Posts tagged Bahrain
Alonso leads a Ferrari 1-2 for season opener
Mar 15th
Fernando Alonso finished his first ever race at Scuderi Ferrari in first place with team mate Filipe Massa finishing in P2. The duo gave Ferrari a fairy tale start to the 2010 season after a dismal 2009 for the team.
Sebastian Vettel was the only man who could rain on Ferrari’s parade. After qualifying on pole position for the race, Vettel stormed to the front and recored fastest lap after fastest lap. However in the late half of the race, Vettel suffered an exhaust failure and as a reault lost power. He spent the rest of the race nursing his car home, unable to hold off the Ferrari’s or the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, Vettel finished just off the podium in P4.
The exhaust failure for Vettel may be related to the team deciding to run the exhausts underneath the car this year rather then on-top. The possibility of the exhaust being damaged on the extremely bumpy Bahrain circuit should not be ruled out.
An elated Alonso said “There is no better way to start my relationship with the best tea in the world” he went on to say “we have only one the first race..” but clearly a on-two is a great start for the team.
Massa said the race was great for him and “The car was just perfect”
In the final 25 laps of the race, both Ferrari drivers were told to short shift and conserve fuel and look after the engines when it became clear they were running away with the victory.
Mark Webber had issues with oil surge through the first few corners and after a bad start, lost further time. Mark spent the rest of the race following Button in the McLaren without any chance of passing. Mark finished in a disapointing 8th position.
The race was not as exciting as fans had hoped, it became a bit of a procession, especially after Vettel’s problems it became a familiar sight with two Ferrari running away with the lead.
The full race results will be posted shortly
Vettel holds off Ferrari to take Pole.
Mar 14th
Sebastian Vettel has continued RedBull’s sucess from last season and proved the critics of the RB6 wrong by holding off Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa in the Ferrari’s to take Pole Position at Bahrian. Vettel in claiming poe for the season opener has put himself in good stead to claim the first race win of the season, however with two Ferrari’s behind him, it won’t be easy andthe race-pace of the RedBull and the teams race strategy will be vital on Sunday.
During the post race press conference, Vettel was asked if he was suprised that he was able to take pole for Bahrain. He said: “A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.”
The critics have sighted that during testing, the RedBull had the pace, however not in lone race stint and race style simulations, that title seemed to belong to the Ferrari’s and the McLarens. RedBull have always been critisised for reliablity and in-particular a weak Renaul engine which is down on Power compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes engines. This point proved itself in Bahrain when Button’s McLaren was 9km/h quicker then Vettel through the speed trap.
Alonso appeared to have pace early on and looked set to take P2, however in the dying seconds of quali, team-mate Filipe Massa, on his first Quali since returning to the sport, pipped him off by less then .2 of a second.
Rosberg should be happy with his effort in beating 7-time world champion team mate Michael in order to take 5th spot on the grid, just ahead of the other RedBull of Webber in P6.
As expecting the two HRT’s of Senna and Chandhook finished 2nd last and last palce respectively. Chandhook was more then 10 seconds slower the Vettels pole time, no doubt there will be chaos during the race, with such a massive time difference just over a single lap in quali, it won’t be long befroe the HRT’s start to become lapped.
BAHRAIN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101
2. Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217
5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284
7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672
9. Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857
14. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265
16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270
17. Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.071
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904
