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World
championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault/Michelin) has taken provisional
pole position for tomorrow's second Bahraini Grand Prix in Sakhir. With
track temperatures consistently topping 50 degrees, the Spaniard was the
last driver to venture out for today's single-lap shoot-out and his 1m
29.848s lap put him 0.145s clear of Jarno Trulli (Toyota/Michelin).
Defending world champion Michael Schumacher was third - his best qualifying
run of the campaign to date - but Michelin drivers annexed the next 11
positions. Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team) was fourth fastest ahead of
Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team), Kimi
Raikkonen (Team McLaren Mercedes), Christian Klien (Red Bull Racing), Pedro
de la Rosa (Team McLaren Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas), Ralf
Schumacher (Toyota), Jenson Button (B7A7R-Honda), Takuma Sato (B7A7R-Honda)
and David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing).
Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team/Michelin) set the fastest time in this
morning's final free practice sessions. He lapped in 1m 29.527s, 0.184s
quicker than fellow Michelin driver Ralf Schumacher (Toyota).
Troubled Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello failed to take to the track this
morning.
Transmission problems sidelined the Brazilian's new F2005 chassis yesterday
- and the team, which is short of spare parts for its latest car, did not
want to expose the repaired unit to further risk. Consequently, he had
completed only a handful of laps of the track prior to the first qualifying
session. After locking his brakes at Turn One, he emerged 15th fastest.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber/Michelin) compromised
today's qualifying run when he ran off the track at the final corner. He
ended the session in 16th position.
Minardi driver Christijan Albers had a fresh engine fitted yesterday and his
team-
mate Patrick Friesacher followed suit this morning. Both are therefore due
to have 10-position grid penalties imposed.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director:
"Everything has gone to plan so far this weekend - but the hardest part is
yet to come, particularly if conditions remain this hot for tomorrow's
57-lap race. Our main opposition has clearly upped its game, but Michelin
and its partner teams have retained the competitive edge that has been
apparent since the start of the season."
"Between them, our seven partners have opted to race both available Michelin
compounds and it will be interesting to see how they perform over a full
race distance. Depending on circumstances, it is possible that some drivers
might have to take care to preserve their rubber in the closing stages.
Although temperatures are very similar to those at Sepang, the tracks are
very different in terms of character. I anticipate that tyres will be
subjected to some gruelling punishment."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, Renault F1 Team:
"In the extremely demanding conditions here in Bahrain, the first-lap and
long-run
performance of Michelin's tyres is looking extremely good once again. Track
temperatures in excess of 50 degrees place great demands on any tyre, but
the two Michelin compounds we tried yesterday proved to be very competitive
and we could almost have chosen either of them for the race." |
