Brawn GP seem all set to take this season in record number of races. Their domination is unchallenged and quite frankly they might make the season boring. The race was won on great strategy , earlier on Saturday Sebastien Vettel had scored pole position but couldnt however win the race. He came second while the Toyota of Jarno Trulli was third.

Expectedly Jenson Button was happy on winning the race :

JENSON BUTTON
“It was a great race today and I’m so happy to have seen the chequered flag without a safety car or red light in front of me To achieve my third victory of the season is amazing and we are going back to Europe with a strong lead in both championships. I couldn’t wish for anything more. It has been a tough weekend for the team which makes this win even more rewarding as we didn’t have the pace that we expected. I was really happy with my first lap. I knew that I had to overtake Sebastian quickly and got him round the outside on turn one. I had a couple of attempts at Lewis round the first lap and almost got him at the last corner. I knew that he would pull away from me on the straight so I dropped in behind and used the tow to overtake him at turn one. It wasn’t easy from there but getting up to third on the first lap was crucial for me. Our thanks to Mercedes-Benz this weekend who have not only provided us with a powerful engine but have integrated so well with our team. You need a close-knit unit to succeed in Formula One and that is what we have at this team.”

ROSS BRAWN
“A fantastic performance today from Jenson and all credit is due to him for an outstanding opening lap which made today’s victory possible. We have had a challenging weekend in dealing with the extreme temperature conditions which was made more difficult by our lack of hot weather testing prior to the season. I am very proud of the way that the team here in Bahrain has worked together to overcome the issues that we faced and how they performed in the race today. Our particular thanks this weekend are due to our engine partner Mercedes-Benz and we are delighted to have achieved our third victory of the season with them here today. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the team at the factory in Brackley who have been working very hard on our upgrade package. After a demanding but successful start of the season, we are all looking forward to returning home and the opportunity for the team to celebrate together before our focus turns to the start of the European season in Spain in two weeks.”

Sorry for the slow updates, but its exam season again for me so formula one time is sort of luxury time.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa silenced a lot of voices today at Bahrain by running an almost perfect race to clinch the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen was second. Lewis Hamilton finished outside the points and lost the championship lead due to it. The Pole on pole Robert Kubica was third for the BMW team.

Nick Heidfeld claimed a calm fourth place behind teammate Robert Kubica. Young Heikki Kovalainen got� McLaren F1 fifth place.

An interesting point in the race was when Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Fernando Alonso, it made him pit and eventually this resulted in him being out of points. Some people say Fernando brake tested Lewis Hamilton, but i really dont think it was anything like that. I have seen the videos again and again and they look highly inconclusive. Later on Lewis Hamilton was apologetic to the McLaren F1 team :

“I am really disappointed and feel like I had let the team down”

“You need to pick up the pieces and then deliver points. I didn’t do that. The collision with Renault’s Fernando Alonso cost the race.” Lewis Hamilton said

Meanwhile my best moment of the race was when Force India formula one’s Giancarlo Fisichella held back Lewis Hamilton for 3 laps, closing the door on Lewis countless times. The Force India car does show a lot of promise and hopefully they will be getting some points this season. Giancarlo eventually finished 12th. The final classification was :

Race result of the formula one Bahrain Grand Prix 2008

1 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari one hour 31 minutes 6.970 seconds
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +3.339 secs
3 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +4.998
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +8.409
5 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +26.789
6 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +41.314
7 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +45.473
8 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +55.889
9 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota +1:09.500
10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +1:17.181
11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda +1:17.862
12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari one lap behind
13 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one lap
14 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap
15 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari one lap
16 Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda one lap
17 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda one lap
18 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault one lap
19 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari two laps
R Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 40 laps completed
R Jenson Button (GB) Honda 19 laps
R Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps

Force India showed some guts on the track today but still couldnt qualify for the second qualifying session. Fisichella again clocked faster than Adrian Sutil by .3 of a second.

It promises to be a great race tomorrow with three teams fighting it out, but what has surprised me the most is Kubica’s dominance over teammate Nick Heidfeld who was drawing all the praise last year for being Mr.Consistent.

