fuel qualy simulations and teams and drivers who are doing race simulations are way slow then qualy fuel simulation ones. Thirdly, I think back in the days of 107% rule the qualifying was 1 hour and 12 laps format one while now it is 1 hour with 3 qualy sessions big difference, isn't it?

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-13 07:03:03 +0500 #514

@genius83

Lol! I knew you 'd post this article the moment i saw it last night. James Allen, with all his British bias and being married to Hamilton, is very insightful but seems to have lost the plot here. It's simple, Like DC said, Is F1 a finishing school? If you or James Allen think F1 is a finishing school then it's okay to have these cars.
A point lost on James Allen, qualifying is 20 minutes, at least 20 minutes of seeing HRT and the oh so Virgin. Race circumstances are different, they could make the difference between a guy winning or losing. Yes, qualifying was an hour, 12 laps before it became a joke but even divided into three parts as it is today it's more or less the same as in it's still one hour and the number of laps done are more or less 12 because back in those days each driver would be given four sets of tires, one for each run.
The point i am trying to make is not only about them being so slow but the teams being a danger to themselves and others. Here is what happened today, you have to read it from the bottom and not from the top as in don't start reading from 08;33, but start from 08:23.

08:33 Timo Glock is told on the radio that the wheels weren't torqued sufficiently and the only reason the rear wheel didn't fall off too was due to the retention system.

08:27 The Virgin Racing team are busily examining the upright on Glock's car to see why the wheel was lost. FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer is on scene to look in to the problem.

08:25 Bruno Senna made it round the installation lap in the HRT F1 machine and the team are now working through the telemetry to see if all is okay.

08:24 Felipe Massa takes the best time away from his team-mate with a 1m54.761s lap.

08:23 Glock is slowly making his way back to the pits minus the left front wheel. The wheel rolled away to a safe place and the session can continue under green.

08:23 Alonso was on for another improvement but had to dodge Glock's touring Virgin.

This is just one instance today and they are telling him why the other wheel didn't come off!! Almost in disappointment at the thought it seems.
Comparing Alonso or Hamilton or Schumacher or Massa or Webber or Barrichello going around in free practice with different fuel loads in well established teams to some one like Chandhok in the HRT is silly. He by the way didn't make it on to the track so he will make his debut in Australia. Such is the level of preparation of these teams. HRT is 9.9 seconds slower right now, which on this track means they will be lapped about five times if the car makes it to the finish. It's a joke. Like Jacques said back in 1997, let's all buy Formula 3, and call it formula 1.

On a different note, i have the same question as the one posted on the forum. Why is the 2007 Mclaren part of it all? Wasn't it a car that was copied from Ferrari, and had all it's points taken away and slapped with a 100 million dollar fine? And no Renault either along with none of Schumacher's cars.

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-13 07:08:48 +0500 #515

Alonso goes quickest in final practice in Bahrain
Fernando Alonso fired an ominous warning to the rest of the field as his qualifying simulation run saw him set the fastest time of the weekend at the end of the final free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was the first to engage in a low fuel 'qualifying run' and set a 1m54.099s lap time.
But Nico Rosberg proved that qualifying will be a thriller by almost eclipsing the double world champion moments later, the Mercedes driver setting faster first and second sector times, only to lose out in the third. The German ended the session second, 0.269s back.

