Tag: featured

By our Special Correspondent

Bahrain, 22 April 2012: Starting from pole, double world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing team stormed to victory to win his 22nd GP title at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship at the Sakhir International Circuit here on Sunday. Sebastian Vettel who dominated the season last year won his last race at the Budh International Circuit, near Delhi in October last year. He made a stunning start and showed glimpses of his last year’s dominance take over-2-second lead by the end of the first lap. Lewis Hamilton, the current leader before going into the race finished 8th.

The win threw this year’s world championship open, as four different drivers from four different teams won the first four races this season. But the significance of Bahrain is the strong return by former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who came seond for Team Lotus with compatriot Grosjean making it a double finish for the team which used to be called as Williams, till last year. Jenson Button of McLaren won the first race at Melbourne, Fernando Alonso was a surprise winner at the rain-hit Malysian GP on March 25 while Nico Roseberg notched his first Formula 1 title at China’s Shanghai circuit last Sunday.

Mark Webber earned his fourth consecutive fourth place to keep him in the hunt for an attack on the title. Nico Roseberg of Mercedes finishd 5th while Fernando Alonso of Ferrari took the seventh place while his teammate Felipe Massa was 9th. Force India’s second driver  Nico Hulkenberg finished in 12th position.

Sahara Force India’s Paul di Resta, withstood a late challenge from Fernando Alonso seconds before the finish, to take a well deserved 6th place which prompted Star Sports commentator and former Indian F1 driver Karun Chandhok to say that the Force have underperformed this season in the first three races after a strong showing in the season early testing. Narain Karthikeyan, the only Indian on the grid, was content to successfully finish the race with the HRT team, whose target is to see that both the cars finish the race until new updates for the car. Narain finished in 21nd place while his teammater Pedro de la Rosa was ahead at 20th place. The back-end team is struggling with cooling systems but saw great performance by Narain in rain during the third race at Sepang in Malaysia last month. Narain Karthikeyan: “The start today was good, but then the first few laps were quite tough because there was dust everywhere. I settled behind Pedro but I think I pushed too hard in the first stint because my tyres were dead very quickly. After my first pitstop, I improved a lot and from there my lap times were consistent. We did a four-stop strategy, which I think went very well, and in the end we were only half a second behind Pedro at the checkered flag. My race performan

The victory takes, Vettel to the top of the leader board in the Drivers’ championship with 53 points, four points aheadd of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull Racing team also takes the top spot in the Constructors’ championship with 101 points ahead of McLaren, who has 92 points. Lotus, with a double finish today, have 57 points for a third spot. Force India is in the eight place in the Constructors’ championship while Paul di Resta is in the 10th place in the Drivers’ list with 15 points.

In the 48th lap, Nico Roseberg overtook Paul di Resta for a 5th place and four laps later Jenson Button, mounting a challenge on Paul was forced to pit for a puncture which effectively put him out of points giving Michael Schumacher a last-ditch points place in tenth position.

The controversial race finally ended without any security issues. The only glitch, a minor one, was when Force India was forced to quit a session on Friday to make sure that team members reach their hotels safely before dark after they were caught up in an incident earlier when they were travelling in a private taxi. The next race will be in Spain on May 13 after a long break which teams are expected to use for testing and updates.

ends

Bahrain, 21 April 2012: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton exuded confidence and would be going for an all-out win in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fourth GP of thw Formula One World Championship, at the Sakhir international circuit on Sunday though he would be starting from the second place.

While Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, the current world champion got the best position this year by taking the pole position, Lewis Hamilton who got three podium places in the last three races (after starting on pole) took the top spot on the leader board of the drivers’ championship and is all geared up to go for a kill from the second place with teammate Jenson Button taking the fourth spot..

LEWIS HAMILTON

MP4-27A-03

P3

4^th                                         1m33.782s (+0.528s) 16 laps

Qualifying

Q1 16^th                    1m34.813s (on Primes)

Q2 1^st                      1m33.209s (on Options)

Q3 2^nd overall         1m32.520s (on Options)

“I’m very happy with how qualifying went and the job the team has done so far this weekend. I’ve put the car on the front row at every race this year, and I feel this was one of my best qualifying performances so far. Both my laps in Q3 were very good and I feel I got everything out of the car.

“Fingers crossed for tomorrow: both Red Bull drivers will be very hard to beat in the race, but we’re less than a tenth behind on race pace. The start could be key – we’ve had good launches all season so I expect us to be able to challenge Seb [Vettel] down to Turn One.

“This season is shaping up to be very interesting: it’s anyone’s for the taking, at the moment”

 JENSON BUTTON

MP4-27A-04

P3

6^th                            1m33.899s (+0.645s) 14 laps

Qualifying

Q1 15^th                    1m34.792s (on Primes)

Q2 6^th                      1m33.416s (on Options)

Q3 4^th overall         1m32.711s (on Options)

“Fourth position wasn’t quite what I’d been hoping for, but it’s not too bad. It’s always a horrible feeling on your final Q3 lap when the balance isn’t quite where you want it. I couldn’t get the best from the car so I pitted early to save the tyres. Besides, fourth isn’t too bad anyway.

“The car is definitely a lot better than it was yesterday – we made some improvements overnight. We’d expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in qualifying, so to be close to them is a positive. A nice surprise is that we’re ahead of Nico [Rosberg] who was on pole just a week ago.

“A good launch tomorrow will be very important – both Lewis and I will be starting on the dirty side of the grid, which makes things more difficult, so we’ll need to get it right. Tyre management will be crucial too.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“As we’ve already got used to seeing this season, it was very tight at the top today.

“Even the early stages of qualifying – Q1 and Q2 – are nowadays extremely hard to get through. Michael [Schumacher] and Kimi [Raikkonen] can confirm that.

“As for our boys, well, Lewis drove an excellent lap, and missed out on pole position by just a tenth of a second. Jenson, too, was his usual rapid and reliable self, ending up in fourth place, directly behind Lewis on tomorrow’s grid.

