Lap 52 familiar territory then for Vettel, just five laps to go now and
he’s pulling away from Raikkonen. And Rosberg has taken 5th place from Di
Resta! The German was lucky with that move on corner one, he locked but just
managed to recover and hold position.
Lap 50 So with those five drivers leading the pack, Rosberg, Button,
Alonso, Hamilton and Schumacher for now make up those who will score points
today and if Vettel wins this race he’ll lead the championship. he’s just
been told to use a double KERS boost to defend his position.
1-5 Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Webber, Di Resta
Lap 49 Rosberg is gaining on Di Resta and with the help of DRS it looks
like the Mercedes is going to take 5th and that two-stop plan hasn’t worked
out exactly how Force India anticipated but they’ll be delighted to remain
in the points positions.
Lap 48 Kimi is closing in on Vettel once again and it seems we’re in
for another tasty battle at the front!
Lap 47 well the podium is effectively decided so long as there are no
accidents, Grosjean is now a whopping 13 seconds ahead of Webber in fourth.
Shame for the Australian if he stays there that will be the fourth
consecutive race with the same result.
Lap 45 Martin Brundle has suggested that even without the poor pit
stops the best McLaren could hope to be doing is 5th…not sure I would
agree with that. Raikkonen is finding speed and is within a few hundredths
of a second on Vettel’s lap times. The German is currently just over three
seconds clear at the front.
Lap 44 so word from McLaren is that preparations all weekend have
damaged their campaign in Bahrain…Button struggling more so than Hamilton
apparently though race positions wouldn’t suggest that.
Lap 43 Di Resta still looking very strong here and remains fifth but
struggling to make any ground on Webber in front of him. Rosberg and button
are behind him and then we find Alonso and Hamilton. Schumacher is chasing
Hamilton and it’s a fantastic result for him so far having started at the
back.
Lap 41 there’s a statement from intent then from race leader Vettel,
he’s holding on to his lead and extending it. Fastest man out there with
1:36:3. Lotus need to play things safely here and ensure they hold on to
podium places.
Lap 39-40 Vettel and Raikkonen pit at the same time and it was poor for
Red Bull. Grosjean leads as things stand. Fernando Alonso is under
investigation for an unsafe release. If you’re just joining me then to bring
you up to speed, Maldonado and Pic have retired, Hamilton is having a
nightmare and is stuck in 12th – both McLaren races have been hampered by
poor pit stops. The Lotus’ are doing fantastically well and are in good
shape to have both drivers on the podium.
Lap 38 Hamilton’s afternoon not improving in the slightest he is
currently stuck back in 12th and that well and truely means my prediction
was all wrong! Vettel coping better with the challenge of Raikkonen now and
finding some more speed and pushing hard he’s just gained three tenths.
Haimlton finding some speed now and the fastest driver out there with a
1:37:7
Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph:
Driving through Shia district of Jidhafs, groups of youths hanging about
waiting for demo to start, side roads blocked with logs and wheelie bins,
piles of broken paving ready to chuck at riot cops (who are on main roads).
Streets othewrwise notably quiet. Calm right now though.
Lap 35 Grosjean, Webber and Button remains the immediate order behind
the battle at the front. Rosberg and Alonso further behind them.
Schumacher’s up to 11th. OH and AGAIN Raikkonen makes the move at turn one
outstanding bid from the Finn here. Seems it’s going to be a matter of when
this happens not if. Vettel did a poor job at defending his position last
weekend and is, so far, making up for the mistakes in China that saw him go
from 2nd to 5th in a matter of three laps.
Lap 34 Raikkonen is closing in and he had a look there but wasn’t quite
close enough…he’s teasing us with these moves!
Lap 33 Schumacher has climbed another place and is up to 12th.
Crucially in the next few laps we’re likely to see Raikkonen make a move on
Vettel, he’s now within the DRS zone and this is a wonderful drive from the
Finn. Di Resta pits for the second and in theory final time but it’ll be a
tall order for him to get round 23 laps on one set.
Anyone got the answer to this question from Tom Cary?
