Formula One 2012

[GA!]

The FIA are fucking stupid for running the race. Absolutely fucking stupid. I'm betting there's at least one person who gets on the track during the race.

[maninblack]

A shame we can't blame this one on Mosley.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Apparently Bahrain is totally safe, there's no problem. Those running around with petrol bombs are just small groups and not important.

[Lineker]

FP1 has now started.

GPDA chairman Pedro de la Rosa insists that he has no concerns about driver safety at the Bahrain Grand Prix having seen the situation on the ground in the island kingdom.

The Spaniard underlined that the drivers' body has faith in the FIA's decision-making process.

"It's not a concern," de la Rosa told AUTOSPORT. "Our view is that we don't know about the situation in Bahrain well enough to have a strong opinion about it and we rely on the people who have done all of the research, which is the FIA. We haven't looked into any more details.

"We trust that people that have done it. That's the best that you can do and stay away from the controversy. We are sportsmen and we have to perform at the track full-stop."

While some drivers have talked about additional security arrangements, de la Rosa is not treating the Bahrain race differently to any previous running of the event.

"I am following the same process and the same travel arrangements as any other Bahrain Grand Prix that I've been involved in," he said. "I haven't seen any differences so far.

"Maybe there is a little bit more security at the entrances of hotels, but I haven't seen anything different."

When asked about last night's incident, in which Force India personnel was caught up in a clash between protesters and police and a Molotov cocktail exploded near their car, de la Rosa admitted that he was not aware of the situation.

"Of course, it's not a safe situation if that happens, but I don't know enough about it to say."

Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg says it is not right that Formula 1 staff members have to worry about their safety following the incident involving staff from the German's team.

A hire car with four Force India mechanics was caught up in a clash between protestors and police on the main motorway into the capital city, Manama, on Wednesday night. A Molotov cocktail exploded near their vehicle, although no one was injured.

A member of the team has decided to return home after expressing safety fears.

AUTOSPORT understands a member of a Force India technical supplier has also expressed a desire to return home.

Hulkenberg lamented the incident, saying that F1 is in the country only to race, and not to cause problems.

"It is obviously not right that that sort of stuff happens," said Hulkenberg. "We are here to race. The F1 business is about entertainment, and these sort of things should not really be happening to us.

"Whether it is right or not I don't really know. It's difficult to say. I am not a politician, I am a Formula 1 driver, but it should not really be happening should it?

"It is not good that we have to worry about it: that is the way it is now, and let's see and hope that the rest of the weekend is good and calm."

When asked if he felt safe in Bahrain, he said. "I feel okay, yeah."

Bahrain GP organisers insisted after the incident that they were confident about safety.

"The BIC would like to reiterate its confidence in the relevant Bahrain authorities in their ability to deal with such isolated incidents and can confirm that all the usual precautions are being taken around the track to ensure the level of security is maintained," BIC said in a statement.

Rubens Barrichello has hit out at those in Formula 1 who have compared the safety situation in Bahrain to that in Brazil.

Amid heightened tension in Bahrain about safety over the race weekend, following a number of Force India mechanics getting caught up in an incident on the way back from the track on Wednesday night, there have been renewed questions about the wisdom of racing in the Gulf State.

But with continued suggestions from some that being in Bahrain is no less dangerous than Brazil, Barrichello has responded angrily.

"I think it is horrible to compare [bahrain] to Brazil," he told the Brazilian TotalRace website. "It is completely different. There is no war.

"This kind of opinion comes from those television shows they have in Europe, where people are shown surfing on trains - which gives some of them a totally wrong view."

Although F1's stars have mostly remained silent about the matter, Barrichello has said he is not surprised that there has been no push to express concern about the situation by the drivers as a whole.

"Making everyone agree on something is impossible anywhere in the world," he said. "Those who are champions and who have had good results can decide for themselves, but those who have the chance of their lives, would they turn to their teams and say they will not race? This is very difficult.

"It is very complicated to get unanimity. But a lot of decisions at my time as GPDA president were taken and carried forward."

Many Formula 1 drivers refused to comment about the Bahrain situation during the Thursday build-up to the event.

Michael Schumacher said he wanted to totally separate the sporting situation from the political situation, while Jenson Button said he would only comment about racing issues.

"You're here interviewing me as a driver," explained the McLaren driver. "Exactly what I'm going to talk about is motor racing. That's the important thing at the moment. The outside issues, I'm not going to talk about, because it's not what I'm here to do."

World champion Sebastian Vettel was one of those who did compare the situation to Brazil.

"I heard about the Force India issue," he said when asked about his feelings on the event. "I think generally being in the paddock it seems to be no problem. Surely outside the paddock there is a risk, but there is a risk everywhere we go.

"You imagine when we go to Brazil it is not the place you want to be, depending on the area you are in. It is not a big problem and I am happy once we start testing tomorrow because then we worry about stuff that really matters - tyre temperatures, and cars."

Kimi Raikkonen says Bahrain will be just like any other race weekend - and that his focus will therefore be on points and podiums rather than protests.

The Finn said he had no concerns over safety at the event, and no issues with the grand prix going ahead.

"Bahrain I have no issues with anything - it's the same as it was last I was here," he said. "Everybody is racing and I am okay with it.

"For me it is just like any other race weekend – nothing has really changed. I'm fine [with security]."

Raikkonen predicted the humid temperatures of Bahrain would suit Lotus, downplaying talk of his two-stop strategy in China being either a mistake or evidence that it was hard on its tyres.

"We didn't really want it that way, but what happened happened," Raikkonen said of his tyre-derived slide from second to 14th in China.

"We tried but we couldn't make it work. The tyres actually lasted pretty well, but it looks much worse when you have people with much fresher tyres behind. We ran out though because we ran too long, not because the car was bad.

"Hopefully it will be better for us to have hot weather than cold – we'll see over the weekend – but I'm happier in this [temperature] than I was last weekend.

"Hopefully we can be up there and fight for good points and podiums. We've tried to get good results, but [they haven't been] as good as we wanted so far.

"Small mistakes in qualifying can cost you a lot. No one team is dominating and the races aren't straightforward, and that makes it a bit more tricky. It also makes it more interesting, and hopefully gives us a better chance."

Jenson Button says Mercedes's victory in China was not simply a result of tyre management, but also proof that the German manufacturer has a genuinely quick car in 2012.

While Button admitted he still has little idea about the relative pace of the Formula 1 field, he insisted the pace of the Mercedes - surprising as it had been on Sunday – could not be dismissed as a one-off.

The 2009 world champion also said Rosberg's maiden victory would act as a major mental boost for the German.

"It's really difficult to understand the pace of the cars – I don't know where anyone is," Button conceded.

"I think we were surprised that Mercedes had such good pace in the race, even Mercedes themselves, and then Sauber I expected them to be fighting for a podium after qualifying in China and previous race pace, but they weren't there.

"I really don't think DRS has given them [Mercedes] that much though, they're just quick; they just have a good, efficient car.

"[Rosberg's maiden win] is massive – and it has a big impact mentally. It will be a special feeling for him, but what is even more special is he knows he can come here and probably do something similar.

"You come here and nobody really knows what is going to happen – different circuit, different temperatures – but they're in a great place right now."

Button said the seemingly fluctuating form of the F1 field was down to not only understanding the Pirelli tyres, but in translating that knowledge into making them work.

"There's understanding the tyres and also being able to work with them – if you understand the tyres, which I think we do, it still doesn't mean you can make them work," he explained.

"For me I struggled on Saturday with the cool temperatures in China, and it was a little bit better on Sunday when it was warmer.

"It's not just about understanding degradation, but understanding how to get them into working range We would hope that the hotter temperatures would help – but we hope, we don't really know. It's tricky.

"Strategy is very difficult because you don't know what the pace of the cars around you is – it seems to always be different, and every race you're against someone different."

Lewis Hamilton says he has been pleased with his consistency so far this season despite having not won any races yet.

The McLaren driver sits on top of the championship standings after having finished in third place in the first three races of the year, two points ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.

Hamilton, who has started from pole position twice, is yet to win a race in 2012, but the Briton insists that consistency remains his main goal.

"The target every year is to have consistency and some years it doesn't go to plan," said Hamilton ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"But this year I am fortunate to be on the podium at each of the three races, so it's fantastic."

He downplayed the significance of leading the championship, however, saying it is way too early.

"It is very, very early in the season. In previous years you have seen the championship leaders swap positions so it doesn't mean much," he said.

The 2008 world champion, who endured a difficult 2011 season, says he is feeling mentally stronger this year.

"I definitely think that the last three years have added to where I am today," he said. "A lot of lessons learned and a lot of great and good experiences.

"We all have to keep our mind in a certain way. It is really a massive mental game, which is why I never gave up in getting on the right path, but I feel there or thereabouts now."

Norbert Haug expects to get a clearer picture of whether Mercedes will be in a position to win more races in 2012 from this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg took the first win for the works team since it was revived for the start of 2010 after 55 years out of F1, but Haug is taking a cautious approach to predicting further wins.

Key to this will be Mercedes proving that it has got on top of Pirelli's 2012 rubber after struggling with tyre degradation during the Australian and Malaysian grands prix.

"We thought that we were going in the right direction in Malaysia, but then it was wet and cold," Haug told AUTOSPORT. "Here, we have the chance to learn if we understand the car in the right way.

"I want to be very cautious but there are no signs that we shouldn't be in a position to do a balanced job here. But don't ask me if this is position five, 12 or wherever.

"It's difficult to say whether it's this weekend [that will confirm if Mercedes will be a regular victory contender]. Normally you know where you are in Barcelona as it takes some races. But there is not the typical pecking order like in the past. It's difficult to predict."

Haug added that Nico Rosberg's impressive qualifying performance in China, where he took pole position by half-a-second, proves that he has the potential to put the team in a strong position for the race.

With the field so tightly packed, the advantage of clear air at the start of the race could prove to be crucial.

"Pole position is now more valuable than it ever was with these tyres," said Haug. "You always want to be on pole, but you probably get a better reward now than in different tyre generations.

"Nico gained a lot of confidence from his qualifying lap. He felt good in the car and the lap was, in my experience, one of the most stunning you will see. Everything was close, but all of a sudden he was half-a-second quicker."

Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes may have a tougher time trying to repeat in Bahrain the kind of performance it put on in China.

The German driver secured his maiden pole position and his first race win in Formula 1 in Shanghai, as his car proved to be the class of the field.

But with hotter track temperatures predicted for Bahrain this weekend, Rosberg admitted it was hard to know what to expect, despite Mercedes having made progress on tyre management.

"This is a track I really enjoy," Rosberg told a news conference in Bahrain. "I have some very good memories here, but it's difficult to know where we are going to be.

"In Shanghai we did very well, but previously we did have issues in the races, so it's possible it could be a bit more difficult here."

He added: "The engineers have been making good progress. We are learning very quickly. We did a good job and got the best out of it. The situation is different here with the temperatures and that might mean a bit more of a challenge."

The Mercedes driver, who won by over 20 seconds in China, conceded everything had gone his way in Shanghai.

"Everything came together. I was on top of my game all weekend. The car and the set-up were working quite well, it was enough to win by some margin. All in all it was a really strong weekend."

Michael Schumacher says he is enjoying the competitiveness of the 2012 Formula 1 field, despite the fact that it means the top teams can fall further down the order if they have a bad weekend.

The early races have provided plenty of shocks already this year, with smaller teams able to upset the usual frontrunners on several occasions.

And the seven-time world champion believes that is a good thing for the sport.

"I think it is very exciting," he said of the competitiveness of the midfield teams. "If you don't manage to get everything right you are stuck behind people and you can't get through, which can be frustrating.

"That does make it exciting. It's fun if you see the side we had in Shanghai [where Mercedes ran at the front], not the side we had in Malaysia [where it struggled with tyres].

"Not hitting it spot on means you can be first or 10th. Take Sebastian [Vettel] in China, out in Q2. This is what we have to live with."

Schumacher believes that puts increased pressure on teams to deliver, but he does not expect it to be easy for a team to achieve its maximum every race.

"Everything is so tight," he said. "If you imagine every race weekend we start with a puzzle with a thousand pieces, and you have to put them together in the best way.

"It is possible to get the puzzle together, maybe not always spot on. But then it is a question of each track with its different characters. Will your car fit with these? This is another point as well as getting it right or wrong.

"We have to see. Bahrain will be very different [to China], very hot temperatures, which is to be expected. But what does that mean [for the competitive order]?"

Red Bull Racing still needs to bring more to its car than improved qualifying pace if it is going to turn its RB8 into a race winner, reckons world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Although the German and team-mate Mark Webber have enjoyed good form in the three races so far, the team has struggled to extract single-lap performance from the car - which has made its Sundays more difficult.

But just lifting itself nearer the front of the grid will not be enough to get Red Bull back to the front, says Vettel, as he suspects the teams needs to find more ultimate speed too.

"Surely we need something more," he said, when asked if better qualifying performance would be enough to win again. "In the races, for a reason, we get beaten – so it is not as if we have the best race car and just because of our qualifying position we are not ahead. We are quite a bit away.

"But as I have said many times I believe the potential is there, the car is quick, and once we start putting everything together I think we will feel a bit more comfortable. Then, we should be in a much better position in qualifying and in the race."

Vettel will revert to the most recent exhaust configuration for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, after he went back to an earlier specification in China.

Although he has openly admitted he has a personal preference for the older version, because he says the car feels less nervous, he accept the newer concept is ultimately better.

"It is a better direction to go, so that is why it is back on the car," he said. "It was a good test for us to have a real back-to-back and what we introduced back in testing, we didn't have the best two days at the end, so I think that it was why it was a good test."

Vettel is cautious, however, on expecting too much from the car with the revised exhausts – and at a warmer track like Bahrain that should suit its car better.

"Obviously it's a new weekend, a different track, different conditions, and it is quite hot, so we will see. Surely we cannot expect miracles – it is one week since the last race. We hope we can do a step forward in qualifying which seemed to be a little bit of a weakness at that stage, but in terms of race pace we are not that far off. So let's see."

Felipe Massa is aiming to have the best race of his season so far in Bahrain, insisting his performance in China was a step forward.

Although the Brazilian finished in 13th position in Shanghai, he was just some five seconds behind Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso at the chequered flag, having struggled to match the Spaniard in the opening two events.

Now Massa, who is yet to score a point this year, is hoping to continue making progress this weekend.

"I want to have a good race here, the best of the season so far. So I'm just looking forward to having a nice race weekend, score good points and working for now on to have a better race all the time."

When asked if he had made progress in China compared to the first two races, he said: "Yes, definitely. Even if the result in the end was not very satisfying for the team.

"It was a long race in terms of race pace. In terms of qualifying everything was normal. For sure it was a much different race in Shanghai compared to the first two."

Ferrari has boosted its aerodynamic department with the signing of Ben Agathangelou, who has worked for a number of teams including McLaren, Benetton and Red Bull Racing in his career.

Agathangelou originally left F1 at the end of 2007, when he departed Red Bull Racing - having been there since the Jaguar days, but he returned to the sport in 2010 when he joined the Hispania team. Most recently he has worked with Marussia.

Ferrari has been looking at bolstering its technical structure under the leadership of Pat Fry, and has been recruiting in areas where it feels it can be improved.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Fry said that the team was leaving no stone unturned in looking at areas it can improve.

"The biggest performance differentiator is aerodynamics. We've got some issues there that we're trying to resolve," he said.

"We're actually trying to review and revise our methodologies through the whole process and that carries on into the design office for trying to get weight out of various parts, make other bits more durable.

"So there's work going on absolutely everywhere within the company, on the basic fundamental methodology as well as just trying to upgrade the car."

Sergio Perez believes that Sauber's strong early-season form has given the team a motivational boost.

The team has endured some tough times in recent years, coming close to dropping out of Formula 1 after BMW quit the sport in 2009 before being saved by founder Peter Sauber.

But this year, it lies fourth in the Constructors' Championship and has been a strong top 10 contender in all three races.

"It's great when you come to the circuit and you know that you have got good potential to make Q3 and to score points," said Perez.

"It's a good feeling and motivation, not only for myself but for the whole team.

"They have done an incredible job. They have been so motivated to make a good car and we have that."

Sauber scored only one point in China courtesy of Kamui Kobayashi's 10th place, with Perez finishing just behind him.

Despite the disappointing result, Perez is confident that the team will be able to improve on that in Bahrain, having shown strong pace in China last week.

"Our pace in Shanghai was very real," he said. "I didn't have the problem in the race [a loss of downforce produced by the front wing] I'm sure I could have fought for a podium.

"Bahrain is going to be a very different race weekend. I'm very confident and really looking forward to this race. I think we can have a good weekend."

Daniel Ricciardo says Toro Rosso is not giving up on the updates introduced in the Chinese Grand Prix despite conceding they did not perform as expected.

Like most of the teams, the Faenza-based squad used the three-week break ahead of the Shanghai race to work on several updates that were introduced in the third round of the championship.

The team's performance, however, did not improve as much as it was hoped, and both Ricciardo and team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne struggled during the weekend.

The Australian qualified and finished in 17th, while the Frenchman was 16th in the race having started from the pitlane.

Ricciardo said in Bahrain on Thursday that the updates had not worked as expected, but insisted the team is not giving up on them yet.

"We definitely struggled a bit in China," Ricciardo told AUTOSPORT. "I guess because there was quite a big break quite a few teams had updates. We were one of them, but unfortunately they didn't work as well as we hoped, basically. That's in simple terms.

"It's not that we are going to give up on them. I think we'll find out in a few races why they didn't work as well as they should have. I think we will give them another crack this weekend and try to find a few ways to make them more effective.

"At least what we had in China didn't really work and we struggled. I struggled a bit, but Jean-Eric struggled more. I expect here to be better."

He said Toro Rosso is still pushing hard to have more upgrades for its cars for the start of the European season and for next month's test at Mugello.

"Obviously the team is pushing very hard for the first European race in Barcelona," he said. "I believe we are pushing to get some more stuff in Mugello for the test. It's a good opportunity to test new bits and pieces. In Barcelona we'll have a bit more. The team is definitely pushing hard."

Ricciardo said he was not worried about his team's drop in performance, and was confident that Toro Rosso will recover.

"It's still very close, but we definitely want to say in touch. We were on the limit in China, or falling back to the rest, but I'm not fearful that's how it will be in the end."

Monaco Grand Prix organisers have announced several changes that have been made to the track around the streets of Monte Carlo to improve safety.

The main changes feature around the chicane just after the exit of the tunnel, where Sergio Perez suffered a concussion after crashing heavily in qualifying last year.

The track surface on the approach to the chicane has been levelled out, after a laser study of the road revealed changes as big as 20cm in the height of the track in the braking area.

In addition, the wall that Perez hit has been pushed back a further 14.6 metres.

The other significant changes feature around the pit exit, which has been widened and straightened by removing some trees to allow cars to rejoin the track at a higher speed than before.

Other modifications include the laying of high-grip surfaces as used at Paul Ricard in some escape roads, and tyre barriers being replaced with TecPro barriers - like the one Perez hit – at St Devote and the Swimming Pool section.

A statement from the Automobile Club de Monaco said: "Safety is an abiding concern for the Monaco Grand Prix organisers.

"The various measures implemented above aim to put the safety of drivers and public first and demonstrate a continued will to modernise the circuit."

Thursday's press conference:

DRIVERS - Heikki KOVALAINEN (Caterham), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Timo GLOCK (Marussia), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Heikki, it's been a difficult start to the season for you. What were you expecting from these first three or four races?

Heikki KOVALAINEN: Well, obviously we're hoping for better finishes. I think we've had some issues pretty much every race, but we're working on them and we're trying to make sure that those kind of troubles that we've had don't happen again. We've done everything we can; everything we could do in this short time to make sure that we have a trouble-free race.

Q. Are you expecting a big step forwards, therefore, for Barcelona?

HK: We have upgrades coming, not only for Barcelona, but all the way through the season. We are still catching up. We have not yet joined the midfield, so we're still targeting that. Obviously everybody's bringing updates, so how much we will be able to make a rapid gain remains to be seen. But I think we're working flat out and strengthening the team in every area to be able to do that.

Q. So, what are your hopes for this weekend then?

HK: Hopefully to have a trouble-free weekend, without any incidents, especially in the race. To have smooth pit stops without any extra incidents. Hopefully we can get everything out of the team and out of the car. Like we've shown in the last couple of race, especially in China, we were able race a few cars for quite a long time in the race. Hopefully we can carry on doing that.

Q. Romain, now 26-years-old, happy birthday! This is a circuit you know well, you've been talking about your GP2 races here and I think you had a 'full house' here if you understand what that means.

Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, well, it's a circuit I know quite well, from racing in GP2 and testing with Pirelli for the development of the tyres. I think it's a nice circuit, I quite like it and think we can have a good car here. The weather will be, for once, stable, with some decent temperature and hopefully we can have a clear qualifying and a clear race altogether and achieve an even better result than what we had in the previous race.

Q. In China you got the result you were waiting for, or maybe you were hoping for even better?

RG: You always hope for better! In a way what you want to achieve whenever you start the race is to win. That's the goal for every driver on the grid. But China was a good race, I think it was very tight, some good battles and we were showing that we were able to carry through the race with good pace and some good moves and to be able to be gentle with the tyres. That was the key in China and I think that will the key one more time here.

Q. But this is such a different circuit and the temperatures and conditions are going to be so different.

RG: Yes, but I hate the cold, so I feel better here. The tyre strategy will be different and the tyre usage will be different here as we have these temperatures but as well I don't think we are not going to struggle with warm-up issues or making the work, which will help us to set up the car in a good way.

Q. Timo, obviously the team has been playing catch-up since the start of the season but how do you feel they've been getting on? It seems to be a very steep learning curve.

Timo GLOCK: Yes, absolutely. If you do 200kms of testing before the first race, every lap, every kilometre you do is like a learning process for us at the moment. I'm quite happy with the past races, I think we've closed the gap quite significantly: last qualifying we were three seconds behind; first race we had five and a half seconds, so there's a clear step forward and that's good.

Q. The results seem positive and the car's reliable as well, how far can you go, do you feel?

TG: I hope we can continue like this in terms of improvements but it will be difficult. European season everyone comes with new updates so we just have to work hard and continue the process we're doing at the moment. It would be great to have at every race a step like we had in China, so we have to see what we can do. We have some little parts here, which could improve the car again, so we're looking forward to it. I think we have a good baseline to really catch-up.

Q. Is the big update coming at Barcelona like most people?

TG: Yeah, we're working on it. It's not definite how much we will get out of it but at the moment we're getting new parts every race. If that continues I don't care how big the update is in Barcelona. If you can keep it up through the whole year that's more important.

Q. Lewis, did you expect to be leading the Championship with three third places after three races?

Lewis HAMILTON: Good afternoon everyone, no, definitely not. The target every year I think is to have consistency and sometimes it just doesn't go to plan but this year I think we've been quite fortunate. Finishing on the podium for the first three races has been fantastic for us. Obviously it's very early in the season. In previous seasons you've seen Championship leaders swapping and changing throughout the year so it doesn't really mean too much at the moment.

Q. Do you feel your car is suited to this circuit? I mean it seems that the game has changed this year with less downforce. The tyres are just so, so important, even more than they have been before – is that the case?

LH: I personally don't think they're much more important than in the past, I think last year we had similar tyre degradation and we had to manage the tyres in a similar way. If you look at the last race the people on a two-stop were slow at the end of the race and people on three stop were overtaking them. It was the same last year – that's how I won the race. This year the tyre window, the working range is slightly narrower than it was last year, which is making it a little more difficult for people to warm-up the tyres in qualifying, for example. It is a little more challenging but it's providing good racing.

Q. And who is your main competitor? Is he [Nico] your main competitor having been the winner of the last race, or your team-mate? It's difficult to say, isn't it?

LH: It is very difficult to say. You know, when you look at qualifying we're competitive there, Mercedes is now the quickest but it's quite close between a lot of the cars, but in the race pace then you look at the Red Bull being very quick, the Mercedes is very quick, we are quick, even Sauber's quick. It's a real mixture at the moment and it's just about trying to stay consistent and trying to maximise every opportunity you have.

Q. Nico, sadly only a few days to enjoy the win from last weekend but very interesting, this is a circuit that you've done very well on in F3, in GP2, made your F1 debut here and had fastest lap – you must be looking forward to this weekend?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, for sure. This is a track I really enjoy, I've had some very good memories here but again it's just difficult to know where we're going to be exactly. In Shanghai of course we did very well but previously we did have a few issues in the races, so it's possible it's going to be a bit more difficult here.

Q. You mentioned those issues, which were tyre-related, and yet you seemed to get it absolutely right in China, can it just go back to square one again here? Is that how difficult it is to get it right?

NR: Well at the same time the engineers and everybody have really been making some good progress on the car, setup-wise and things like that. So we're learning very quickly, so it wasn't a coincidence that we were fast in Shanghai. No, we did a good job and got the best out of it – but the situation could be different here with the temperatures and that might prove a little bit more of a challenge but I don't know.

Q. The emphasis more on setup than it used to be?

NR: Tyre management is more of a problem in the races than it used to be. That's definitely the case and that can be influenced with setup and various other things.

Q. Felipe, this has been a good circuit for you in the past: two wins here, three times qualified second. Do you feel that you're on an upward curve now?

Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure it's a very nice track. I have had a great time here. I would expect to have a good race here, the best of the season – so far. I'm just looking forward to having a nice race, scoring good points and working now on having a better race all the time.

Q. Did you feel you had made progress in Shanghai?

FM: Yes, definitely, even if the result at the end was not very satisfying for the team, for Fernando or for me, it was a normal race in terms of race pace, in terms of qualifying and everything. Everything was normal. For sure it was a much more different race in Shanghai compared to the first two races.

Q. And will these temperatures, even though they are very different to Shanghai, will they be more suited to the car?

FM: I hope so. For sure it's a different track, very different to Shanghai but in a way, we're still working to improve the car, still working to make the car more competitive and the car here is not very different to the car in Shanghai, so we will see how the behaviour of the car is on this track in qualifying, but also in the race and see if we can do something different, be more competitive than in Shanghai.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Julien Febreau – L'Equipe) Lewis, it seems that you're even stronger as a person than last year. Do you feel that way and if so, do you feel that your challenging season last year has helped you?

LH: I definitely think that the last three years have added to where I am today. I think there have been a lot of lessons learned and a lot of good and bad experiences which of course definitely help you when you have a good car and when you're in a much better position. Yeah, as for all athletes, I think you have to get your mind set in a certain way and there are many things that can affect that. For example, look at Tiger Woods. He's there and sometimes he's not and he's the best out there. It's really a massive mental game which is about trying to get your mind on the right path. But I feel that I'm there or thereabouts at the moment, still working hard.

Q. (Alex Popov – RTR) Romain, you had a very intense race last Sunday in Shanghai. Your personal battle with Maldonado was perhaps even more than intense. Do you personally see it as revenge for Melbourne?

RG: No, it's not revenge. I made a mistake with Mark Webber which is why I had to fight with Pastor Maldonado. I think that the fight was a little bit tight. Honestly, I wish we hadn't touched each other's cars, but at the end, I ended up in front of him and then I could pull away and finish my race at my own pace and even overtook the second Williams to score more points but that's what I was glad of.

Q. (Alex Popov – RTR) Romain, did you have a lot to say to your engineer about your strategy during the race? Is there a lot of communication?

RG: Well, there is a lot of briefing before the race when there is time to go through the strategies. We had two options basically: either two stops or three stops. The question arose during the second stint: either you really want to push and try to go for three stops, or you make your tyres last for the 20 or 25 laps that you need and you just go for two stops. I think our set-up was pretty good and the car was working very well on the prime tyres. The second stint was very good and we had pitted to cover Sebastian Vettel, if not, we could have done more laps in the second stint which would have made the third one even easier, but at the end of the story, my engineers did a good job, they helped me to save the tyres and make them last longer. When you are fighting with other cars, it's always difficult to save them. You have to realise that the race is long and that you still have a few laps to go.

Q. (Thomas Hanratty – Gulf Daily News) Obviously there's been a lot of media hype in the build-up to this weekend; has it been much of a distraction for you, in terms of your preparations, or have you just been able to block everything out and keep focused?

HK: It hasn't had the slightest influence on my preparation. I've prepared for the Grand Prix, physically and mentally, the same way that I do any other race. That's all I can answer to that question.

RG: Well, we've been preparing for the event as well as we can. As you say, we can't ignore the situation but in another way, I hope the race may make a clear vision and help the situation and I think the Grand Prix will be nice.

TG: No, we have made the same preparation as all the other races.

LH: They've said it all. The team has just been focusing on preparing ourselves for the best way of trying to get some wins.

NR: No, we have been preparing to the best of my possibilities and the team's also.

FM: Yeah, the same preparation as always. We came here for the sport, that's the best thing to do, it's a sport.

Q. (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Nico, now that you've tasted the taste of success, do you think it's going to be harder for you to cope if you're not racing... if you're not fighting for the win at every race?

NR: Niki Lauda said right after the race, 'Nico, believe me, the first win is by the far the most difficult and after that it becomes much easier.' So I'll go for that, he should know.

HK: I got a message from Bernie (Ecclestone) after the first race (win) which said that 'now it's downhill', so there's also that option.

Q. (Alex Popov – RTR) Nico, after qualifying in Shanghai you explained the huge gap of half a second by the drop in temperature by a few degrees, that you had changed the set-up between Q2 and Q3 etc etc, but in the race itself, after the first ten laps, the gap was five seconds, so it never reached the same half a second, so how do you explain that? Was that you?

NR: No, definitely not. It was just that everything came together. I was on top of my game for the weekend in qualifying and the race, but also the set-up – the car was working very well still, I think, in qualifying. Even in Shanghai, we were stronger eventually in the race but of course it was enough to win by some margin. All in all, it was a really strong weekend.

[Colly]

After some to and fro-ing and statements from Ecclestone Force India have pulled out of the second practice session. As long as no one is hurt I'd almost like something to happen just to show Ecclestone what a royal div he is.

[Lineker]

Anonymous have taken down the F1 website

[Summers]

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

a) They should swear less.

b) They should learn how to forgive.

[maninblack]

What's next, sabotaging F1 cars? >.>

[Adam]

Bernie Ecclestone comparing the current Bahrain issues to the Labour and Conservative parties disagreeing sometimes proves to me what I have already known for years. That Bernie is a deluded old fool.

[Lineker]

Bernie is a renouned dinosaur. Pay no real heed to him!!

Also turns out it was a Molokov cocktail thrown at the Force India team. Sauber have been targeted too now, supposedly. Crazy.

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the opening free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull and Paul di Resta's Force India.

In a fairly uneventful 90 minutes of running, the McLaren driver set a time of 1m33.572s in the middle of the session and remained unchallenged thereafter.

As expected, the teams were greeted with warm track temperatures - 27 degrees C and rising – but just as predictable was the surface layer of sand on the asphalt that prompted one team to dismissively say the morning's runs as nothing more than 'dust surveys'. It led to a slow start to the morning.

Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to set a time, a 1m35.544s lap, 20 minutes in. Dicing with his Force India team-mate di Resta, who also moved to the top during this period, the German then improved that to a 1m34.859s.

Other early runners were Romain Grosjean and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, who like Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen before him, ran too hot into the tightening Turn 10 left-hander and ran over the sand-coloured painted run-off. There would be several more cases of this through the field.

By one third's distance Grosjean's Lotus, complete with a new front wing for this race, had moved to the top of the times with a 1m34.847s. The Frenchman looked fairly wild though as he explored the limits of the track.

Not long after that, Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen set a new benchmark, the Finn lowering the target to a 1m34.609s on the revised-back-to-its-original Sakhir layout.

Just before half distance the Red Bulls emerged from the pits for their first runs on the Pirelli medium primes and immediately Vettel went fastest with a 1m34.311s – the German now using the newer exhaust layout that Mark Webber chose to run in Shanghai.

But if his first lap was impressive, he followed it up with a much faster 1m33.877s, setting three purple sector times as he did so. His team-mate on the hand could only manage third fastest, having locked up on his early quick lap.

The two Mercedes were also out at the same time for their early runs on the prime tyres, but neither Nico Rosberg nor Michael Schumacher could match that Vettel time at this stage and went second and third quickest, while Jenson Button in the McLaren, went fourth.

Just before the hour mark world championship leader Hamilton moved to the top with a 1m33.572s – three tenths up on Vettel - as Rosberg and Button also improved to third and fourth, ahead of Schumacher.

Things settled down for a while after that as teams continued working through their programmes on the prime sets they'd hand back after the morning session was over.

During this period di Resta's KERS went intermittent and he was forced to switch it off, running wide at the final corner not long after that.

Despite the track being less dusty, to the surprise of the teams, few of them seemed keen to chase times massively.

But in the last 10 minutes of the session both the Force Indias made the surprising decision to make an early switch to the option tyre, which explained why di Resta jumped up to third late on and Hulkenberg ended up sixth.

Neither Ferrari made it into the top ten after a low profile session that ended with Fernando Alonso 13th and Felipe Massa 15th - split by Valtteri Bottas's Williams.

FP1


Pos Driver                Team                   Time              Laps

 1. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m33.572            11

 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m33.877s  + 0.305  21

 3. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m34.150s  + 0.578  26

 4. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m34.249s  + 0.677  23

 5. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m34.277s  + 0.705  14

 6. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m34.344s  + 0.772  26

 7. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m34.483s  + 0.911  17

 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m34.552s  + 0.980  22

 9. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m34.609s  + 1.037  17

10. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m34.847s  + 1.275  20

11. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m35.024s  + 1.452  22

12. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m35.268s  + 1.696  24

13. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m35.436s  + 1.864  21

14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m35.497s  + 1.925  24

15. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m35.719s  + 2.147  19

16. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m35.929s  + 2.357  24

17. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m36.195s  + 2.623  20

18. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m36.330s  + 2.758  11

19. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1m36.484s  + 2.912  18

20. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m36.591s  + 3.019  20

21. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.467s  + 3.895  17

22. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1m38.006s  + 4.434  18

23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1m38.877s  + 5.305  19

24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m39.996s  + 6.424  23


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




Nico Rosberg followed up his Shanghai victory with another commanding performance in the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.



As off-track controversy escalated amid news that Force India would miss the session because of concerns about its personnel travelling back from the circuit after dark, Rosberg emphasised Mercedes' Sakhir speed with a pacesetting 1m32.816s.



The German set that time just over half an hour into the afternoon, ending a busy spell in which the two Mercedes and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had been swapping the top spot.



When he set that lap, Rosberg went a full 0.8 seconds quicker than anyone else, and although that margin reduced, no one was able to topple the Mercedes.



Mark Webber ended up second for Red Bull, 0.446s down on Rosberg, and 0.263s ahead of his team-mate Vettel, who had a near-miss with compatriot Michael Schumacher near the end of the session.



Neither car was damaged, and Schumacher completed the day in fifth, a second off his pacesetting Mercedes team-mate.



The seven-time champion was sandwiched between the two McLarens, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and Jenson Button sixth - 0.9s and 1.4s off Rosberg respectively.



Sauber had an encouraging session, as Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez took seventh and 10th, split by Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and Romain Grosjean's Lotus.



Force India's decision not to take part meant only 22 cars ran, with the Silverstone squad's crew instead getting an early start on preparing the cars for Saturday and qualifying before leaving the circuit.



There were myriad minor excursions over kerbs and run-off areas on the still-dusty track, but no major dramas, incidents or problems, with all the cars that ran completing between 25 and 35 laps.



[code]FP2


Pos  Driver               Team                  Time               Laps

 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m32.816s            35 

 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m33.262s  + 0.446   26 

 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m33.525s  + 0.709   28 

 4. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.747s  + 0.931   26 

 5. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m33.862s  + 1.046   31 

 6. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.246s  + 1.430   28 

 7. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.411s  + 1.595   34 

 8. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m34.449s  + 1.633   31 

 9. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m34.615s  + 1.799   32 

10. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.893s  + 2.077   34 

11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.895s  + 2.079   29 

12. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m34.941s  + 2.125   29 

13. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m35.183s  + 2.367   33 

14. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.229s  + 2.413   26 

15. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m35.459s  + 2.643   38 

16. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m35.913s  + 3.097   32 

17. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m35.968s  + 3.152   35 

18. Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m36.169s  + 3.353   30 

19. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.587s  + 3.771   32 

20. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.803s  + 4.987   33 

21. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m37.812s  + 4.996   28 

22. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m39.649s  + 6.833   27 


All Timing Unofficial

Bernie Ecclestone remained unmoved about safety concerns in Bahrain on Friday - despite Force India's withdrawal from second free practice because of worries from its personnel about leaving the Sakhir track after dark.

Amid concerns in the paddock about the situation outside the circuit – with Sauber now also confirming that some of its personnel witnessed an incident involving masked protestors on Thursday night as they returned to Manama – Ecclestone said it was not in his power to cancel the race.

"I can't call this race off. It is nothing to do with us, the race," he told reporters in the Bahrain paddock.

"We are here, we have an agreement to be here and we are here. The national sporting authority in this country can ask the FIA if they want to call the race off."

Ecclestone said he did not understand why Force India was so worried about safety – and that he had personally offered to drive with the team from the circuit if they wanted reassurance.

"They have asked and been told they can have security if they want it," he said. "I don't know if people are targeting them for some reason, I don't know – I hope not because none of the other teams seem to have a problem.

"So maybe they have had a message and are being targeted for something – it may be nothing to do with being in this country, maybe it is something else."

A Brazilian journalist confirmed that he too had witnessed police firing tear gas at protestors on the main road between the circuit and Manama on Thursday evening.

Ecclestone also reckons the huge media coverage the safety situation at the Bahrain event was generating was the result of journalists stirring things up.

"You guys love it," he told journalists. "What we really need is an earthquake or something like that, so you can write about that now.

"I think you guys want a story and it is a good story. And if there isn't a story you make it up as usual. So nothing changes."

Force India still believes it was right for the Bahrain Grand Prix to go ahead, despite the safety concerns that are overshadowing its weekend.

The Silverstone-based team is considering withdrawing from second free practice in Bahrain so its personnel can return to their hotels early - to avoid the possibility of trouble on the journey home.

Four members of its staff were caught up in a clash between protestors and police on Wednesday night – with a Molotov cocktail landing near their car. That incident has resulted in two team members returning home because they no longer wished to stay in Bahrain.

Although the situation has heightened concerns in the paddock about safety, Fernley says he feels the FIA was still correct to stick to its guns that the Bahrain GP should go ahead.

When asked if he was disappointed about the way events had panned out with talk in the build-up to the event that safety was good enough, he said: "With all due respect, I don't think the FIA nor the Bahrain authorities have said that safety is 100 per cent guaranteed.

"We all knew that there is a very slight risk with coming here. [but] that risk is worthwhile taking, if it puts the platform in place for debate to be able to get Bahrain into a healthy position – and our team are very prepared to do that.

"But we have to do it within the confines of making sure we have a crew committed to our programmes, which we have today."

The FIA issued a statement over the Chinese GP weekend saying that it was happy about safety levels in the Gulf state.

"Based on the current information the FIA has at this stage, it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running of a Formula One World Championship event in Bahrain," it said.

Bahrain's Crown Prince has ruled out any talk of cancelling this weekend's grand prix, after suggesting that such a move would be a victory for protestors.

Despite rising concerns in the paddock about safety, and calls from British politicians for the race to be called off, Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa insisted it was vital the event went ahead.

"I think cancelling just empowers extremists," he said, during a press conference in the Bahrain paddock. "I think for those of us who are trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the 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. So I actually think that having the race has prevented extremists from doing what they think they need to do out of the world's attention."

The Crown Prince acknowledged the safety concerns expressed by some F1 personnel, in light of Wednesday night's incident involving Force India mechanics, but insisted that protestors were not targeting F1.

"I absolutely can guarantee that any problems that may or may not happen are not directed at F1," he said. "It goes to show that there are people who are out to cause chaos.

"You [in Britain] had these problems last year in your country and there is a very big difference between protesting for political rights and rioting, and the attack that happened around Force India was aimed at the police. It was unprovoked, and it was quite dangerous. But at no time was anyone from F1 in danger."

The Crown Prince acknowledged that Bahrain did have its problems, and said it would be wrong to shy away from events.

"I hope by coming here you understand that unlike what has been reported we are not trying to say we are perfect," he said. "We are a real country with real issues and we hope that you get a chance for all our complexities and all our shades, I genuinely believe that this race is a force for good."

He also said that he would have no regrets if protests ramped up over the weekend and caused trouble.

"I am very confident that protests which will happen at some point, and there is a demonstration today, is part of the political process in any country," he said.

"So why should we be any different? Why should our openness relative to our neighbours be used against us? It is part of the political fabric of the country. The race is the race and we are here to celebrate that. I am here to go racing."

Leading British politicians have put more pressure on the Bahrain Grand Prix by adding to calls for the race to be cancelled.

Opposition leader Ed Miliband of the Labour party also believes Prime Minister David Cameron should get involved in the issue.

"Given the human rights issues in Bahrain, I don't think the grand prix should go ahead," Miliband was quoted as saying by the Press Association. "I do not think the government should remain silent on this."

Miliband is one of several leading politicians to speak out against the race since the F1 paddock arrived earlier this week.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC's Question Time that she didn't think British drivers should be in Bahrain, while Respect MP George Galloway and Conservative former shadow home secretary David Davis have also criticised the decision to race this weekend.

So far the only comment from the government has come via a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron.

"It is not for us to dictate what sporting events happen in other countries," said the spokeswoman.

Force India is confident that missing second practice in Bahrain will not impact too much on its competitiveness for the rest of the weekend.

The team has elected not to run in Friday afternoon's session at Sakhir in the wake of the incident on Wednesday when members of its crew were caught up with protestors.

Force India completed a soft tyre run - which would usually be saved for Friday afternoon - in the morning session, and is now converting its cars to Saturday specification before the team leaves the circuit early.

Chief engineer Jakob Andreasen said Force India had made sure it did enough work in the morning to compensate for the lack of practice two running.

"We have pretty much used up our tyre allocation this morning, which has given us all the data we need heading into tomorrow when we can hopefully deliver a strong qualifying performance," he said.

Although a Force India statement said it was missing practice two "for logistical reasons the team will run a rescheduled programme for the rest of the weekend, which will result in the team missing second practice to ensure the most competitive performance in FP3, qualifying and the race", deputy team principal Bob Fernley told reporters earlier in the day that a desire to travel back from the circuit before darkness was the key factor.

"We are looking at it from the point of view of ensuring the well being of everybody and the comfort of everybody is in place. And that is the key objective for us," he said.

"We have had issues as you all know with things, and we have to make sure that the crew are comfortable in the environment and that is what we are working on."

Fernley added: "We are doing the best we can to make sure the crew are safe. We have assurances and I don't believe there will be any issues. There will be protests and I think it was an unfortunate incident, but unfortunate incidents happen. When it is your team it happens to, you have to deal with it in a proper manner which is what we are doing."

Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes still has room for improvement in unlocking the secrets to Pirelli's tyres, despite its dominant victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Although the Brackley-based team bounced back from tyre troubles in the first two races of the season to deliver a triumph in Shanghai, Rosberg says that it is not yet in a position to feel it has cracked its previous problems.

"For sure we have learned a lot, but it is such a complex issue that we are not done with learning that is for sure," Rosberg told AUTOSPORT. "And it is a key point for the season: who is going to understand the tyres best?"

Rosberg says that a better picture of Mercedes' form will become evident in Bahrain - where higher temperatures and the Sakhir's characteristics that make it a rear tyre-limited venue, will expose any weaknesses in its package.

"We really need to be careful because we had massive problems in the previous two races," explained the German. "We worked hard and improved things, but I don't think we were able to completely sort everything and all of a sudden we are absolutely the quickest team by far. I don't think that is the case.

"We need to be a bit more careful. It will definitely be more difficult here, and it is so difficult to predict how problematic is it going to be. It will be for sure very problematic but will it be as problematic for other teams or not?"

Rosberg reckons, however, that his triumph in China was less of a shock than the tyre problems he suffered in Australia.

When asked which event surprised him more, Rosberg said: "Both really. Although probably more Australia. Pre-season, in testing, we did think we would be pretty strong, so definitely Australia was the one that was more the bigger surprise."

Having now won a grand prix, Rosberg admitted that his attitude to the season was far more positive than it had been before.

"I feel a little bit happier at the moment because I know I have a car where I can look forward to doing well in my sport in the weeks to come," he said. "And that is a nicer feeling to before when we were not looking too good in the races, in Malaysia and Australia. That is the only difference really."

Nico Rosberg played down his chart-topping form in the second free practice session in Bahrain, cautioning that Mercedes' tyre overheating issues are 'probably the worst they have been'.

Mercedes struggled with both tyre degradation and issues switching the Pirellis on in the first two races of 2012, but appeared to make a huge leap in China as Rosberg took a commanding maiden Formula 1 victory from pole position.

The German built on that by setting the fastest time in practice two at Sakhir, but he was quick to downplay the significance of his lower fuel run.

"It has been a good day - it's nice to be quickest on low fuel, but as we know anyway the car is good on lower fuel," he explained.

"We have to analyse things. In general, conditions are probably the worst they have been here with the tyres overheating.

"We learned a lot and we are looking much better than maybe we would have thought. But we need to see where we are. We are having to make changes because out there it's very unusual - conditions are very tough."

His Mercedes stablemate Michael Schumacher said that issues with the tyres would improve, and were at least shared by everyone along the pitlane.

"The tyres are a big issue because they are just going away like nothing but it's the same problem for everybody," he added. "It will improve a bit. Let's see how many tyres we are going to need in the race."

Jenson Button says he is not a man to watch out for in Bahrain yet after struggling with his car in Friday practice.

The Briton, second in the championship behind McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, was sixth quickest in the afternoon session, but nearly 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Button said both pacesetters Mercedes and rivals Red Bull looked very strong, while he feels he has a lot of work to do before he is competitive.

"At the moment I'm not a guy to watch out for but at the moment the Red Bulls and the Mercedes look very quick," said Button. "The Red Bull is surprisingly [quick] but hopefully we will know a bit more tomorrow.

"There is a lot of work needed in our garage to improve what we have. I'm not happy today, we have tried lots of different things and none of them really worked so we will work late tonight and hopefully find something that will work tomorrow."

Button admitted he did not feel comfortable with either of the tyre compounds brought to Bahrain.

"At the moment I can't make either work," he said.

He added: "The times haven't been good all day, on one lap the Mercedes seems very quick and the Red Bull seems very strong here and on the longer runs, forgetting the lap times, I don't feel very happy with the balance of the car and the direction we have gone in. We have already been talking about tomorrow and there are a lot of positive comments and directions that we can go in.

"For me the car is acting very differently to how it was in the first three races, completely the opposite to what we have had in the first three races so it could be the tyres or maybe just the type of the circuit.

"We have changed the balance quite a bit and maybe we have gone too far and we need to change it back to what it normally is. There is a lot of hard work tonight to improve the car and most of the things we have done have not really improved it."

Early season star Sergio Perez says he is confident that his strong start to 2012 will continue during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Mexican, who came close to winning the Malaysian GP for Sauber, and led in China last weekend, declared himself delighted with his free practice sessions in Sakhir on Friday.

"To me this was a very positive day," said Perez. "I am happy about having had a good Friday and I am very satisfied with the work we have done.

"We have learnt a lot and we managed the tyre degradation on the rear, which everybody has problems with, quite well. We still need to sort out a few set-up issues for qualifying, but I am very confident for tomorrow."

Perez's team-mate Kamui Kobayashi, who started the Shanghai race from the second row of the grid, was less happy with his preparations for this weekend: "Technically we had no incidents but we are struggling on tyre temperatures.

"The lap times on the soft tyres in the short run didn't look too bad, but for qualifying there is still some work to do. Even more improvement is necessary for the long runs and for me this goes for both tyre compounds, soft and medium."

Jean-Eric Vergne is confident his Toro Rosso team can get its China updates to work despite a difficult first weekend with them.

The team introduced several upgrades for last weekend's race at Shanghai, but struggled to make them work properly and its form dropped in comparison with the previous races.

Vergne finished the race in 16th position, with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo one place further down.

The Frenchman, however, says Toro Rosso has understood the reasons why the upgrades are not working and he is hopeful the situation can be improved.

"I think that the team is trying to understand. I mean I think the team understood but they are trying to fix the new aero package we had in China," said Vergne.

"I think it worked and I think they have a good solution so that is why we are going to find more."

Vergne admitted the Chinese GP was a struggle for him.

"It was quite obvious that behind the wheel I was not feeling comfortable," he said.

The former British Formula 3 champion, who scored his first points in Formula 1 in the Malaysian Grand Prix, said it was hard to be satisfied with his performance so far.

"I don't know, it is quite hard to be satisfied," he said. "To be honest I am not looking at the first few races and I am not thinking about it and it makes no sense for me to judge myself. Maybe some others can do it but it makes no sense for me to judge.

"At the end of the season I will look but I just want to do good races and to score more points and that's it. I have an easy mentality."

Friday's press conference:

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Bob FERNLEY (Force India), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Eric BOULLIER (Lotus), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red Bull).

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Gentlemen a subject we can't escape, unfortunately: This grand prix is definitely one of the best organised, the drivers all say that. We've had a lot speculation from both angles, negative and positive, but I'd like to your views regarding the security situation. Are you comfortable with how things are evolving?

Martin WHITMARSH: There have undoubtedly been difficult times here but from a pure team perspective, we've been comfortable with the situation. Clearly we race as an international sport all over the world and we have security concerns and issues at a number or races and we take that very seriously, and we're cautious, and we try to take the right precautions. But ultimately we're a race team. We're here to go motor racing and that's our number one priority.

Norbert HAUG: Absolutely the same.

Christian HORNER: Martin's summed it up perfectly, I think. Formula One is a sport at the end of the day and it's wrong for it to be used politically. We're here to race, we trust in the FIA, in the decisions that they made, and we're comfortable with the decisions that they have made. For us, it's about trying to extract the maximum from this weekend as a sporting team in a sporting championship. The calendar is obviously set by the FIA.

Eric BOULLIER: I think everything has been said by the first row, so, as far as we are concerned, as Lotus, and regarding the specific question, we are fine.

Stefano DOMENICALI: You are speaking about security and I would say that we have received all the guarantees from the organisers, the federation, the embassy, and it is pretty clear at the moment that it is like that. We don't seem to be the target of anyone that is protesting. We are here for the event that is racing, the race of the F1 World Championship and we are here to make the best of it. From a political point of view, the only thing I can is that there are a lot of things going on and we really hope that all the dialogue that has started within the different parts will do the best thing in the shortest time possible for everyone. This is really the hope that we have, as sportsmen and as a man of the world.

Bob FERNLEY: I completely agree with the guys. Hopefully, the Formula One programme has brought the world's media here, it gives a good platform for debate and hopefully it will help with the healing process for Bahrain, and that's why we're here.

Q. We'll go on to the sporting side. Martin, if I can start with you. You're leading both world championships. How have things evolved today for you in terms of free practice? You're not perhaps quite as competitive as we thought you would be.

MW: No, I think it's been a tricky day. The wind changed direction. I think from about half way through that [afternoon] session there was a tailwind through turns four, five, six and seven, which made it quite tricky for the drivers. I think we weren't happy with where we were in terms of grip, generally. But that's what Friday is about. It's about learning how to set the car up for this particular circuit and these particular conditions. I think the wind is going to be quite significant. It often is here. If you recall it is an island where the wind can change quite dramatically from 10 o'clock in the morning until midday and then drop off in the afternoon, so I think that makes it, with all the other challenges of selection of top gear for the race and for qualifying... wind direction is going to quite an interesting challenge and if you get that right I think you'll be in good shape. So, overall, I think, we've got some reasonable data and the trick is to put that to good effect and make sure we can dial in and have a competitive car tomorrow.

Q. Norbert, obviously a fantastic weekend for you last weekend and you still seem to be up there?

NH: Well, I think it's quite difficult to judge. I would not really read too much into the quickest time on Friday, we saw that before. I think people run various programmes, different programmes, but I think we are heading in the right direction. We learned quite a lot. The challenge is how to use the tyres, how to set up your car and then do the necessary amount of laps for the race and decide on how many stops you will do. You get the first impression of that on Friday. I think the team learned quite a lot. I haven't seen the analysis so far, we'll probably know a bit more later. Currently, I really cannot judge where we are. We should not read into the fact that we are first today that we are the big favourites for tomorrow and Sunday.

Q. Christian, so on the same basis should I not read too much into the fact you were up in the top four today?

CH: I think it's been a sensible day for us, we've worked through a programme. I think this year the tyre has dominated performance and I think it's crucial to try and understand how the tyres work, how to get on top of those tyres and I think we've learned a lot over those first three races. Each of the races has been at a different nature of circuit, different conditions. We've seen the form of all the teams moving around a lot and the midfield making a big step as well. And that's produced some great racing, I think last weekend was a phenomenal race and that adds to the challenge. We've worked through our programme today, both the drivers seem reasonably happy with their cars and obviously a lot of information to look over tonight before we go into the final practice tomorrow.

Q. Eric…

EB: We had a heavy Friday today with a lot of parts to evaluate. Parts of the upgrade from Shanghai, we had to use them back on the car. Also, a very heavy programme with the tyres. It's clear that the key for performance is the tyres and also the degradation for the race, as we saw in Shanghai, so we had early runs in practice and obviously heavier fuel load runs as well.

Q. Any change Stefano?

SD: No, I think we have already said what we have to say. For us hopefully this will be the last grand prix of the most difficult start that we've had. But that's the way it is. At the track the only thing we have to do is try to maximise the package that we have and understand the tyres and prepare for the race. That will be crucial, as we already said, in this condition the only objective we have at the moment is to try to score the maximum points and considering that we have been third in the Championship it means a lot. It means that we have to stay focussed. Unfortunately it's very painful for us but that's the way it is. So heads up and work hard.

Q. Bob, limited running, obviously…

BF: Well, we had a very busy morning and as you know we didn't run in FP2, we slightly rescheduled our programmes, but we're very comfortable. The data was collected this morning for what we need and we're very comfortable for FP3 tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) I have question for Norbert: Reuters reported yesterday that Aabar are considering a complete withdrawal of their Daimler stake, could you please comment on that, let us know what you know?

NH: I just hear the speculation and read the speculation. Nothing more.

Q. …There's no discussion in Stuttgart?

NH: Nothing more to say, no.

Q. (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Probably a question for all of you gentlemen. The thing that seems to be said is that politics and sport don't mix but even by some of your answers that you gave previously, it's quite obvious that they do. Given that, wouldn't it have been better to try to wait another year for Bahrain to progress a little further before coming back to have a race here?

Martin, as the spokesman of FOTA?

MW: I didn't know I was the spokesman. I think, again, the calendar has been set for some time, we are the competitors, it's a race in the calendar, we are here to race. Period.

Q. Does anyone have more to add to that? Christian? Norbert? No.

Q. (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Since arriving I've been contacted by a number of Bahrainis who are actually supportive of the race, have you and any of your team members found similar contact from the citizens of Bahrain?

MW: I think there is a lot of support for the race from all parts of society here, so I think that's positive. Clearly often the majority aren't heard on these occasions but I think there's a fair amount of support, you can feel it here. I understand they've sold out the grandstand so presumably that's a tangible sign of support.

CH: I think the guys here have been very welcoming. They look after the teams very well and hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I think at the end of the day it's a sport, we're a sporting team competing in a sport that competes at 20 venues around the world. We'll do our best as we do in all of those other events to do the best job we can on Sunday.

Q. (Edd Straw – Autosport) Christian, Stefano and Martin, as the representatives of the top three teams last year, setting aside the safety of F1 personnel, if there is any bloodshed or injury or worse this weekend, among protestors, that are clearly aimed at having an anti-F1 element, should F1 be held responsible in any way, is F1's presence here acting as a trigger?

MW: I don't think we're going to comment on that. We are here to take part in a race. I think we've made our position clear. So unless anyone else wants to add anything, I think we are here to race.

