22/04/2012
NEWS STORY
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Even if today's race were to produce one of the finest in the history of the sport, there can be no doubt that the event will forever be remembered for reasons other than sport.
A couple of hours before the race is due to start there is the usual knot in the stomach. However, this time it's not in fear of weather conditions, the destiny of the title(s) or the prospect of a major incident at the first corner, it's about something happening entirely unrelated to the sport but which needs the sport. Something given the global audience looking on, that might gain strength from the oxygen of publicity on offer here today.
As ever, as we look ahead to the race we think about tyres, tactics, headwinds and strategy, but what's really playing on everyone's mind is whether there is going to be an incident, an attempt to (further) use this sport and thereby drag it further into the mire.
According to our sources, all sensible people have left Bahrain for the weekend, most of them heading to Dubai. Therefore, assuming FOM gives us a glimpse of the grandstands - and of course the Force Indias - we wonder who will fill the thousands seats that have been empty for much of the weekend. Our sources tell us to expect far more schoolchildren than are usually witnessed at such an event, though the vast army of ex-pats, public sector workers and indeed, the army, are sure to help out, much like extras in a movie.
As for the race itself, and this is, so we are told, the reason we are here, being that it will unite the people of Bahrain, the big topic is tyres. Some are saying that tyres are more important here than at any previous race, then again those within the F1 paddock do have a reputation for hyperbole.
Pirelli says the difference between the medium (prime) and soft (option) can be as much as 0.8s, but this varies from team to team, even driver to driver. Furthermore, as we have seen throughout the weekend thus far, the track is constantly evolving. Furthermore, let's not forget that this race starts an hour later than any of the previous sessions this weekend.
All weekend Red Bull have looked to be in better shape than in China, and though they've had just a few days since the team clearly has taken a step forward, Sebastian Vettel's excellent pole lap sort of proving the point. And with Mark Webber starting third, one has to wonder whether, following the early season blip, the Red Bull juggernaut is back on track.
While McLaren have taken second and fourth on the grid, there is a general feeling that the Woking team has been a little erratic this weekend. Lewis Hamilton certainly looks confident, however, if this race really is about tyres we'd better not discount Jenson Button.
If Mercedes is disappointed with Nico Rosberg's fifth spot on the grid how must they feel about Michael Schumacher who starts from twenty-second after suffering a DRS problem in Q1 and then taking as five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox. The double-DRS may well pay off for Nico, while it should be fun to watch Michael's progress, on the other hand, however, the WO3 is notorious for being especially hard on its tyres.
For Ferrari, damage limitation remains the name of the game, and Fernando Alonso's eyes must have lit up when a brief rain shower - yes, rain shower - hit the desert track around ninety minutes before the start of the race. For both the Spaniard and his teammate, Felipe Massa, today will be about doing the best job possible.
Daniel Ricciardo had plenty to smile about yesterday, though the lap which put him sixth on the grid will have wiped the smiles from a few of his rivals faces. Whether the Toro Rosso will allow the likeable Aussie to capitalise on his strong grid position remains to be seen, especially in light of its less than impressive performance thus far this season. Teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who received an official reprimand for ignoring the red light at the weighbridge yesterday, starts from twenty-second.
Mixed fortunes for Lotus, with Romain Grosjean starting seventh and Kimi Raikkonen eleventh. The Frenchman, clearly boosted by his China performance, will be looking to add further points to his tally, especially after the debacle of the first two races, while The Iceman on a desert charge should provide a few moments.
Another excellent performance from Sergio Perez who could be the real dark horse here today. If tyres are the issue the Mexican youngster is your man, though let's not forget teammate Kamui Kobayashi.
Despite missing an entire session on Friday, Paul di Resta dug deep when it mattered yesterday, putting his Force India tenth on the grid. Clearly fired up, the Scot should be good value for money today, let's hope FOM allows us the occasional glimpse of his car - and that of his teammate.
Hulkenberg, Massa and Senna all have an opportunity to impress this afternoon while it will be worth watching Maldonado and Schumacher who both start from the rear end of the grid. Special mention however to Heikki Kovalainen for his performance yesterday, getting the Caterham into Q2 and qualifying sixteenth, albeit partly due to the misfortunes of Schumacher and Maldonado.
As the pitlane opens and the first cars make their way to the grid, there is the odd spot of rain but nothing of significance.
Of the leading ten, the first eight will start on softs while Alonso and di Resta, who didn't post a time in Q3, have their options open - no pun intended.
As the field heads off on the parade lap, the air temperature is 27 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. Humidity is 37 percent.
As they head off, all but Kobayashi are on soft tyres. There is one DRS zone here, and that's on the main straight.
They're away, brilliant starts by Vettel, Grosjean and Alonso. The first few corners though incident free are hairy, with a few drivers banging wheels as they jostle for position. Poor start from Rosberg.
The yellow flags are out and there's a piece of bodywork on the track but unclear whose.
At the end of lap 1, it's Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Grosjean, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Massa, Rosberg and Perez. Kovalainen pit with a left-rear puncture. Schumacher up to eighteenth, Maldonado up to fifteenth.
After two laps, Vettel leads by 2.9s as Massa barges his way past Raikkonen in Turns 1 and 2, the Brazilian knowing that his job could be on the line. Raikkonen is now under pressure from Rosberg, Perez and di Resta.
At the start of lap 4, Grosjean makes short work of Webber on the entry to Turn 1, the Red Bull driver fights back but the Lotus driver is having none of it. Indeed, the Frenchman is quickest in S1.
Replay shows that Rosberg make a poor start and subsequently got bogged down in Turn 1.
As Vettel extends his lead to 3.9s and Grosjean closes in on Hamilton, Raikkonen re-passes Massa and Schumacher bites at Maldonado's heels. A great scrap also between di Resta and Perez for tenth. Behind these two there is a train of five cars including Maldonado and Schumacher.
Hamilton is told that he's losing six-tenths to Vettel in S1 and S2, however, he's also losing out to Grosjean. At the start of lap 7, the Frenchman, making full use of his DRS, sweeps by Hamilton as he did Webber. Brilliant stuff from the French youngster.
As Raikkonen closes remorselessly on Button, its noticed that Ricciardo has dropped back to seventeenth. Meanwhile, his teammate is battling with Maldonado for fourteenth, though it is the Williams driver who wins.
Ricciardo pits for a new nose and mediums as Button complains that he is struggling with his rears.
Button pits at the end of lap 8 as do Massa and Rosberg, while Raikkonen closes in on Alonso. Button rejoins in sixteenth, Rosberg seventeenth and Massa nineteenth behind Pic.
Next time around Hamilton, Webber and Alonso pit, though there's a problem with the Englishman's stop, his left-rear wheel nut not going on properly. To make things worse he is almost forced off track as he rejoins immediately immersed in a battle with Rosberg.
Grosjean pits at the end of lap 10, promoting his teammate to second behind Vettel, who has yet to stop. Vergne pits, as do Petrov, Glock and Karthikeyan.
As the stewards announce they are investigating the Rosberg/Hamilton incident, the Englishman asks what went wrong at his pit stop.
Vettel, Raikkonen and Maldonado all pits at the end of lap 11, leaving di Resta leading from Vettel and Kobayashi.
Alonso thinks better of it when challenged by a determined Button, the Spaniard yielding to his former teammate. Elsewhere, Perez posts a new fastest lap (39.771).
Vettel passes di Resta with ease to re-take the lead. Grosjean is now second, ahead of Kobayashi, Webber, Raikkonen, Button, Alonso, Hamilton and Rosberg.
There is nothing that Webber can do when Raikkonen closes in, as Vettel posts a new fastest lap (39.725).
If Alonso had any doubts about challenging Button he certainly doesn't when 'man on a mission' Hamilton closes in, the McLaren sweeping by.