Lap 31 Likelihood for Rosberg is a time penalty on this race, exclusion
from today’s results or a grid penalty at the next race…they could go as
far as not including him in the Barcelona grand prix though that seems a
little extreme no?
1-10 Vettel Raikkonen, Grosjean, Webber, Di Resta, Button, Kobayashi,
Rosberg, Alonso, Massa
Here are Gary Eveling’s thoughts on the stewards reluctance to issue a
penalty this afternoon: “I find it very annoying when the stewards
state they will not enforce any penalties until after the race, so it’s
possible the final positions may not hold. If it is a very tight finish and
we still are not sure of the result pending the review what a farce.
Stewards make a decision and make it now.
Lap 29 Paul di Resta is having a wonderful afternoon, great battle
going on between him and Mark Webber at the moment and the Australian has
won the fight for now and takes fourth place. Hamilton enquiring about
Massa’s race and is told Ferrari are running the same race tactics as they
are and he has to make the move.
Lap 28: Pastor Maldonado’s race is over, that’s the first retirement of
the race. Stewards have also said they will not make a decision on the
Rosberg-Alonso incident until after the race. Pic has also retired.
Lap 26 Pastor Maldonado in all kinds of trouble and he’s spun a 360 and
left plenty of debris on the track. Pic is now under investigation.
Schumacher remains in 13th place. 1:38:1 is the latest time from Raikkonen
and he is closing in on Vettel – both teams playing completely opposite
tactics here.
Alonso on Rosberg: “He pushed me off the track he has to leave me
space on both sides”
1-5 Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Di Resta, Webber
Lap 25 Raikkonen pits and he’s emerged in third. Rosberg for the second
time this afternoon has pushed someone wide and it’s Alonso this
time…trouble heading the german’s way?
Lap 24 finally Raikkonen takes second place. McLaren starting the trend
of second pits as Webber and Alonso pit and another disastrous pits stop for
McLaren and Button is in there for 12.5 seconds! He’s come out in 7th.
Lap 22 Di Resta now has Massa in his sights but just look at the Ice
Man in third place. Now just a question of when not if he’s going to take
second from his team-mate Grosjean. Button pits from fifth and goes on to
the medium compound tyre.
Lap 21 Di Resta makes the move on Maldonado and somehow manages to
overtake Perez at the same time! Great driving from for Force India to take
9th place. Raikkonen now storming through the pack in third place he’s the
fastest man on the circuit and is gaining on Grosjean and Vettel.
Lap 20 Stewards will not enforce any penalties for the Hamilton-Rosberg
incident until after the race. So no drive-through penalties but they could
well add time to their final results or enforce penalties at the next
race…which will be at the legendary Circuit de Catalunya.
Lap 19 Paul Di Resta maing good gains on Maldonado for 11th place,
schumacher, as it stands, not getting close enough to the Brit who’s
clocking lap times over half-second faster.
Lap 18 and Senna’s lost another position to Kobayashi and is now in
16th. Vettel’s lead now just over five seconds with Grosjean second,
Raikkonen third, Webber fourth and Button fifth.
Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph:
Russian expat buying last minute ticket for F1 race not impressed by
protesters. Points out that living standards generally v high in Bahrain,
and that many protesters drive luxury cars. Also points out that King Hamad
gave every Bahraini family a gift of 1,000 dinars (approx 1633 pounds) to
head off discontent when Arab Spring first began last year. “If they
sent these protesters to Russia, and let them there for one week, they would
realise how nice life in Bahrain is and how there is nothing to protest
against.”
Lap 16 Hulkenberg and Senna battling side to side and the former takes
14th after the Brazilian goes way wide….poor from him. Grosjean’s Lotus is
flying around the circuit and he’s making good gains on Vettel out in front.
Schumacher told he needs to make a move on Di Resta out in front and he
needs to make it soon.
