Brawn GP driver Jenson Button used a super soft – super soft – medium tyre strategy to win a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix in searing hot conditions at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Button finished 7.1 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who used the same strategy in his Red Bull. Pole-sitter Jarno Trulli used a super soft – medium – super soft strategy in his Panasonic Toyota Racing car to finish third. Bridgestone’s super soft tyre worked particularly well here, even with a track temperature of over 50 degrees Celsius, delivering good grip and consistency.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

How was the race from Bridgestone’s perspective?
“Today was a very exciting race, particularly from a tyre perspective. We saw a good range of strategies, and when to use the medium compound was a difficult decision for teams, as it delivered a consistently slower lap time than the super soft. The super soft performed well and heat degradation was not a big problem even in the extreme heat of Bahrain. There was some very good tyre management from drivers and also some strong running from competitors on the medium tyre too. I think today has shown just how exciting racing can be with two Bridgestone tyres with different characteristics with our 2009 allocations.”

As the second dry race of 2009, does this help with the understanding of the 2009 tyres?
“We have accumulated a lot of good data from the first four race weekends and this has been very useful. The other fully dry race in Australia was unusual as the track surface did not evolve in the same way as we had seen in previous seasons, so the tyre performance did not improve as we predicted there. Here in Bahrain was interesting because of the extreme heat, but our tyres performed well, and continued to give competitors a challenge for how best to use them during the course of the race.”

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Felipe Massa - 14th:
“My race was decided at the start. I was sandwiched between Kimi and Rubens and the front wing got broken after making contact with my team-mate’s rear wheel. At first, I didn’t realise what had really happened and so I came in after two laps to change the nose. Then, after a good start with a clear track, I found myself in traffic and my hopes of climbing up the order evaporated. Throughout the race, my telemetry wasn’t working and so my engineers couldn’t help me with the management of the car.”The KERS did not work perfectly either, especially at the start. A shame, as once again today, we lost an opportunity to score points. Now I expect to make a good step forward in performance terms in Barcelona. One thing’s for sure, we won’t give up because all of us want to get back up the order.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 6th:
“I am happy to have picked up a few points but I can’t be that pleased with our performance level. I’ve been around long enough not to get very excited about a sixth place. We are well aware we have to improve. In theory, the new package we will have in Barcelona should see us make a good step forward, but we won’t know just how big it will be compared to the others until we are on track in Spain. Today, we got the most out of the F60’s current potential, even if I lost a bit of time in my final pit stop because of a problem with a part of the fairing on the left front wheel which cost me the chance of exiting pit lane ahead of Barrichello.”

Stefano Domenicali:
“Today we were aiming to get both cars home in the points and we got it half right. Unfortunately, Felipe’s race was compromised when he collided with his team-mate in the messy moments just after the start, damaging the front wing: he dropped to the back of the pack and not able to do much, apart from demonstrating a good pace with a heavy fuel load. Kimi drove a strong race, putting the finishing touches to a positive weekend.

“His sixth place is a fairly accurate reflection of our current situation. We were well aware that we have to work on reliability, and again today we had a few problems. But above all, we have to work on the performance. We have to push really hard on development of the entire car, not just concentrating on one admittedly very important part like the diffuser. Now we can expect a pretty hot time going into the start of the European leg of the season. This will be a key phase in the championship, although I’m not implying everything will hinge on Barcelona. We are Ferrari and we will never give up until the moment when the maths says it’s over.”

Chris Dyer:
“Unfortunately, Felipe’s race was soon turned into a climb up the order after he made contact with Kimi, breaking the front wing and having to come in immediately. With so much fuel on board, the Brazilian’s pace was pretty good, but he then found himself in traffic and could not get all the potential out of the car. Furthermore, he had a telemetry problem on the car, which meant he was racing in the dark.

“Kimi drove a good race and his sixth place represents what we could have reasonably expected to do. Maybe we could have been in the fight for fifth with Barrichello if we had not encountered a problem at his final pit stop because of the fairing on the left rear wheel. All the same it was important to get the ball rolling in the classification, wiping out the zero. We still have a lot of work to do to improve, both in terms of reliability and in being competitive.”

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Not the most exciting of races, despite a very nerve wracking first lap but Jenson drove another amazing race and his time got to see the chequered flag without a safety car involved. He won it in style with a brilliant strategy, putting in the quick laps when required & overtaking on the track not in the pitlane. The Englishman is in fine form at the moment and it can only make us wonder what he could have achieved in his career so far had he had a decent car. A real contrast in career to Lewis, his fellow Brit.

Toyota who ran light in Q3 to achieve their front row grid slots, sadly didn’t have the pace or strategy to convert their one lap pace into their first race win that they are so desperate for. Another great drive from Jarno though, adding more points to his title bid. Vettel too was very strong again, making his championship much more than a one horse race.

