Bahrain Grand Prix – race

April 15, 2007 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

From yesterday’s qualifying notes, the provisional grid is:

F.Massa (Ferrari)
L.Hamilton (McLaren)
K.Raikkonen (Ferrari)
F.Alonso (McLaren)
N.Heidfeld (BMW)
R.Kubica (BMW)
G.Fisichella (Renault)
M.Webber (Red Bull)
J.Trulli (Toyota)
N.Rosberg (Williams)
A.Wurz (Williams)
H.Kovalainen (Renault)
A.Davidson (Super Aguri)
R.Schumacher (Toyota)
R.Barrichello (Honda)
J.Button (Honda)
T.Sato (Super Aguri)
V.Liuzzi (Toro Rosso)
S.Speed (Toro Rosso)
A.Sutil (Spyker)
D.Coulthard (Red Bull)
C.Albers (Spyker)

There’s a lot of attention on Hamilton – 3rd in his first ever F1 race, 2nd last weekend, and never out of the top 4 in any of the nine qualifying sessions (3 races * 3 sessions in each).

It’s looking quite windy, and of course that’s going to blow sand across the circuit. Air temperature is 30°C; track 41°C; wind 3.8m/s; humidity 26%

Formation lap: Looks like everyone’s on soft (“option”) tyres except Liuzzi.
Massa makes a quick exit from the grid, leading everyone away.
Puff of smoke from Hamilton’s McLaren – it did that yesterday too.
The grid is reforming… Massa and Hamilton appear to be pointing at the same spot

01/57: FA passes KR in to Turn 1
KR retakes P3
Another puff of smoke from LH
Yellow flags are out – JB & SS off
Safety Car deployed
Replay shows JB spun (why?) but SS was hit by AS

02 (SC): FM, LH, FA, KR, NH, RK, GF, MW
AS pits with a very deranged nose

03 (SC): The official data shows CA has the fastest lap 2:40.378
VL pits – switches to soft tyres
SC lights are off – in at the end of this lap

04: FM, LH, FA, KR, NH, RK, GF, MW
KR was a long way behind FA on the restart
RS f/lap 2:17.232, but now the SC is in, expect times closer to 1:35
ITV-F1 interview JB: says he touched DC after TS pushed him a bit wide

05/57: FM, LH, FA, KR, NH, RK, GF, MW
More smoke from LH’s Mercedes engine
KR f/lap 1:35.309
DC up to P14 after passing TS

06: FM locks up, letting LH close right up

07: Close battle between JT (P10), AW & NR
VL under investigation – did he pass under the SC

08: FM f/lap 1:35.209
FM leads LH by 0.9s
AS has rejoined but he’s 2 laps down

09: VL given a drive through penalty for passing under the Safety Car
LH f/lap 1:35.137
VL takes his penalty

10/57: FM, LH, FA, KR, NH, RK, GF, MW; retirements = SS, JB
NR runs wide trying to pass teammate AW

11: FM f/lap 1:34.950
LH f/lap 1:34.809
DC passes NR for P12

12: TS passes RS for P15

13: FA now 4.8s behind teammate LH

14: FM f/lap 1:34.776
KR is pushing FA for P3

15/57: FM, LH, FA, KR, NH, RK, GF, MW
FM f/lap 1:34.693
KR has to take evasive action rather than run into the back of FA – looks like FA is struggling under braking

16: LH f/lap 1:34.607, keeping the gap to ~1s
JT passes HK for P9

17: LH f/lap 1:34.490

18: DC, AW & RS all pit

19: LH f/lap 1:34.270
MW pits from P10

20/57: LH pits from P2 – 9.9s stop – soft tyres
GF pits
NR runs wide in the final corner – replay shows a small bump as HK stays on line with NR tries to pass him
NR takes P8 as a consequence

21: TS pits from P11
Ferrari preparing for a stop – hopefully it’s FM

22: FM pits from P1 – 8.5s stop – soft tyres
McLaren preparing for FA

23: FA pits from P1 – 8.4s stop – soft tyres too
NR pits
VL has been pushed back into the garage but he stays in the car

24: KR and NH pit from P1 & P2 respectively
KR gets a quick stop and rejoins ahead of FA

25/57: FM, LH, KR,FA, NH, HK*, AD*, RK (*HK & AD yet to pit)
DC passes JT for P12

26: HK pits from P6
Slow lap for LH opens FM’s lead to almost 6s

27: RB pits from P13, leaving AD as the only one yet to stop

28: LH still ~0.5s/lap slower than FM
MW’s fuel flap is stuck open
DC passes teammate MW for P9

29: AD pits from P6 – rejoins behind HK for P14
VL parks the Toro Rosso in the garage

30/57: FM, LH, KR, FA, NH, RK, GF, DC
FA held up by AS, allowing NH to close in
LH continues to lose ground on FM, slipping back towards KR

31: DC makes a move on GF to take P7

32: NH right on the tail of FA
NH goes round the outside to take P4 from the world champion

33: DC personal f/lap 1:35.480
KR now under 2s behind LH

35/57: FM, LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, DC, MW; Retirements: SS, JB, VL
Big engine blow up for TS on the main straight

36: FM’s lead 10.5s; KR just 1.8s behind LH
DC pits from P7
JT passes GF for P9

37: DC pulls the Red Bull off the track as his Renault engine gives up
Replay shows some bodywork breaking off MW’s Red Bull

39: MW pits from P7

40/57: FM, LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, MW, JT
NR & AD pit

41: FM pits from P1 – 8.2s stop – hard tyres
RB passes RS for P14
ITV-F1 talks to DC – confirms it was a driveshaft problem

42: KR pits – NH pits too
Official FIA timing data has been patchy all race but now it looks like it’s died

43: FM f/lap 1:34.067
MW pulls the Red Bull off track and retires

44: FA pits from P2 – front wing adjustment – 6.5s stop – rejoins behind NH

45: LH pits from P1 – 7.1s stop and very quick out of the box – rejoins just ahead of KR

46: LH ~0.5s/lap quicker than FM – he’s closing the gap to the race leader

48: late pit stop for RB

49: FM’s lead 6.0s over LH

50/57: FM, LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, JT, GF; retirements: SS, JB, VL, TS, DC, MW
KR 3.2s behind LH

51: LH cuts FM’s lead to 5.5s and opens the gap to KR
There’s not going to be time for LH to catch FM, let alone pass him

52: LH takes another 0.9s out of the gap
On-board camera with LH shows it’s not easy to keep that McLaren on track

53: Pit-car radio for GF – Briattorre telling him to pass JT
Smoke from AD’s Honda-powered Super Aguri – he eventually pulls off track

54: Even though LH slowed behind the dying Super Aguri, he’s closed the gap to 3.9s – FM doesn’t appear to have backed off
McLaren have warned their drivers that there’s oil from T1 to T4

55/57: FM, LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, JT, GF; retirements: SS, JB, VL, TS, DC, MW, AD
Big lockup for LH as he looks to lap a Spyker

56: Ferrari pit wall looks tense

57/57 = final lap: GF still looking to pass JT, and FA is right on NH’s tail
LH starts the final lap 3.4s behind FM

FM takes the chequered flag
LH in P2, 2.3s behind – the first time a new driver has been on the podium in all of his first 3 races!
P3=KR, 4=NH, 5=FA
6=RK (31s behind FA), 7=JT, 8=GF

Provisional Results: