2006 Bahrain GP

[magracer]

Toyota seems between a rock and a hard place...well done for Heidfeld for getting to Q3, extensively beating Villenueve. Also well done for Klein...

Starting on the dirty side of the track will be though!!! Even numbered spots should loose a couple spots by T1.

[Vaigra]

All Ferrari front row
Schumacher has equalled Senna's pole position record of 65 poles
I'm just hoping they've got plenty of fuel in the car too.
EDIT: At least this qualifying format is better than the one lap system. We'll just have to give it a couple of races to see if it compares the old 1 hr free for all.

[adamfraser]

From the BBC -

Session one times:

1 M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:31.431

2 F Massa (Ferrari) 1:31.523

3 J Button (Honda) 1:32.102

4 J Montoya (McLaren) 1:32.164

5 R Barrichello (Honda) 1:32.941

6 G Fisichella (Renault) 1:33.703

7 M Webber (Williams) 1:34.839

8 F Alonso (Renault) 1:35.512


From ITV.com/f1


Session two times:



1. ALONSO Renault 1m31.215s

2. MONTOYA McLaren 1m31.487s

3. FISICHELLA Renault 1m31.831s

4. HEIDFELD BMW 1m31.958s

5. MASSA Ferrari 1m32.014s

6. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m32.025s

7. BUTTON Honda 1m32.025s

8. KLIEN Red Bull 1m32.106s

9. WEBBER Williams 1m32.309s

10. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m32.322s



Knocked out:



11. VILLENEUVE BMW 1m32.456s

12. ROSBERG Williams 1m32.620s

13. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m32.850s

14. TRULLI Toyota 1m33.066s

15. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m33.416s

16. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m34.606s



Session one times:



1. ALONSO Renault 1m32.433s

2. BUTTON Honda 1m32.603s

3. FISICHELLA Renault 1m32.934s

4. ROSBERG Williams 1m32.945s

5. MONTOYA McLaren 1m33.233s

6. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m33.310s

7. HEIDFELD BMW 1m33.374s

8. WEBBER Williams 1m33.454s

9. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.579s

10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m33.678s

11. VILLENEUVE BMW 1m33.862s

12. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m33.922s

13. TRULLI Toyota 1m33.987s

14. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m33.995s

15. KLIEN Red Bull 1m34.308s

16. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m34.439s




Knocked out:

17. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m34.702s

18. ALBERS MF1 1m35.724s

19. MONTEIRO MF1 1m35.900s

20. SATO Super Aguri 1m37.411s

21. IDE Super Aguri 1m40.270s

22. RAIKKONEN McLaren no time

[RazaBlade]

Was interesting to watch this new system. Sure, the 3rd stint started a bit slow, but then went manic near the end too. Very bad luck for Kimi, what was with Montoya? Didnt leave much of an impression. But once again, Renault pair looked comfortable.

[Matra et Alpine]

Well that was actually quite good.
not sure about the burning fuel off start of the last session but it let me catch a breath and think about what was happening

ITV coverage sucks (again) and they REALLY need to block ads during the sessions. Football can avoid ads for 90 mins so can't see why they can't block them for 15, 15 and 30 mins !!! e-mail being sent to them now .... and if everyone else (in the UK) does likewise they might listen

Not enough timing info with more cars out on track and the FIA timing bods need to think more on that for the TV feeds. There is SO much more going on that is begin missed -- esp when they were following SChumis fast lap. But thanks to the live timing on the F1 site it didnt' bother me. Recommend for everyone following the next quali to do the same. You see ALL the excitement by tracking the sector times in real time -- http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/751.html

[motorsportnerd]

So Schumacher equals Senna's record of poles for the season. Glad to see him back at the top of the timesheets - lets see if qualifying performance translates to race pace though. I'd have hated to see one of the all time greats go out of F1 after another miserable season like last years. Hopefully he'll have a very good season, perhaps even a championship winning season, and then retire while at the top. Its sad seeing a great driver linger to long (Mansell and Hill spring to mind), so I'm hoping Michael will retire at the end of the year at the top of his game.
Impressive was the pace of Massa - I didn't think he had any chance of getting close to Schumacher, but he did.
Should be an interesting race. Looking forward to it.

[adamfraser]

Yeah the ITV system is good. By as you siad, coverage is crap. Might send an email along too.

[Vaigra]

Not enough timing info with more cars out on track and the FIA timing bods need to think more on that for the TV feeds. There is SO much more going on that is begin missed -- esp when they were following SChumis fast lap. But thanks to the live timing on the F1 site it didnt' bother me. Recommend for everyone following the next quali to do the same. You see ALL the excitement by tracking the sector times in real time -- http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/751.html

I was keeping an eye on that too, it really helps because of ITV's lack of timing on the screen. Also works well during the race, especially during ad breaks. I'll be emailing them too .

[jorismo]

Wow, way to go by Ferrari. I didn't expect that one coming... I'm curious how Kimi will drive the race tomorrow. (Low fuel, fast overtaking or perhaps lot fuel, getting in pits as last). If McLaren works out a good plan, they might get him on the podium...

Anyone dares to do a prediction of the podium?

[motorsportnerd]

Depends on the Bridgestones and the Ferrari V8 proving reliable... If qualifying performance translates, I'd expect Schuey on the podium. I also expect the Renaults to be the strongest challengers - especially Alonso. Can't discount the Hondas either.

[Wouter Melissen]

I was surprised to see Montoya go out at all, but I guess they figured the suspension failure was a freak accident. He might not have pushed as much with Raikonen's 'accident' in the back of his head.

Ferrari's pace was impressive, but Renault did not do very well at all.

Overall the new qualifying system added a lot of excitement!

[RacingManiac]

New format is definitely more interesting to watch, with guarantee of cars on track at all time. I am still not quite getting the fuel credit idea....do they have to refuel to the fuel load before the last session, or that is how much they can fuel it up to?

Ferrari probably surprised quite a few pundits by grabbing the front row(you expect them to be there or thereabout, but certainly didn't see that one coming.), ad it seems that this should be a really good car as both MSC and MSA(lol) are on the dead even pace....

Did Raikkonen have a rear suspension failure first, or a rear wing failure first?

[henk4]

Did Raikkonen have a rear suspension failure first, or a rear wing failure first?

a general Ron Dennis failure

[Jack_Bauer]

Did Raikkonen have a rear suspension failure first, or a rear wing failure first?

The right rear suspension went first, which knocked off the rear wing.

It was interesting to hear Massa's comments in the press conference. He claims he got held up by Fisichella on his best lap and felt he would've beaten Schumi. Cocky little so-and-so isn't he?!

Have to give credit to the guy though, I had doubts about his ability to keep up the pace with his illustrious teammate. I guess he's silenced more than a few doubters with that performance.

I'm also quite bemused by Renault's apparent lack of pace. All the form suggested they would be the team to beat, which leads me to think they're on a different strategy to everyone else.

All in all it was pretty darn good entertainment. I'm not totally convinced about the fuel credit business in the final session, but it gave it the impression of a cycling sprint race where they cruise round lap after lap playing cat-and-mouse, and then let rip right towards the end.

[RacingManiac]

you gotta wonder if it was a bad batch of a-arms.......composite parts are quite finicky......

now I really can't wait for the race....