Sebastian Vettel Returns To Winning Ways In Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel has returned to the top step of the podium after winning a highly entertaining Bahrain Grand Prix, as the reigning World Champion held off returning 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen who gained ten places. Reigning GP2 Series Champion Romain Grosjean came home 3rd, achieving his first podium finish of his career.
At the start, Sebastian Vettel glided away at the front as Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg suffered a less than successful start dropping several places. Heikki Kovalainen also suffered a dreadful opening lap, after a competitive qualifying the previous day. The Finn suffered contact with Maldonado and picked up a puncture, dropping him to last place.
The Lotus’ then started their race charge, as Raikkonen retook Felipe Massa on lap 5 for 7th, whereas Romain Grosjean passed Mark Webber for 3rd and then Lewis Hamilton for 2nd a lap later. Further back Raikkonen was muscling his way passed Jenson Button, before then attacking Fernando Alonso.
By lap 9, many drivers’ were pitting including Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. A lap later Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton made their stops, with the McLaren driver suffering a torrid stop after an issue with the left-rear tyre. This demoted Hamilton further down the order, as the 2008 World Champion became locked in a serious battle with Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver defended his position hard, forcing Hamilton momentarily off the track, albeit eventually making the move stick. The stewards then announced they would investigate the issue between Rosberg and Hamilton, with the decision to be decided after the race.
Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean then pitted within the next few laps, handing the lead down to the Force India of Paul di Resta. With the Scot on a different strategy to the leaders’, Vettel and Grosjean were forced to retake their respective positions from the Force India driver several laps later. Kimi Raikkonen then continued progressing up the order, passing Mark Webber for 5th as Lewis Hamilton fought with Alonso down in 8th.
After only a short stint, the second round of pit-stops began on lap 23, with Button, Rosberg and Massa all pitting on the same lap. Kimi Raikkonen, now in 3rd place was extremely close behind his team-mate Grosjean, with question marks being raised as to whether Lotus would use team orders to swap their drivers’ around. However, these team orders failed to materialized and Raikkonen eventually made the move on Grosjean on lap 24.
Lewis Hamilton suffered yet another disastrous pit-stop with a similar issue when he pitted for the second time. The left-rear once again was slow to change for McLaren, which resulted in yet a further loss of position for the British driver.
Nico Rosberg, already under investigation from the stewards after defending hard against Hamilton, raised further eyebrows as he defended hard yet again against the Ferrari of Alonso. Whilst behind these two Pastor Maldonado was tagged by Michael Schumacher and spun on the exit of turn 3. This resulted in Williams being forced to retire the Venezuelan.
With Kimi Raikkonen now quickly reeling in Sebastian Vettel, the 2007 World Champion had a slight lunge up the inside into turn 1 on lap 36. Unfortunately the Finn was unable to capitalize on his pace, and remained in 2nd position. Lewis Hamilton made his third and final stop a lap later, without any problems for the first time during the race.
Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel made their third and final stops on lap 40, with the two rejoining the track in unchanged positions after superb stops by both teams. With 17 laps remaining, all eyes were on the Finn who was unable to challenge Vettel for the win in the closing stages. Jenson Button suffered a miserable end to his race, initially pitting with only several laps remaining due to a puncture before retiring with a mechanical issue. The McLaren driver joined Charles Pic and both Williams’ as retirees from the race.
As the checkered flag fell, Sebastian Vettel crossed the line 3.3 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Grosjean came 3rd completing a double podium finish for Lotus. Whilst further back in the pack, Felipe Massa scored his first points of 2012 with a competitive 9th place after 57 laps.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain, Bahrain; 57 laps; 308.405km; Weather: Dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h35:10.990 2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 3.300 3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 10.100 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 38.700 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 55.400 6. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 57.500 7. Alonso Ferrari + 57.800 8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 58.900 9. Massa Ferrari + 1:04.900 10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:11.400 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:12.700 12. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 1:16.500 13. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:30.300 14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:33.700 15. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 18. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap 19. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps 20. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 22. Senna Williams-Renault + 3 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:36.379 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Maldonado Williams-Renault 26 Pic Marussia-Cosworth 25
Picture Copyright © Getty Images
Hamilton Fastest In Wet/Dry First Session In China
After a lengthy three week break, the F1 circus has reconvened at the Shanghai International Circuit in China for the third round of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship. And as the first practice session of the weekend got underway, gray skies and a damp track met the drivers’ as they completed their installation laps.
The Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen was first out, followed by the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi and the second Caterham of Dutchman Giedo van der Garde, who was one of three reserve drivers’ taking to the track for the first practice session. The other two reserve drivers’ was the Force India of Jules Bianchi and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
With the session starting in damp and misty conditions, it was a slow start to the morning as many drivers’ completed only installation laps for the first 30 minutes of the session. Lewis Hamilton took to the track with a large sensor fitted to his diffusor, with McLaren using the free testing time to gather further data for the team.
Eventually it was the Red Bull of Mark Webber who set the first timed lap of the session, with a 01:44.542 as further rain began to fall around the first sector of the track. This failed to deter the Australian driver from the track, as Webber continued to improve with a 01:40.647 and then a 01:39.558 as more cars’ began taking to the track.
As the rain began to get more persistent, both the Ferrari of Felipe Massa and the Williams of Pastor Maldonado had slight moments as they struggled to find grip on the track. The Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen suffered yet another unfortunate session, as the 2007 World Champion had his session prematurely ended by his team with a suspected DRS issue on the car.
After struggling to find grip on the dampening Shanghai International Circuit, Pastor Maldonado finally set an impressive time and went 2nd with a 01:40.540. The session then once again fell quiet as many drivers’ remained in the comfort of their garages as the rain intensified along with a thick mist, deterring the drivers’ from venturing out on track.
However, as the session entered its final minutes, the majority of the field finally took to the track. This resulted in some quick times finally appearing, firstly from 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher who set a 01:39.318, before the Red Bull of Mark Webber returned to the top with a 01:38.977.
Lewis Hamilton, who will most likely suffer a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, also began to set commanding lap times, initially going 3rd with a 01:39.114 before flying to the top with a 01:38.146.
With the checkered flag now out bringing the session to a close, Nico Rosberg was able to sneak to the top of the timing sheets for only a few seconds before the 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, retook the top spot with a 01:37.106.
The mixed conditions are apparently set to stay at the Shanghai International Circuit all weekend, which could see an exciting weekend of racing ahead. The teams’ will return to the track later on in the day for the second practice session.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.106 7 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.116s + 1.010 14 3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.316s + 1.210 14 4. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.584s + 1.478 13 5. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.911s + 1.805 12 6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.977s + 1.871 15 7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.198s + 2.092 12 8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.199s + 2.093 6 9. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.748s + 2.642 16 10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.768s + 2.662 14 11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m40.056s + 2.950 14 12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.153s + 3.047 14 13. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m40.298s + 3.192 8 14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m40.328s + 3.222 13 15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m40.540s + 3.434 12 16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m41.071s + 3.965 14 17. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m41.204s + 4.098 14 18. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m42.330s + 5.224 14 19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m42.521s + 5.415 11 20. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m44.118s + 7.012 8 21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m44.227s + 7.121 10 22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m44.500s + 7.394 15 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m47.204s + 10.098 12 24. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m50.465s + 13.359 11
Picture Copyright © EPA
Kimi Raikkonen Targets Malaysian Grand Prix Podium
After starting 17th at last weekends Australian Grand Prix, Iceman Kimi Raikkonen completed a scintillating drive through the field to eventually finish 7th and achieve 6 World Championship points. With such an impressive drive from so far back, Raikkonen is now targeting a podium in this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen has found previous success at Kuala Lumpur’s Sepang International Circuit, winning for the first time there in 2003 and once again in 2008. The 2007 World Champion is confident he can repeat his successes in Australia once again in Malaysia this weekend, and battle with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso during the race.
Reigning GP2 Champion Romain Grosjean had a highly successful qualifying session last weekend, however he unfortunately retired from the race on lap 1 after an incident with Pastor Maldonado. He’ll also be hoping for further success in Malaysia, and that he can battle for podiums alongside his team-mate.
“We’ll be trying to improve our performance in Malaysia for sure.” Explained Kimi Raikkonen, “We don’t know how the car will behave there but it’s been good everywhere so far so hopefully it’ll be the same there. It’ll be hot and humid which is a challenge but we have a good car. As long as qualifying goes well we could be fighting for podiums. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Kimi Raikkonen will be hoping to put his steering issues he suffered from in Australia behind him, and focus on qualifying much higher than he did in Australia.
Picture Copyright © Lotus F1 Team
Vitaly Petrov Hits Out At Renault
Russian F1 star Vitaly Petrov has hit out against Renault (now Lotus), stating the team treated him like a child throughout the 2010 season. Petrov made the big leap from GP2 to Formula 1 in 2010, after finishing the previous season as the series runner-up with Barwa Addax.
When Petrov first made his debut on the F1 scene, he was undeniably the No.2 driver to the much experienced Polish driver Robert Kubica. However, towards the end of the season Petrov began to show his potential, especially after his superb drive at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In 2011, Vitaly Petrov was thrown in at the deep end with Renault, as Robert Kubica was severely injured during his rally crash. This made Petrov the unofficial No.1 driver, with the much experienced Nick Heidfeld alongside him for the opening few months of the season. Petrov started the 2011 season strongly, with his first and as of yet only podium with 3rd at the Australian Grand Prix. After that, the team gradually faded away and entered a grueling song-long battle with Force India.
For 2012, the Russian was replaced at the team as Lotus selected two new drivers’ to head their team in Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. With Petrov now racing alongside Kovalainen at Caterham, he can now express his frustrations at driving with the Enstone-based team.
“In 2010, I had some problems with my team, fighting with Mark Slade [Petrov’s race engineer]. He’s a very clever engineer, but it was not a good relationship. They put him up high because he had 20 years of experience and you are the child. If he told you to jump through a window, you must jump through a window,” said Petrov in an interview with AutoSport. “I respected him and listened to him all the time and jumped when he said. But I did the wrong thing. I had my feelings and I should have been more aggressive, but I was afraid I would say something wrong.”
Vitaly Petrov criticized the team after last seasons Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Russian TV, due to the teams apparent lack of lack of car development. Afterwards the Russian apologized to the team, yet the writing was already on the wall for him as he was replaced shortly after seasons end as 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen joined the team.
Petrov will be hoping that this new chapter in his F1 career with Caterham can be a successful one, and that he can become the teams first driver to finish in the points in 2012.
Alex Wurz Becomes Williams F1 Driver Mentor
Former Formula 1 driver, Alex Wurz, has returned to Williams for 2012 as a driver mentor for the team. Wurz drove for Williams in 2007, alongside German driver Nico Rosberg. The Austrian also drove for Benetton and McLaren in his 11-year career in Formula 1.
Alexander Wurz has now returned to Williams F1, this time as a driver mentor to their current drivers’ Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna and Valtteri Bottas. He will begin his duties tomorrow when the second pre-season test gets underway at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.
In efforts to bring Williams back to the sharp end of the grid, Wurz’s role within the team complements that of Michael Johnson, who joined the Williams team to try and improve their pit-stop times.
“This is a great initiative by Williams and highlights just how hard the team is pushing to optimize its performance.” Commented Alexander Wurz on his return to the team, “Throughout my career as a sportsman, which started at the age of 12 in BMX racing, includes over a decade in Formula One and is still ongoing [racing in the World Endurance Championship], I am lucky to have gained so much experience. I grew up in a family business of driver training and naturally I enjoy helping fellow athletes to operate at their best. I’m really looking forward to using my expertise to help Williams at this important stage in its history.”
“I am delighted to be working once more with Alex and look forward to his valuable input with the drivers as the whole team strives to continuously improve in all aspects of its operation.” Added Chief Operations Engineer, Mark Gillan.
Williams will begin the second pre-season test tomorrow as Bruno Senna takes to the track first, before handing over to reserve driver Valtteri Bottas the following day.
Picture Copyright © Williams F1
Circuit Of The Americas Begins To Take Shape
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas is beginning to take shape as construction of the new Formula 1 track continues. With construction of the medical and pit facilities currently taking place, the asphalt is planned to be laid down around April.
The race is scheduled be held in November as the penultimate round of the 2012 Formula 1 Championship, and race promoters are confident the construction is currently well on schedule.
This comes after an initial rocky start to construction after heavy rain plagued the site, as well financial trouble with Bernie Ecclestone in November. However with both of these troubles behind them, workers can now resume building the track which will become the next host of Formula 1 in the States.
Formula 1 last raced in America at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the infield track, however after the 2007 United States Grand Prix, it was announced F1 would not return in 2008. After a title sponsor was not found in time for the 2009 season, it was eventually confirmed that F1 would not return to America in the foreseeable future.
Now the nation has two races to look forward to, the first this coming season at the Circuit of the Americas, and the second coming next season at a 3.2 mile street circuit along the streets of New Jersey.
With so much money being spent on Formula 1’s return to America, many will be hoping it will be a major success both financially and with the fans who are used to watching IndyCar and Nascar instead.
Raikkonen: “DRS Is Ridiculous”
Kimi Raikkonen has spoken his mind about DRS, stating that passing is no longer an art in Formula 1. The Drag Reduction System was introduced last season to improve overtaking, and although it visually aided overtaking on track, there’s no denying it has turned overtaking into a mere formality and not a hard fought battle like the past.
The returning World Champion stopped watching Formula 1 when he left after the 2009 season, and instead attempted a career in the World Rally Championship as well as several races in Nascar. It was attempting Nascar where Raikkonen re-ignited his spark to contest races once again, and coupled with the prolonged absence of Robert Kubica signed to replace him for 2012.
It was last season that Kimi Raikkonen began watching Formula 1 races again on TV, and it was watching these races when he got his first taste of how the DRS effected the course of a race.
“The way the DRS wings work is for me a little ridiculous, overtaking is not really a great art anymore.” Explained the 2007 World Champion, after two days behind his 2012 Lotus, “You just put the wing down and go past easily, the guy in front can’t really do anything. But I agree that at least it makes the show better.”
Yesterday Kimi Raikkonen topped the timing sheets in Day 1 of the first pre-season test at Jerez. Today he ended up 5th after a day which saw him take several trips into the gravel trap, however the Finn remains happy about his return to F1 so far.
Lotus Aiming For 4th In Constructors’ Championship
With Lotus launching their new E20 car earlier today, team co-owner Gerard Lopez has announced that he believes his team can achieve 4th place in this seasons Constructors’ Championship, seemingly leap-frogging Mercedes or even possibly other big teams throughout the season.
With the Enstone-based squad suffering various setbacks during the last few seasons, including Robert Kubica’s near-fatal Rally crash as well as the failure of their exhaust design to work last season, Lopez is confident they can put these setbacks behind them and start afresh in 2012.
With the team winning the 2005 and 2006 World Titles’, they have fallen down the F1 pecking order in recent years, falling to 8th in the 2009 Constructors’ Championship before returning to 5th in the last two years.
With Lotus completely changing their driver line-up for 2012, bringing in 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and reigning GP2 Champion Romain Grosjean, Lotus are confident they can eventually return to the top of the F1 pecking order.
“The hopes are to be able to get one season together and do what we were expecting last year,” Said Gerard Lopez on their 2012 expectations. “We hope to have a strong car, and have strong drivers, one of which is of course an ex-world champion. We hope to bring the car up to the front of the pack and probably try to aim for fourth as a reasonable goal for this season. We’re obviously extremely proud that finally the Lotus name is a clear concept for everybody in Formula 1 now.”
Pre-season testing gets underway on Tuesday, 40 days before the season opening Australian Grand Prix, a race which Kimi Raikkonen won in 2007 for Ferrari.
New Lotus E20 Launch Day
Today at Jerez, the next car on the 2012 grid is set to be launched as the wraps come off the new Lotus E20. The new chassis has been named after their factory in Enstone, and is set to remain in the legendary black and gold color scheme.
Lotus have an exciting driver partnership for 2012, with 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen returning to the sport after an absence of two seasons. The Finn was not re-signed by Ferrari after the 2009 season, and he went experimenting in the World Rally Championship and Nascar before eventually returning to F1.
Their number two driver is Romain Grosjean, who is also making his return to the sport. The Frenchman is reigning GP2 World Champion, and raced for the team back in 2009 when Lotus were known as Renault. The irony is he was replaced at Renault in 2009 by Vitaly Petrov, and now Grosjean is replacing Vitaly Petrov at the same team in 2012. This goes to show what a vicious circle F1 can be.
With the wraps set to come off the new Lotus a 4pm GMT (5pm CET), all eyes will be eagerly awaiting the design of the new car. Will it feature the ugly step nose design or will it follow McLaren’s design? All will be revealed soon.
Kimi Raikkonen Test – Day 2
2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen wrapped up his final day of testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, completing 91 laps in a 2010-spec Renault, adding to the 80 he completed yesterday.
The Iceman returned to the track in an F1 car for the first time in two years yesterday, immediately recognizing that understanding the tyres will be the biggest learning curve of his return to the sport.
The Finn ended today’s session completing a total of 666Km, and will now be preparing for the launch of the 2012 Lotus car which is set to be unveiled on 5th February on their new website at 17:00 CET.
“It went well and overall the two days have helped me a lot,” said Kimi Raikkonen about his return to racing a Formula 1 car these last few days. The Finn last drove an F1 car at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Ferrari before he left the sport for the World Rally Championship and was replaced at Ferrari by Fernando Alonso. Kimi’s last win in F1 was at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, a track he has won 4 of his 18 Grands Prix on.
Kimi Raikkonen will be the first of the two Lotus drivers to debut the new Lotus car when pre-season testing officially begins on February 7th at Jerez.
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