13-Mar-10: Vettel Takes Pole Position in Bahrain

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Today is the 13th March 2010, this is F1 Minute.

Fernando Alonso led the way in free practice 3 this morning, showing some excellent Ferrari pace. He was followed by Rosberg and Webber. Di Grassi had gearbox troubles and didn’t set a time, whilst Chandhok’s car still wasn’t able to leave the garage, meaning he would have to put in his debut lap in F1 during qualifying.

When the three-part session took place, Chandhok did finally make it out on track, and although he was initially 21 seconds off the pace, he closed up considerably and finished last, but only one second off his teammate. All the new teams plus Alguersuari were out in the first session, but it was Glock who led the new team battle, finishing 19th. At the top, Vettel took a storming pole position, with Massa and Alonso lining up behind him. Webber made a mistake on his final flying lap to finish down in 6th. Rosberg was 5th, finishing ahead of Schumacher yet again – the seven times world champion qualified 7th,

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

The Back of Beyond

Sebastian Vettel celebrates his pole position in Bahrain, hugging chief mechanic Kenny Handkammer. The Red Bull driver stormed to pole, whilst teammate Webber qualified in 6th, after making a mistake on his final flying lap. Tyre wear was a significant problem in the heat of the desert, but Vettel starts in the best possible position – ahead of Massa and Alonso.

Credit: Getty Images

Ferrari – Bahrain GP – 13 March 2010

Chassis: F. Massa 281, F. Alonso 283
Weather: air temperature 34 °C, track temperature 48/47 °C.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro got one car onto the front row of the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix and the other onto the second row. At the end of the first qualifying session of the season, Felipe Massa was second fastest in Q3, followed by his team-mate Fernando Alonso. “It’s a good result, coming at the end of a very closely contested session,” said Stefano Domenicali. “I want to thank all the staff of the Gestione Sportiva, who have worked hard these past few months to try and close the gap to what were the top teams at the end of last season. At least today, we have returned to breathing in the air at the top of the pack, even if we are well aware that the final figures are only totted up on Sunday afternoon after the race. We can expect quite a long and tough race, during which the number one priority, as always, will be reliability: with such hot weather, cars, drivers and tyres will be put under a heavy strain. It will also be important to manage the race as well as possible, finding the right moment to change tyres. I think this is something of an unknown for everyone, given that we will be experiencing very different conditions to those we experienced in the February tests. I am very satisfied with the way Fernando has integrated himself within our team: it seems as though he has been with us for years rather than months. And I am delighted that Felipe’s return to racing will start from the front row of the grid: it is well deserved after everything he went through last year.”

Felipe Massa: “It’s great to get back to being so competitive after such a difficult time. It’s a good way to start the new season and a nice reward for all the work the team has done over the winter. The race will be very difficult, but I am happy to be in with a chance of fighting for the top places. Yesterday, we did good work in preparing for the race and I think we went in the right direction, but this is only the first Grand Prix and there are still many unknown factors to work out, for example, finding the right moment to change tyres. Today, I gave it my all, doing a great lap on my last run, while the previous ones had not been so good. I wish to thank Sebastian for what he said about me at the start of the press conference. It pleased me a lot and shows the great respect that exists between we drivers.”

Fernando Alonso: “Up until today we did not have a clear reference as to how competitive we were: with our cars on the first and second rows we can be satisfied because it means our championship is getting off on a positive note. I am pleased with my qualifying debut for my new team. The F10 was strong in Q1 and Q2, but then Vettel managed to do better than us. On my last run I lost precious time in a couple of corners, losing a couple of tenths, which can happen when you are fighting for pole. I am not surprised to find Felipe ahead of me: he is my team-mate and we all know how good he is round this track. We know we have a good car which we fine tuned during the February tests: today we showed its potential and now we have eight months of work to develop it.”