“The race will inevitably be a physically challenging one for all the drivers, as is always the case in hot climates such as Bahrain’s, but we’ve got two tough racers in Lewis and Jenson and our intention is to go for the win.”

ends

Bahrain, 21 April 2012: Current World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing showed Bulls are still in when he won the pole for the first time this season. Here are the excerpts of the FIA Press Conference number three at the fourth GP of the season in Bahrain on Saturday.

TV UNILATERAL

Sebastian, four races into the 2012 season and your first pole position of the season? I take it it’s good to be back?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it obviously feels great and I think this one I completely owe it to the team, to the guys. It wasn’t the easiest start to the season for us. Surely, a lot of expectations, but I think more than anything it’s what we expect from ourselves, and we didn’t match our expectations and we’ve been extremely busy working on the car, trimming here and there, finding the perfect solution and the right way to go, the way forward. And the boys – I don’t think they had much sleep to be honest in the first four races. We had a tough weekend last weekend in China and now, here, they seriously had a lack of sleep, and it’s very good to put the car on pole. I think both of us, we owe the result today to the team – it’s good. The car felt much better all weekend. I was quite happy. I didn’t have the smoothest qualifying. I was nearly out in Q1 and nearly out in Q2 but then I knew that when I get the lap in – I nail it –  then we should be in a better place. It’s great, obviously, to see that we’ve just beaten Lewis for pole, so I’m very happy.

Lewis, too, I’m sure a few anxious moments for you in qualifying one and compared to this morning with the pace of your car so much better in qualifying session. So even though you’re second, is that satisfying overall?

Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely. I’m very happy with the job we’ve done. Just been trying to improve the set-up all weekend and in FP3 it wasn’t the most spectacular. But yeah, a little bit close in Q1 but thank goodness we got through. Generally, probably one of my best qualifying sessions, even though obviously in the past we did it on the first lap, getting pole position, but the first lap wasn’t great and the second lap was great. I’m quite happy with that and we just need to keep on pushing.

Mark, you were on provisional pole but was this just a track that was evolving constantly right up until the last car went over the line? Was that what separated you from your team-mate today?

Mark WEBBER: I think it’s always beneficial if you can go a bit later, especially today, but you know we take it in turns at each race and this track looked particularly sensitive to that all weekend. In the end Seb did a good lap, it was a good pole. In the end we’re satisfied with being towards the front. There have been some big gaps to the opposition, on Saturday in particular. I think we’re pretty surprised to be as competitive as we are on a track that is demanding of probably not some of our strengths. All in all it’s for the guys. We’re at the front and we can definitely race from there.

You made a slight mistake, Mark. Did that cost you any time whatsoever?

MW: In?

On your final run, just a little lock-up.

MW: No. That was not too bad. I didn’t leave enough of a gap to Paul [Di Resta] actually. I was surprised by how much I closed on him and got him a little bit in 13, so lost a little bit there. That was the only thing I would have liked to have done better, given him a better gap. But, yeah, we’re here.

Throughout this weekend we’ve seen that it’s been very difficult to string together the perfect lap. Sebastian, you’ve got to do 57 of them in Sunday’s race. Just how tough will that be, even from pole position?

SV: I think it’s always tough. The race here is long and anything can happen. I think we are pretty aggressive and we should be better off in the race. The race pace has proven to be pretty consistent over the last couple of races. This one, I’m definitely happier with how the car feels and we should be able to hopefully get the same kind of feeling and result tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the start of the race and then I think it will be pretty tight to be honest. Of course, you’re obviously dealing here with the top three but I think there are also other people tomorrow who will have a very good chance. I think Nico has been very, very strong all weekend, and the Lotus guys they can surprise. So, in terms of race pace, I think everyone will be much closer together and I just hope we can keep it up and have a good result tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Your 31^st pole position Sebastian, and your second pole position here

SV: 31? Shit! Yeah, pretty happy, obviously, as I mentioned. I felt much happier with the car all weekend, I went out and I think we’ve always had the ability to go reasonably quick. Surely it depends a little bit when and where you are, which tyres etc., but I had a good feeling all throughout the weekend and I’m very happy. I knew in qualifying we should be able to put the car higher up this time in qualifying. Q1 and Q2 wasn’t perfect, the laps I got in were not 100 per cent without mistakes and I knew in the third qualifying that getting everything together we should be in a better place. First run I obviously ran the set I scrubbed in Q2, wasn’t ideal, so I knew that with a new tyre there was a little bit again to gain and it did happen, so I’m very happy, very pleased and extremely happy for the team because the guys have done incredible lately. Four races so far but 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 – and I think we owe the result to those guys it the garage today.

You mentioned you found some answers in China and a step forward here, can you give us some indication of that?

SV: Well, I think given the balance we had – or I had in particular – the first two races where I wasn’t happy, we decided in China to go back and see where we are. Equally, Mark carried on, which I think was good to get a straight comparison. And we found that the new car, or new package, has its advantages and the old package has its advantages and I think it was good to get an answer on that. So, we ended up with two cars, either one probably strong in a certain area so I think it helped us also going into this weekend trying to set up the car, working with the tyres, which seem to be tricky this year. We felt a little bit happier all around, also given the high temperatures here, which is not making life easier.

What’s it like driving on the soft tyres? Everyone’s saying that’s what it’s going to be about during the race itself.

SV: I think they worked pretty well. Yesterday in second practice I improved by one-tenth, I don’t know why, so today yeah, I was able to squeeze the same amount of lap time out of the tyres that everyone else compared to the hard – or the medium – tyre. So, yeah, I think we should be in a good position tomorrow. I think the car is good in the race, we’ve proven in the last races that race pace is good enough to get some big points. Now we are starting for the first time a little bit further up and yeah, hopefully that makes our life a little bit easier. I’m looking forward to the start, the first corner, first lap and yeah, if we’re not P15 after the first lap then it will be a different race. So, fingers crossed, but surely tomorrow with the temperatures being so hot it will be crucial to take care of those tyres.