Di Resta and Kobayashi both pit at the end of lap 14, promoting Grosjean to second and Raikkonen third. Webber is fourth ahead of Button and Hamilton. Massa is ninth while Schumacher is thirteenth.
Vettel now on prime as is Grosjean, Raikkonen option while Webber, Button, Hamilton and Alonso are all on prime.
"Di Resta ahead is on a two-stop," Schumacher is told, "so we need to pass him to make this work." The German is currently 1.9s down on the Scot.
"This is looking like Plan B," Hamilton is told, though we're not advised what Plan A might have been. The Englishman is currently sixth, 17.5s down on the leader and 1.5s on his teammate.
Behind the leaders, Rosberg is eighth, ahead of Massa, Perez, Maldonado, di Resta, Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Kobayashi, Senna, Vergne, Petrov, Ricciardo, Pic, Kovalainen, Glock, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan.
Di Resta complains that Maldonado is "weaving all over the place". The stewards announce that they will investigate the Rosberg/Hamilton incident after the race. Elsewhere, Hulkenberg pits.
Grosjean and Raikkonen now running nose to tail, the Finn clearly the quicker of the two.
Three cars abreast as di Resta passes Maldonado and Perez in one mighty go to take tenth. The Mexican subsequently pits.
As Raikkonen shadows his Lotus teammate, di Resta is all over Massa. Though he resists, the end result, for the Ferrari driver, is inevitable.
At the end of lap 22, Button, Rosberg and Massa all pit. Button sticks with primes while Rosberg, who was on softs, swaps to medium.
As Webber pits at the end of lap 23 - as do Hamilton, Alonso, Maldonado and Schumacher - Grosjean allows his Lotus teammate through. Once again, Hamilton suffers a problem with his left-rear wheel.
Rosberg makes short work of Alonso as Raikkonen pits, the Spaniard having nothing with which he could fight back with.
Back on track Hamilton passes Vergne as Rosberg forces Alonso very wide, the German appearing to ride his luck… and that of his rivals.
Vettel and Grosjean both pit at the end of lap 25, the German rejoining still in the lead while the Frenchman slips down to third behind Raikkonen. A big spin for Maldonado after what appeared to be a tyre problem. The Williams driver, who subsequently pits, drops right back down the field.
Raikkonen, 2.2s down on Vettel, posts a new fastest lap (38.165). Elsewhere, Alonso complains that Rosberg tried to push him off the track. Maldonado is pushed back into his garage.
Vettel responds with a new fastest lap (38.157), as (fourth placed) di Resta is under pressure from Webber. Alonso is under pressure from Massa and Hamilton.
The stewards announce that they will also investigate the Rosberg/Alonso incident after the race.
Webber uses his DRS to pass di Resta for fourth, albeit 19s behind his teammate.
Having enquired about Massa - who is 0.8s up the road - Hamilton is informed that the Ferrari driver is on the same strategy.
After 30 laps, Kobayashi and di Resta are the only drivers to have made only one stop.
Rosberg, despite all those investigations, passes Kobayashi for seventh, giving him a comfort cushion, albeit small, over the Alonso, Massa and Hamilton train.
At the end of lap 31 Kobayashi pits and for a moment it appears Alonso is following him but in fact the Spaniard is getting a tow from the Sauber.
Out front, Raikkonen is now 1.1s down on Vettel, the Finn taking 0.3s a lap from the world champion. Elsewhere, Button passes di Resta for fifth.
At the end of lap 33, di Resta makes his second - and possibly final stop - rejoining in thirteenth. Can he make his mediums last 24 laps?
Using his DRS Raikkonen gets as close as possibly be to the rear of the Red Bull, he runs out of track, goes to the right then to the left but still he cannot nail the German. Vettel is advised that he can use "push-to-pass on the main straight".
Rosberg and Hamilton both pit at the end of lap 36, as does Hulkenberg. No major problems for the Englishman this time around though it's hardly the cleanest of stops.
