Venue: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain
Track length: 5.412 km
Race distance: 308.238 km (57 laps)
Flag-off: 1930 hrs (Singapore time)

Bahrain hosts what is currently the only round of the World Championship in the Middle East. The Tilke-designed track is set in the middle of a desert island and is characterised by long straights punctuated by tight corners. This, combined with the usually hot weather, makes the circuit notoriously tough on the brakes and engines, even more so than at Montreal. Traction will be at a premium initially due to the dust that the winds bring in from the surroundings, but the grip on the racing line will improve rapidly as the weekend progresses.

The drivers will expect to use a medium-to-high speed set up to provide speed down the straights, but just enough downforce to negotiate turns 11 to 13. There is an gradient of arounds 7%, so ground clearances will not be at their lowest. Expect overtaking at turns 1, 4 and 15, and lots of lock-ups due to the lack of traction control.

Last year's winner and pole-holder Felipe Massa goes into this round with no points to his name and an urgent need to kickstart a title challenge. Lewis Hamilton leads from Kimi Räikkönen by 3 points in the championship, and the top 3 teams are within a shout of victory. FIA President Max Mosley, embroiled in a sex scandal this week, will not be attending the race.

Bahrain Grand Prix free practice session one times

1.  MASSA         Ferrari     1m32.233s

2.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari     1m32.350s

3.  ROSBERG       Williams    1m32.415s

4.  HAMILTON      McLaren     1m32.705s

5.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren     1m32.868s

6.  NAKAJIMA      Williams    1m33.121s

7.  KUBICA        BMW         1m33.333s

8.  TRULLI        Toyota      1m33.539s

9.  COULTHARD     Red Bull    1m33.788s

10. ALONSO        Renault     1m33.815s

11. GLOCK         Toyota      1m33.929s

12. WEBBER        Red Bull    1m33.950s

13. PIQUET        Renault     1m33.981s

14. HEIDFELD      BMW         1m34.106s

15. BOURDAIS      Toro Rosso  1m34.235s

16. VETTEL        Toro Rosso  1m34.321s

17. FISICHELLA    Force India 1m34.892s

18. BUTTON        Honda       1m34.915s

19. BARRICHELLO   Honda       1m35.174s

20. SUTIL         Force India 1m35.429s

21. DAVIDSON      Super Aguri 1m36.145s

22. SATO          Super Aguri 1m36.536s

Bahrain Grand Prix free practice session two times

 

 

1.  MASSA         Ferrari     1m31.412s

2.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari     1m32.327s

3.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren     1m32.752s

4.  HAMILTON      McLaren     1m32.847s

5.  KUBICA        BMW         1m32.915s

6.  ROSBERG       Williams    1m33.022s

7.  COULTHARD     Red Bull    1m33.048s

8.  NAKAJIMA      Williams    1m33.098s

9.  BOURDAIS      Toro Rosso  1m33.197s

10. PIQUET        Renault     1m33.247s

11. BUTTON        Honda       1m33.710s

12. ALONSO        Renault     1m33.755s

13. WEBBER        Red Bull    1m33.782s

14. TRULLI        Toyota      1m33.822s

15. GLOCK         Toyota      1m33.856s

16. BARRICHELLO   Honda       1m33.966s

17. HEIDFELD      BMW         1m34.023s

18. FISICHELLA    Force India 1m34.388s

19. SUTIL         Force India 1m34.405s

20. VETTEL        Toro Rosso  1m34.787s

21. SATO          Super Aguri 1m35.288s

22. DAVIDSON      Super Aguri 1m35.712s

Hamilton plays down practice smash
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42211

Lewis's damaged MP4-23 is taken back to the McLaren garage

Bahrain GP Saturday practice times

1. ROSBERG Williams 1m32.521s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m32.726s
3. WEBBER Red Bull 1m32.742s
4. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.901s
5. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m32.918s
6. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m33.020s
7. KUBICA BMW 1m33.024s
8. PIQUET Renault 1m33.074s
9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.237s
10. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m33.367s
11. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m33.372s
12. FISICHELLA Force India 1m33.392s
13. ALONSO Renault 1m33.445s
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m33.551s
15. GLOCK Toyota 1m33.595s
16. BUTTON Honda 1m33.600s
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m33.651s
18. HAMILTON McLaren 1m33.659s
19. SUTIL Force India 1m33.857s
20. HEIDFELD BMW 1m34.074s
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m34.591s
22. SATO Super Aguri 1m34.952s

Kubica is on pole! Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Kovalainen will start behind him.

