2006 Bahrain Grand Prix Saturday Practice

The Saturday practice session would see the Aguri F1 of Ide and both MF1 cars come out onto the track. Both Monteiro and Albers would return returned to the pits, while Ide would set a time of 1m:44.022. He would improve his time with a 1m:43.012 while the Torro Rosso of Scott Speed would take to the track. Liuzzi and Sato would join their team-mates on the circuit. Speed would return to the pits joined by Liuzzi and Sato. Ide would improve his time with a 1m:41.889 but he also would come in leaving the track empty with fifteen minutes of the session run.

Sato would return to the track while both Villeneuve and Button would come out. Button would set a time of 1m:37.783. Jacques was in second with a 1m:38.682. Liuzzi was back out on the track. Jenson would improve his time with a 1m:36.894. The Toyota of Jarno Trulli was also out and he would quickly move into third with a time of 1m:39.972. Liuzzi would push Jarno down one place when the Torro Rosso driver set a time of 1m:38.204. Jenson improved his time again with a 1m:35.568.

The first of the McLaren's was out, that of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn would move into fourth with a time of 1m:38.362. The second Toyota of Ralf Schumacher had moved into sixth with a time of 1m:39.109. Both Red Bull cars were out, joined by Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld. Trulli improved his time to a 1m:38.569. Kimi was on a very quick lap and would set a time of 1m:35.629 to go fastest. Coulthard was in seventh just ahead of Heidfeld in eighth. Liuzzi was in third with a 1m:36.132. Button improved with a 1m:35.951.

The MF1 of Albers was now in seventh with a timer of 1m:37.363. Coulthard would move up to be in fourth while Jenson would move ahead of Kimi with a 1m:35.081. Scott Speed set a time of 1m:37.100 but would improve with a 1m:36.211 to be in fourth. We had both Torro Rosso cars in the top four. Montoya was in sixth with a 1m:36.347. The first of the WilliamsF1 cars would come out with Nico Rosberg completing his installation lap with just over twenty five minutes of the session remaining. Nico was joined by Fisichella. We had yet to see either Ferrari or Mark Weber and Fernando Alonso.

The top ten was Button, Raikkonen, Liuzzi, Speed, Coulthard, Montoya, Albers, Klien, Villeneuve and Trulli. Fisichella would move into eighth with a 1m:36.507. Nico's first time would see him sixteenth with a time of 1m:38.647. Coulthard was now in third with a 1m:35.783. He would move up one place with a 1m:35.573. Montoya was now in fourth, with a 1m:35.989. Barrichello improves his time with a 1:37.056, to be eleventh. Mark Webber was now out on the track. Nico had improved to be in fourteenth. Coulthard improved his time with a 1m:35.318 but remained in second. Fisichella was now in fourth with a 1m:35.823.

Mark was in sixteenth with a 1m:37.938. On his first lap Alonso would move into third with a time of 1m:35.613. team-mate Fisichella was now quickest with a time of 1m:34.494. Mark and Nico were now in fourteenth and sixteenth places. Alonso was now in second with a 1m:34.902. The first of the Ferrari's would
set a time with Michael Schumacher moving into third with a 1m:35.000 but Kimi would push him down one place when the Finn moved into second with a 1m:34.515.

In an encouraging turn of sped both WilliamsF1 cars were able to move into the top ten with Mark and Nico ninth and tenth. At the front it would be Michael Schumacher who would go fastest with a 1m:33.538 with Kimi second and Fernando third. mark had improved to now be in sixth with a 1m:34.694 but his was pushed down one spot by Heidfeld. Nico was in tenth. Trulli would put his Toyota in third with a 1m:33.806. Michael would lower his time with a 1m:33.275. Massa was now in tenth.

The top ten was Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen, Trulli, Alonso, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Webber, Button, Coulthard, and Massa, with just over fifteen minutes remaining. Klein was now in fifth with a 1m:34.062. But it would be the second Ferrari of Massa that would move to the top of the times with a 1m:32.826. Villeneuve and Barrichello would in eighteenth and nineteenth. Mark and Nico were now in tenth and thirteenth. Nico was over three seconds slower than the Ferrari of Massa.

The Toyota of Ralf Schumacher would make a big improvement in his time moving from twentieth to seventh, with a 1:34.329. Villeneuve was now in eleventh with a 1m:34.978. There was just over ten minutes left in the
session. There was only a handful of driver on the track as the others prepared for their final runs. Barrichello improved his time with a 1m:35.166 to now be in thirteenth. Coulthard was now down in fourteenth after having been near the top times early in the session. But the Red Bull driver would improve to be
seventh with a time of 1m:34.142.

As the minutes counted down there was a flood of cars coming back out onto the track. Heidfeld was now in seventh with a 1m:34.094. Alonso would be the first to make a move taking the top spot with a 1m:31.975. Montoya was in eleventh with a 1m:34.539. Button would move into second with a 1m:32.719, but was 0.774 seconds behind Alonso. But things would change with Michael going fastest with a time of 1m:31.868. Nico was in thirteenth with a 1m:34.434.

At the front Button would move ahead of Michael with a time of 1m:31.857. It was all happening. Fisichella was now in fourth with a 1m:32.050. Villeneuve was sixth and Trulli seventh. mar was in tenth with a 1m:33.876. Rubens was one place behind the FW28 with a time of 1m:34.009, but Klein would move ahead of the Brazilian. With the end of the session the top ten was Button, Michael Schumacher, Alonso, Fisichella, Massa, Villeneuve, Trulli, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, and Mark Webber. Nico would finish the session in sixteenth.