Lewis, the one thing that’s been constant throughout the season is you on the front row, or at least first and second in qualifying – even if obviously in China you got the penalty – but you must be pleased with the way qualifying has been going this year?

LH: Absolutely. Very happy with the performance of the car and the performance of the team and improvements that we’ve been making – and also really happy with the laps that I’ve been doing. I’ve been really eking out everything that I can from the car. Today we just weren’t quick enough to get a pole but still to be on the front row is a great feeling and compared to the last race, obviously we were on the front row but we weren’t able to start there with the penalty. This weekend we’re in a much better position, so I’m really excited for a good race but as Sebastian said, it’s going to be tough to look after the tyres tomorrow.

And also the rivals are different. All of a sudden it’s dark blue whereas at the last race it was grey with Mercedes.

LH: Yeah, absolutely, they’ve clearly made a good step this weekend. I anticipated they’d be very quick this weekend and in their long run pace they’re very strong, probably the strongest – and Mark’s been the fastest in all the races so far I think – so it’ll be interesting tomorrow but we’ll do everything we can to give them a run for their money.

And is it all about tyres and temperatures and wind at this circuit at this moment?

LH: It is. The wind, I don’t remember any other circuit – maybe Barcelona – but otherwise this is one of the trickiest circuits in terms of the wind direction and how it helps and the positives and negatives on certain corners. It’s quite interesting. It’s not easy to get it right: some of us do, some of us don’t.

Mark, you said yesterday the challenge was to get it all together. Presumably you got it all together?

MW: Yeah, it was a pretty good session. Quali wasn’t easy for us in the first part. And I think the guys have done a great job. Pretty happy with Q3 to be honest, we’re up there towards the front.

Is it all about the rear tyres, about traction?

MW: Yeah, it’s pretty tough on the tyres here, bit of a surprise for all of us yesterday. We did our homework and we’ll how that obviously unfolds in the GP.

And this is your best grid here.

MW: Yeah, it’s normally not a great track for me but I’ve been quick all weekend and I feel confident for the race.

And the Australian Junior Team starts sixth on the grid – as in Daniel [Ricciardo]

MW: Oh, I didn’t know that. Good effort!

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Kate  Walker – Girl Racer) Question to all of you; coming into the weekend, one of the things that we heard was a possible concern was the engine due to dust and sand. We’ve seen a very very dusty day today. Have you got concerns about your engines in the race tomorrow?

SV: No, because we’ve run here previously and it’s more or less the same: sometimes more sand, sometimes less. They do a good job here around the track, cleaning the circuit. I was surprised this year that there seemed to be less dust on the track than in previous years, so I think that if they keep doing that we should be OK tomorrow concerning the engine.

LH: The same really. The engineers do a fantastic job to design the engine, it’s hardly affected, the filters are very very good, so it doesn’t cause us any trouble.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how much of a relief is it for you to get this pole position after the difficult start to the season? Were you worried that this could be a more difficult season; now you have the car that you were used to?

SV: Pretty much the same way as people around, really. Not us inside the team, not myself. I started to… it looked like panic, it’s the same now. We’ve got a very good result today and I’m very happy. Of course I’m happy to be on pole for tomorrow’s race. For sure it feels good but zero points scored so far as the race is tomorrow. I think we are only a couple of races into the season, as I’ve mentioned many times now because I’ve had the same questions. We didn’t have the start that maybe we expected and people probably expected of us, but since day one, where we realised that maybe we weren’t as strong as we wanted to be, we’ve worked very very hard and this is step one towards the right direction so we keep fighting and keep working hard to make sure that the results similar to today come more often again.

Q; (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian and Mark, we saw that in the last race Nico Rosberg did very well, but today he’s further back as you were in the last race. Is this a new phase for the team or is it a characteristic of the season in Formula One, all these changes?

SV: I think that we’ve seen so far that things can change very quickly. We’ve seen that Nico had a phenomenal lap in China, he out-qualified everyone by half a second, no one had a chance on that Saturday and to be fair, also on Sunday he was in a league of his own. This weekend I think they’re very strong again. I think Michael went out in Q1 because they didn’t run again and then I don’t know what happened to Nico. I heard that he’s fifth so I don’t consider that is qualifying at the back, and I think they will be very strong tomorrow. This circuit is known for being a bit of an engine circuit; they have a very strong package, they are very quick on the straights so surely, given the pace he had all weekend, we expected him maybe to be a bit stronger in qualifying, but given the margins and given the gaps between the cars, first, second, third, fifth, I haven’t seen the complete result yet but I don’t think there’s much between them, so a little mistake here or there is enough to maybe not get the best result you can or you could on that day. Equally, I went out last weekend in Q2, or I didn’t make it to Q3 and there wasn’t much missing, so I think it’s fairly close this year and I think that the racing we have seen as well and probably will see again tomorrow.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, two days ago you said that you were lacking something to have a winning car. Now did you change your mind? And the second question is about Nico: it seems that Nico saved a set of new soft tyres. Is that crucial or doesn’t it matter?

SV: Surely it’s an advantage for him if he has more sets of new tyres. How much of an advantage you will see tomorrow. Sometimes it turns out to be a massive advantage, sometimes none. People run different strategies and we start to do that already on Saturday. All in all, I’m very pleased with the result today. As I said, I was much happier with the car all weekend and felt that we can qualify in a much better position. Going into qualifying, I knew that with a little bit here and there we could potentially go on pole. Going into Q3, seeing everyone’s first shot – Lewis very competitive – I know that we should be able to match him, maybe go a bit quicker so in the end, I’m very happy that we did, but I still think that for tomorrow, other people are probably the favourites. We start from the front row, P1, but it’s a long race and a lot of things can happen. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the race, so we will see.

