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F1: Bahrain GP Qualifying Report

 
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Rory Phoulorie
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:03 am    Post subject: F1: Bahrain GP Qualifying Report Reply with quote

Massa back on top in Bahrain.

Felipe Massa won a battle of wills with rookie Lewis Hamilton to claim pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fifth of his career, his second in as many races and a landmark 100th for tyre supplier Bridgestone.

Despite the closely-matched Ferrari and McLaren teams, the Brazilian appeared locked in combat only with Hamilton, as the two frontrunners adopted similar 'hare and tortoise' strategies to give themselves options on race day.

Massa headed every phase in the knock-out session, perhaps exorcising the demons of Sepang where he threw away pole in the opening laps, but had Hamilton for company at every turn. The pair ended the day split by 0.283secs, but Massa's margin over both team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso was more telling, the Brazilian having half a second in hand, suggesting he was running lighter than both in the chase for pole.

Hamilton had been closer to the Ferrari in Q2, despite locking up on his best run, but also had to contend with emissions of blue smoke under heavy braking, with McLaren preparing to check for problems in the engine department. The Briton's pace left no-one in any doubt as to his ability, however, the GP2 champion securing his first front row start in just three F1 outings.

With the top four running in line astern on their final laps, the session could have been poised for great drama. Instead, they will line up in the order in which they took the flag, with each successive attempt slower than the man ahead. As a result Raikkonen claimed the inside of row two, with Alonso coming home 0.061secs shy of the Ferrari, but it remains to be seen what each team has up its sleeve in terms of tactics for race day.

Nick Heidfeld briefly threatened the leading quartet, vaulting up to third with his final effort, but, although BMW ensured that it retained its position as best of the rest, the German had little to offer as his best time was three-tenths adrift even of Alonso. BMW team-mate Robert Kubica will line up alongside Heidfeld, the 'works' itself comfortably ahead of the rest.

Renault-powered Giancarlo Fisichella and mark Webber will share row four, but the achievement will be welcomed more warmly in Milton Keynes than Enstone, as Renault again struggled to make an impact on qualifying. Fisichella only made the top ten by the skin of his teeth, and the regie has grown used to being higher than seventh, while Webber may have featured in the top ten at each race this season, but not yet as high as eighth.

Jarno Trulli ensured that Toyota retained its top ten run, and came close to depriving Webber of his row four spot, while Nico Rosberg rounded out the top ten as Williams was unable to show the same sort of pace that had the German higher up the order in earlier sessions.

Rosberg was among the group frantically trying to break out of the pull of the Q2 drop zone as all bar the top six runners returned to the track in the final stages of the phase. While he and Fisichella avoided the cut, however, team-mates Alex Wurz and Heikki Kovalainen were not as fortunate, both missing out on the top ten once again. Kovalainen and Fisichella had both had problems between final practice and the start of qualifying, needing a gearbox and fuel pump changed respectively, but the Finn was unable to find the time necessary to avoid being dumped for the third time in as many races.

Perhaps even more disappointed, Anthony Davidson will line up behind Wurz and Kovalainen, despite having been as high as seventh in the opening round of qualifying. The Briton, who had also featured in the top five in final free practice, could not find enough time on his last attempt to dislodge Fisichella, ending his day 13th, ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who admitted to being unable to dial out all of the understeer on his Toyota as he missed the top ten for the first time in 2007.

The two Hondas completed those to miss the cut in Q2 but, realistically, were never in the hunt to progress. Indeed, both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button - who wound up 15th and 16th - would have admitted to being relieved at making it to the second phase, even if they were several tenths adrift of Schumacher.

While Davidson was impressing further up the order, Super Aguri team-mate Takuma Sato suffered the cruel blow of being denied a place in Q2 when Fisichella punched in a late improvement. The Japanese driver, however, has been out-gunned by Davidson for much of the weekend, and will start from four places behind his rookie team-mate.

Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed would not have expected to be as low as 18th and 19th after the Italian, in particular, had been higher up in practice, while Spyker would have had little complaint about featuring at the back of the grid while it grapples with its new aero package, but David Coulthard, who was mixed in with them all, could do little about his fate, as a gearbox problem restricted his performance in Q1, leaving the Scot 21st overall.

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Rory Phoulorie
Zorce Jedi Knight


Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 1698

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Qualifying Times

01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:32.652
2 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:32.935
3 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:33.131
4 F. Alonso McLaren 1:33.192
5 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:33.404
6 R. Kubica BMW 1:33.710
7 G. Fisichella Renault 1:34.056
8 M. Webber Red Bull 1:34.106
9 J. Trulli Toyota 1:34.154
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:34.399
11 A. Wurz Williams 1:32.915
12 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:32.935
13 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:33.082
14 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:33.294
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1:33.624
16 J. Button Honda 1:33.731
17 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:33.984
18 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34.024
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34.333
20 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:35.280
21 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.341
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:35.533
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