Friday first practice times from Bahrain

[The Famous Grouse]

M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m32.158s2
BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m32.651s3
DAVIDSON BAR 1m32.958s4
MONTOYA Williams 1m33.027s5
BUTTON BAR 1m33.898s6
COULTHARD McLaren 1m34.023s7
ZONTA Toyota 1m34.289s8
MASSA Sauber 1m34.488s9
RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m34.603s10
SATO BAR 1m34.610s11
R.SCHUMACHER Williams 1m34.619s12
TRULLI Renault 1m34.796s13
ALONSO Renault 1m34.810s14
HEIDFELD Jordan 1m34.872s15
PANTANO Jordan 1m34.967s16
FISICHELLA Sauber 1m35.388s17
GLOCK Jordan 1m35.760s18
WEBBER Jaguar 1m35.905s19
PANIS Toyota 1m35.981s20
DA MATTA Toyota 1m36.359s21
KLIEN Jaguar 1m36.645s22
BAUMGARTNER Minardi 1m37.049s23
BRUNI Minardi 1m37.347s24
WIRDHEIM Jaguar 1m37.443s25
LEINDERS Minardi 1m37.792s

 

[The Famous Grouse]

The first man to spin was Ralf Schumacher 20 minutes into the session, but some of his blushes were saved when Juan Pablo Montoya went off not once but twice later in the session.

Michael Schumacher was fastest in the first ever practice session in Bahrain.

The world champion arse nipped ahead Barrichello in the dying stages he found his lines and clicked into gear at the new track.

The F1 drivers were very cautious in learning the new track, they feelt their way around the circuit and not pushing until the final stages of the session.

However, it is interesting to note that Schumacher's fastest lap is already almost a second quicker than projected lap times for the circuit. Great

Unsurprisingly a number of test drivers figured high on the timesheets as they generally completed more laps than their race counterparts.

 

[Northstander]

I reckon Button is going to shine this Season, once Schumacher retires he will be challenging!

 

[Hilton]

And the second times:

1 BARRICHELO Ferrari 1m31.450s
2 MONTOYA Williams 1m31.451s
3 DAVIDSON BAR-Honda 1m31.488s
4 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m31.732s
5 KLIEN Jaguar 1m31.789s
6 R.SCHUMACHER Williams 1m31.842s
7 BUTTON BAR-Honda 1m31.879s
8 WEBBER Jaguar 1m32.041s
9 ALONSO Renault 1m32.234s
10 ZONTA Toyota 1m32.335s
11 COULTHARD McLaren 1m32.495s
12 SATO BAR 1m32.680s
13 PANTANO Jordan 1m32.761s
15 MASSA Sauber 1m33.031s
16 PANIS Toyota 1m33.049s
17 FISICHELLA Sauber 1m33.061s
18 TRULLI Renault 1m33.437s
19 GLOCK Jordan 1m33.695s
20 BAUMGARTNER Minardi 1m34.054s
21 WIRDHEIM Jaguar 1m34.317s
22 BRUNI Minardi 1m34.791s
23 LEINDERS Minardi 1m36.248s
24 HEIDFELD Jordan 1m40.573s
25 RAIKKONEN McLaren no time

 

[The Famous Grouse]

The R5 was suposidly very fiesty and hard to control.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

The one engine rule will f*** over mclaren as the reliability just isn't there. Kimi will drop 10 places on the grid and if the problem isn't sorted soon, then that's another consistent challenge to the Ferrari dominance gone.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

A great shot of Rubens and the new Bahrain skyline

 

[Icy Gull]

The one engine rule will f*** over mclaren as the reliability just isn't there. Kimi will drop 10 places on the grid and if the problem isn't sorted soon, then that's another consistent challenge to the Ferrari dominance gone.

It's a Mercedes, they'll get it right pretty quickly

 

[Icy Gull]

The BAR Honda looks like it's gonna be competitive here. At last a British driver that I can get enthusiastic about supporting, Sorry DC but you're just too boring as a GP driver. It's not that long ago Honda were THE engine manufacturer, and when they quit they were world champs so it's looking good for the season as things stand at the moment. Come on Button another podium beckons

 

[The Famous Grouse]

But..it can't be fixed that easily as the problem would have been sorted after the first race...it's horsepower and top speed or reliabilty. They got the balence very very wrong.

 

[Icy Gull]

But..it can't be fixed that easily as the problem would have been sorted after the first race...it's horsepower and top speed or reliabilty. They got the balence very very wrong.

Mercedes/Germans and Ron Dennis in the background it'll soon be fixed - within the next two races I'm certain

 

[The Famous Grouse]

They will pour a lot of money in as they can't afford to loose ground on Williams as BMW are their main competitors. Sales have been proved to correlate to performance on the track. It also speaks for the manufacturer, so poor reliability will be cast on to the road going range.

 

[zefarelly]

great photo

go Button . . . .its good to see he's got his head down and working hard . .after what could be described as a few years with his head in the clouds !

DC's a great driver, he just lacks the killer instinct . . .like many Brits !

 

[The Famous Grouse]

The trouble is that the competiton for seats is just too high, Wilson got his chance but couldn't capitalise. Because they are rookies, they won't start winning straight away and the team bosses want money, so paying seats seem to be a priority for the lower teams, even over future talent. Button was at Williams and didn't do much and now look at him. When he first came there were rave reports. The next seasons were all negative, but he is again liked.....F1 is soo different to the series they came up in, it takes time. I think Jenson could do very well for him self this season

 

[jmc]

Am I the only one bored with F1 - the only bit I watch is the start then switch over to Songs of Praise, I know it's totally different attending but as TV "SPORT" goes it has lost it's appeal....

Have switched over to NASCAR now, 43 cars on a 1 mille oval is so much more fun....

 

[rodgerscuz]

ALONSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!