Q: (Khoda Rawi – F1Arab.com) Lewis, I believe you are the first driver in F1 history that finished the first three races of the season in third position, and you’ve never won here before. Do you think you can do it tomorrow, since the car seems competitive on all tracks?

LH: It’s going to be massively hard tomorrow, for sure. We seem to have had some good races here. I think in my first year I was second here – we struggled a little bit that year and yet we still got good results and I think we have a better car this year to fight the Red Bulls in the race. I think their race pace has generally been a little bit quicker in the last couple of races, within a tenth (of a second) of race pace, but we’ve made some improvements so I hope that tomorrow our set-up works really well for us and we can challenge for a win.

Q: (Khoda Rawi – F1Arab.com) Lewis, you have a huge fan base in the Middle East; what would you like to say to your fans?

LH: To my fans here… Growing up I never ever thought that I would ever have fans so to learn that I have more and more fans coming from different places and particularly the Middle East is a fantastic feeling, so I’m very much appreciative of all the support that they give me and I hope that many of them come this weekend. And a big thank you to all of them for some of the messages that I get, because I do notice that I have certain messages on Twitter or Facebook from out here in the Middle East, so just a big thank you to them, and fingers crossed for the season.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, as it was mentioned already, Rosberg had one run in each of the qualifying sessions. I think you had two attempts each. Was that planned or were there some problems?

SV: No, surely it was not planned. Ideally you go through with one run only, the minimum amount of effort so in the first qualifying I think both Mark and myself weren’t happy with the first run and then we were able to re-balance the car and we were maybe then fine in the second run. But it just shows how competitive it is, how close it can be. I saw that Lewis was P16 or 17 and just made it by four hundredths so half a tenth. With the track improving and the other people having very competitive cars, it’s very close. The same in Q2: I wasn’t entirely happy with my lap. I made a little bit of a mistake going into turn eight and I know that I should have been in a better place in Q2. I wasn’t keen to go out and then we went out but I didn’t make it across the line in time in order to have another go, so fortunately it was good enough, but again, in Q2, I think Kimi got caught out and didn’t make it to Q3 so… If you can make it with one run, that’s preferred because you save tyres.

Q: (Stephane Barbé – L’Equipe) Sebastian, being a two time World Champion already, how much did it help not to panic after the first races?

SV: It’s the same as I said before, I think we had no reason to panic and equally, now it’s not as if we are living in a different world, so we still know that we have a lot to do, a lot of work ahead of us. Surely the result is very good for all of us, because it gives you a lot of energy knowing that if you work hard, you also get the rewards. As I mentioned, especially for the guys in the garage, working day and night, as much as they can, I think it’s good to be back on top, but we have a race tomorrow and that’s when we can score points and not before. As I said, I don’t think we had a reason to panic and equally, now the world is still turning and we keep fighting and keep doing what we were doing, working hard and trying to come back to where we have been last year.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) With regards to the death of a young man last night in the protests that have marred this Grand Prix, I just wondered if any of you drivers would care to comment on that at all?

SV: It’s the first time that I’ve heard about it. I don’t know what happened so it’s difficult to comment. I think it’s always… either you know the person or you don’t, but I think it’s always dreadful if someone dies, but I don’t know what happened, so…

MW: I don’t know the situation so… it’s never good, of course.

Ends

Bahrain, 20 April 2012 (FIA): At the second official press conference of the F1 week-end of the much-publicised and controversial Bahrain Grand Prix, the team officials of major teams including Vodafone McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Force India have allayed fears about the safety of running an F1 in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain ruled by the minority community.

Both the FIA, the international governing body for running and promoting motorsport and the F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone stuck to their guns to keep the word given to the government and to protect their pockets but critics argued that it was a bad advertisement for the sport to run the race under such adverse public glare.

However, its race time and its Friday and so the following team representatives participated in the second FIA press conference of the week: Bob FERNLEY (Force India), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Eric BOULLIER (Lotus), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red Bull). The transcript:

PRESS CONFERENCE

Gentlemen a subject we can’t escape, unfortunately: This grand prix is definitely one of the best organised, the drivers all say that. We’ve had a lot speculation from both angles, negative and positive, but I’d like to your views regarding the security situation. Are you comfortable with how things are evolving?

Martin WHITMARSH: There have undoubtedly been difficult times here but from a pure team perspective, we’ve been comfortable with the situation. Clearly we race as an international sport all over the world and we have security concerns and issues at a number or races and we take that very seriously, and we’re cautious, and we try to take the right precautions. But ultimately we’re a race team. We’re here to go motor racing and that’s our number one priority.

Norbert HAUG: Absolutely the same.

Christian HORNER: Martin’s summed it up perfectly, I think. Formula One is a sport at the end of the day and it’s wrong for it to be used politically. We’re here to race, we trust in the FIA, in the decisions that they made, and we’re comfortable with the decisions that they have made. For us, it’s about trying to extract the maximum from this weekend as a sporting team in a sporting championship. The calendar is obviously set by the FIA.

Eric BOULLIER: I think everything has been said by the first row, so, as far as we are concerned, as Lotus, and regarding the specific question, we are fine.

Stefano DOMENICALI: You are speaking about security and I would say that we have received all the guarantees from the organisers, the federation, the embassy, and it is pretty clear at the moment that it is like that. We don’t seem to be the target of anyone that is protesting. We are here for the event that is racing, the race of the F1 World Championship and we are here to make the best of it. From a political point of view, the only thing I can is that there are a lot of things going on and we really hope that all the dialogue that has started within the different parts will do the best thing in the shortest time possible for everyone. This is really the hope that we have, as sportsmen and as a man of the world.

Bob FERNLEY: I completely agree with the guys. Hopefully, the Formula One programme has brought the world’s media here, it gives a good platform for debate and hopefully it will help with the healing process for Bahrain, and that’s why we’re here.

