2012 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX - Live Thread

Chode ^ | 4/20/2012 | Chode

[Chode]

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

Venue: Sakhir, Manama
Date: Sunday 15 March
Lap length: 3.363 miles
Race laps: 57
2009 winner: Jenson Button (Brawn)
First grand prix: 2004
Lap Record:1:30.252 - M Schumacher (2004)

Fri Sunny 31c

Sat Sunny 31c

Sun Sunny 32c

[Chode]

on/off... if you want on or off the F1 list mash here to get added/removed

one of these links should work... http://www.justin.tv/directory/sports/auto_racing

[Chode]

UP...!!!

[Chode]

i know, date is wrong...

[omega4179]

[Chode]

the glory days...

[Moltke]

Damn. They’ve been racing there since 2004? Seems like it’s one of those “new” circuits to me...again. (And I’ve been following F1 for decades...*sigh*)

To wit, another “early season” track (other than Australia!) to just get done with, and then on to the *real* races!

Bernie, rot in hell.

[Chode]

yup... won't be able to keep grass alive on his grave either

[RedMDer]

Don't let FR fade away! Donate.
For every New Monthly Donor, another FReeper is donating $10.00!!
Please take this generous offer into consideration!

[Elle Bee]

Anonymous, the online group made up of several worldwide hackers, successfully took down the official Formula 1 website on Friday night. The move came as a large protest took place on a motorway heading into the Bahraini capital city.

Although the official site is back up and running at the time of writing, F1.com was offline for a period this evening and replaced with the text ‘Formula None’, along with several paragraphs explaining why this weekend’s F1 event should not go ahead.

Also on Friday night, no team has reported any issues in returning to their hotels from the race track, although a demonstration is being staged on a motorway between Budaiya – to the west of Manama – and the capital itself. Many involved are fighting against the F1 event, which is organised and promoted by the leaders of Bahrain. At the same time, a survey claims that 77 percent of locals hope the race does happen.

Earlier today, Force India skipped the entire second practice session in a bid to return all team members to the city before nightfall; four of mechanics had been fortunate to avoid injury when a petrol bomb exploded close to their van on Wednesday. Last night, a group of 12 Sauber mechanics also encountered disruption.

“I think cancelling the race just empowers extremists,” Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said at the circuit on Friday. “For those of us trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having this race allows us to build bridges across communities and get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive.”

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group, said the following: “If people have got a complaint about something else, it’s nothing to do with F1.”

The next scheduled track action is Free Practice 3, which is set to begin at 11am local time (BST +2) on Saturday. This will be followed by F1 qualifying and a GP2 race.

Sauber also affected by Bahrain incident

Sauber have revealed that they too were witness to a potentially dangerous Bahrain protest as they travelled back to their hotel in Manama from the Sakhir circuit. After four Force India mechanics avoided a situation on Wednesday night, the Sauber occurrence happened around 24 hours later.

Although the race track and its immediate surrounding area have not been affected by protests so far, team members continue to brace themselves for their journeys back and forth between the Formula 1 venue and their hotels in the capital city; the two destinations are separated by a number of villages where demonstrations are taking place.

On Friday, Force India withdrew from the second practice session in order to transport all personnel back to the city before night fell at 6pm local time (BST +2).

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A statement from Sauber described the happenings of Thursday night:

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‘Yesterday night at 20:30hrs a minibus of the Sauber team left the circuit to go back to the Novotel in Manama.

At 20:50hrs the 12 mechanics on that bus noticed fire on the medial strip of the highway.

The traffic was slow, cars had their hazard flashers on. On the opposite lane there was no traffic.

The team members saw a few masked people running from there over to their lane where a bottle was burning as well.

The minibus moved to the very right side of the highway and went past the situation. No-one from the Sauber team was hurt.’

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Following the opening practice sessions, the F1 community is now gradually leaving Sakhir to head back to its hotels. Tonight is expected to be the most hazardous so far as, in recent weeks, a string of protests have tended to follow Friday prayers.

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[Chode]

Bernie got paid so he will back it till somebody on one of the teams gets killed...

[Elle Bee]

that's the story of F1 from its inception

I hope nothing happens

.

[Chode]

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:34.308	1:33.527	1:32.422	18
2	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:34.813	1:33.209	1:32.520	13
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:34.015	1:33.311	1:32.637	17
4	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:34.792	1:33.416	1:32.711	12
5	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:34.588	1:33.219	1:32.821	10
6	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:33.988	1:33.556	1:32.912	17
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:34.041	1:33.246	1:33.008	13
8	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.814	1:33.660	1:33.394	17
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:34.760	1:33.403	No time	11
10	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.624	1:33.510	No time	15
11	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:34.552	1:33.789		6
12	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:34.131	1:33.806		13
13	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.601	1:33.807		12
14	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:34.372	1:33.912		14
15	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1:34.466	1:34.017		14
16	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:34.852	1:36.132		10
17	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:34.639	No time		8
18	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:34.865			5
19	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:35.014			8
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:35.823			7
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:37.683			8
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:37.883			6
23	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:37.905			7
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:38.314			7
		Q1 107% Time		1:40.380

[Chode]

Amen...