Lap 15 Hamilton is on the charge and he’s battling with Alonso and
taken the position {6th} and the Spanish driver now has Rosberg in his rear
mirror. Two stops won’t be the order of the day for the Force India’s it
seems, Di Resta has pitted far earlier than expected. Michael Schumacher is
driving a formidable race having started at the back of the grid, he’s now
up to 13th. 1:38:995 Raikkonen of all people is currently the fastest man
out there.
1-5 Vettel, Di Resta, Grosjean, Kobayashi, Raikkonen
Lap 13 Raikkonen takes 5th from Webber, the Australian driver yielding
very easily there. Vettel is back in front
Lap 12 Button the fastest driver out there at the moment with a
1:39:08. Di Resta leads currently with Vettel second and Kobayashi third.
Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph:
Protesters burning tyres around Bahraini capital, Manama, sending palls of
smoke into the sky. None anywhere near the race track though, which is in
desert approx 10 miles south of Manama.
Lap 11 Hamilton and Rosberg, as expected, are under investigation for
that incident. “Hamilton went past me off the track” is the word
from Rosberg. Vettel pits from the lead.
Lap 9 now Webber and Hamilton pit. HUGE problems for Mclaren and
Hamilton and it’s the left-rear. The British driver shaking his head as he
waited for his team to resolve the issue. Rosberg and Hamilton collide and
the Mclaren was forced off the track but somehow holds on and remains in the
race! No doubt that will come under investigation…as I find out you will
too.
Lap 8 so both McLarens now saying they’re struggling with their tyres
and the pit crew are out. ferrari are also preparing to brnig one driver in.
Button, Massa and Rosberg all pit.
Lap 7 Raikkonen has overtaken Button and the McLarens are looking
wobbly today. Further back Schumacher is up to 16th, mercedes will be happy
with that. Button on the radio saying he was struggling with his tyres and
the under-steer. Ricciardo in the pits and that’s a huge blow to his race.
Lap 6 Jenson Button struggling to maintain a challenge on Alonso.
Hamilton told he is six tenths slower than Vettel and he needs to push.
Grosjean looking brilliant and he’s pushing Hamilton hard AND PASSES!
Made it look effortless and that was poor from the McLaren, Hamilton showing
no inclination to try and defend that move.
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Grosjean, Webber, Alonso
Lap 5 Ricciardo has a terrible start and is now radio-ing in problems
with his front-wing. Expect him in the pits very soon.
Lap 3 Great driving from Felipe Massa at the moment he’s climbed to
7th. Such a disappointing start for Nico Rosberg he was 5th on the grid and
he’s slipped back to 9th and struggling to hold position. Grosjean’s broken
into the top three and has over taken Mark Webber! Great battle going on
between the pair.
Lap 2 Kovalainen is straight to the pits with a severe puncture.
Schumacher is making progress he’s up to 17th having started in 22nd. keep
you eye on him he’ll be gaining places left, right and centre. Good tussle
between button and Raikkonen and Vettel’s lead is over two seconds already.
First corner: Vettel stays front and a great start for Alonso and
Grosjean who have stormed up the pack. So my theories were wrong, Hamilton’s
not leading and there was nowhere near as much action on that first corner.
Yellow flag is being waved and there’s body work on the track.
1pm so It’s Vettel on pole, here we go in Bahrain, round four of the
season…
12:59 Think there’ll been plenty of movement in order on the first
corner today. Drivers now on their formations lap. All drivers except
Kobayahsi starting out on the option tyres this afternoon, the rain looks to
have cleared so I would imagine most teams will go for a three-stop
approach. Track temperature cooling now to 32 degrees Celsius.
12:56 Plenty has been written about FIA president Jean Todt this week
and what this race going ahead could do to his reputation. Todt’s decision
to press ahead with the Bahrain Grand Prix has drawn stinging criticism that
has increased in intensity as the anti-government and anti-F1 protests have
been ramped up. But he insists his conscience is clear and that the
reputation of Formula One will remains intact.
“I am sorry about what has been reported – I am not sure all that has
been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this
country. But I feel F1 is very strong. It is a very strong brand, and all
the people among the teams to whom I have been speaking are very happy. I
was even told it would have been a mistake not to come. Again, you speak to
those people. That is what I have been told by most of the team principals
here.”