We’ll go on to the sporting side. Martin, if I can start with you. You’re leading both world championships. How have things evolved today for you in terms of free practice? You’re not perhaps quite as competitive as we thought you would be.

MW: No, I think it’s been a tricky day. The wind changed direction. I think from about half way through that [afternoon] session there was a tailwind through turns four, five, six and seven, which made it quite tricky for the drivers. I think we weren’t happy with where we were in terms of grip, generally. But that’s what Friday is about. It’s about learning how to set the car up for this particular circuit and these particular conditions. I think the wind is going to be quite significant. It often is here. If you recall it is an island where the wind can change quite dramatically from 10 o’clock in the morning until midday and then drop off in the afternoon, so I think that makes it, with all the other challenges of selection of top gear for the race and for qualifying… wind direction is going to quite an interesting challenge and if you get that right I think you’ll be in good shape. So, overall, I think, we’ve got some reasonable data and the trick is to put that to good effect and make sure we can dial in and have a competitive car tomorrow.

Norbert, obviously a fantastic weekend for you last weekend and you still seem to be up there?

NH: Well, I think it’s quite difficult to judge. I would not really read too much into the quickest time on Friday, we saw that before. I think people run various programmes, different programmes, but I think we are heading in the right direction. We learned quite a lot. The challenge is how to use the tyres, how to set up your car and then do the necessary amount of laps for the race and decide on how many stops you will do. You get the first impression of that on Friday. I think the team learned quite a lot. I haven’t seen the analysis so far, we’ll probably know a bit more later. Currently, I really cannot judge where we are. We should not read into the fact that we are first today that we are the big favourites for tomorrow and Sunday.

Christian, so on the same basis should I not read too much into the fact you were up in the top four today?

CH: I think it’s been a sensible day for us, we’ve worked through a programme. I think this year the tyre has dominated performance and I think it’s crucial to try and understand how the tyres work, how to get on top of those tyres and I think we’ve learned a lot over those first three races. Each of the races has been at a different nature of circuit, different conditions. We’ve seen the form of all the teams moving around a lot and the midfield making a big step as well. And that’s produced some great racing, I think last weekend was a phenomenal race and that adds to the challenge. We’ve worked through our programme today, both the drivers seem reasonably happy with their cars and obviously a lot of information to look over tonight before we go into the final practice tomorrow.

Eric…

EB: We had a heavy Friday today with a lot of parts to evaluate. Parts of the upgrade from Shanghai, we had to use them back on the car. Also, a very heavy programme with the tyres. It’s clear that the key for performance is the tyres and also the degradation for the race, as we saw in Shanghai, so we had early runs in practice and obviously heavier fuel load runs as well.

Any change Stefano?

SD: No, I think we have already said what we have to say. For us hopefully this will be the last grand prix of the most difficult start that we’ve had. But that’s the way it is. At the track the only thing we have to do is try to maximise the package that we have and understand the tyres and prepare for the race. That will be crucial, as we already said, in this condition the only objective we have at the moment is to try to score the maximum points and considering that we have been third in the Championship it means a lot. It means that we have to stay focussed. Unfortunately it’s very painful for us but that’s the way it is. So heads up and work hard.

Bob, limited running, obviously…

BF: Well, we had a very busy morning and as you know we didn’t run in FP2, we slightly rescheduled our programmes, but we’re very comfortable. The data was collected this morning for what we need and we’re very comfortable for FP3 tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

(Kate Walker – Girl Racer) I have question for Norbert: Reuters reported yesterday that Aabar are considering a complete withdrawal of their Daimler stake, could you please comment on that, let us know what you know?

NH: I just hear the speculation and read the speculation. Nothing more.

…There’s no discussion in Stuttgart?

NH: Nothing more to say, no.

(Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Probably a question for all of you gentlemen. The thing that seems to be said is that politics and sport don’t mix but even by some of your answers that you gave previously, it’s quite obvious that they do. Given that, wouldn’t it have been better to try to wait another year for Bahrain to progress a little further before coming back to have a race here?

Martin, as the spokesman of FOTA?

MW: I didn’t know I was the spokesman. I think, again, the calendar has been set for some time, we are the competitors, it’s a race in the calendar, we are here to race. Period.

Does anyone have more to add to that? Christian? Norbert? No.

(Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Since arriving I’ve been contacted by a number of Bahrainis who are actually supportive of the race, have you and any of your team members found similar contact from the citizens of Bahrain?

MW: I think there is a lot of support for the race from all parts of society here, so I think that’s positive. Clearly often the majority aren’t heard on these occasions but I think there’s a fair amount of support, you can feel it here. I understand they’ve sold out the grandstand so presumably that’s a tangible sign of support.

CH: I think the guys here have been very welcoming. They look after the teams very well and hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I think at the end of the day it’s a sport, we’re a sporting team competing in a sport that competes at 20 venues around the world. We’ll do our best as we do in all of those other events to do the best job we can on Sunday.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Christian, Stefano and Martin, as the representatives of the top three teams last year, setting aside the safety of F1 personnel, if there is any bloodshed or injury or worse this weekend, among protestors, that are clearly aimed at having an anti-F1 element, should F1 be held responsible in any way, is F1’s presence here acting as a trigger?

MW: I don’t think we’re going to comment on that. We are here to take part in a race. I think we’ve made our position clear. So unless anyone else wants to add anything, I think we are here to race.

CH: I echo Martin’s comments.

SD: We need to be positive in life. It seems that we are looking for something to happen and this is what we don’t want, as I said. This is really the objective that all of us here in the paddock should have, to be honest.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The stock answer that keeps coming back when we ask about this race is that ‘it’s on the calendar.’  There is a sporting commission, there is a technical commission, there’s also a calendar commission. Now the first two actually go through the Formula One Commission and then onto the World Motor Sport Council. The calendar doesn’t. Do you people believe that there is a need for the teams – for the Formula One commission, certainly – to have some input and to ratify calendars?