[Elle Bee]

Vettel bags first pole of 2012 in Bahrain

After his promising form in practice, Sebastian Vettel has snatched Red Bull’s first pole position of the 2012 season at Sakhir. The Champion shares the front row with Lewis Hamilton, with their respective team-mates third and fourth. Mercedes is left highly disappointed, with Rosberg and Schumacher only fifth and 17th.

On another hot and dusty day in the Bahraini desert, tyres remained very much the talking point; grip is proving a real problem for all of the teams, not least as the sandy track surface induces wheelspin and damages rear tyres at a rapid rate of knots.

Following the off-track incidents of earlier this week, all in the Formula 1 paddock were pleased to see that colleagues had arrived at the track safely this morning.

Fernando Alonso may have felt the need to use Soft tyres immediately in Q1, but it was Mercedes generating headlines as Michael Schumacher sensationally fell out of the session at the very first hurdle; sitting in his garage with a DRS problem, the seven-time World Champion was knocked out as Heikki Kovalainen switched to the quicker compound and improved his lap time by 1.4 seconds. As Pastor Maldonado has a penalty, Schumacher will start from 17th. All cars made the 107 percent cut.

Hamilton set the pace early doors in Q2, looking to stamp his authority on the field by picking up a third pole from four races. It looked briefly as though Felipe Massa may have passed into the top ten shootout for the first time this year, but the Brazilian was duly demoted to 14th place in the cumbersome Ferrari F2012. Fernando Alonso did enough to move up, as did Romain Grosjean, but as the Franco-Swiss improved to third this pushed team-mate Kimi Räikkönen down to 11th on Sunday’s grid.

On F1’s last visit to Bahrain two years ago, race organisers elected to use the full-length Endurance Circuit. Back on the Grand Prix configuration today, its more flowing nature made for a dramatic end to the session as a number of contenders vied for the top spot. Hamilton led Button after the first Q3 runs, but Rosberg and both Red Bulls were also battling for the best place on the starting grid.

Jenson Button will set off from fourth; he compromised his chances by locking up at the ever difficult and tightening Turn 10. Rosberg did the same thing, compounding this by running deep at the final corner – he ended up fifth when another pole had been a genuine possibility. Webber snatched P1, only for Hamilton to beat him before Vettel followed suit.

Behind, Daniel Ricciardo proved why he is currently favourite for a 2013 Red Bull seat by putting his Shanghai problems behind him and managing sixth place; the achievement is highlighted by the fact that Jean-Éric Vergne, in the second Toro Rosso, was eliminated in Q1 for the third consecutive race. The top ten is completed by Grosjean, Sergio Pérez, Alonso and Paul di Resta; after Force India skipped second practice, this was a commendable performance but the team’s cars were not shown on the FOM television feed for the duration of qualifying.

Vettel’s first pole of 2012 is the 31st of his career, moving to just one behind 1992 title winner Nigel Mansell and the top five of all-time pole sitters. The result also marks a second successive Bahrain pole for the German.

Sunday’s 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 3pm local time (BST +2)

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[Chode]

interesting grid...

[Elle Bee]

Shumi seems snake bitten ....... I hope is run of good luck lasts as long .... at least he and Kimi have some extra tires left for the race

This could be a great season.

.

[Chode]

well that was different...

After 57 of 57 laps

Position	Driver		Team
Race completed
1	Germany	S Vettel	Red Bull
2	Finland	K Raikkonen	Lotus
3	Switzerland	R Grosjean	Lotus
4	Australia	M Webber	Red Bull
5	Germany	N Rosberg	Mercedes
6	Great Britain	P Di Resta	Force India
7	Spain	F Alonso	Ferrari
8	Great Britain	L Hamilton	McLaren
9	Brazil	F Massa	Ferrari
10	Germany	M Schumacher	Mercedes
11	Mexico	S Perez	Sauber
12	Germany	N Hulkenberg	Force India
13	Japan	K Kobayashi	Sauber
14	France	J Vergne	Toro Rosso
15	Australia	D Ricciardo	Toro Rosso
16	Russian Federation	V Petrov	Caterham
17	Finland	H Kovalainen	Caterham
18	Great Britain	J Button (ret.)	McLaren
19	Germany	T Glock	Marussia
20	Spain	P de la Rosa	HRT
21	India	N Karthikeyan	HRT
22	Brazil	B Senna (ret.)	Williams
23	Venezuela	P Maldonado (ret.)	Williams
24	France	C Pic (ret.)	Marussia

[ColdOne]

Thanks so much for the heads up on F1~!

[Chode]

welcome... some finish