Chris Dyer: “I am happy to be able to say there’s a whisker of disappointment after this result, given that I can hardly remember the last time we managed to get both cars into Q3! Two cars on the two front rows is a good basis to start from and tomorrow’s race looks like being very interesting. We had some minor problems on the cars during the day, but the team did a good job of managing the situation as well as possible. During yesterday’s long run testing, our cars seemed to be pretty consistent in terms of performance and we didn’t see anyone who looked particularly stronger than us.”

Formula 1 is Back, and 2010 is Go!

Whilst browsing through the available photographs for our required Free Practice schedule, we realised there are just too many good ones to narrow it down to one.

Instead, we’ve selected our ten favourite photographs from today in an F1 Minute special. Highlighting several moments that made the day fascinating, the photographs take you from posed portraits to raw speed out on track. Enjoy this F1 Big Picture – 2010 is Go Special.

1. The Class of 2010 – every single driver who will be on the grid on Sunday poses for a photo.
2. I’m Still Standing – Rubens prepares himself for the task ahead.
3. Bruno Meet Bahrain – Bruno Senna, and Hispania Racing, make their Formula One debut.
4. Let’s Get This Party Started – Lucas di Grassi is pleased to have got the weekend underway.
5. Grumpy Old Men – Michael Schumacher gets used to the way F1 is now.
6. Whole Lotta Laps for Liuzzi – Tonio gets plenty of running in for his first day of work in-season.
7. With Finland Behind Him – Heikki flys the flag for Finland and gets off to a good start with Lotus.
8. Glock ‘n Roll – Timo Glock holds off a Sauber. Probably not the last time he’ll have to do that.
9. Many Massa Returns – Felipe makes a welcome return to the cockpit of the red car.
10. The Boys are Back in Town – Smiling faces in the paddock, but how long will that last for?

I hope you enjoy this special set of Free Practice photos, look out for more F1 photo goodness as the season progresses.

Many Massa Returns

A ten-part F1 Big Picture series celebrating the return of F1 in Bahrain. Massa steers the Ferrari around Bahrain during Free Practice. Felipe made his F1 weekend return after sitting out the sport since his accident in Hungary 2009. His performance in testing showed no significant issues, and despite running with a temperature today, he says he’s ready for the first race to begin.

Credit: Bridgestone Corporation

Ferrari – Bahrain GP – 12th March 2010

Weather
First session: air 29/31 °C, track 37/42 °C; sunny.
Second session: air 33 °C, track 47/46 °C; sunny.

After winter testing featured rain and below average temperatures, the first round of the World Championship, which got underway today at Sakhir, took place in hot and sunny conditions. Therefore, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro work programme over the three hours of free practice, focussed almost entirely on assessing the behaviour of the F10 and the two types of tyre brought here by Bridgestone, in conditions very different to those experienced during the fifteen days of testing. “We had set ourselves an agenda based on preparation for Sunday’s race and we are pleased with what we have seen so far,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “Even more so than in the past, it is difficult to get an idea of the pecking order on Friday, because the fuel levels of the cars during these three hours of running can vary quite considerably. Now, we must try and prepare as well as possible for tomorrow’s qualifying, which will be difficult and closely contested for a variety of reasons, without losing sight of the fact that the points are only handed out on Sunday afternoon.”

Fernando Alonso: “A slightly different Friday to usual for me, as it was the first one with my new team. We concentrated mainly on comparing the two types of tyre, so as to be as well prepared as possible for the race on Sunday, trying to get a car that performs consistently over a long run. Obviously, with such high temperatures, tyre degradation was more rapid, especially with the rears. From what we could see, the indications we got from testing have been confirmed, with four teams that you could describe as favourites, although there could yet be a few surprises, Force India for example. The new track is not bad: it is fun, even if there are a few too many bumps which I hadn’t spotted when I inspected it by bicycle.”

Felipe Massa: “We worked a lot on finding the right balance on the car in race trim and on comparing the two types of tyre, running with various fuel levels, although never going for a quick time. I am quite happy with what we have seen today, even if it is difficult to get an accurate picture of how competitive we are compared to the others. We will definitely face stiff competition from many teams, but we were preparing as well as possible for Sunday’s race and tomorrow morning, we will work on qualifying. I’ve got a bit of a temperature today, but I feel 100% for this start to the season.”