CH: I think that’s a position for the promoter and the FIA at the end of the day. When we enter a championship at the beginning of the year a calendar is published and you have the choice whether to enter or not. It’s something that historically has always been the same and it’s down to the promoter and then the governing body that’s responsible for the safety of the drivers, the safety of the spectators and the teams to decide where those venues are.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The question was, would you like to have input into it, as opposed to the procedure – I know the procedure?

SD: Normally it’s not like that, to be honest. If we have to race over 17 Grands Prix, we need to have the organiser and the F1 has to have clearance from the teams so the discussion happens and this is related to the opportunity that they have. Then of course, the responsibility of other subjects is related to the national sporting authority, so the federation and the organiser, but that’s the way it is at the moment.

EB: And if I may add something, we still have the opportunity to discuss with the governing body and the promoters about some adjustment in the calendar, not the location but maybe sometimes for logistical reasons we have some input.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Effectively, what we’re then saying is that the teams are also responsible for the shape of the calendar the way it is at the moment, including the Bahrain race.

MW: Well, you’re saying it, we’re not. Sorry, I thought you said ‘effectively you’re saying it’ but I don’t think we’re saying that at all. The commercial rights holder and the FIA agree the calendar together. I think you know that and so do we, so I don’t know why we’re having this discussion really.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) But if it goes beyond 17, you have input.

MW: In theory we do, but as you know, the commercial rights holder… he has to get the races into the calendar and typically we’re not consulted individually on each race.

Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) The Sunni/Shi’a schism is a conflict that dates back over a millennia; how do you feel about being used as political tools in this game?

MW: Listen, I tell you, we’re at the start of a fantastic World Championship. There have been three outstanding races and there’s a great championship ahead of us. We’ve had three different winners, it’s been a fantastic start to the championship and I think we can have a fantastic race here on Sunday. I don’t think that going into what’s happened over the last millennia or the politics around the world is something that most of us here are equipped to comment on.

Q: (Daniel Ortelli – Agence France Presse) We’re all talking about politics, ethics etc. Do you agree that the main reason for having this race here and being here today is that there is so much money from the Emirates in Formula One and in some of the teams that you represent?

MW: Well, again, this isn’t part of the Emirates and I think the commercial model of races, I think there is a lot of places in the world, and fortunately most places which pay reasonable money to hold a Grand Prix, so I don’t think there’s any particular premia in this part of the world.

Q: (Miran Alisic – RTV Slovenia) Excuse me, don’t you think that sometimes a race – even a fantastic race – becomes irrelevant if something more important happens somewhere?

SD: If I might say something about that, once again it seems really we (you) want to find something to make sure that this event is not happening and this is really what, hopefully, we, for sure, as a team, would like not to see and that’s our approach, as I said. I don’t think it’s correct for us to go into a political discussion on what is happening. Of course we need to make sure that what has hopefully been started as a process in this country will happen soon and this is what everyone is really looking for but more than that, I think they will want to pull the things from different stories, different angles. Let’s focus on our jobs and try, on our side, to speak about the sport. This is really our task, to be honest.

BF: If I could come in there as well, I think the Bahrain programme has been very very successful. As much as there is opposition to it, there is also a huge amount of people that are for this process, for the programme to bring through. As Force India, we are totally committed to this Grand Prix and to bringing this programme to reality for Bahrain, and hopefully, as we said earlier, it will form part of the healing process, and if we’re part of that, we should be proud, not looking at ourselves and being negative.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – Estadao ESPN) Bob, your decision not to take part in the second part of practice has been interpreted as many things and one of them is a sort of field protest because of what happened to the team on Wednesday evening. Is it to be taken as that or what?

BF: I don’t think it’s because of that at all. I think that what you have to accept is that on Wednesday evening there was a very unfortunate incident for members of Force India, and there is no question, it de-stabilised the emotional element of our team. Yesterday evening we put a programme together which addressed all the issues from the team, we sat down with them all, and that meant a slight re-structuring of the programme in order that we could make sure that there was comfort within the team and that we delivered a very strong qualifying and race programme, and I have to say that Sheikh Abdulla, Bernie, everybody has been enormously helpful in our process, but we have, as a team, to make sure that we gel that together properly and it’s nothing whatsoever to do with… It’s an internal matter that just needs stability, we provided that stability and we’ve stuck with the programme that we’ve had to put in place. It’s not a slight at all on the event, it’s just about an internal structure of Force India. We’ve had to do that, we’ve done it with pleasure and we’ve supported our team in that process and as a result of supporting the team, the whole of our programme is now secure for going forward for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ends

Bahrain, 19 April 2012: Amidst all the protests by the majority anti-government groups, the FIA and F1 ring master Bernie Ecclestone have decided to continue to go ahead with sport and the the Bahrain Grand Prix will be held as scheduled this Sunday.

The Bahrain circ;uit

will revert to using the 15-corner Grand Prix Circuit configuration last used in 2009 rather than the Endurance Circuit configuration used in 2010.

The Bahrain International Circuit will host the fourth round of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship. Designed by Hermann Tilke, BIC made its F1 debut in 2004 and was the first circuit in the Middle East to do so. The grand prix has never been won by anyone from beyond the first two rows but neither has it been particularly favourable to drivers on pole – only three times in seven runnings has the pole-sitter gone on to win the race. It has, however, been a circuit that rewards a strong car with six out of the seven races being won by the team that has gone on to win the Constructors’ Championship. The one exception being 2010 – though eventual Champions Red Bull Racing were leading the race comfortably until a faulty spark plug caused Sebastian Vettel to fall back.