CH: I echo Martin's comments.

SD: We need to be positive in life. It seems that we are looking for something to happen and this is what we don't want, as I said. This is really the objective that all of us here in the paddock should have, to be honest.

Q. (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The stock answer that keeps coming back when we ask about this race is that 'it's on the calendar.' There is a sporting commission, there is a technical commission, there's also a calendar commission. Now the first two actually go through the Formula One Commission and then onto the World Motor Sport Council. The calendar doesn't. Do you people believe that there is a need for the teams – for the Formula One commission, certainly – to have some input and to ratify calendars?

CH: I think that's a position for the promoter and the FIA at the end of the day. When we enter a championship at the beginning of the year a calendar is published and you have the choice whether to enter or not. It's something that historically has always been the same and it's down to the promoter and then the governing body that's responsible for the safety of the drivers, the safety of the spectators and the teams to decide where those venues are.

Q. (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The question was, would you like to have input into it, as opposed to the procedure – I know the procedure?

SD: Normally it's not like that, to be honest. If we have to race over 17 Grands Prix, we need to have the organiser and the F1 has to have clearance from the teams so the discussion happens and this is related to the opportunity that they have. Then of course, the responsibility of other subjects is related to the national sporting authority, so the federation and the organiser, but that's the way it is at the moment.

EB: And if I may add something, we still have the opportunity to discuss with the governing body and the promoters about some adjustment in the calendar, not the location but maybe sometimes for logistical reasons we have some input.

Q. (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Effectively, what we're then saying is that the teams are also responsible for the shape of the calendar the way it is at the moment, including the Bahrain race.

MW: Well, you're saying it, we're not. Sorry, I thought you said 'effectively you're saying it' but I don't think we're saying that at all. The commercial rights holder and the FIA agree the calendar together. I think you know that and so do we, so I don't know why we're having this discussion really.

Q. (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) But if it goes beyond 17, you have input.

MW: In theory we do, but as you know, the commercial rights holder… he has to get the races into the calendar and typically we're not consulted individually on each race.

Q. (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) The Sunni/Shi'a schism is a conflict that dates back over a millennia; how do you feel about being used as political tools in this game?

MW: Listen, I tell you, we're at the start of a fantastic World Championship. There have been three outstanding races and there's a great championship ahead of us. We've had three different winners, it's been a fantastic start to the championship and I think we can have a fantastic race here on Sunday. I don't think that going into what's happened over the last millennia or the politics around the world is something that most of us here are equipped to comment on.

Q. (Daniel Ortelli - Agence France Presse) We're all talking about politics, ethics etc. Do you agree that the main reason for having this race here and being here today is that there is so much money from the Emirates in Formula One and in some of the teams that you represent?

MW: Well, again, this isn't part of the Emirates and I think the commercial model of races, I think there is a lot of places in the world, and fortunately most places which pay reasonable money to hold a Grand Prix, so I don't think there's any particular premia in this part of the world.

Q. (Miran Alisic – RTV Slovenia) Excuse me, don't you think that sometimes a race – even a fantastic race – becomes irrelevant if something more important happens somewhere?

SD: If I might say something about that, once again it seems really we (you) want to find something to make sure that this event is not happening and this is really what, hopefully, we, for sure, as a team, would like not to see and that's our approach, as I said. I don't think it's correct for us to go into a political discussion on what is happening. Of course we need to make sure that what has hopefully been started as a process in this country will happen soon and this is what everyone is really looking for but more than that, I think they will want to pull the things from different stories, different angles. Let's focus on our jobs and try, on our side, to speak about the sport. This is really our task, to be honest.

BF: If I could come in there as well, I think the Bahrain programme has been very very successful. As much as there is opposition to it, there is also a huge amount of people that are for this process, for the programme to bring through. As Force India, we are totally committed to this Grand Prix and to bringing this programme to reality for Bahrain, and hopefully, as we said earlier, it will form part of the healing process, and if we're part of that, we should be proud, not looking at ourselves and being negative.

Q. (Vanessa Ruiz – Estadao ESPN) Bob, your decision not to take part in the second part of practice has been interpreted as many things and one of them is a sort of field protest because of what happened to the team on Wednesday evening. Is it to be taken as that or what?

BF: I don't think it's because of that at all. I think that what you have to accept is that on Wednesday evening there was a very unfortunate incident for members of Force India, and there is no question, it de-stabilised the emotional element of our team. Yesterday evening we put a programme together which addressed all the issues from the team, we sat down with them all, and that meant a slight re-structuring of the programme in order that we could make sure that there was comfort within the team and that we delivered a very strong qualifying and race programme, and I have to say that Sheikh Abdulla, Bernie, everybody has been enormously helpful in our process, but we have, as a team, to make sure that we gel that together properly and it's nothing whatsoever to do with… It's an internal matter that just needs stability, we provided that stability and we've stuck with the programme that we've had to put in place. It's not a slight at all on the event, it's just about an internal structure of Force India. We've had to do that, we've done it with pleasure and we've supported our team in that process and as a result of supporting the team, the whole of our programme is now secure for going forward for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

[MDK]

I can't wait for the Syria GP

[Crybaby Bunting]

I sort of want to watch the race even though I don't usually pay much attention to F1 just because of the political situation.

I think that's what the entire point of this race is, it's going to draw in a record amount of non-F1 viewers because of the car crash entertainment factor, what he doesn't realise is that we're not going to stick around for another race if something horrible happens.

[Lineker]

Haha holy shit, Kov's Caterham is into Q2 at the expense of Schumacher!!

Nico Rosberg emphasised his and Mercedes' potential in Bahrain by going quickest in a second consecutive practice session on Saturday morning at Sakhir.

The German, fresh from his maiden pole and victory in China a week ago, lapped in 1m33.254s to beat the two Red Bulls to the fastest time in final practice.

The McLarens were fourth and sixth, sandwiching the second Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.

When the serious running commenced after a quiet start, it was Lotus that held a one-two for some time, before Sebastian Vettel put his Red Bull on top just after the session's halfway point.

But then Mercedes showed its pace, moving onto soft tyres and taking first Schumacher, then Rosberg to the front. The Shanghai winner's 1m33.254s put him half a second clear of his team-mate, and was as fast as he needed to go to end the morning on top.

Vettel got within 0.147 seconds in the final moments, but had to settle for second, just ahead of team-mate Mark Webber.

Lewis Hamilton was the top McLaren runner in fourth, pushing Schumacher back to fifth place, followed by the second McLaren of Jenson Button.

Lotus ended up seventh and ninth with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, the pair split by the resurgent Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 for Ferrari.

After missing Friday's second practice session, Force India returned and went 15th (Paul di Resta) and 19th quickest (Nico Hulkenberg).

FP3


Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps

 1.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m33.254s            14

 2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m33.401s  + 0.147s  14

 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m33.663s  + 0.409s  15

 4.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.782s  + 0.528s  16

 5.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m33.796s  + 0.542s  16

 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.899s  + 0.645s  14

 7.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault         1m33.976s  + 0.722s  14

 8.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.197s  + 0.943s  14

 9.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault         1m34.401s  + 1.147s  16

10.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m34.895s  + 1.641s  11

11.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault      1m34.918s  + 1.664s  12

12.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.977s  + 1.723s  12

13.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m35.067s  + 1.813s  17

14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m35.128s  + 1.874s  14

15.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m35.336s  + 2.082s  22

16.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m35.536s  + 2.282s  15

17.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault      1m35.623s  + 2.369s  16

18.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault      1m35.694s  + 2.440s  19

19.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m35.773s  + 2.519s  21

20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault      1m36.532s  + 3.278s  17

21.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.267s  + 4.013s  18

22.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.654s  + 4.400s  18

23.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth          1m38.973s  + 5.719s  11

24.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m39.221s  + 5.967s  9


All timing unofficial[/code]


Pastor Maldonado is set for a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix after needing a new gearbox on his Williams for this weekend's event.


The Venezuelan was eighth in China, which was his first finish of the season, but his Williams team found a problem with the gearbox after the grand prix and it was decided he would need a new unit for the Sakhir race.


A statement issued by Formula 1 technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed that Maldonado was in breach of the regulations with the change, which means the stewards will automatically hand him a five-place penalty later on.


Pirelli has played down suggestions that Mercedes could face tyre dramas in Bahrain - by revealing that the team is not suffering any more than its rivals.


Nico Rosberg topped the times in Friday practice, but afterwards said he was worried about the tyre situation because it appeared his rubber was overheating badly.


However, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery says all teams are suffering like Mercedes - which means the Brackley-based team could be in better shape than even it believes.


"That [overheating] is quite normal at 47 degrees and quite a slippery track," Hembery told AUTOSPORT. "They are no different to anyone else.


"You have to be careful, because as an individual you would think that the tyres are degrading at twice the level they were in Shanghai - up to two tenths of a second a lap on the soft. So comparing those factors you would go, 'oh my gosh!' But the reality is that the situation is remarkably similar through the paddock."


Hembery has always insisted that Mercedes' tyre troubles have never been as bad as some have made out – and he thinks the outfit is right up there with McLaren and Red Bull Racing in being a potential winner.


"I think people are confusing last year's car with this year's car," he said about the Mercedes situation. "That is our reading of it, because we are a little bit mystified sometimes with the comments made when we are looking at the raw data.


"We do have the benefit of seeing all the data from all the teams, and we felt Mercedes was going to be very competitive this year. I have gone on record as saying I would put money down on Michael Schumacher for victory this year, and I put him down to win in Malaysia, so that cost me £50.


"Clearly there are three cars pretty well close together at the front, and sat here now I would not want to call it between McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. It would be difficult to say who they think is going to win."


Formula 1 teams are at the limit of pitstop times, reckons Ferrari, which has set the benchmark for tyre changes this year.


The Italian outfit focused hard on improving pitstops over the winter, after ending last year as fourth in the overall rankings behind Red Bull Racing, Mercedes and McLaren.


Now though the team has been the fastest overall as an average in the first three races - having delivered the quickest times in the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.


And its head of trackside operations, Diego Ioverno, thinks that performance – the result of changes to its wheel rim design, wheel nut concept and procedures – has left it at the limit of what is possible.


"In practice, so in a more relaxed environment compared to a race, we have managed to get down to 2.2 seconds at the green light," Ioverno said in Bahrain.


"In the last race we managed to do our best pitstops in 2.6 seconds at the green light. Honestly I think it's difficult to think we can manage 2.2 seconds in the race with a car arriving at 100 km/h, and with the variable of where the driver stops the car.


"We can say that, as time goes by and with some improvements we have in mind, perhaps we could get down to 2.4s-2.5s at the green light, but I repeat: the most important thing is to keep up with a good average, because in the end the importance of a pitstop is to guarantee a fixed time delta to whoever does the strategy, avoiding surprises and the risk of falling behind traffic after a stop."


Ioverno says that as well as copying Mercedes' idea of encased wheel nuts in the rim, Ferrari revised its air guns and changed its wheel nuts – which rotate just three times now to be fully engaged, rather than the more standard six.


"In detail: we have worked on air guns with our suppliers, obviously by making them more powerful, trying to compensate for the limitations added by the federation [the ban on helium]," he said.


"We have worked on the car layout, by making fairly strategic and different, risky choices. So we have the captive nut, joint with the rim. We have made some screw thread choices, in order to optimise fastening speed. We have made an important electronic development work on the light system: Ferrari was the first team with a lights system, and I think today we are again the leaders with the light system after having introduced the lights on the jacks.


"The jack operator now doesn't look at the air-gun holder's hands, but he looks at a light that switches on on the trolley when the corner mechanics have finished. So, all these things allow us to minimise the big remaining issues: reaction time, and the precautions needed to be taken to avoid mistakes.


"Clearly I'm just taking about team time with a car standing still under controlled conditions; on top of that there's a big work we are doing with the drivers, also to educate them on the importance of the effect of the car stopping position and method has on the team's confidence in doing its operations - and also how important is the way they approach the pitstop: in the braking, the stopping position and the getting away."

[Katsuya]

HEIKKI

[Katsuya]

Vettel pulls it out of nowhere again. Well, this throws everything open. Ricciardo in 6th and pacey with those ahead is pretty awesome.

Brundle and Croft noting that they never showed a Force India car at all in Qualifying. Bernie's not happy...

[Lineker]

Sebastian Vettel returned Red Bull to pole position as the world champion rediscovered his qualifying form and took the top spot on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Red Bull briefly looked set for a front row sweep until points leader Lewis Hamilton got between Vettel and Webber.

Despite its practice pace, Shanghai winner Mercedes had a disappointing session. Nico Rosberg could only qualify fifth, and his team-mate Michael Schumacher did not even get beyond Q1.

McLaren had been quickest early in Q3, but Red Bull had more speed in hand, and a 1m32.422s lap from Vettel gave him pole by just under a tenth of a second, as Hamilton slipped through to demote Webber to third. Jenson Button completes row two in the second McLaren.

Rosberg only made one Q3 run and was 0.4 seconds off the pace in fifth.

Daniel Ricciardo gave Toro Rosso huge encouragement as he stormed to a career-best sixth on the grid, in front of Romain Grosjean's Lotus and Sergio Perez's Sauber.

Fernando Alonso got Ferrari into the top 10, then elected not to do a Q3 flying lap, as did Paul di Resta - who got Force India into the pole shoot-out despite having missed out on Friday afternoon practice. The pair will share row five, with Alonso five places ahead of Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.

Schumacher's exit in Q1 was the shock of the session, and was down to both a problem with the Mercedes and a supreme lap from Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen.

With track conditions rapidly improving, early Q1 times did not prove sufficient. Both Red Bulls flirted with elimination, as did Perez, but in the end it was Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne - for a third straight race - and Schumacher who ended up on the wrong side of the cut-off. A DRS problem compromised Schumacher's session, and he did not get out for a final run. Vergne may face further trouble after the session as replays suggested he missed a call to the weighbridge in Q1.

Schumacher had still looked safe for Q2 until Kovalainen made a massive improvement on his final Q1 lap, putting in a time that not only got him ahead of the Toro Rosso and Mercedes, but to within a tenth of McLaren and Ferrari, as he outpaced team-mate Vitaly Petrov by a second.