12:48 time for some predictions? I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be
Lewis Hamilton’s day. Corner one is the best overtaking opportunity and I
think the McLaren will leapfrog Sebastian Vettel from the off. Red Bull have
made a number of alterations to Mark Webber’s car this week and I think the
Australian will get himself on the podium alongside Hamilton and Jenson
Button. Agree? Drop me an email and let me know.
12:41 Also on a run of bad luck is Michael Schumacher. Last weekend his
race came to an end after just 13 laps when he was forced to retire owing to
a loose wheel nut on his front right tyre and things have not improved for
him in Bahrain where he went out in Q1 and was set to start in 17th place
but has since been handed a five-place grid penalty for changing his
gear-box and now starts 22nd.
12:37 Tom Cary’s been for a wander around the fan zone at the Bahrain
Circuit and with just under 25 minutes to go before lights out, here’s the
latest from him:
“This has been without doubt the strangest week I have ever had in
Formula One. I was out in the fan zone just now and everyone was lying
around on cushions smoking Hookah pipes. Clowns were entertaining kids. All
seemed peaceful and calm; a world away from the heavy security presence on
the way in this morning where we encountered APCs, armed police, sniffer
dogs, metal detectors and so on.
“Inside the paddock there are still a few nervous faces after the
week’s unrest and the death of a protester on Friday night. More protests
are planned in town this afternoon and everyone is just hoping we have a
good clean race and that things pass off smoothly, both here and in Manama.”
12:33 It was another disappointing qualifying day for Ferrari with
Fernando Alonso just creeping into Q3 but then failing to post a time so the
Spaniard starts 9th while underfire Felipe Massa is back in 14th.
12:30 Lewis Hamilton shares the front row with Vettel and while the
most consistent of the drivers so far this season, he will no doubt be
looking to break with his current trend of finishing third. Hamilton’s
team-mate Jenson Button starts fourth next to Mark Webber on the second row
while last weekend’s race winner Nico Rosberg could only manage fifth on the
grid. He starts alongside Daniel Ricciardo who drove a formidable Q3 in his
Toro Ross to clinch a career-best starting place.
12:23 Telegraph Sport columnist David Coulthard predicts a Red
Bull/McClaren battle this afternoon:
“My guess is we’ll be watching a battle between McLaren and Red Bull
for the race victory on Sunday. In Shanghai you can use the DRS rear wing
flap for over 50 per cent of the lap, whereas here that drops to less than
50 per cent. That will cost Mercedes who have the most powerful DRS system
in the paddock thanks to their so-called double-DRS activated wing. That in
turn means they start further back on the grid, which means they will be
running in dirty air, which makes it much harder to manage your tyres —
their Achilles heel.”
Here’s how they’re starting this afternoon:
- 1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull.
- 2. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren.
- 3. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull.
- 4. Jenson Button, Britain, McLaren.
- 5. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes.
- 6. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Toro Rosso.
- 7. Romain Grosjean, France, Lotus.
- 8. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Sauber.
- 9. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari.
- 10. Paul di Resta, Britain, Force India.
- 11. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Lotus.
- 12. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Sauber.
- 13. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Force India.
- 14. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari.
- 15. Bruno Senna, Brazil, Williams.
- 16. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Caterham.
- 17. Jean-Eric Vergne, France, Toro Rosso.
- 18. Vitaly Petrov, Russia, Caterham.
- 19. Charles Pic, France, Marussia.
- 20. Pedro de la Rosa, Spain, HRT.
- 21. x-Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams.
- 22. x-Michael Schumacher, Germany, Mercedes.
- 23. Timo Glock, Germany, Marussia.
- 24. Narain Karthikeyan, India, HRT.
- x-denotes five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox
Bahrain in numbers:
- Circuit length: 5.412km/3.362 miles.
- Laps: 57.
- Race distance: 308.238km/191.530miles.
- Lap record: 1min 30.252secs (Michael Schumacher, 2004).
- 2009 pole position: Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1min 33.431secs.
