• Great to get back to some sunshine, +25C 9am in bahrain! Gonna rush to the track after breakfast to check out the new circuit layout… Heikki Kovalainen
• Heikki off playing golf again. Don’t know where the course is but there are plenty of bunkers around Mike Gascoyne
• It’s like the first day of term here. But without anyone trying to steal your lunch money. Or at least not trying very hard… Red Bull F1 Spy
• This usually is the longest night of the race weekend: engineers and mechanics are working hard to prepare the cars for tomorrow and Sunday. Inside Ferrari
• Yesterday went pretty well, tried different fuel loads and compared the two compounds of tyres we have here.. It’s good to be back racing!! Jenson Button
• I’ve only just clocked the lack of firesuits for the crew in qualy. No wonder the boys don’t look so hot! Renault F1
• Objective was to get points in the first race of the season. Would have been nice if both our drivers made it to the top 10 though. Force India
• yiha!! we’ve done it!! Lotus Racing
• end of a crazy weekend…. need a couple days of peace and quiet to recover from the stress ! shame a bump in T12 just bounced me off track Karun Chandhok
• NEED TO SAVE BETTER THE REAR TYRES…A LOT¡¡ Jaime Alguersuari

Tweets of the Week – 14th March 2010

Welcome to F1 Minute for the 14th March 2010.

Fernando Alonso has won the first race of the year, taking a Ferrari 1-2 victory in Bahrain. Vettel had been leading from pole, but his car developed some exhaust trouble and he started drifting backwards. Both Ferraris, and Hamilton got past him to make it onto the podium, whilst Vettel himself held on to fourth place.

Further back, the Hispania cars started from the pitlane, and Chandhok was out after just one lap. He hit a kerb and spun off. Senna’s engine blew up. Both Glock and di Grassi suffered mechanical problems for Virgin Racing. Pedro de la Rosa and Kobayashi both retired for Sauber. Lotus were ecstatic to be the only new team bringing both drivers to the finish safely, although Trulli did have to nurse his car across the line.
Elsewhere, Rosberg finished ahead of Schumacher – 5th and 6th place – whilst Kubica just missed out on some points finishing 11th, whilst teammate Petrov retired from the race.

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

14-Mar-10: Alonso Leads a Ferrari 1-2 in Bahrain

Fernando Alonso leads his teammate around the Sakhir circuit before taking his first victory since Japan 2008. He and Massa made it a 1-2 for the Italian squad, with Hamilton joining them on the podium. Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel suffered mechanical troubles that meant he fell back through the field, ultimately finishing fourth.

Credit: Bridgestone Corporation

Fernando’s First for Ferrari

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.

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

As an integral part of Monster’s ongoing global push, the distinctive Monster Energy logo will feature on the helmets of the team’s drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, and on their silver racesuits from the first race of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday 14 March.

Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Monster Energy to MERCEDES GP PETRONAS as we get our season underway in Bahrain this weekend. Monster had their first taste of Formula One success last year and we are very pleased that they have chosen our team to continue and extend their sponsorship involvement with the sport. With the Monster Energy logo prominent on the helmets of our drivers, Michael and Nico, the Monster brand has a strong global platform for bringing their dynamic marketing to Formula One. We look forward to working with them over the course of the 2010 season.”

Mark Hall, President of Monster Energy, said: “At Monster Energy we don’t hold back. Following our success with sponsoring the current Formula One World Champion Jenson Button in 2009, we’re delighted to have stepped up our involvement in the sport and joined with the current Constructors’ Champions MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. The team has such an exciting driver line-up with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher teaming up with emerging star Nico Rosberg and they will undoubtedly deliver Monster’s ‘Go Big’ message to the hundreds of millions of fans around the world that follow every race. The team’s competitive approach and commitment to achieving success is a perfect fit for Monster Energy as we continue to expand internationally.”

Monster Energy Teams Up with Mercedes GP Petronas

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS pairing of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher progressed through the first two sessions of qualifying before taking to the track again for a highly-competitive final session.

Nico and Michael completed just one run in Q3, using the softer compound option tyre, and qualified in fifth and seventh positions respectively for tomorrow’s 49-lap race.