For 2012, F1 is going back to the 5.4km Grand Prix Circuit configuration as used in 2009, rather than the 6.3km Endurance Circuit on which it raced in 2010. The revision to the earlier layout cuts out a large slow-speed sector of the track, bringing down the number of corners to 15 from 24. One peculiarity of racing in the desert is the amount of dust on the circuit. Bahrain sees a great deal of track-evolution over the weekend as cars clean the racing line. Another factor with the dust is the amount of attention teams pay to air filtration and monitoring engine wear – ingress of sand or dust into the engine is potentially catastrophic.

The circuit itself is very smooth and doesn’t have the harsh kerbs seen elsewhere, meaning teams can set ride-heights low but still attack apexes aggressively.  This is a heavy braking circuit and calls for unusually high levels of brake cooling. Managing that and providing the right level of traction on the evolving surface are both key technical issues. McLaren go into this race holding a lead in both championships but Bahrain has not been a race at which they have prospered in the past, having neither a victory nor a pole position at BIC.

Bahrain GP4 FIA 1pc

DRIVERS – Heikki KOVALAINEN (Caterham), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Timo GLOCK (Marussia), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Heikki, it’s been a difficult start to the season for you. What were you expecting from these first three or four races?

Heikki KOVALAINEN: Well, obviously we’re hoping for better finishes. I think we’ve had some issues pretty much

every race, but we’re working on them and we’re trying to make sure that those kind of troubles that we’ve had don’t happen again. We’ve done everything we can; everything we could do in this short time to make sure that we have a trouble-free race.

Are you expecting a big step forwards, therefore, for Barcelona?

HK: We have upgrades coming, not only for Barcelona, but all the way through the season. We are still catching up. We have not yet joined the midfield, so we’re still targeting that. Obviously everybody’s bringing updates, so how much we will be able to make a rapid gain remains to be seen. But I think we’re working flat out and strengthening the team in every area to be able to do that.

So, what are your hopes for this weekend then?

HK: Hopefully to have a trouble-free weekend, without any incidents, especially in the race. To have smooth pit stops without any extra incidents. Hopefully we can get everything out of the team and out of the car. Like we’ve shown in the last couple of race, especially in China, we were able race a few cars for quite a long time in the race. Hopefully we can carry on doing that.

Romain, now 26-years-old, happy birthday! This is a circuit you know well, you’ve been talking about your GP2 races here and I think you had a ‘full house’ here if you understand what that means.

Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, well, it’s a circuit I know quite well, from racing in GP2 and testing with Pirelli for the development of the tyres. I think it’s a nice circuit, I quite like it and think we can have a good car here. The weather will be, for once, stable, with some decent temperature and hopefully we can have a clear qualifying and a clear race altogether and achieve an even better result than what we had in the previous race.

In China you got the result you were waiting for, or maybe you were hoping for even better?

RG: You always hope for better! In a way what you want to achieve whenever you start the race is to win. That’s the goal for every driver on the grid. But China was a good race, I think it was very tight, some good battles and we were showing that we were able to carry through the race with good pace and some good moves and to be able to be gentle with the tyres. That was the key in China and I think that will the key one more time here.

But this is such a different circuit and the temperatures and conditions are going to be so different.

RG: Yes, but I hate the cold, so I feel better here. The tyre strategy will be different and the tyre usage will be different here as we have these temperatures but as well I don’t think we are not going to struggle with warm-up issues or making the work, which will help us to set up the car in a good way.

Timo, obviously the team has been playing catch-up since the start of the season but how do you feel they’ve been getting on? It seems to be a very steep learning curve.

Timo GLOCK: Yes, absolutely. If you do 200kms of testing before the first race, every lap, every kilometre you do is like a learning process for us at the moment. I’m quite happy with the past races, I think we’ve closed the gap quite significantly: last qualifying we were three seconds behind; first race we had five and a half seconds, so there’s a clear step forward and that’s good.

The results seem positive and the car’s reliable as well, how far can you go, do you feel?

TG: I hope we can continue like this in terms of improvements but it will be difficult. European season everyone comes with new updates so we just have to work hard and continue the process we’re doing at the moment. It would be great to have at every race a step like we had in China, so we have to see what we can do. We have some little parts here, which could improve the car again, so we’re looking forward to it. I think we have a good baseline to really catch-up.

Is the big update coming at Barcelona like most people?

TG: Yeah, we’re working on it. It’s not definite how much we will get out of it but at the moment we’re getting new parts every race. If that continues I don’t care how big the update is in Barcelona. If you can keep it up through the whole year that’s more important.

Lewis, did you expect to be leading the Championship with three third places after three races?

Lewis HAMILTON: Good afternoon everyone, no, definitely not. The target every year I think is to have consistency and sometimes it just doesn’t go to plan but this year I think we’ve been quite fortunate. Finishing on the podium for the first three races has been fantastic for us. Obviously it’s very early in the season. In previous seasons you’ve seen Championship leaders swapping and changing throughout the year so it doesn’t really mean too much at the moment.

Do you feel your car is suited to this circuit? I mean it seems that the game has changed this year with less downforce. The tyres are just so, so important, even more than they have been before – is that the case?

LH: I personally don’t think they’re much more important than in the past, I think last year we had similar tyre degradation and we had to manage the tyres in a similar way. If you look at the last race the people on a two-stop were slow at the end of the race and people on three stop were overtaking them. It was the same last year – that’s how I won the race. This year the tyre window, the working range is slightly narrower than it was last year, which is making it a little more difficult for people to warm-up the tyres in qualifying, for example. It is a little more challenging but it’s providing good racing.

And who is your main competitor? Is he [Nico] your main competitor having been the winner of the last race, or your team-mate? It’s difficult to say, isn’t it?

LH: It is very difficult to say. You know, when you look at qualifying we’re competitive there, Mercedes is now the quickest but it’s quite close between a lot of the cars, but in the race pace then you look at the Red Bull being very quick, the Mercedes is very quick, we are quick, even Sauber’s quick. It’s a real mixture at the moment and it’s just about trying to stay consistent and trying to maximise every opportunity you have.

