F1 2009 Race 4 - Bahrain

Friday Practice:

Nico Rosberg has finished fastest in Bahrain on Friday, as the Williams driver retook the position he has become accustomed to in practice this year. The German led a generally incident-free session from Fernando Alonso's Renault with Trulli the leading Toyota in third spot. The two Red Bull cars rounded out the top five with championship leader Button sixth in the first Brawn.

Conditions remained the hottest of the season at the Sakhir circuit, with ambient temperatures reaching 36°C (97°F). Rosberg set his final time of 1.33.339 towards the end a session which saw most drivers suffering for grip on the sandy track surface, particularly at Turn 10 behind the pits.

Another strong showing for Sutil left him seventh
Behind the leading six, Adrian Sutil demonstrated yet another impressive performance with seventh position for Force India as the second Toyota of Glock wound up eighth. Lewis Hamilton cemented a midfield spot for McLaren in eleventh although team-mate Kovalainen ended up eight places further back.

Ferrari's nightmare start to the season does not appear to be fading with Massa and Räikkönen finishing 16th and 18th. The BMW team often uses the tactic of fuelling heavily on Friday, although the two white cars appear to be struggling more in Bahrain with 17th and 20th places for Kubica and Heidfeld. The German suffered a lurid moment towards the end of the session, nearly losing control at Turn 2.

The chequered flag signalled the last of Friday's running in the Middle East, as teams now prepare race simulations and review telemetry ahead of final practice and qualifying tomorrow

Seems like the interim diffuser which Force India is using might be playing some role here. Sutil at 7th and Fisichella at 12th after Friday practice is not bad at all. LEts see what happens at qualifying tomorrow. ;)

lol wierd season.. the top seems to be fluctuating all the time

Saturday practice results looked a lot more "normal"

Lets see what the true pace is in quali.

Qualifying session underway..! Lets see if the Brawns can grab the pole today.

End of Q1 and out are Sutil, Buemi, Fisichella, Mark Webber and Sébastien Bourdais. Sutil supposedly held up Webber, so this might be investigated by the stewards..!

Q2 is over and as of now the positions are:
11th Kovalainen, 12th Nakajima, 13th Kubica, 14th Heidfeld, 15th Piquet, 16th Sutil, 17th Buemi, 18th Fisichella, 19th Webber and 20th Bourdais

Interestingly, both the Ferraris are in the top 10..

Q3 is about to begin. Competing for the pole position are: Vettel, Glock, Trulli, Räikkönen, Barrichello, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa and Rosberg

Final grid positions:

1 J. Trulli Toyota 1:33.431
2 T. Glock Toyota 1:33.712
3 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:34.045
4 J. Button Brawn GP 1:34.044
5 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:34.196
6 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:34.239
7 F. Alonso Renault 1:34.578
8 F. Massa Ferrari 1:34.818
9 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.134
10 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.380

11 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:33.242
12 K. Nakajima Williams 1:33.348
13 R. Kubica BMW 1:33.487
14 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:33.562
15 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:33.941

16 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:33.722
17 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:33.753
18 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:33.910
19 M. Webber Red Bull 1:34.038
20 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34.159

Sutil has been penalised for slowing Webber, so he'll be starting 3 positions behind, at 19th just behind Webber at 18th.

good to see the ferraris doing slightly better. hope they keep their heads and get through the race without any crazy ideas