Next time around Button, Alonso, Perez and Schumacher all pit. The Englishman rejoins in eighth. Replay shows Perez involved in a couple of incidents in the pitlane, held up by Alonso as he reaches his garage and side-by-side with Schumacher as he leaves.
Massa and Senna both pit at the end of lap 38, the Ferrari driver desperate to open his 2012 points account. Stewards are to investigate the possible unsafe release of Alonso.
Vettel and Raikkonen both pit at the end of lap 39, as does Webber. They rejoin with Vettel still leading and Raikkonen second, both on the prime tyres.
Grosjean pits at the end of lap 40, as do Petrov, Glock and de la Rosa. The Lotus driver rejoins still in third ahead of Webber and di Resta.
Hamilton passes Kobayashi who is immediately under attack from Massa. Out front Vettel posts a new fastest lap (36.379).
Now 2.9s down on the leader, Raikkonen doesn't look as comfortable on this set of tyres. Or is he keeping his powder dry?
After 42 laps, it's: Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Webber, di Resta, Rosberg, Button, Alonso, Hamilton and Massa. Just two retirements, Maldonado and Pic. Only Kobayashi, Vergne and Glock are on softs, everyone else is on primes.
Schumacher closes in on eleventh placed Kobayashi as Perez keeps a watching eye on the situation.
Classic Schumacher from the German who passes the Japanese driver and sets off after former teammate Massa.
"Vettel has got worse deg than us," Raikkonen is told, "you can catch him." A gee-up for the Finn, who is currently 3.4s behind, or does Vettel really have a problem?
On lap 47, Raikkonen takes just over half-a-second from the leader ass Mercedes urges Schumacher to attack Massa.
Rosberg closes in on di Resta, as Petrov is extremely gracious in allowing Raikkonen by - considering how the Enstone outfit dumped him.
Despite the initial promise I now appears Raikkonen doesn't have anything in reserve, the gap to Vettel now back up to 3.5. Meanwhile, despite the Scot's best efforts, Rosberg passes di Resta to take fifth. Elsewhere, Kobayashi makes his third stop of the afternoon. Now on fresh options the Japanese driver immediately goes quickest in S1.
Much like Vettel and Raikkonen last week, di Resta is now in trouble as his tyres come to end of their shelf life… Button closes in. That said, the Englishman pulls into the pits with a left-rear puncture. He rejoins in thirteenth, ironically behind the second Force India.
Button's bad luck works to Schumacher's advantage, the German now moving into the points.
As the gap between Vettel and Raikkonen remains static (3.2s), Senna becomes the second Williams DNF and Alonso closes in on di Resta. Rosberg is told that he has a broken exhaust but not to worry about engine performance.
At the end of lap 56, Button drives into his garage to become the fourth retirement of the afternoon.
Vettel takes the flag, his first win since India last year. As he crosses the line the German is told to park his car at the end of the pitlane, he dutifully obeys.
Raikkonen finishes second, ahead of Grosjean, Webber and a very slow Rosberg, the Mercedes driver looking to have run out of fuel. Alonso makes a late charge on di Resta but the Scot has it covered. Hamilton is eighth ahead of Mass and Schumacher.
Showing his supreme fitness, Vettel runs back up the pitlane, still waving, still smiling. He's back.
Perez finishes eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Kobayashi, Vergne, Ricciardo, Petrov, Kovalainen, Button, Glock, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan.
Preparing to go out on the podium - where they will spray Waard the non-alcoholic Champagne substitute - the Iceman looks a little frazzled.
The anthems are played, the crowd applauds, the air horns sound and trophies are awarded.
Formula One moves on to Spain, via Mugello, but what of Bahrain, what of the people. Has the Grand Prix been a force for good or the catalyst that sparks the revolution, time will tell.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of this race, it is over, and thankfully without incident.
Not only do we have a worthy winner, the two others drivers on the podium fully deserved to be there.
Let's hope that all the people of Bahrain have something to celebrate in the not too distant future.
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