Schumacher was not the only world champion making an early departure from qualifying, as Grosjean's progress into Q3 came at the expense of Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who will start 11th.

Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) could not match their team-mates' form and were 12th and 13th.

It was a tough session for Williams too, with Bruno Senna only 15th and a KERS issue preventing Pastor Maldonado - who was already facing a five-place gearbox change penalty - from running in Q2.

At the back, Marussia was nearly three seconds off Kovalainen's pace, as Charles Pic outqualified team-mate Timo Glock for the first time - the German ending up behind Pedro de la Rosa's HRT as well in 23rd place.

Qualifying


Pos  Driver                Team                   Time              

 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m32.422s  

 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m32.520s  +  0.098

 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m32.637s  +  0.215

 4.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m32.711s  +  0.289

 5.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m32.821s  +  0.399

 6.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m32.912s  +  0.490

 7.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m33.008s  +  0.586

 8.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m33.394s  +  0.972

 9.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                No time

10.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   No time

11.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m33.789s  +  1.367

12.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m33.806s  +  1.384

13.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m33.807s  +  1.385

14.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m33.912s  +  1.490

15.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault       1m34.017s  +  1.595

16.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m36.132s  +  3.710

17.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m34.865s  +  2.443

18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m35.014s  +  2.592

19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1m35.823s  +  3.401

20.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.683s  +  5.261

21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1m37.883s  +  5.461

22.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       No time

23.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.905s  +  5.483

24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m38.314s  +  5.892


All Timing Unofficial[/code]


Sebastian Vettel said his first pole position of the 2012 Formula 1 season was a tribute to his Red Bull team's efforts to get back on the pace after a tough start to the season.


Red Bull and Vettel dominated the 2011 campaign, but had struggled to match McLaren - and at times, Mercedes as well - in the opening three rounds this year.


The team had looked more competitive all weekend in Bahrain, and Vettel underlined this by returning to pole position, while his team-mate Mark Webber secured third.


"Obviously it feels great and this one I will give to the team and the guys," said Vettel.


"It wasn't an easy start to the season for us - surely a lot of expectations but more than anything it was what we expect from ourselves. It did not match our expectation.


"We worked hard on the car, trimming here and there to find the right way forward. The boys did not have much sleep the last few races - a tough race in China and here a serious lack of sleep, so I'm happy to be on pole.


"Both of us owe the result to the team. The car felt better all weekend. I did not have the best early part of qualifying in Q1 and Q2, but knew when I got lap in we could nail it - so I am very happy."


Vettel had reverted to an older specification exhaust package as a one-off experiment in China, which he said had been a valuable element in getting back on the pace this weekend.


"The balance I had in particular in the first two races, I was not happy [with], so we decided in China to go back and see where we were, and Mark wanted to carry on [with the newer package]," said Vettel.


"It was good to get a straight comparison. We found the new car and new package, and old package has its advantages. We ended up with the new car. I think it helped us going into this weekend, trying to set up the car, working with the tyres - which seems to be tricky this year.


"So we have felt a bit happier all around."


The reigning champion added that he expects Red Bull to be stronger still in the race.


"I think it is always tough, the race here is long and a lot of things can happen," said Vettel. "We are pretty aggressive and we should be better off in the race.


"Race pace has proven to be pretty consistent in the last couple of races. At this one I am definitely happier with how the car feels."


Mark Webber has admitted his surprise at the pace of the Red Bull RB8 after qualifying third for the Bahrain Grand Prix.


Webber, who currently lies fourth in the drivers' world championship standings, was in the hunt for pole position for the first time this season.


And with team-mate Sebastian Vettel claiming the top spot for tomorrow's race, the defending champion enjoyed its strongest qualifying showing of 2012.


"I'm pretty surprised to be as competitive as we are at a track that is demanding at what are not our strengths, but it is good for the guys," Webber said.


"It is pretty tough on the tyres here, there were a few surprises yesterday, so let's see how it unfolds tomorrow. I have been quite all weekend and feel confident for tomorrow."


Webber felt that he lost out by running ahead of Vettel on track. The Sakhir circuit is famously dusty and appeared to get quicker the longer the session lasted.


"I think it is always beneficial if you go a bit latter," he added. "This track was sensitive all weekend, Seb did a good lap and a good pole.


"It was a pretty good session, qualifying wasn't easy for us, the guys did a great job and pretty happy with P3, right up there at the front."


FIA president Jean Todt remains adamant it was the right decision for the Bahrain Grand Prix to go ahead - and thinks it would be wrong to call off the event because a minority are protesting against it.


Despite widespread international media coverage questioning the merits of Formula 1 going ahead this weekend amid safety concerns, Todt said on Saturday that the protests that have taken place are not justification for considering its cancellation.


"I would be very annoyed if it was a majority of people," he told selected media during a briefing about the ongoing protests. "But, at the most, it would be 10 per cent of the people who would be anti. So do we have to penalise 80 or 90 per cent of the population because 10 per cent are against? My answer is no. My answer is that it is a strong majority of people [who want the race].


"Unfortunately there is much more media attention, again rightly or wrongly it is not for me to judge, on emphasising this minority. I am sure in your community it is the same: you have a lot of people who think some people are fed up, so they say let's go and concentrate on the sport. That is democracy, but most of the people are in favour of having life moving on, the sport moving on, and they enjoy the sport."


Despite Force India withdrawing from practice two because of safety concerns about getting back from the track after dark, and some F1 personnel getting caught up in clashes between police and protestors, Todt says he had had no indication that competitors are generally worried about the situation - which he likened to football violence.


"To say that there has not been some controversy around the happening of Bahrain would be the wrong allegation around my side," he said.


He added: "I sympathise with people who have some emotions but we have to deal with facts. I spoke with Peter Sauber this morning and I don't want to betray his words, but he said he felt as comfortable here as he would at any other place in Europe. So, that is where we asses our judgement to be at the moment."


Todt also dismissed any suggestion that the Bahrain authorities had politicised the event by promoting it under the slogan 'UniF1ed'.


"I really want to be away from any political consideration – because I said it is not the job of the FIA nor any international federation," he said. "You saw that with the Olympic games in 2008 in Beijing. It has happened in FIFA, with the football games.


"We have to be out of that, and everybody should be out of that. It is a sporting event. Then, if the sporting event is helping to heal the situation it is very good for the sport. I saw some fantastic quotes from Nelson Mandela talking about how good is the sport to cure problems around the world. And if we do that, I would be honoured and proud that F1 may have contributed to that."


FIA president Jean Todt does not believe Formula 1's image will be damaged by the widespread critical media coverage the Bahrain Grand Prix has received this weekend.


Speaking on the back of the events in Bahrain becoming headline news throughout the world, Todt said he was 'saddened' by the way some sections of the media were portraying what was happening in the Gulf State.


However, he believes that F1's brand is so strong that it will not be affected by the negative perception that many people have been left with.


"I am sorry about what has been reported," he said. "I am not sure that all that has been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this country.


"I feel F1 is very strong. I think it is a very strong brand, and I think all the people among the teams to whom I have been speaking are very happy. I was even told it would have been a mistake not to come. Again, you speak to those people. That is what I have been told by most of the team principals here.


"Unfortunately I did not see so many of those quotes in the media. But I respect the media, I respect what they write, but it is not what I have seen and what I was told by a lot of people to whom I have been talking."


Todt thought it important that the FIA dealt only with the facts of the ongoing situation - as he drew short of commenting on the death of a protestor last night.


"I cannot comment on something where I do not have all the details, and I do not have all the details. So it would be completely [wrong] on my side."


However, he said that it was only correct that protests were allowed to take place - as they were part of a country's democratic process.


"In any democratic country, protests are allowed. It allows people who want to protest to give their voice – and it happens all over the world. There are some protests in our county where we live, and sometimes we don't feel comfortable to go – because there can be some protests.


"What I have seen so far, is a good security control on the roads. And you know, very often, protest does mean damaging and hurting people – it is one possibility of expressing yourself.


"What is important is to be accurate and to assess properly what is happening. Yesterday, if you look at the media, some are talking about 4,000 people [at the protest], some had 10,000 people. So again, what I was told. I was not there, I did not count the people and I was told by official sources that it was 4,000 people protesting quite quietly, and only three people were slightly hurt out of that. And that is something you can avoid."


He added: "If you go to any football field, if you have a protest you will have a minimum of three people who can be hurt. I don't want to take any kind of example – but it has happened in Britain, in Germany, in France, all over the world. It is something that can happen, but it does not mean we have to stop sport moving along.


"When you talk to people about the sport, they are very happy and very excited about what is happening. Again talking to people who facilitate that – the marshals: they are delighted and very happy. And for me it is a very good message from the sport."


Force India has refused to comment on claims that its television exposure during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix was deliberately kept to a minimum because of the team's decision to skip Friday afternoon's second free practice session.


The Silverstone-based team's screen time during qualifying appeared to be very limited in Q1 and Q2 despite Paul di Resta qualifying in the top 10 in what one team member described to AUTOSPORT as "payback" for the refusal to run.


Di Resta did not attempt a lap in Q3, but did complete an in- and an out-lap.


Di Resta himself admitted that he was aware of the comments about what happened, but declined to make any further comment on the situation when pressed.


"I have seen some stuff on Twitter but I was sat in the car driving," said the Scot. "So I saw my car."


Bernie Ecclestone, whose FOM company is responsible for producing the live coverage, scotched the suggestions that Force India was deliberately ignored.


He insisted that fans are interested only in frontrunners, hence the lack of Force India screen time.


"Nobody cares if someone is ninth or 11th," Ecclestone told Reuters. "Only the people that are watching a particular team.


"I spoke to our people and they were more or less concentrating on who was going to be on pole, rather than somebody going to be 10th."


Ross Brawn has urged Formula 1 to make time for quiet reflection about the decision to go ahead with the Bahrain Grand Prix, on the back of the troubles experienced this weekend.


With F1 teams now fully focused on Sunday's race, Brawn suggested that with team personnel having been caught up in clashes, criticism of the sport in the worldwide media and violent protests that have led to a death, it was important the sport asked itself if it did the right thing in racing here.


"I think we are here now, and after this event we need to sit down and discuss it," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT if there was a risk the negative headlines this weekend had damaged F1's image.


"We are committed to this race, we are having a race, and after the race with proper judgement of what happened and what we saw, we need to come to a conclusion."


Brawn did speak out, however, about comments made by British Labour politicians in recent days calling for the race to be called off - and dragging drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button into the row.


"I find it very frustrating that politicians in the UK were saying that we should withdraw once we got here," said Brawn. "Why didn't they say that beforehand?


"For somebody to try and make Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton determine the foreign policy of a country, is wrong. We know there is a lot of that stuff goes on, but with calm collective analysis after the event we will have a look at it and see."


McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh echoed Brawn's comments that Labour leader Ed Milliband and shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's calls to cancel the Bahrain GP were ill-timed.


"I don't think it is helpful to wake up this morning to hear we shouldn't be here when we are already here, so I endorse what Ross says," he said.


Speaking about the battering F1's image may have taken this weekend, Whitmarsh said that teams only had a responsibility to try and do the best job they could on track.


"I think F1 is pretty good at being critical of itself," he said. "I think we have had two great championships in the last two years. The last few years have had some fantastic races, and you think of the races we have had this year – they have been fantastic and that is what we can deliver.


"The sport is a great sport, and that is what we focus on. We are an international sport, we will go around the world, we will race in different places and people will express opinions about where we race and how we race, and why we race.


"But ultimately we are competitors in the F1 world championship. We turn up and we do our best to try and win races. Certainly last week [in China] was incredible – and those are the things we should be celebrating.


"There are lots of other things going on in the world that are tragic. But they are not in our control. Our control is making sure that we race well on the circuit."


Lewis Hamilton said he was delighted with his front-row slot in qualifying in Bahrain, despite missing out on pole position.


The McLaren driver, who has started from the top spot twice this year, qualified less than a tenth behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.


Hamilton felt he had extracted the best from his car and was pleased with his performance.


"I am happy with the performance of the car and performance of the team and I am happy with the laps we are doing, eking out everything I can from the car," Hamilton said.


"Today I was not able to get pole but being on front row is a great feeling - at the last race we were not able to start on the front row. It will be a tough race. We will do everything we can to be right up there."


The Briton said the strong wind had made the conditions very tricky during the session.


"The wind is like I don't remember from any circuit other than Barcelona, it is tricky - with positives and negatives on certain corners. It is not easy to get it right, but some of us do and some of us don't."


And Hamilton conceded tomorrow's race will be extremely tough, with tyre degradation expected to have a big impact.


"It is going to be massively hard tomorrow. We had good races here. I think we have a better chance this year to fight the Red Bulls in the race, the race pace has been a bit quicker in the last couple of races, but we have made some improvements."


Jenson Button believes there will be a silver lining to his disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying performance as he was able to save a set of tyres for the race.


The McLaren driver abandoned his final Q3 lap when it became clear the handling was not to his liking and he would not be able to improve. That left Button fourth on the grid.


"Fourth place is not all I'd hoped for, but it's always a horrible feeling on that last lap in Q3 when the balance isn't quite where you want it," he said.


"I couldn't get the best out of it and I pitted early, which isn't a bad thing.


"Less laps on all tyres, I think is a positive. And P4 is not a bad position."


Button will start behind the resurgent Red Bulls and his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The 2009 champion said he felt it was good for Formula 1 to have Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber back at the front - the Red Bull duo having qualified first and third, sandwiching Hamilton.


"It makes the race a lot more fun," said Button. "I'm looking forward to the challenge tomorrow."


He added that he had been anticipating Red Bull to be a contender in Bahrain after practice, but was surprised to outqualify Chinese GP winner Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, which will start one place behind the McLaren.


"We were expecting the Red Bulls to be very quick in qualifying, and we're close to them," said Button.


"And the one surprise is that we're ahead of Nico. That's quite nice.


"It's weird, isn't it, F1 at the moment? It's exciting, but difficult to understand."


Nico Rosberg said he compromised his qualifying performance in order to have a stronger Bahrain Grand Prix race pace on Sunday.


The Chinese Grand Prix winner looked like one of the favourites for pole position at Sakhir, but in the end had to settle for fifth position, four tenths of a second behind polesitter Sebastian Vettel.


