F1 Qualifying - Bahrain Report

The dry weather pace of the cars is almost impossible to judge coming up to this race- it was the Red Bulls who shone last week in Shanghai, with the Brawn still actually, on fuel-adjusted times, being the fastest cars. But would that still be the case at the end of QP in Bahrain? This is a circuit that normally favours the Ferraris, being, as it is, very hot in Bahrain, with track temperature around the 50 degree mark. The warmer tracks have usually suited the Ferrari, but with their woeful performance so far this year, it seemed unlikely that they would be troubling the top spots.

And so it was. Still, no disaster for Ferrari in Q1, which saw Sutil, Buemi, Fisichella, Webber and Bourdais out at the first hurdle in that order- Sutil surely unlucky not to make it into Q2, and Buemi also having shown the pace throughout the weekend to break into Q2, if not Q3. But, of course, the big name lost here would have to be Mark Webber, who was blocked horribly by Adrian Sutil and will start 19th. Hamilton was quick, and Alonso's raw pace was obstructed by Kubica and again, Sutil, seemingly unable to get out of the way of anybody, but he made it into Q2 in 14th.

Q2 started off with the same again: The Toyotas, Brawns and the sole remaining Red Bull of Vettel made off with the fastest laps at first, with Raikkonnen popping one up into second and Alonso finding something from nowhere to go third with five minutes remaining, both 3 tenths from Vettel. When the second runs came round, Kovalainen was the first to jump, the car's balance looking pretty much sorted out with a little bit of power oversteer coming along here and there, but being able to get on the power much earlier than before, which is certainly noteworthy. Both cars should be in the top 10 much more regularly from now on, but it wasn't to be for Kovi- and he'll line up 11th. Massa was next and with him came everybody else apart from Vettel, with the Toyotas popping up above the Brawns and the fast pair of Raikkonen

The BMWs had a woeful session, Kubica's car consistently setting itself on fire in the pit lane, quite bizarre indeed, and they line up 13th and 14th, with the car oversteering horribly on corner entry. Piquet lines up 15th, another terrible performance, but at least an improvement, Piquet Jr. making it through to Q2 for the first time this year. The quiet '...sorry guys' on the radio said it all. Briatore gives Piquet two more races to improve. Nakajima starts a mediocre 12th, outclassed by his teammate who went through into Q3 in 10th.

Q3 and after the first runs with some using the spare soft tires they had and others choosing to run a scrub set or the harder tyre for their first runs, and it was the Toyotas running at the front, with intent. Trulli, Glock, Button, Vettel, Barrichello (who made a mistake on the final corner), Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, seemingly running a lot of fuel and Rosberg, who, like Barrichello, made a mistake on his first run. They all saved a set of SS tyres for the last runs, which was now able to do two flying laps, if they had time to do so.

Button took provisional pole by virtue of being first across the line and Hamilton followed to make it an all British front row for mere seconds until the Toyotas turned up and destroyed the rest of the field, Jarno Trulli taking it ahead of Timo Glock by nearly 3 tenths, with Glock another 3 tenths ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who popped one in just above Jenson Button, in front of a resurgent Lewis Hamilton in fifth. Interesting to note is that Vettel actually set the fastest time overall, with the Toyotas 2nd and 3rd. The Brawns were 5th and 6th in the timing classification with the Ferrari of Raikonnen fourth fastest.

Obviously the circuit suits the Toyota very well and the team are overdue a good result- a one-two in qualifying may not be reflected in the race, however. Glock has to be a tip for the win, being, as he is, a fantastic racer, but Vettel carries the momentum from last week's race in China. John Howell at Toyota was clearly shocked with the result and if anything, they've gone too short on the fuel by several laps, but, this may suit them as they will be running the super-soft tyre in the first stint. The Brawns have the pace in race trim but are losing ground on the rest of the field, and in this important time before the whole field have the DD diffuser if Jenson wants to run away with the title, he'll need to make a break for the win tomorrow.

Prediction:
1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Glock

Full Times:
1. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 1m 33.431s
2. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota 1m 33.712s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 34.015s
4. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 34.044s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 34.196s
6. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 34.239s
7. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 1m 34.578s
8. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 34.818s
9. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1m 35.134s
10. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 35.380s

11 Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 33.242s
12 Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1m 33.348s
13 Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1m 33.487s
14. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1m 33.562s
15 Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil Renault-Renault 1m 33.941s

16. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 33.722s
17. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 33.753s
18. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 33.910s
19. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 34.038s
20. Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 34.159s
source: http://www.crash.net/Formula+One/Results/145859/1/bahrain_grand_prix__qualifying_times.html