On the plus side for us Kimi fans - he finally scored some points after putting in a solid performance with the machinery available to him. He had a brilliant start, although a ‘hairy’ moment with Massa & Rubens almost put an end to all their races. He set a consistent pace throughout the race but sadly it wasn’t enough to match the front runners.

A mistake (on the front right) in his final pitstop led to a delay which cost him a chance for 5th (although the pace of Rubens & Brawn was too much to beat) and meant he had to re-take Glock and fight until the end to keep sixth place.

Its just a shame that certain ‘journalists’ still haven’t got off his back after this strong performance. They seem to have failed to have noticed that the Ferrari is a dog to drive so what Kimi achieved from 10th was pretty impressive.

As great as it was to see him score those 3 points and spare Ferrari’s blushes - its sad its come to this. We should be feeling such joy for a Kimi win, not a sixth place. Lets hope these upgrades in Spain begin the Ferrari and Raikkonen revival.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain;

57 laps; 308.238km;

Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time

 1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  1h31:48.182

 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     7.187

 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     9.170

 4.  Hamilton      Ferrari               (B)  +    22.096

 5.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    37.779

 6.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    42.057

 7.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    42.880

 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    52.775

 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    58.198

10.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:05.149

11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:07.641

12.  Kovalainen    Ferrari               (B)  +  1:17.824

13.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:18.805

14.  Massa         McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap

15.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

16.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

17.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

18.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap

19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Trulli, 1:34.556

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap

Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    49

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Bridgestone’s super soft tyre allowed Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli to qualify on pole and head up the first ever all-Toyota front row for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Trulli set a time of 1min 33.431secs, almost three tenths ahead of team-mate Timo Glock. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) went third fastest. Track conditions were improved from Friday, with more rubber laid and the temperatures were even hotter. Glock used the super soft tyre to go fastest in the morning practice session with a time of 1min 32.605secs.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running? 
“Today was very good for Toyota as both of their cars qualified on the front row, so congratulations to them and Jarno Trulli for his fourth pole position. We saw further progress from Friday’s running with the circuit grip level improved, particularly in the practice session, due to the track being cleared of sand, and more rubber being laid. Qualifying was very exciting through every session, with even the faster cars using the super soft tyre to get through the first qualifying session.”

How are the two compounds working here in Bahrain? 
“We are seeing an interesting weekend in terms of tyre performance. The super soft tyre has worked very well so far this weekend. It delivers a good fast lap time on average 0.7 seconds faster than the medium tyre. In terms of degradation the super soft presents an interesting challenge. Some teams can use the super soft for a long stint, however some teams will have to work hard to maintain the super soft from degradation. This means that usage of the super soft tyre will be the key point to the race. The medium tyre takes longer to warm up than the super soft, even in these hot conditions. In the race medium tyre will be very durable, however with a slower ultimate lap time than the super soft.”

Stefano Domenicalli is hopeful that the Scuderia’s run of no points finishes will come to an end in the Bahrain Grand Prix.Both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen had a solid Qualifying session, lining up eighth and tenth respectively. Ferrari claim they had a strong Qualifying session and are adamant that the Bahrain Grand Prix will be the race where they open their 2009 points account.

Felipe Massa - 8th:
“It seems we have made a small step forward, but we know we still have a long way to go. Personally, I’m happy to be back in the top ten in qualifying and I hope I can have a good race and make it into the top eight. This morning, the car was handling very well, but in the afternoon it lost a little bit of performance because of oversteer, probably down to the track conditions. Tomorrow it will be very hot and that will have a considerable effect on reliability and tyre performance. We must try and make it to the finish and bring home some points, maybe making the most of the KERS, especially at the start.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 10th:
“It would have been difficult to do better than tenth. In the first two parts of qualifying, the car handled better than we had expected, but in Q3 I no longer had any new soft tyres, having already used all four sets. The car’s performance has improved with KERS. Tomorrow, the race will be very tough because of the high temperatures. Let’s see what we manage to do. The aim is to finish in the points.”

Stefano Domenicali:
“We were aware of the current situation in terms of the pecking order and how difficult it would be to get into Q3. You only had to look at the times in the second part of the session, with five cars all within half a tenth. The slightest thing and you wouldn’t make it. Cleary this is not a Ferrari-style result, but we have to make a virtue out of necessity. Tomorrow, it will be vital to ensure that first and foremost, we make it to the chequered flag. With these high temperatures, car reliability faces a stiff test. Our aim is simple, to wipe the zero off our score card in the championship.”