Nico, sadly only a few days to enjoy the win from last weekend but very interesting, this is a circuit that you’ve done very well on in F3, in GP2, made your F1 debut here and had fastest lap – you must be looking forward to this weekend?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, for sure. This is a track I really enjoy, I’ve had some very good memories here but again it’s just difficult to know where we’re going to be exactly. In Shanghai of course we did very well but previously we did have a few issues in the races, so it’s possible it’s going to be a bit more difficult here.

You mentioned those issues, which were tyre-related, and yet you seemed to get it absolutely right in China, can it just go back to square one again here? Is that how difficult it is to get it right?

NR: Well at the same time the engineers and everybody have really been making some good progress on the car, setup-wise and things like that. So we’re learning very quickly, so it wasn’t a coincidence that we were fast in Shanghai. No, we did a good job and got the best out of it – but the situation could be different here with the temperatures and that might prove a little bit more of a challenge but I don’t know.

The emphasis more on setup than it used to be?

NR: Tyre management is more of a problem in the races than it used to be. That’s definitely the case and that can be influenced with setup and various other things.

Q: Felipe, this has been a good circuit for you in the past: two wins here, three times qualified second. Do you feel that you’re on an upward curve now?

Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure it’s a very nice track. I have had a great time here. I would expect to have a good race here, the best of the season – so far. I’m just looking forward to having a nice race, scoring good points and working now on having a better race all the time.

Q: Did you feel you had made progress in Shanghai?

FM: Yes, definitely, even if the result at the end was not very satisfying for the team, for Fernando or for me, it was a normal race in terms of race pace, in terms of qualifying and everything. Everything was normal. For sure it was a much more different race in Shanghai compared to the first two races.

Q: And will these temperatures, even though they are very different to Shanghai, will they be more suited to the car?

FM: I hope so. For sure it’s a different track, very different to Shanghai but in a way, we’re still working to improve the car, still working to make the car more competitive and the car here is not very different to the car in Shanghai, so we will see how the behaviour of the car is on this track in qualifying, but also in the race and see if we can do something different, be more competitive than in Shanghai.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Lewis, it seems that you’re even stronger as a person than last year. Do you feel that way and if so, do you feel that your challenging season last year has helped you?

LH: I definitely think that the last three years have added to where I am today. I think there have been a lot of lessons learned and a lot of good and bad experiences which of course definitely help you when you have a good car and when you’re in a much better position. Yeah, as for all athletes, I think you have to get your mind set in a certain way and there are  many things that can affect that. For example, look at Tiger Woods. He’s there and sometimes he’s not and he’s the best out there. It’s really a massive mental game which is about trying to get your mind on the right path. But I feel that I’m there or thereabouts at the moment, still working hard.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR)  Romain, you had a very intense race last Sunday in Shanghai. Your personal battle with Maldonado was perhaps even more than intense. Do you personally see it as revenge for Melbourne?

RG: No, it’s not revenge. I made a mistake with Mark Webber which is why I had to fight with Pastor Maldonado. I think that the fight was a little bit tight. Honestly, I wish we hadn’t touched each other’s cars, but at the end, I ended up in front of him and then I could pull away and finish my race at my own pace and even overtook the second Williams to score more points but that’s what I was glad of.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR) Romain, did you have a lot to say to your engineer about your strategy during the race? Is there a lot of communication?

RG: Well, there is a lot of briefing before the race when there is time to go through the strategies. We had two options basically: either two stops or three stops. The question arose during the second stint: either you really want to push and try to go for three stops, or you make your tyres last for the 20 or 25 laps that you need and you just go for two stops. I think our set-up was pretty good and the car was working very well on the prime tyres. The second stint was very good and we had pitted to cover Sebastian Vettel, if not, we could have done more laps in the second stint which would have made the third one even easier, but at the end of the story, my engineers did a good job, they helped me to save the tyres and make them last longer. When you are fighting with other cars, it’s always difficult to save them. You have to realise that the race is long and that you still have a few laps to go.

Q: (Thomas Hanratty – Gulf Daily News) Obviously there’s been a lot of media hype in the build-up to this weekend; has it been much of a distraction for you, in terms of your preparations, or have you just been able to block everything out and keep focused?

HK: It hasn’t had the slightest influence on my preparation. I’ve prepared for the Grand Prix, physically and mentally, the same way that I do any other race. That’s all I can answer to that question.

RG: Well, we’ve been preparing for the event as well as we can. As you say, we can’t ignore the situation but in another way, I hope the race may make a clear vision and help the situation and I think the Grand Prix will be nice.

TG: No, we have made the same preparation as all the other races.

LH: They’ve said it all. The team has just been focusing on preparing ourselves for the best way of trying to get some wins.

NR: No, we have been preparing to the best of my possibilities and the team’s also.

FM: Yeah, the same preparation as always. We came here for the sport, that’s the best thing to do, it’s a sport.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Nico, now that you’ve tasted the taste of success, do you think it’s going to be harder for you to cope if you’re not racing… if you’re not fighting for the win at every race?

NR: Niki Lauda said right after the race, ‘Nico, believe me, the first win is by the far the most difficult and after that it becomes much easier.’ So I’ll go for that, he should know.

HK: I got a message from Bernie (Ecclestone) after the first race (win) which said that ‘now it’s downhill’, so there’s also that option.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR) Nico, after qualifying in Shanghai you explained the huge gap of half a second by the drop in temperature by a few degrees, that you had changed the set-up between Q2 and Q3 etc etc, but in the race itself, after the first ten laps, the gap was five seconds, so it never reached the same half a second, so how do you explain that? Was that you?

NR: No, definitely not. It was just that everything came together. I was on top of my game for the weekend in qualifying and the race, but also the set-up – the car was working very well  still, I think, in qualifying. Even in Shanghai, we were stronger eventually in the race but of course it was enough to win by some margin. All in all, it was a really strong weekend.

Ends