Born2Race (Born2Race) 2010-03-13 09:28:09 +0500 #516

2010 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

<TABLE class=raceResults cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 summary=""><TBODY><TR><TH>Pos</TH><TH>No</TH><TH>Driver</TH><TH>Team</TH><TH>Q1</TH><TH>Q2</TH><TH>Q3</TH><TH>Laps</TH></TR><TR><TD>1</TD><TD>5</TD><TD noWrap>Sebastian Vettel</TD><TD noWrap>RBR-Renault</TD><TD>1:55.029</TD><TD>1:53.883</TD><TD>1:54.101</TD><TD>14</TD></TR><TR><TD>2</TD><TD>7</TD><TD noWrap>Felipe Massa</TD><TD noWrap>Ferrari</TD><TD>1:55.313</TD><TD>1:54.331</TD><TD>1:54.242</TD><TD>16</TD></TR><TR><TD>3</TD><TD>8</TD><TD noWrap>Fernando Alonso</TD><TD noWrap>Ferrari</TD><TD>1:54.612</TD><TD>1:54.172</TD><TD>1:54.608</TD><TD>20</TD></TR><TR><TD>4</TD><TD>2</TD><TD noWrap>Lewis Hamilton</TD><TD noWrap>McLaren-Mercedes</TD><TD>1:55.341</TD><TD>1:54.707</TD><TD>1:55.217</TD><TD>19</TD></TR><TR><TD>5</TD><TD>4</TD><TD noWrap>Nico Rosberg</TD><TD noWrap>Mercedes Benz GP Ltd</TD><TD>1:55.463</TD><TD>1:54.682</TD><TD>1:55.241</TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD>6</TD><TD>6</TD><TD noWrap>Mark Webber</TD><TD noWrap>RBR-Renault</TD><TD>1:55.298</TD><TD>1:54.318</TD><TD>1:55.284</TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD>7</TD><TD>3</TD><TD noWrap>Michael Schumacher</TD><TD noWrap>Mercedes Benz GP Ltd</TD><TD>1:55.593</TD><TD>1:55.105</TD><TD>1:55.524</TD><TD>15</TD></TR><TR><TD>8</TD><TD>1</TD><TD noWrap>Jenson Button</TD><TD noWrap>McLaren-Mercedes</TD><TD>1:55.715</TD><TD>1:55.168</TD><TD>1:55.672</TD><TD>17</TD></TR><TR><TD>9</TD><TD>11</TD><TD noWrap>Robert Kubica</TD><TD noWrap>Renault</TD><TD>1:55.511</TD><TD>1:54.963</TD><TD>1:55.885</TD><TD>17</TD></TR><TR><TD>10</TD><TD>14</TD><TD noWrap>Adrian Sutil</TD><TD noWrap>Force India-Mercedes</TD><TD>1:55.213</TD><TD>1:54.996</TD><TD>1:56.309</TD><TD>16</TD></TR><TR><TD>11</TD><TD>9</TD><TD noWrap>Rubens Barrichello</TD><TD noWrap>Williams-Cosworth</TD><TD>1:55.969</TD><TD>1:55.330</TD><TD></TD><TD>12</TD></TR><TR><TD>12</TD><TD>15</TD><TD noWrap>Vitantonio Liuzzi</TD><TD noWrap>Force India-Mercedes</TD><TD>1:55.628</TD><TD>1:55.653</TD><TD></TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD>13</TD><TD>10</TD><TD noWrap>Nico Hulkenberg</TD><TD noWrap>Williams-Cosworth</TD><TD>1:56.375</TD><TD>1:55.857</TD><TD></TD><TD>14</TD></TR><TR><TD>14</TD><TD>22</TD><TD noWrap>Pedro de la Rosa</TD><TD noWrap>BMW Sauber-Ferrari</TD><TD>1:56.428</TD><TD>1:56.237</TD><TD></TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD>15</TD><TD>16</TD><TD noWrap>Sebastien Buemi</TD><TD noWrap>STR-Ferrari</TD><TD>1:56.189</TD><TD>1:56.265</TD><TD></TD><TD>14</TD></TR><TR><TD>16</TD><TD>23</TD><TD noWrap>Kamui Kobayashi</TD><TD noWrap>BMW Sauber-Ferrari</TD><TD>1:56.541</TD><TD>1:56.270</TD><TD></TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD>17</TD><TD>12</TD><TD noWrap>Vitaly Petrov</TD><TD noWrap>Renault</TD><TD>1:56.167</TD><TD>1:56.619</TD><TD></TD><TD>14</TD></TR><TR><TD>18</TD><TD>17</TD><TD noWrap>Jaime Alguersuari</TD><TD noWrap>STR-Ferrari</TD><TD>1:57.071</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>19</TD><TD>24</TD><TD noWrap>Timo Glock</TD><TD noWrap>Virgin-Cosworth</TD><TD>1:59.728</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>7</TD></TR><TR><TD>20</TD><TD>18</TD><TD noWrap>Jarno Trulli</TD><TD noWrap>Lotus-Cosworth</TD><TD>1:59.852</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>21</TD><TD>19</TD><TD noWrap>Heikki Kovalainen</TD><TD noWrap>Lotus-Cosworth</TD><TD>2:00.313</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>7</TD></TR><TR><TD>22</TD><TD>25</TD><TD noWrap>Lucas di Grassi</TD><TD noWrap>Virgin-Cosworth</TD><TD>2:00.587</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>7</TD></TR><TR><TD>23</TD><TD>21</TD><TD noWrap>Bruno Senna</TD><TD noWrap>HRT-Cosworth</TD><TD>2:03.240</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>24</TD><TD>20</TD><TD noWrap>Karun Chandhok</TD><TD noWrap>HRT-Cosworth</TD><TD>2:04.904</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>7</TD></TR></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Born2Race (Born2Race) 2010-03-13 09:28:29 +0500 #517

2010 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

UncleKracker (UncleKracker) 2010-03-13 12:10:23 +0500 #518

My money's on Vettel
Sir Stirling Moss on the 2010 season
It's the start of a new season and this year I've decided to put some money down. I don't usually bet on Formula One, but this time round I thought I'd give it a go. It might not surprise you to hear that I went down to the betting shop with three drivers in my mind, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Alonso is my favourite for the title but unfortunately the bookies agree, so I ended up putting my £50 on Vettel.