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1. Jarno Trulli, Toyota
2. Timo Glock, Toyota
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
4. Jenson Button, Brawn GP
5. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
6. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault
8. Felipe Massa, Ferrari
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams
10. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
11. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
12. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams
13. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
14. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
15. Nelson Piquet, Renault
16. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso
17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India
18. Mark Webber, Red Bull
19. Adrian Sutil, Force India
20. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso

Pitstop prediction:

 Driver           Q3 time    Weight  Fuel  Stop lap
 1. Trulli        1:33.431   648.5   40.5  14.0
 2. Glock         1:33.712   643     35    12.0
 3. Vettel        1:34.015   659     51    17.9
 4. Button        1:34.044   652.5   44.5  15.5
 5. Hamilton      1:34.196   652.5   44.5  15.5
 6. Barrichello   1:34.239   649     41    14.2
 7. Alonso        1:34.578   650.5   42.5  14.7
 8. Massa         1:34.818   664.5   56.5  19.9
 9. Rosberg       1:35.134   670.5   62.5  22.1
10. Raikkonen     1:35.380   671.5   63.5  22.5
11. Kovalainen               678.5   70.5  25.1
12. Nakajima                 680.9   72.9  26.0
13. Kubica                   698.6   90.6  32.6
14. Heidfeld                 696.3   88.3  31.7
15. Piquet                   677.6   69.6  24.8
16. Sutil                    679     71    25.3
17. Buemi                    678.5   70.5  25.1
18. Fisichella               652     44    15.3
19. Webber                   656     48    16.8
20. Bourdais                 667.5   59.5  21.0

Pos Driver       Team                      Q1        Q2        Q3      

 1. Trulli       Toyota                (B) 1:32.779  1:32.671  1:33.431  

 2. Glock        Toyota                (B) 1:33.165  1:32.613  1:33.712  

 3. Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:32.680  1:32.474  1:34.015  

 4. Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:32.978  1:32.842  1:34.044  

 5. Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:32.851  1:32.877  1:34.196  

 6. Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B) 1:33.116  1:32.842  1:34.239  

 7. Alonso       Renault               (B) 1:33.627  1:32.860  1:34.578  

 8. Massa        Ferrari               (B) 1:33.297  1:33.014  1:34.818  

 9. Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B) 1:33.672  1:33.166  1:35.134 

10. Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B) 1:33.117  1:32.827  1:35.380 

11. Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B) 1:33.479 

12. Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B) 1:33.221 

13. Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B) 1:33.495 

14. Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B) 1:33.377 

15. Piquet       Renault               (B) 1:33.608

16. Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:33.722 

17. Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:33.753 

18. Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B) 1:33.910 

19. Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B) 1:34.038 

20. Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B) 1:34.159

All Timing Unofficial

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Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa ended the afternoon ninety minute free practice session in sixteenth and eighteenth places respectively. The Finn completed a total of 47 laps over today’s three hours of track time, the Brazilian 51.

After removing the KERS system from the two F60 in China last week, today, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers did a back to back comparison, with Felipe’s car using the power boosting system, while Kimi ran without it. The data will now be analysed to make a decision regarding the system for the rest of this weekend. However, whatever the decision, it’s clear that between Sunday night in Shanghai and Friday morning in Bahrain, there can be no miracle cures and so, while happy the cars ran reliably, neither Ferrari driver is particularly impressed with his own turn of speed at the moment. But there’s no sense of giving up in the team garage, with everyone getting on with their jobs as usual, making the best of a difficult time.

At the top of the time sheet today, we find Nico Rosberg in the Williams Toyota, while second is the Renault of Fernando Alonso, followed by Jarno Trulli in the Toyota. Fourth and fifth places go to the drivers who came first and second in China, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in their Red Bull-Renault, while series leader, Jenson Button, rounds off the top six.

The weather has been the main talking point here today, which makes a pleasant change from sport politics. While the first three races have been characterised by rain, the topic in the desert is the heat, with the air temperature in the high thirties and the track hitting fifty. It’s the hottest conditions seen all year and it is partly due to the fact this race is later than usual on the calendar - the first time Formula 1 came here it was on 04/04/04 and the forecast for tomorrow is hotter still.

Felipe Massa - 16th: ”This was definitely not a good day. We worked a lot towards the race, but we have to try and improve the handling of the car to move up the order for tomorrow and Sunday. The harder tyre is very difficult to use, while the soft one seems to be the best, not just in terms of outright performance but also over a distance. The KERS helps: without it, I would have certainly been slower. I made a mistake at the final turn on my last set of soft tyres, which cost me at least three tenths. We must be patient at the moment and try to do the best possible in these conditions.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 18th: ”Even if we don’t know what fuel loads the other teams had, it’s clear that we are not as quick as we would like, but we have to try and make the best of this situation. Anyway, we knew that the picture for this race would be no different to what we’ve seen in previous ones. Today we opted to run in two different configurations and did a lot of work on finding the best set-up for the car. We collected a lot of data which we will now analyse, to be as well prepared as possible for the race. We can expect a difficult weekend, but we were never in any doubt about that.”