NICO ROSBERG
“To be honest, we were hoping for a bit more today although we were lacking the pace to challenge right at the front so I guess we should not be too disappointed. It was so difficult out there with the tyres overheating. If you made a small mistake and got oversteer, then you lost a lot of grip for the next few corners. It’s going to be very important to look after the tyres tomorrow in the race. Overall it’s a good start for me and with a bit of luck, we should be able to challenge for a podium place tomorrow.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“I am satisfied with seventh place today having been away from Formula One for such a long time. By coincidence, it’s the same grid position that I had when I started my career at Spa in 1991. It was fun to work with my new team and I appreciate all their efforts to support me as I get back into the swing of things. The boys are really good and I feel that we’ve improved step-by-step over the weekend. I’m looking forward to the race and I expect even more to come.”

ROSS BRAWN
“It was a reasonable qualifying session today although we hoped for more after this morning’s practice. The balance of the car suffered between practice and qualifying, possibly due to the increasing track temperatures, and we lost some pace as a result. Nico drove very well today in all sessions and Michael, taking part in his first qualifying session since 2006, is getting back into the rhythm as he gets more miles in the car.”

NORBERT HAUG
“Not a bad start to the first race weekend for MERCEDES GP PETRONAS in achieving fifth and seventh position in our first qualifying session. I think we looked stronger this morning – and it is our target to be better again during tomorrows race. Nico has done a great job since lap one of the weekend and Michael, who is starting his first Formula One race after three and a half years, is one place ahead of reigning World Champion Jenson Button. The race tomorrow will be extremely tough for the drivers, the cars and their engines and we hope to be well prepared for the battle.”

Mercedes GP – Qualifying in Bahrain

Qualifying: Q1 1m55.341s (on Primes, 6^th), Q2 1m54.707s (on Options, 6^th), Q3 1m55.217s (on Options, 4^th overall)

“I’m surprised by this afternoon’s result: while we didn’t have the pace of the faster cars, I definitely wasn’t expecting to be fourth quickest.”

“But it’s a good starting point and tomorrow I hope to keep the position or gain at least one more. I don’t think a win is going to be on the cards – but we’ll be giving it the best we can.

We’ve struggled in the middle sector – we’re lacking a bit of downforce – but I know the guys back in the factory will be pushing as hard as they can. And this is a much, much better position to start the season in than the one we found ourselves in last year.

“Managing the tyres tomorrow is going to be very tricky. I don’t think people perhaps understand how tough it is to look after them in these conditions – it’s unbelievable how quickly they drop off. We’ll take the race one step at a time.”

JENSON BUTTON, MP4-25A-03, P3 programme, 1m55.000s (+0.901s) 14 laps (7^th)

Qualifying: Q1 1m55.715s (on Primes, 11^th), Q2 1m55.168s (on Options, 10^th), Q3 1m55.672s (on Options, 8^th overall)

“I really struggled with front locking this afternoon – but we cured that problem throughout the sessions. I was getting happier with the car throughout each stint, but in Q3 something didn’t feel quite right. The engineers are looking at the data to see what it was.

It’s been a surprise to us to see the pace of the quickest cars. Today, we saw which cars are fast over one lap; tomorrow maybe we’ll see a slightly different picture because these cars work very differently on higher fuel-loads. Besides, your strategy isn’t decided on the Saturday any more – we’ll need to see what the others are doing in the race.

“There’ll be a lot of heavy cars going into Turn One tomorrow, but hopefully I’ll pick a nice line and get through cleanly. I’m looking forward to the challenge and it’s going to be a very different one to what everybody has been used to. It’ll be a long race tomorrow.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“We had a few issues with grip and ride in qualifying today – especially in the middle sector of the lap over the bumps. That being the case, both our drivers did a fantastic job – and as a result Lewis will start tomorrow’s race from the second row and Jenson from the fourth row. It’ll be a hot and tiring Sunday afternoon for all 24 drivers, but Jenson’s and Lewis’s fitness and determination will benefit them throughout the 49 laps.”

McLaren – 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying

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

The Back of Beyond

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.”

Ferrari – Bahrain GP – 13 March 2010

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.

Formula 1 is Back, and 2010 is Go!