Rosberg finishes Bahrain Friday on top - Formula 1 news - GPUpdate.net


Nico Rosberg and the Mercedes-Benz team set the fastest lap in Bahrain on Friday as the first day of running began for the 2010 season. It was a strong start to the campaign for Mercedes, which saw the two McLaren cars join its works team in the top four. Bruno Senna's session came to a dramatic end, however, when the Hispania stopped due to a suspected loss of a wheel nut.

With air temperatures of 34°C (93°C) and the track baking at more than 40°C (104°F and up), the conditions witnessed in Bahrain could not have been more different to those of testing in Spain last month. Adrian Sutil and Force India were the first to lead a session in 2010, doing so earlier in the morning, although Rosberg achieved the day's best lap time of 1:55.409 as he led the way from Champions Hamilton, Schumacher and Button in the afternoon.

Sebastian Vettel was unhappy with the performance of his Red Bull-Renault, despite the car handling better on the Super Soft tyres which are the softest available and are therefore marked with a green sidewall. The other Bridgestone compound on offer this weekend is Medium and both must be used over the course of Sunday's Grand Prix.

With Vettel a second off the pace, a drive shaft problem for team-mate Mark Webber ensured that the Australian was rooted to the pits after completing a total of 12 laps, finishing the day 17th and five seconds off the leading pace. The Force India and Renault cars of Liuzzi and Kubica completed the most laps of the day, each with 29 to their name.

Nico Hülkenberg was the leading rookie as the GP2 Champion made the top five for Williams, with former GP2 rival Vitaly Petrov eighth for Renault - despite his headrest coming lose early in the session - as he makes history by being F1's first Russian driver. Other new boys Lucas di Grassi, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok finished 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively as Hispania failed to run the Indian newcomer due to gearbox problems.

There was a scary end to the session for Senna, nephew of late 3-time World Champion Ayrton, whose car is suspected to have lost a right-rear wheel nut approaching Turn 1 shortly after the clock stopped; the Brazilian parked his Hispania safely on the tarmac run-off area after finishing the day eleven and a half seconds off the leading pace.

Jaime Alguersuari had the largest moment of the session and a lucky escape when, having lost his Toro Rosso over a kerb in the infield section, the Spaniard narrowly missed the Armco barrier when spinning backwards across the circuit.

 

That last pic - the one of Alonso and Schumi - is like entering the Twilight Zone!

 

haha it is a bit weird ain't it?

 

It's so awesome to see all the cars and drivers back on the track. It's been a long, long, long off season.

I agree, it's bizarre seeing Schumi and Alonso together.

 

It's bizarre to see Alonso in a Ferrari driving suit and Shumi in white and gray!

 

I hate those ugly fins that extended to the rear wing...

 

Agreed. It seems like F1 cars get uglier and uglier each year.

And one other thing I noticed.. What in gods name is Russian car (Lada) logo doing on Renault? They make the most horrid cars in the world...

In before Lada enters F1.

 

It's called an integrated fairing. Don't you know anything??

 

they are personal sponsors of vitaly petrov, first russian driver in F1.

 

Bahrain Grand Prix - First Friday Practice results

Position Driver Team Best Time Total Laps
1. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:56.583
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:56.766 18
3. Robert Kubica Renault 1:57.041 19
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:57.055 19
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.068 19
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.163 19
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.194 19
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:57.199 15
9. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:57.255 17
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:57.662 16
11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.722 18
12. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:57.894 20
13. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:57.943 17
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:58.399 13
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:58.782 11
16. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:58.880 13
17. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 2:00.250 18
18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2:01.388 11
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:03.680 8
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.848 21
21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.970 15
22. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth No time 2
23. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth No time 3
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth No time 0

Bahrain Grand Prix - Second Friday Practice results

Position Driver Team Best Time Total Laps
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.409 23
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.854 22
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.903 23
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.076 28
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:56.459 18
6. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.501 26
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:56.555 30
8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:56.750 26
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:57.140 25
10. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.255 24
11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.352 27
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:57.361 29
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:57.452 21
14. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.833 29
15. Robert Kubica Renault 1:58.155 29
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:59.799 31
17. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2:00.444 12
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.873 23
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.990 14
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.037 3
21. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:02.188 21
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:06.968 17
23. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari No time 0
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth No time 0