The qualifying positions were

1. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1 min 33.096
2. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:33.123
3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:33.292
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:33.418
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:33.488
6. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:33.737
7. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:33.994
8. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams – Toyota 1:34.015
9. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:35.057
10. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:35.115
11. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull – Renault 1:32.371
12. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:32.508
13. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:32.528
14. Nelsinho Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:32.790
15. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso – Ferrari 1:32.915
16. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams – Toyota 1:32.943
17. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull – Renault 1:33.433
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India – Ferrari 1:33.501
19. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso – Ferrari 1:33.562
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India – Ferrari 1:33.845
21. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri – Honda 1:34.140
22. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri – Honda 1:35.725

The Bahrain organisers meanwhile apologised to McLaren fans for depriving them of ‘team action’. As for me, i really have no clue what effect this will have on the race and the teams but prima facie it seems to assist McLaren. Instead of garages 15-18 McLaren shall now occupy garages 33-35 which seems to offer more advantage to teams.

“We understand that it is in line with the rules and regulations of the sport for McLaren, which scored no points in the 2007 constructors’ championship, to take the final set of garages,”

“However in Bahrain we do our utmost to ensure that fans of each team get to sit opposite their favourite team’s pit garages to see the action unfold. Sadly on this occasion we must apologise to McLaren fans and accept that this is force majeure.”

said Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chief Operating Officer at the BIC.

“The results in the first two races were not what I expected,” said the Ferrari Driver.

“Something was missing. But this time we put everything together. I’m really pleased.”

Kimi Raikkonen , scored a good third place, but he must have wanted to shut out Massa for good. Ferrari is known for favouritism and i dare say, 2-3 more races of Massa disaster and Kimi might even have become the no.1 driver of the Ferrari F1 Team.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, this rookie will definitely go places. He now holds the record for the best formula one debut, being the first ever driver in formula one history to score three successive podium finishes. Lewis Hamilton was delighted after the race

“I think this weekend we have definitely closed the gap on Ferrari and I couldn’t ask for more,” he said.

“It is one more step for me and in Barcelona we will push again.

“Unfortunately I didn’t get as good as start as Felipe, he did very well on the first corner and I just had to make sure I stayed as close to him as possible.”

Teammate Fernando Alonso was fifth at the end of the race.

The Renault’s performance was lacklustre again, they failed to get a good finish, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Heiki Kovalainen getting 8th and 9th places respectively. The world champions team definitely needs to pull up their socks and do much better.

The surprise package was David Coulthard, starting from the last row on the grid, he made his way upto seventh place, but had to retire unfortunately due to a mechanical failure.

Briton Jenson Button and American Scott Speed’s campaign had ended on the very first lap after Speed clipped the back of Jenson’s Honda.

And here is a really nice photo of Kimi Raikkonen at the post race press confrence.

The driver’s championship is already up for grabs, the top three drivers are tied with the same points . Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen each has 22 points. Today’s race winner Felipe Massa follows with 17 points.

BMW’s excellent form continued, Nick Heidfeld outraced and outpaced Fernando Alonso to grab fourth place. Robert Kubice was sixth. BMW Sauber are now third in the constructor’s championship points table.

2007 FIA Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix result:

1 F Massa (Br) Ferrari 1:33.27.515
2 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:33:29.515
3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:33:37.523
4 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:33:41.315
5 F Alonso (Sp) McLaren 1:33:41.519
6 R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:34:12.520
7 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:34:48.518
8 G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:34:49.215
9 H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:34:56.915
10 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:56.524
11 A Wurz (Aut) Williams @ 1 Lap
12 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota @ 1 Lap
13 R Barrichello (Brz) Honda @ 1 Lap
14 C Albers (Ned) Spyker @ 2 Laps
15 A Sutil (Ger) Spyker @ 4 Laps
16 A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri @ 6 Laps
17 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull @ 16 Laps
18 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull @ 21 Laps
19 T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri @ 23 Laps
20 V Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso @ 31 Laps
21 J Button (GB) Honda @ 56 Laps
22 S Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso @ 56 Laps

Fastest Lap of Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix 2007: Felipe Massa

Next up is the European leg of f1 racing , with the Spanish Grand Prix (Circuit de Catalunya) on the 13th of May 2007. Smack in the middle of my exams.

‘It was a hot-hot day in Bahrain, but Felipe Massa was as cool as a cucumber,a cucumber thats been left in the deep freezer’ My Friend

Technorati tags: formula one, f1, heiki kovalainen, kimi Raikkonen, fernando Alonso, lewis hamilton, ferrari, renault, bahrain grand prix

Telecast Time is 5pm on ESPN India IST

That familiar Marlboro was back on the Ferrari rear wings and so was the confidence. Felipe Massa once again got pole position, pipping Lewis Hamilton by a very small gap. Kimi Raikkonen snatched third place while Fernando Alonso of McLaren was fourth.

Lewis Hamilton, the rookie who conquered the world and who is now a household name in Britain, was really impressive and just almost got the pole position, missing by about 4/10th of a second. He will be going for a record three podium finishes for a rookie in his first three races.

Giancarlo Fisichella scored a seventh place for Renault, while teammate and rookie Heiki Kovalainen wasnt even able to qualify for the last session. Poor Heiki , his debut has been completely overshadowed by Lewis Hamilton.

Nick Heidfeld put in another good performance finishing in fifth place.

Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Times

1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 01:32.652
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 01:32.935
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 01:33.131
4. Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren-Mercedes 01:33.192
5. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 01:33.404
6. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 01:33.710
7. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault-Renault 01:34.056
8. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 01:34.106
9. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 01:34.154
10. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 01:34.399
11. Alexander Wurz Austria Williams-Toyota 01:32.915
12. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault-Renault 01:32.935
13. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri-Honda 01:33.082
14. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota-Toyota 01:33.294
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda-Honda 01:33.624
16. Jenson Button Britain Honda-Honda 01:33.731
17. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 01:33.984
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 01:34.024
19. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Ferrari 01:34.333
20. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker-Ferrari 01:35.280
21. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault 01:35.341
22. Christijan Albers Holland Spyker-Ferrari 01:35.533

What will happen tomorrow, will Lewis Hamilton trick Felipe Massa into a mistake again ?

Rediscover Formula One will be there each step of the way with you !

The 2007 Bahrain Formula One Grand is the third round of the 2007 formula one season.
Most people think its going to be a Ferrari show, Malaysia was a bit unlucky for them and Kimi Raikkonen wasn’t happy with the engine there. But with Bahrain comes a new engine and a renewed hope of victory. Felipe Massa is what my friend calls a ‘disgrace’ to Ferrari (no comments) , but if you get tricked by rookies then you must rethink. Sometimes having your manager’s father as team principal should not be enough.

Kimi Raikkonen said “The engine compromises put us in a position where we did not want to be,”

“I always want to fight for the victory and the way I was forced to race was like playing a football game defending a goalless draw.

“But when we have our whole package working 100% we should be back to the same speed as we had in Melbourne.”

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton will look to make history by being the first driver to get podiums in his first three races. And the British media will again go into a frenzy. Poor Jenson Button the British media never frenzied for him like this. Fernando Alonso will want to continue his winning ways.
Toyota Racing however are not too optimistic, the track has been extremely cruel to Toyota and there is no reason why it would be otherwise.

Jarno Trulli: “At this year’s pre-season test at Sakhir we struggled too. So it’s never been our track but there is no particular reason why it should be hard for us. It’s an incredible venue with state-of-the-art facilities and it is not a difficult track from a driving perspective. It is hard on braking and there is always wind which brings dust and sand onto the track. Otherwise it is a very clean, smooth circuit with few bumps.”

Williams will be looking to carry forward their great Malaysian performance and make it a notch better. Alexander Wurz was 9th in Bahrain and would like to improve certainly. Nico Rosberg has been one disappointment after another and should really be kicked out.

Renault’s season start has been dismal, with Flavio Briatore often criticising his own drivers very publicly. If they want to win HUGE changes are needed.

And poor poor Honda, wasted millions of dollars on this new car and the old one just drives faster. Its obvious that their drivers must be running out of patience.

Telecast Timings of Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying (Also confirm this)
16:27 IST Formula One Qualifying Bahrain Grand Prix – Star Sports India (IST is +5:30 GMT)

Sakhir Circuit – Bahrain Grand Prix

Photo copyright rests with Google