- 2009 race winner: Jenson Button (Brawn).
- 2009 fastest lap: Jarno Trulli 1min 34.556secs.
- Number of corners: 15 (6 left/9 right).
- Tyre compounds to be used: medium/soft.
- Overtaking chance: Into turn one.
12:16 After qualifying, Vettel, who had failed to get on the
front row in the first three races of the season, said he was indebted to
his team.
This one I completely owe it to the team. The boys, I don’t think they’ve
had much sleep in the first four races. It was a tough weekend in China and
now here they seriously have a lack of sleep. The last two weekends in
particular, here and China, I don’t know how they managed, how they do it.
They get hardly any sleep, probably an hour or two or three on average every
night and still they’re full of energy and willing to work even harder.”
12:14 Over to the racing though and defending world champion Sebastian
Vettel has claimed his first pole position of the season. It was quite a
recovery from the German driver who had a scare in Q1 when he dropped
dangerously close to the cut-off point after assuming he had done enough. He
celebrated his feat with his familiar single finger salute – the first
glimpse of the gesture fans have seen this season.
12:10 Telegraph Sport’s F1 Correspondent Tom Cary has been in Bahrain
for almost a week now and has kept this diary
of his experiences.
12:02 Also worth a read is this from the Telegraph’s Rosamund De
Sybel in Manama who’s looked into how
the Formula One plan may have backfired for Gulf kingdom’s ruling
family.
The longest lasting of the Arab world’s uprisings had sullied the
reputation of the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled over a majority
Shia nation since 1783. But by persuading the sport’s governing authority to
stage the race, cancelled last year, the ruling family sought to show that
the recent upheaval was over.
Officials came up with the slogan “UniF1ed” had hoped that Bahrain’s
showcase event would deflate the Shia street protests that had campaigned so
vocally for its cancellation. Yet the opposite seems to have happened, with
the questionable nature of the regime’s triumph exposed by the thousands of
demonstrators who gathered on Friday and Saturday, the first two of three “days
of rage”, to denounce the ruling family.”
12:00 Formula One’s venture to Bahrain is looking more like folly by
the day, writes Telegraph Sport’s F1 Correspondent Tom Cary, who is
in Bahrain:
“The news Formula One was dreading arrived just as Jean Todt, the
president of the FIA, finally turned up in the Bahrain paddock. A protester
had been found dead in a village on the outskirts of the capital and
activists were pointing the finger of blame at local police. And at the
sport for enflaming an already volatile situation. “Its all because of you
F1,” wrote one anonymous Twitter user. “Thank you for the blessings.” While
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry urged circumspection, it is clear the
development has the potential to exacerbate existing unrest.
11:50 Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are joining me from.
The political unrest in Bahrain has overshadowed the return of Formula One
to the Gulf Kingdom with this week’s clashes, and the death
of a protestor on Frida, serving to heighten fears of distruption to
a race many believe should not be taking place at all.
While the death has sparked fears of further violence, the Bahraini Government
has today said it is “confident” the Grand Prix will not be
affected by continuing clashes, though in recent days around 50,000
anti-government protesters are reported to have gathered around the capital
Manama, just 25 miles away from where the race is.
Despite the ongoing violence, Fahad al Binali, spokesman for the Bahrain
Information Affairs Authority, said measures were in place to prevent any
disruption to the controversial Formula One event. This morning he has told
the BBC: “Guaranteeing is difficult, but we have the best measures in
place. I’m very confident and assure everybody about safety.” he added
that he was “surprised” some protesters had campaigned against the
race, saying it had provided them with “a platform” to a global
audience.
Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa claimed that cancelling the race
would “empower extremists”. He added: “For those of us trying
to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the race allows us
to build bridges across communities, to get people working together. It
allows us to celebrate our nation.”
The latest protests and clashes come after a week during which two Force India
personnel opted to leave Bahrain after the team were caught up in a petrol
bombing though the incident was not directly aimed at the team. Multiple
Molotov cocktails landed near the car and the driver had to escape through a
gap in the flames.