Mclaren lacking downforece - Lewis
Lewis Hamilton has admitted the McLaren is lacking downforce compared to his competitors and said he was "surprised" to take fourth place on the grid.
McLaren was one of the favourites heading into qualifying but Hamilton finished behind the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the two Ferraris, while his team-mate Jenson Button struggled to eighth. Hamilton conceded the car was lacking aerodynamically compared to its main rivals.

Ferrari will copy Mclaren wing
Fernando Alonso has confirmed Ferrari is working on a similar air inlet and rear wing design to McLaren, now that the FIA has declared the innovation legal.
The new McLaren has a slot that the driver can open and close to increase and decrease the flow of air to the rear wing. Changing the flow can stall the rear wing and can add around 4 mph to the top speed down the straights.

Button: Something wrong with the car
Jenson Button admitted he was surprised to be lining up eighth on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix after revealing that his car 'felt wrong' during Q3. The world champion just scraped through Q2 into the top ten shoot-out, but then posted a time of 1m55.672s - 1.5s off pole and 0.4s slower than McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton - on his final run.

Kubica says seventh was possible
Robert Kubica admitted he was disappointed with his qualifying performance, as he believed he could have finished in seventh position. But the Pole, who posted the ninth fastest time, said Renault could be pleased with its start to the season after showing good potential with its car by going into Q3.

Rosberg disappointed to miss pole
Nico Rosberg admitted that he came away from Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying disappointed not to have taken pole position after showing strong pace throughout free practice. The German Mercedes driver was fastest of all in Friday and in the mix during qualifying simulation runs on Saturday morning.

Glock elated with Virgin's performance
Timo Glock was elated with the performance of his Virgin Racing team after the German qualified as the best of the newcomers. "It's great to be the best of the new teams here today and I'm very happy with what we have achieved," said Glock after qualifying in 19th position ahead of the two Lotus drivers.

Sutil proud to make it to Q3
Adrian Sutil believes Force India can be very proud of its start to the season after qualifying in the top ten ahead of tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix. The German driver confirmed the Silverstone-based squad's strong form as he made it to Q3, finishing with the tenth best time.

Senna: To finish will feel like a podium
Bruno Senna says finishing Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix will feel like a podium after qualifying 23rd for his Formula 1 debut with the Hispania Racing Team. The Brazilian, like his team-mate Karun Chandhok, had no opportunity to test prior to this weekend, and Senna admitted that getting to Bahrain and competing through the weekend was a major achievement in itself.

De la Rosa says better time was possible
Pedro de la Rosa says he could have been slightly faster in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but believes it was impossible to reach Q3. The Sauber driver will start the race from 14th position, but claimed a better result could have been possible is he hadn't made mistakes during his final flying lap.

Mansell considering stewards' panel role
Nigel Mansell has revealed that he could be the third former Formula 1 world champion to agree to assist the FIA-appointed stewards at grands prix during 2010. The 1992 title-winner told the BBC that he had been in talks with the governing body following a new innovation for this year to get retired F1 drivers to give an authoritative opinion on incidents and penalties.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-13 12:18:57 +0500 #519

Bahrain GP Practice Session 3

@UK
No, I don't think F1 is the finishing school but even if F1 is the top level University from where drivers got their PhD. in motorsport and still when they enter the sport they are known as Rookies thats my point on which I am emphasizing. I will like to continue more on this topic but I think after this race I will post more.
So how do you like today's qualifying is Vettel the fastest guy or is anyone else got more speed and not shown true pace during qualifying.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2010-03-13 12:44:52 +0500 #520

Vettel 'surprised' to take pole position
Sebastian Vettel admitted that he was surprised to be on pole position for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix but said that he was delighted to have the pace of his new Red Bull RB6 proven in the first qualifying session of the year.

The 2010 world championship runner-up just edged Ferrari rivals Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso to pole, by 0.141s and said afterwards that he was delighted with the performance

Mixed feelings for Lotus bosses
Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne said it was a day of mixed emotions for his team after its first qualifying session in Bahrain.

Williams duo left hoping for more
Rubens Barrichello said his Williams team was hoping for more from qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix after missing out on the top ten.

@UK
From tomorrow IRL season is also started in Sao Paulo Brazil. I think thats the first time F1 and IRL season starts on the same day.