Stefano Domenicali: ”Our car is unchanged from the way it was in Shanghai and therefore, we couldn’t expect a different picture. “Our aim is to bring home some points: we have to be realistic and at the moment, we cannot aspire to more than that. We have to tackle this difficult phase with a cool head, working on all fronts to try and get back to being competitive as soon as possible.”

Chris Dyer: ”Today, we had a very full work programme, based mainly on race preparation and on a comparison between the two cars that ran in different configurations: Felipe’s was fitted with KERS, while Kimi’s was not. We acquired a load of data which we will now evaluate very carefully before taking any definite decisions regarding the rest of the weekend. Today’s conditions were very difficult, with high temperatures. We struggled a lot with the harder tyres, while the softer ones worked better. We had no reliability problems, which is the most positive aspect of the day. As for performance, we have a lot of work to do to try and improve it, while well aware of our current potential.”

Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on track in Sakhir for the first day of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg’s AT&T Williams set the day’s fastest lap time in the afternoon practice session held in hot and sunny weather conditions. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton used the medium compound to go fastest in the similar conditions of the morning session.

The 5.41 km Bahrain International Circuit was quite slippery for the first session of the weekend due to sand on the track, as was expected due to the circuit’s desert-based location. Today was the first time that a Bridgestone’s super soft compound tyre has been used at a grand prix meeting in Bahrain, although three teams have tested with this tyre here in the pre-season testing.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running? 
“Today we saw very close lap times in the afternoon, with the top thirteen cars separated by a second. The track was very sandy at first this morning and this limits the amount of grip from the circuit. The hot conditions meant the air was not as dense as in pre-season testing here so there was less downforce from the cars. Because of these factors we did see drivers struggle with braking and there were many flat spots on the tyres. However, once the track improved we saw some good evaluation work from the teams and very close lap times set. Both tyres appear to work well and we expect the track to improve further tomorrow.”

How do you expect this allocation to work here over the weekend? 
“We have good data from our time here in the pre-season testing. We expect that the super soft tyre will be more durable than we have seen previously, whilst providing good lap times too. The medium tyre will take longer to provide its best lap time, but will be very durable. Today the super soft tyre gave its best lap time from its first flying lap and the medium tyre gave its best from its third or fourth flying lap. I think there will be many strategy options for this weekend’s race.”

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Rosberg finished off the day in Sakhir with the fastest time, which is becoming something of a habit this year for him. Sadly the Ferrari’s pace seems to have gone backwards with Kimi (without KERS),finishing down in 18th place and Massa (with KERS) finishing 16th.

Kimi did show some speed in the first session, ironically though it was when he managed to break the pitlane speed limit and not on track. 

Free Practice 1

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time              Laps

 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:33.647 +         19

 2.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:33.907 + 0.260   17

 3.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:33.938 + 0.291   17

 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:34.227 + 0.580   24

 5.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:34.434 + 0.787   15

 6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:34.502 + 0.855   24

 7.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:34.531 + 0.884   18

 8.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:34.589 + 0.942   17

 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:34.827 + 1.180   21

10.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:34.827 + 1.180   19

11.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:34.880 + 1.233   24

12.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:34.938 + 1.291   21

13.  Piquet        Renault              (B)  1:34.974 + 1.327   21

14.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:35.021 + 1.374   18

15.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:35.036 + 1.389   22

16.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:35.042 + 1.395   16

17.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:35.333 + 1.686   20

18.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:35.348 + 1.701   24

19.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:35.353 + 1.706   22

20.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:35.369 + 1.722   15

Free Practice 2

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps

 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:33.339            36

 2.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:33.530  + 0.191   25

 3.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:33.616  + 0.277   37

 4.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:33.661  + 0.322   29

 5.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:33.676  + 0.337   32

 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:33.694  + 0.355   35

 7.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:33.763  + 0.424   30

 8.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:33.764  + 0.425   37

 9.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:33.885  + 0.546   30

10.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:33.899  + 0.560   36

11.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:33.994  + 0.655   30

12.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:34.025  + 0.686   23

13.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:34.127  + 0.788   37

14.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:34.366  + 1.027   26

15.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:34.411  + 1.072   29

16.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:34.564  + 1.225   34

17.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:34.605  + 1.266   31

18.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:34.670  + 1.331   28

19.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:34.764  + 1.425   35

20.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:34.790  + 1.451   33

All Timing Unofficial

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