Rosberg said his Mercedes felt better in race trim, which is why he decided to compromise his qualifying chances, hoping it will pay off on race day.


"Of course it's very nice to be disappointed about fifth place - that shows how far we've come," said Rosberg after qualifying.


"In general we've been working towards the race, we just compromised qualifying a little bit to make it possible to do a good race tomorrow.


"We've been improving things all through the weekend and I feel more comfortable in the race than qualifying at the moment."


He insisted the key to the race will be to takes care of the tyres.


"It's just tyre management. Driving carefully," he said.


Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher was knocked out in Q1 after suffering a problem with his DRS.


Mercedes remains confident that Michael Schumacher can still have a good Bahrain Grand Prix despite a disastrous qualifying session leaving him 18th on the grid.


The seven-time champion suffered a DRS problem in Q1, then found his early time insufficient to keep him inside the cut-off for the second part of qualifying. Schumacher had returned to the pits so that the issue could be fixed for Q2.


Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug said that with the pace Schumacher had shown so far this year, and as the problems had allowed him to save plenty of tyres, he would be well-placed to make progress through the field on Sunday.


"I feel sorry for Michael, who had the pace for a good starting position, as he has proven with a fourth place and two third places in Q3 at the previous races," said Haug.


"A problem with the rear wing mechanism prevented him from getting a good result - but he can achieve this tomorrow.


"Michael showed good pace during our long runs and he will be well equipped with fresh tyres."


Schumacher defended the team's handling of the Q1 issue, saying pitting to get the DRS fixed made more sense than trying to do another lap without it operating properly.


"Trying for a lap without DRS on different tyres would not have made sense," he insisted. "We now have to try to see what we can do from here and push as much as possible."


Nico Rosberg qualified fifth in the other Mercedes.


Fernando Alonso says he is aiming to finish in the top six in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix following a tough qualifying.


The Ferrari driver, who admitted ahead of the weekend that he was expecting Bahrain to be the most difficult race for his team, will start from ninth position after not posting a tine in the final qualifying segment.


The Spaniard ruled out fighting for the podium positions, and said sixth or seventh is a realistic goal for him.


"The top six is the most realistic target, knowing that the first five have been very quick all weekend," said Alonso. "But [Daniel] Ricciardo is sixth, [Romain] Grosjean is seventh and [sergio] Perez is eighth, so we can fight in that group and our strategy should be based on overtaking those cars.


"We know Michael [schumacher] was out in Q1, but he has a lot of new tyres so he can recover well, as the Mercedes is quite fast on the straights.


"Kimi [Raikkonen] has also had a good weekend and he has a lot of new tyres and he starts right behind us, so he could be a strong rival. Fighting to be in the top six or seventh will be hard, but that's the target."


Alonso said his decision not to post a time in Q3 was not strategic, but based on the fact that he had used up all his soft tyres in the first two sessions.


"We didn't save, we had no more tyres," he said. "We used one soft in Q1 and two in Q2 so in Q3 we are doing a lap with a used soft.


"We didn't use it because you put more laps on to start the race and there is no point to run it and like this we have a couple of hours to think what tyres we want to use in the race so we have that choice now, so let's see."


Kimi Raikkonen is hopeful his qualifying gamble will pay off in the Bahrain Grand Prix after deciding to save tyres for the race.


The Lotus driver opted to do just one run during the second qualifying segment in order to have more fresh sets of tyres for tomorrow. He qualified in 11th position.


Raikkonen said he could have made it to Q3 easily had he used another set of tyres, but he is optimistic the decision will prove to be the right one on Sunday.


"We took the risk to try to save one set of tyres and didn't go out afterwards when we could easily get in [to Q3]," said Raikkonen.


"We thought it was worth it to save the tyres, so we'll see what happens."


The Finn admitted the tyre situation in Bahrain will be hard to handle in the race.


"It will be more difficult [with tyres] here than it was in China, but I think everybody has the same issues.


"That's one of the reasons why we didn't go through [to Q3], but hopefully it will pay off tomorrow."


Daniel Ricciardo said the updates that Toro Rosso brought to China worked a lot better in Bahrain, having qualified in sixth position.


The result represents a significant improvement after Ricciardo struggled in China, qualifying and finishing 17th.


"We had a below average week in China with some updates we brought. We persisted with them and made them work significantly better here," he said.


The Australian is now focusing on the race and on trying to score as many points as possible.


"Tonight we will be looking at all our strategy options regarding tyres. I have to focus on scoring as many points as possible. I hope I am still smiling tomorrow evening."


Chief engineer Laurent Mekies said the team has now understood the problems that it suffered from in China.


"We seem to have understood the reasons why we were quite slow last week in China.


"Daniel has secured a fantastic result after driving very well all weekend. Daniel will have a very tough fight up there, but whatever happens it is important to put last week behind us," he said.


Ricciardo's team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne did not progress beyond Q1.


"I do not understand why I was slow this afternoon. I am keen to get back to the engineers to look at the data and find out why I could not deliver the performance."


Jean-Eric Vergne has been given a reprimand for not stopping at the weighbridge after his qualifying effort at the Bahrain Grand Prix.


The Frenchman, who was knocked out in Q1, missed the signal to stop, so his car could be weighed as he returned to the garage.


After speaking to the stewards, it was decided that he would receive a simple warning for his behaviour rather than being moved down the grid or excluded.


The FIA said that the reason for the reprimand was that "upon realising the error, the team, under supervision of a scrutineer, brought the car back to the FIA garage."


Heikki Kovalainen said Caterham always believed it could get into Q2 in Bahrain, after claiming the team's best qualifying result of the 2012 season so far with 16th on the Sakhir grid.


It was the first time Caterham had progressed beyond the first part of qualifying since the team rebranded itself from its former Team Lotus identity this year. The squad's last Q2 appearance came at Spa in 2011.


"We thought that with the conditions today, being hot and pretty windy, we might be able to use the option tyres to get us into Q2, and it worked out," said Kovalainen.


"We've also saved a set of tyres for tomorrow, and with the degradation rates we've seen yesterday and today it's clear tyre management is going to play a big role tomorrow."


The Finn described the result as a vindication for Caterham after it had appeared to fall short of its goals for 2012 in the opening grands prix.


"We've worked really hard to put ourselves in a position where we can fight and today we showed that we are close enough to record results like we did today," said Kovalainen.


"We made progress over the winter, and even though we haven't really shown it yet this season, today's the sort of result we knew we could put in, so it's a great day, for everyone in Caterham F1 Team back at the factory and here on track."


Caterham technical director Mark Smith said the performance represented clear steps forward.


"This morning we had a very good FP3 and the work we have done overnight has paid off with Heikki's result today," he said.


"Everything on his car worked as we had planned and this is a clear sign that the whole team is making progress."


Kovalainen's team-mate Vitaly Petrov was 20th after struggling to make the most of his soft tyres, but will gain a place from Pastor Maldonado's grid penalty.


Pedro de la Rosa hailed his HRT team's progress after putting on his strongest qualifying performance of the season so far in Bahrain.


The Spaniard, who had failed to qualify for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, managed to finish ahead of the Marussia of Timo Glock and will start the race from 21st position.


De la Rosa was also just two tenths of a second off Glock's team-mate Charles Pic, and the HRT driver was delighted with the progress made.


"I'm very happy, to be honest," said de la Rosa. "We come from not qualifying in Australia not long ago, so when I saw the times we posted I was glad.


"For us it's an important jump and, sincerely, at such a complicated track for us as this one, we didn't expect to finish ahead of one Marussia, so that's satisfying."


De la Rosa, however, conceded the race will be very tough because of the tyre degradation.


"Tyre degradation is high and tomorrow I will have to find the compromise in the first part of the sector in order to have enough rubber for the last one to maintain some grip.


"We know that the race will be a three-stop or four-stop one and that we're going to struggle, but so will everyone else so we have to go for it and do the best we can."


Team-mate Narain Karthikeyan qualified at the bottom of the grid, but the Indian was also delighted with the improved form of his team.


"Yesterday was a big struggle for me. We had a tough morning but later improved. Today we made some good progress and in qualifying the car was quite good. In sector two I had a misfire on my fastest lap, at Turn 12, which cost me a bit of time.


"The amazing thing is that we haven't done much to the car but we're quite close to the group ahead of us and that's very positive."

Activist found dead ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix


Post-qualifying press conference:


[spoiler]TV UNILATERAL


Q. Sebastian, four races into the 2012 season and your first pole position of the season? I take it it's good to be back?


Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it obviously feels great and I think this one I completely owe it to the team, to the guys. It wasn't the easiest start to the season for us. Surely, a lot of expectations, but I think more than anything it's what we expect from ourselves, and we didn't match our expectations and we've been extremely busy working on the car, trimming here and there, finding the perfect solution and the right way to go, the way forward. And the boys - I don't think they had much sleep to be honest in the first four races. We had a tough weekend last weekend in China and now, here, they seriously had a lack of sleep, and it's very good to put the car on pole. I think both of us, we owe the result today to the team – it's good. The car felt much better all weekend. I was quite happy. I didn't have the smoothest qualifying. I was nearly out in Q1 and nearly out in Q2 but then I knew that when I get the lap in – I nail it – then we should be in a better place. It's great, obviously, to see that we've just beaten Lewis for pole, so I'm very happy.


Q. Lewis, too, I'm sure a few anxious moments for you in qualifying one and compared to this morning with the pace of your car so much better in qualifying session. So even though you're second, is that satisfying overall?


Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely. I'm very happy with the job we've done. Just been trying to improve the set-up all weekend and in FP3 it wasn't the most spectacular. But yeah, a little bit close in Q1 but thank goodness we got through. Generally, probably one of my best qualifying sessions, even though obviously in the past we did it on the first lap, getting pole position, but the first lap wasn't great and the second lap was great. I'm quite happy with that and we just need to keep on pushing.


Q. Mark, you were on provisional pole but was this just a track that was evolving constantly right up until the last car went over the line? Was that what separated you from your team-mate today?


Mark WEBBER: I think it's always beneficial if you can go a bit later, especially today, but you know we take it in turns at each race and this track looked particularly sensitive to that all weekend. In the end Seb did a good lap, it was a good pole. In the end we're satisfied with being towards the front. There have been some big gaps to the opposition, on Saturday in particular. I think we're pretty surprised to be as competitive as we are on a track that is demanding of probably not some of our strengths. All in all it's for the guys. We're at the front and we can definitely race from there.


Q. You made a slight mistake, Mark. Did that cost you any time whatsoever?


MW: In?


Q. On your final run, just a little lock-up.


MW: No. That was not too bad. I didn't leave enough of a gap to Paul [Di Resta] actually. I was surprised by how much I closed on him and got him a little bit in 13, so lost a little bit there. That was the only thing I would have liked to have done better, given him a better gap. But, yeah, we're here.


Q. Throughout this weekend we've seen that it's been very difficult to string together the perfect lap. Sebastian, you've got to do 57 of them in Sunday's race. Just how tough will that be, even from pole position?


SV: I think it's always tough. The race here is long and anything can happen. I think we are pretty aggressive and we should be better off in the race. The race pace has proven to be pretty consistent over the last couple of races. This one, I'm definitely happier with how the car feels and we should be able to hopefully get the same kind of feeling and result tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the start of the race and then I think it will be pretty tight to be honest. Of course, you're obviously dealing here with the top three but I think there are also other people tomorrow who will have a very good chance. I think Nico has been very, very strong all weekend, and the Lotus guys they can surprise. So, in terms of race pace, I think everyone will be much closer together and I just hope we can keep it up and have a good result tomorrow.


PRESS CONFERENCE


Q. Your 31st pole position Sebastian, and your second pole position here


SV: 31? Shit! Yeah, pretty happy, obviously, as I mentioned. I felt much happier with the car all weekend, I went out and I think we've always had the ability to go reasonably quick. Surely it depends a little bit when and where you are, which tyres etc., but I had a good feeling all throughout the weekend and I'm very happy. I knew in qualifying we should be able to put the car higher up this time in qualifying. Q1 and Q2 wasn't perfect, the laps I got in were not 100 per cent without mistakes and I knew in the third qualifying that getting everything together we should be in a better place. First run I obviously ran the set I scrubbed in Q2, wasn't ideal, so I knew that with a new tyre there was a little bit again to gain and it did happen, so I'm very happy, very pleased and extremely happy for the team because the guys have done incredible lately. Four races so far but the last two weekends in particular, here and China, I don't know how they managed, how they do it. They get hardly any sleep, probably an hour or two or three on average every night and still they're full of energy and willing to work even harder – and I think we owe the result to those guys it the garage today.


Q. You mentioned you found some answers in China and a step forward here, can you give us some indication of that?


SV: Well, I think given the balance we had – or I had in particular – the first two races where I wasn't happy, we decided in China to go back and see where we are. Equally, Mark carried on, which I think was good to get a straight comparison. And we found that the new car, or new package, has its advantages and the old package has its advantages and I think it was good to get an answer on that. So, we ended up with two cars, either one probably strong in a certain area so I think it helped us also going into this weekend trying to set up the car, working with the tyres, which seem to be tricky this year. We felt a little bit happier all around, also given the high temperatures here, which is not making life easier.


Q. What's it like driving on the soft tyres? Everyone's saying that's what it's going to be about during the race itself.


SV: I think they worked pretty well. Yesterday in second practice I improved by one-tenth, I don't know why, so today yeah, I was able to squeeze the same amount of lap time out of the tyres that everyone else compared to the hard – or the medium – tyre. So, yeah, I think we should be in a good position tomorrow. I think the car is good in the race, we've proven in the last races that race pace is good enough to get some big points. Now we are starting for the first time a little bit further up and yeah, hopefully that makes our life a little bit easier. I'm looking forward to the start, the first corner, first lap and yeah, if we're not P15 after the first lap then it will be a different race. So, fingers crossed, but surely tomorrow with the temperatures being so hot it will be crucial to take care of those tyres.


Q. Lewis, the one thing that's been constant throughout the season is you on the front row, or at least first and second in qualifying – even if obviously in China you got the penalty – but you must be pleased with the way qualifying has been going this year?


