ALONSO: WINNER OF BAHREIN QUALIFYING? IT`S IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT.

Fernando Alonso surprized looking FP times

Fernando Alonso:
"I think it's still a complete unknown for everybody who will be on Pole here in Shakir. For sure the four big teams, any of them can be quick tomorrow, can be on pole. I'm sure there will be some surprises like Force India that it seems very quick in these type of circuits, and some negative surprises with some people that are not so quick. In our expectations we still hope to be in strong form in qualy and hopefully get a good position for the race."

"We tried to do some tyre work to try to understand the two types of tyres. It was the first day we ran the car in hot conditions so there were some things to evaluate and to make sure the car is running okay for Sunday. So a normal Friday to make sure we are well prepared for qualifying. More or less I think we are in a position to attack now 100 per cent. We are confident with the car. We need to make some changes overnight to improve the grip a bit. But it was a very normal Friday, with nothing wrong."

Hamilton have similar opinion:
"I honestly have absolutely no clue. My car feels ok, but I don't know what everyone else is doing. Some people might be heavier, some might be lighter. We might be seriously slow or we might be seriously quick, we just won't know until we go into qualifying tomorrow. On the track for us it's very hot, so the degradation of both compounds of the tyres is very high. On the lighter to heavier fuel loads the car feels pretty similar, but it's difficult to know where everyone is at the minute.

"I think that it's something you can handle. You have to change your driving style and approach to each lap. It's difficult to know what laptime to target when you do a long run on a heavier fuel load. You don't know how hard you can go and be able to push more later on. If you push less at the beginning, does that mean you can push more at the end? It's difficult to know and we're still trying to understand it."

Mercedes Duo
Nico Rosberg:
"We improved the car over the course of the day but it didn't feel great initially with the new track, lower downforce and the conditions were very sandy this morning. So we had a few balance issues to work on but it came together very well this afternoon. There are areas where we can still improve but we have a good comparison with the tyre compounds and on the long runs. Overall we learnt a great deal today so it's a positive start to the weekend."

Michael Schumacher:
"We worked very well this afternoon after having a few issues with the balance this morning. The car felt much better in the second session although I am still a little rusty on one lap runs and need to get back into the routine. On the long runs, the car felt good and once you get into the rhythm, it feels very natural. I'm happy with our work today and feeling ready for the weekend."

2010 BAHREIN GP: MERCEDES GP FASTEST IN FP2

Nico Rosberg led the way on second free practice at Sakhir. Mercedes cars were first and third with Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button surrounded them in second and fourth. Problematic afternoon for Ferrari and Red Bull. Lotus beat Virgin.

Pos  Driver         Team                    Time              Laps
1.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:55.409            23
2.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:55.854  + 0.445   22
3.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:55.903  + 0.494   23
4.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:56.076  + 0.667   28
5.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:56.459  + 1.050   18
6.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:56.501  + 1.092   26
7.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:56.555  + 1.146   30
8.  Petrov         Renault                 1:56.750  + 1.341   26
9.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:57.140  + 1.731   25
10. de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari          1:57.255  + 1.846   24
11. Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:57.352  + 1.943   27
12. Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:57.361  + 1.952   29
13. Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:57.452  + 2.043   21
14. Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:57.833  + 2.424   29
15. Kubica         Renault                 1:58.155  + 2.746   29
16. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:59.799  + 4.390   31
17. Webber         Red Bull-Renault        2:00.444  + 5.035   12
18. Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          2:00.873  + 5.464   23
19. Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          2:00.990  + 5.581   14
20. Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         2:02.037  + 6.628    3
21. di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         2:02.188  + 6.779   21
22. Senna          HRT-Cosworth            2:06.968  + 11.559  17
23. Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari                           1
24. Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth

2010 BAHREIN GP: SUTIL FASTEST IN FP1

Adrian Sutil set the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix for Force India. The German was faster then double world champion and pre-season favourite Fernando Alonso with 1m56.583s lap. The Ferrari driver's, second faster driver today, was 0.183s slower then Sutil. Another surprize of the day was Robert Kubica being third fastest for Renault. Polish was 0.458s back from Sutil, and less than three tenths faster than Felipe Massa's second Ferrari. First free pratcice show us that new team are extremly slow. Other times are:

Pos  Driver         Team                   Time              Laps
1.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:56.583            18
2.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:56.766  + 0.183   18
3.  Kubica         Renault                1:57.041  + 0.458   19
4.  Massa          Ferrari                1:57.055  + 0.472   19
5.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:57.068  + 0.485   19
6.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:57.163  + 0.580   19
7.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:57.194  + 0.611   19
8.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:57.199  + 0.616   15
9.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:57.255  + 0.672   17
10. Schumacher     Mercedes               1:57.662  + 1.079   16
11. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:57.722  + 1.139   18
12. Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:57.894  + 1.311   20
13. Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:57.943  + 1.360   17
14. Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:58.399  + 1.816   13
15. Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:58.782  + 2.199   11
16. Petrov         Renault                1:58.880  + 2.297   13
17. de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari         2:00.250  + 3.667   18
18. Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         2:01.388  + 4.805   11
19. Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        2:03.680  + 7.097    8
20. Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         2:03.848  + 7.265   21
21. Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         2:03.970  + 7.387   15
22. di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth                             2
23. Senna          HRT-Cosworth                                3
24. Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth

ALONSO: RED BULL IS FAVORIT TEAM FOR BAHREIN

.

Fernando Alonso is not ready to bet, but in his opinion the team favored to win the first race in Bahrain is Red Bull.

"I think that Red Bull was a bit faster at the last test session in Barcelona and Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are very strong, but Bahrain is so unusual and is hard to bet on a winner."

Beyond the result this weekend, the 28 year old Ferrari driver provides a tight battle for the title.


"There will be four or five drivers fighting. I'd like to know what will happen", he smiled. "In this sport is not everything as calculating two plus two. Winning a World Championship is not easy thing and would not be a disappointment not to get it, although we will work hard not to disappoint our fans." concluded Alonso.

FINALY PRESENTED HRT CAR

HRT Formula 1 team presented its 2010 car designed by Italian racing car constructor Dallara. Launch took place in the city of Murcia, Spain. With no testing allowed before the start of the season, HRT's car is likely to run for the first time during Friday free practice in Bahrain. Spanish team announced Karun Chandhok as second driver. (2010 full driver list)

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Presentation of new safety car

FIA Formula One World Championship - Entry List

Note: The USF1 Team have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in 2010.

The USF1 Team have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage. In the coming days the FIA will announce details of a new selection process to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season.