Chris Dyer: “We are reasonably pleased with the work done today. We had a very busy programme and we got through just about all of it: the only problem was a loss of air from a tyre on Alonso’s car which interrupted his long run. We picked up a lot of data which we will use to decide on set-up and strategy for the rest of the weekend. It’s hard to say where we are compared to the other teams in terms of performance and we will only find that out tomorrow afternoon. The new part of the circuit is rather narrow and at some points the surface is very bumpy, but it does not present any particular problems for the car.”

10-Mar-10: Massa and Chandhok Discuss Potential

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Today is the 10th March 2010 and this is F1 Minute.

It’s all about the build up to the race now as teams and drivers descend on Bahrain to prepare for Free Practice on Friday. Massa has said he thinks Ferrari are in a good position this year, especially compared to their recent history: “I am very happy and very motivated that we can start the championship in a better way not just than last year, which was not a very good year, but also than the other championships.”

Meanwhile, Autosport asked Karun Chandhok his thoughts on the recent comments by other teams about the slow new boys and he said: “In all honesty, I appreciate these concerns to some extent – because if I was in their situation then I would be concerned as well. The last thing you want in Q3… is to get someone in your way. But I would be amazed if any of the new teams get to Q3!” I’m not sure that’s really defending his team, but we’ll go with it for now.

That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

28-Feb-10: Hamilton Leads Final Day of Testing

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 28th February 2010 – a special edition to cover the fourth and final day of pre-season testing.

Lewis Hamilton was fastest on the last day in Barcelona, and he completed the most number of laps with 134. He was only a couple of hundredths faster than Webber in second though, and Massa and Sutil weren’t that far behind either. Further down the order, Kubica finished up tenth for Renault, whilst Kovalainen pipped di Grassi to finish Lotus ahead of Virgin by just under a second. Lotus had a good morning but had gearbox troubles in the afternoon, whilst Virgin were still struggling with hydraulic problems – but as mentioned previously, they’re hoping their pre-Bahrain upgrade will sort that out.

Massa has been talking about Ferrari’s progress so far and said: “I’m satisfied with the whole of testing, not just Barcelona. We did what we wanted to do, but it looks like it will be a very tough and competitive championship.” He also added: “I’m 100% sure that I will never have a problem with Fernando.” Just wanted to highlight that, in case it comes back to haunt him.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with your regular F1 Minute.

27-Feb-10: Rosberg Fastest on Day Three of Testing

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This is a special F1 Minute for the 27th February 2010 – catching up on the third day of testing in Barcelona.

The rain has held off since Jerez, but it returned to Barcelona today for a couple of hours. Nico Rosberg posted the fastest time of the day in the morning, and the damp track ensured that no one could beat it. Rosberg also completed the most laps with 128, whilst Massa completed 115 back in fifth place. Is it even worth me saying that Virgin Racing completed the least number of laps and Timo Glock was the slowest of the day? Well, that happened, but Vettel also completed a relatively low number of laps with 51. He ended up 8th but most of the Red Bull running was done after the rain came down.

Elsewhere, Michael Schumacher has done some rapid backtracking after proclaiming that Mercedes weren’t ready to be winning any races yet. He said: “”Yesterday I was a little bit pessimistic before I studied the data. I mentioned it after not having studied the data, afterwards it looks much more reasonable than I thought.” Does anyone else think he got told off?

That’s all for today, I’ll be back with another F1 Minute testing special tomorrow.

Established Teams Only

Felipe Massa keeps his Ferrari ahead of a following Williams during testing in Jerez last week. In a post on the official website, Ferrari have hit out at the FIA for allowing new teams onto the grid who might not make it. They specifically call out Campos for reorganising their whole management structure and US F1 who have “gone into hiding.”

Credit: Bridgestone Motorsport

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