LH: Absolutely. Very happy with the performance of the car and the performance of the team and improvements that we've been making – and also really happy with the laps that I've been doing. I've been really eking out everything that I can from the car. Today we just weren't quick enough to get a pole but still to be on the front row is a great feeling and compared to the last race, obviously we were on the front row but we weren't able to start there with the penalty. This weekend we're in a much better position, so I'm really excited for a good race but as Sebastian said, it's going to be tough to look after the tyres tomorrow.


Q. And also the rivals are different. All of a sudden it's dark blue whereas at the last race it was grey with Mercedes.


LH: Yeah, absolutely, they've clearly made a good step this weekend. I anticipated they'd be very quick this weekend and in their long run pace they're very strong, probably the strongest – and Mark's been the fastest in all the races so far I think – so it'll be interesting tomorrow but we'll do everything we can to give them a run for their money.


Q. And is it all about tyres and temperatures and wind at this circuit at this moment?


LH: It is. The wind, I don't remember any other circuit – maybe Barcelona – but otherwise this is one of the trickiest circuits in terms of the wind direction and how it helps and the positives and negatives on certain corners. It's quite interesting. It's not easy to get it right: some of us do, some of us don't.


Q. Mark, you said yesterday the challenge was to get it all together. Presumably you got it all together?


MW: Yeah, it was a pretty good session. Quali wasn't easy for us in the first part. And I think the guys have done a great job. Pretty happy with Q3 to be honest, we're up there towards the front.


Q. Is it all about the rear tyres, about traction?


MW: Yeah, it's pretty tough on the tyres here, bit of a surprise for all of us yesterday. We did our homework and we'll how that obviously unfolds in the GP.


Q. And this is your best grid here.


MW: Yeah, it's normally not a great track for me but I've been quick all weekend and I feel confident for the race.


Q. And the Australian Junior Team starts sixth on the grid – as in Daniel [Ricciardo]


MW: Oh, I didn't know that. Good effort!


QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR


Q. (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Question to all of you; coming into the weekend, one of the things that we heard was a possible concern was the engine due to dust and sand. We've seen a very very dusty day today. Have you got concerns about your engines in the race tomorrow?


SV: No, because we've run here previously and it's more or less the same: sometimes more sand, sometimes less. They do a good job here around the track, cleaning the circuit. I was surprised this year that there seemed to be less dust on the track than in previous years, so I think that if they keep doing that we should be OK tomorrow concerning the engine.


LH: The same really. The engineers do a fantastic job to design the engine, it's hardly affected, the filters are very very good, so it doesn't cause us any trouble.


Q. (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how much of a relief is it for you to get this pole position after the difficult start to the season? Were you worried that this could be a more difficult season; now you have the car that you were used to?


SV: Pretty much the same way as people around, really. Not us inside the team, not myself. I started to... it looked like panic, it's the same now. We've got a very good result today and I'm very happy. Of course I'm happy to be on pole for tomorrow's race. For sure it feels good but zero points scored so far as the race is tomorrow. I think we are only a couple of races into the season, as I've mentioned many times now because I've had the same questions. We didn't have the start that maybe we expected and people probably expected of us, but since day one, where we realised that maybe we weren't as strong as we wanted to be, we've worked very very hard and this is step one towards the right direction so we keep fighting and keep working hard to make sure that the results similar to today come more often again.


Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian and Mark, we saw that in the last race Nico Rosberg did very well, but today he's further back as you were in the last race. Is this a new phase for the team or is it a characteristic of the season in Formula One, all these changes?


SV: I think that we've seen so far that things can change very quickly. We've seen that Nico had a phenomenal lap in China, he out-qualified everyone by half a second, no one had a chance on that Saturday and to be fair, also on Sunday he was in a league of his own. This weekend I think they're very strong again. I think Michael went out in Q1 because they didn't run again and then I don't know what happened to Nico. I heard that he's fifth so I don't consider that is qualifying at the back, and I think they will be very strong tomorrow. This circuit is known for being a bit of an engine circuit; they have a very strong package, they are very quick on the straights so surely, given the pace he had all weekend, we expected him maybe to be a bit stronger in qualifying, but given the margins and given the gaps between the cars, first, second, third, fifth, I haven't seen the complete result yet but I don't think there's much between them, so a little mistake here or there is enough to maybe not get the best result you can or you could on that day. Equally, I went out last weekend in Q2, or I didn't make it to Q3 and there wasn't much missing, so I think it's fairly close this year and I think that the racing we have seen as well and probably will see again tomorrow.


Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, two days ago you said that you were lacking something to have a winning car. Now did you change your mind? And the second question is about Nico: it seems that Nico saved a set of new soft tyres. Is that crucial or doesn't it matter?


SV: Surely it's an advantage for him if he has more sets of new tyres. How much of an advantage you will see tomorrow. Sometimes it turns out to be a massive advantage, sometimes none. People run different strategies and we start to do that already on Saturday. All in all, I'm very pleased with the result today. As I said, I was much happier with the car all weekend and felt that we can qualify in a much better position. Going into qualifying, I knew that with a little bit here and there we could potentially go on pole. Going into Q3, seeing everyone's first shot - Lewis very competitive - I know that we should be able to match him, maybe go a bit quicker so in the end, I'm very happy that we did, but I still think that for tomorrow, other people are probably the favourites. We start from the front row, P1, but it's a long race and a lot of things can happen. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the race, so we will see.


Q. (Khoda Rawi – F1Arab.com) Lewis, I believe you are the first driver in F1 history that finished the first three races of the season in third position, and you've never won here before. Do you think you can do it tomorrow, since the car seems competitive on all tracks?


LH: It's going to be massively hard tomorrow, for sure. We seem to have had some good races here. I think in my first year I was second here – we struggled a little bit that year and yet we still got good results and I think we have a better car this year to fight the Red Bulls in the race. I think their race pace has generally been a little bit quicker in the last couple of races, within a tenth (of a second) of race pace, but we've made some improvements so I hope that tomorrow our set-up works really well for us and we can challenge for a win.


Q. (Khoda Rawi – F1Arab.com) Lewis, you have a huge fan base in the Middle East; what would you like to say to your fans?


LH: To my fans here… Growing up I never ever thought that I would ever have fans so to learn that I have more and more fans coming from different places and particularly the Middle East is a fantastic feeling, so I'm very much appreciative of all the support that they give me and I hope that many of them come this weekend. And a big thank you to all of them for some of the messages that I get, because I do notice that I have certain messages on Twitter or Facebook from out here in the Middle East, so just a big thank you to them, and fingers crossed for the season.


Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, as it was mentioned already, Rosberg had one run in each of the qualifying sessions. I think you had two attempts each. Was that planned or were there some problems?


SV: No, surely it was not planned. Ideally you go through with one run only, the minimum amount of effort so in the first qualifying I think both Mark and myself weren't happy with the first run and then we were able to re-balance the car and we were maybe then fine in the second run. But it just shows how competitive it is, how close it can be. I saw that Lewis was P16 or 17 and just made it by four hundredths so half a tenth. With the track improving and the other people having very competitive cars, it's very close. The same in Q2: I wasn't entirely happy with my lap. I made a little bit of a mistake going into turn eight and I know that I should have been in a better place in Q2. I wasn't keen to go out and then we went out but I didn't make it across the line in time in order to have another go, so fortunately it was good enough, but again, in Q2, I think Kimi got caught out and didn't make it to Q3 so… If you can make it with one run, that's preferred because you save tyres.


Q. (Stephane Barbé – L'Equipe) Sebastian, being a two time World Champion already, how much did it help not to panic after the first races?


SV: It's the same as I said before, I think we had no reason to panic and equally, now it's not as if we are living in a different world, so we still know that we have a lot to do, a lot of work ahead of us. Surely the result is very good for all of us, because it gives you a lot of energy knowing that if you work hard, you also get the rewards. As I mentioned, especially for the guys in the garage, working day and night, as much as they can, I think it's good to be back on top, but we have a race tomorrow and that's when we can score points and not before. As I said, I don't think we had a reason to panic and equally, now the world is still turning and we keep fighting and keep doing what we were doing, working hard and trying to come back to where we have been last year.


Q. (Ben Hunt – The Sun) With regards to the death of a young man last night in the protests that have marred this Grand Prix, I just wondered if any of you drivers would care to comment on that at all?


SV: It's the first time that I've heard about it. I don't know what happened so it's difficult to comment. I think it's always… either you know the person or you don't, but I think it's always dreadful if someone dies, but I don't know what happened, so…


MW: I don't know the situation so… it's never good, of course.[/spoiler]

[Lineker]

Sensible from Mercedes this:

Michael Schumacher will take a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix after Mercedes elected to change the gearbox on his car ahead of the race.

The German failed to make it through Q1 at Sakhir after he suffered a DRS problem on his only flying lap - which meant he was scheduled to start from 17th on the grid thanks to Pastor Maldonado's penalty.

However, with Schumacher already facing a difficult situation in trying to move forward, the team has decided to change his gearbox as well - meaning he will start from 22nd.

Nico Rosberg says he and Mercedes are more confident about their race chances for the Bahrain Grand Prix, than they were when they won in China last weekend.

With his team having focused heavily on understanding tyres after two difficult races at the start of the season, Rosberg believes that Mercedes has reason to feel better prepared this time out that it did in Shanghai.

"I think we've definitely progressed with the set-up and things like that," he said. "I'm a little bit more confident. And I'm saying that about a race like here, where it's very, very hot. That definitely shows that we're moving forward.

"The car has generally been behaving well in these difficult conditions here, and also for these conditions, we've definitely progressed and moved forward. That's been good to see, and that's why I'm carefully optimistic for the race."

Rosberg could only manage fifth on the grid at Sakhir, after electing to do just one run in Q3 - and making a slight mistake at Turn 10.

"I expected to be a little bit further up," he said about qualifying. "The lock-up into Turn 10 didn't cost me lap-time, but that's the way it is.

"I think, relatively, we're going to be a bit stronger in the race than in qualifying, so that's what we're hoping and looking to do."

Kimi Raikkonen says Lotus is ready to apply the valuable lessons it learned at the Chinese Grand Prix - where he tumbled down the order in the closing stages because of tyre degradation.

The Finn had been running in second place towards the end phase of the Shanghai race, but his two-stop strategy backfired when he could not hold off the cars behind him. He eventually finished 14th.

But ahead of the Bahrain race, where he starts 11th after electing not to use up a set of fresh tyres to get him through to Q3, Raikkonen says he is optimistic Lotus will get things right this time out.

"We understand a little bit more," he said about tyre strategy. "We did a small mistake to stop too early, but it is not like we didn't know the risk - because we did.

"Maybe I could have gone a bit longer on the second set, but I didn't have a very good understanding of when the tyre was going to drop off a lot. Looking at the others some of them ran very long on the last set and that was interesting, so we took the chance and it happened."

Raikkonen remains open-minded about whether or not the Lotus tyre strategy will pay off, as a number of other teams also elected to keep fresh rubber rather than go all out for better grid positions.

"You want to be higher up, but sometimes you have to take the chance," he explained. "We didn't go through but we start 11th with a new set of tyres, so looking at Romain [Grosjean] in seventh there is not much difference with the new tyres. We will see after the race if it works out or not."

Raikkonen was unsure, however, about what was possible for him in the race – judging by his position on the grid and the performance of Lotus over the weekend.

"It is difficult to say from yesterday but we didn't destroy the tyres and really in the last race it is not that our car is worse than others, it is just that we ran too long with the tyres," he said.

"I will see how it works out but for sure this race is harder on tyres than any other race. I don't know, we will try and do the best that we can do.

"We don't know what happened to the others and how fast they are in the race, so you cannot just say that you are probably going to finish at this distance.

"In the past you knew what was going to happen in the normal race conditions, but now it is different so hopefully we will be okay."

Lewis Hamilton says it is no surprise that Red Bull Racing has returned to form in the Bahrain Grand Prix - because he thinks the champion team was never out of the running in the first place.

The Briton was beaten to pole position at Sakhir by Sebastian Vettel, whose brilliant performance came just a few days after he argued that Red Bull was not in a position to win races yet.

But with the performance showing that there is good potential in Red Bull's RB8, Hamilton reckons that the reigning world champion outfit has to be taken seriously.

"They are second in the constructors' championship, so I don't think they have ever been gone," explained Hamilton. "They have just not been as quick as us in qualifying for a couple of races, and at this place obviously the temperatures are a little bit higher.

"So unless they bought an upgrade package for this weekend, they are obviously getting the tyres more into the working range. They have always had a [competitive] car since race one, and their race pace has been their strong part of the weekend – so I don't think anything has particularly changed."

Team-mate Jenson Button agreed with the verdict on Red Bull – which he thinks is firmly in the hunt for title glory.

"I think over the last three races they have not had the outright pace, but they have still done a very good job of collecting points," he explained. "We saw that they were competitive, so I think they are good.

"They are looking like they will be contenders for the win, and it is going to be tough to beat them, but it is never easy. We have always got somebody to fight for a good result."

With the formbook fluctuating quite dramatically over the opening races of the season, Button is convinced the championship will be won by ensuring consistent results in the type of crazy races we have got used to seeing this year.

"I don't think we should be looking to better the last race, otherwise we are going to get into a position where we just cannot have a better race," said Button, when asked if the Bahrain GP would be a similar spectacle to China. "We can expect too much.

"I think in general the races here have been very good. Not all of the races will be that exciting, but if the average race is exciting like we found so far this year, it is great. So I think there will be some good fights.

"It is not one team at the front that is going to walk it. I think the Red Bulls are strong, we are strong, but also just behind us you have Nico [Rosberg], and [Daniel] Ricciardo – it was a great lap by him. And then you have got the Lotus.

"It is going to be an interesting race and Michael [schumacher] is a long way back but he has got every set of tyres he can use for the race – and they are brand new. He could also spring a surprise."

Edited April 22, 2012 by Lineker

[Katsuya]

"Nobody cares if someone is ninth or 11th," Ecclestone told Reuters.

Fernando Alonso & Kimi Raikkonen: no fans.

[Gazz]

Shows you how out of touch Bernie is, not just in terms of Kimi and Alonso, but there's usually better racing for the final couple of points positions than there is at the front.