Provisional starting grid for the Bahrain GP

1. KUBICA BMW
2. MASSA Ferrari
3. HAMILTON McLaren
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
5. KOVALAINEN McLaren
6. HEIDFELD BMW
7. TRULLI Toyota
8. ROSBERG Williams
9. BUTTON Honda
10. ALONSO Renault
11. WEBBER Red Bull
12. BARRICHELLO Honda
13. GLOCK Toyota
14. PIQUET Renault
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
16. NAKAJIMA Williams
17. COULTHARD Red Bull
18. FISICHELLA Force India
19. VETTEL Toro Rosso
20. SUTIL Force India
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
22. SATO Super Aguri

lap 38 fastest lap .. massa 1:33.600

 

 

button and vettel out of race

kubica BMW leading on lap 40 .. but not for long .. he's expected to pit

 

 

pits in at lap 41

piquet retires on  lap 42

lap 49 top 3

 

massa

 raikonen

kubica

 

fastest lap .. heidfeld (in P4) ... 1:33.565

lap 50

 

fastest lap kovalainen .. 1:33.193

massa wins the race

 

 

 

Bahrain GP result - 57 laps

 

1.  MASSA        Ferrari       
2.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       +3.3s
3.  KUBICA       BMW           +4.9s
4.  HEIDFELD     BMW           +8.4s
5.  KOVALAINEN   McLaren       +26.7s
6.  TRULLI       Toyota        +41.3s
7.  WEBBER       Red Bull      +45.4s
8.  ROSBERG      Williams      +55.8s
9.  GLOCK        Toyota        +69.5s
10. ALONSO       Renault       +77.1s
11. BARRICHELLO  Honda         +77.8s
12. FISICHELLA   Force India   +1 lap
13. HAMILTON     McLaren       +1 lap
14. NAKAJIMA     Williams      +1 lap
15. BOURDAIS     Toro Rosso    +1 lap
16. DAVIDSON     Super Aguri   +1 lap
17. SATO         Super Aguri   +1 lap
18. COULTHARD    Red Bull      +1 lap
19. SUTIL        Force India   +2 laps
R.  PIQUET       Renault       +17 laps
R.  BUTTON       Honda         +38 laps
R.  VETTEL       Toro Rosso    +57 laps

Fastest lap: KOVALAINEN  1m33.193s

 

 

 

the race like no one there like that..

i wouldn't go watch a race in the middle of the desert.

it looks hot just to watch it from tv.

Those BMWs just don't have the race pace to compete with the Ferraris just yet. 2 front row starts and 3 podiums from the first 3 races isn't a bad start though.

ya ... but at least the BMW drivers r showing some good results .. which i think is gonna improve in time to come ...

 

we might see a BMW driver winning 1 of the races ...

 

1 big disappointment is renault .... they dont seem to be at their best yet ...3 disappointing results in 3 races

Not sure if you guys had the ITV coverage, but the "Hamilton can do no wrong" brigade was happily chanting "brake test".  As it turns out, Ronnie's boy toy hit Alonso, broke his front wing, and then hit Alonso AGAIN.

Hamilton is WAY overrated, and by himself.  FFS, the little turd turns up on the grid and releases his goddamn autobiography as if he'd won 20 WDCs already.  What a wanker.  Now his ptitful little book's going for two quid at stores that can't get rid of them quickly enough - they need the precious shelf space for more worthy causes like Danielle Steele novels.

In fact it's being sold for 99p at Home Bargains, according to Planet-F1.