Adam Cooper F1

Christian Horner says that his Red Bull team focussed on the sport in Bahrain over the weekend despite the obvious distractions that surrounded the event.

“We’ve focussed on motor racing this weekend,” said Horner, who had a chat with the FIA’s Jean Todt after the flag. “We’ve tried to come here to focus on the fourth Grand Prix of the year and that’s exactly what we’ve done. All the races carry the same points. It’s a great team performance for us and we now head back to Europe leading the championship, but it’s obviously been a difficult weekend for the sport. We focussed on what we were here to do.”

Asked about the criticism that the sport has faced in the media around the world, Horner said: “I think ultimately F1 has received an awful lot of attention this week, and it’s very easy to have opinions.

“It’s a sporting championship at the end of the day, there’s 20 races, we’ve come here, we’ve done our best and we’ve won the race that we so nearly won two years ago had it not been for a spark plug. We now need to move on and focus on the next race.”

He did not want to be drawn into a discussion on whether Bahrain should be on the calendar.

“We are competitors at the end of the day and we enter the championship, and we trust in the governing body to make the right decisions. It’s not for the teams to dictate what the calendar is, it never has been. That is not the role of the teams. We enter a championship to do all the races and we trust the judgements of the commercial rights holder and the ultimately the FIA who are responsible for the safety not just of the drivers but the spectators, the participants and everybody at a Grand Prix.

“I think it’s difficult because you see an awful lot of enthusiasm for F1 in areas of the country, and it’s not right for F1 to be dragged into a political debate. It’s deemed to be political if you race, it’s deemed to be political if you don’t. Our focus has been very much in coming here to do a job which we’ve done, and which I’m delighted to see that we have.”

Over the course of his long career Michael Schumacher has rarely strayed into controversy with off-track comments, always preferring to keep his thoughts to himself.

However after the Bahrain GP his frustrations came to the surface after what he called a “reasonably inactive race, just following cars.”

Schumacher started 22^nd after his gearbox grid penalty, and despite having lots of new tyres for Sunday could progress only as high as 10^th.

Afterwards he made it clear that he didn’t enjoy having to drive within the limits of the tyres in order to prolong their active life.

“I think we made the maximum out of it,” he said. “The main thing that I feel a little bit unpleased [about] is I think everybody had to drive well below drivers’ and particular car limit to maintain the tyres, and I just question whether tyres should play such a big importance or whether they should allow us a little bit longer so that you can drive more at racing car speed and not cruising around like we had the safety car.”

Asked if he would talk to Pirelli, he said: “I’m not happy about the situation. Let’s see what happens in the future. If it was a one-off car issue we could say it’s upon us to deal with it, but basically everybody, maybe with one or two exceptions… If it’s 80% of the field have this problem then maybe the tyre supplier should think about that.”

Sebastian Vettel’s Bahrain victory didn’t come as easy as some of his past successes as the German had to overcome a strong challenge from the Lotus Kimi Raikkonen.

In the end the final tyre changes proved crucial, as RBR pulled off a quick stop and Vettel put in some quick early laps on his last set. Both drivers had new prime tires for that stint, so the Finn no longer had the advantage he enjoyed earlier in the race, when he fresher tyres.

The win was an impressive demonstration of the strength of RBR after the team bounced back from a disappointing early start to the year.

“I think we had to work extremely hard in the first couple of races,” said Vettel of his win. “We were not where we wanted to be so therefore I’m extremely happy that we had a much better weekend here. Friday morning, the first time I went out, I felt much happier with the car balance, so I think we found a reasonable package that seemed to work on this circuit pretty well so all in all, I’m very pleased.

“I think I owe this one to the team, to the boys. As I touched on, they’ve been working so hard, giving them an extremely hard time here at the circuit, back in the factory, we all try to find the best configuration. I don’t want you to look in the back of our garage, it’s pretty busy and pretty messy: a lot of work, a lot of parts. So we try to get the best package together.”

Vettel said his weekend had gone pretty much gone to plan.

“As I said, very good yesterday in qualifying and today in the race obviously crucial to get a good start. Then I was able to pull away by three or four seconds immediately which turned out to be crucial. By the time Romain got past Lewis I think he had more or less had the same pace. At the end of the stints I think we were a little bit superior and then yeah, second stint pretty much the same.

“Kimi always had new tyres so we knew he would be a danger until the last lap. Again, obviously in the beginning trying not to lose too much. I think especially that second-last stint where we were on option tyres, Kimi was on a new prime tyre, so it was difficult. I thought he would make his way past pretty easily.

“I tried to defend, one time it was really close and after that it seemed that he was running into the same kind of problems with the tyres and we were able to… not pull away but we could open a bit of a gap. So yeah, a very, very tight and difficult race.

“Obviously not too busy in terms of overtaking and wheel to wheel racing for me, but I knew that every single corner would be crucial with no mistakes allowed. I kept the car on the track at all the time which was a help and yeah, great result and very, very happy.”

Vettel said the season is very hard to predict: “I think it’s obviously very good to watch. I think those four races have been extremely tight. We had one race where it was pretty chaotic, in Malaysia, with rain etc so up and down. Small things can make a big difference over the weekend – how much tyres you might have left, lap one, gear ratios you might pick, whether DRS is effective or not and you can come back.

“I think it was a different race here compared to the last race where we had people running in a chain and not being able to pass or not being able to pass too easily. All these things make a big difference and temperature-wise, all four races were very different. Track layouts were different so I’m not surprised that we have a different result every weekend.”

Kimi Raikkonen silenced the sceptics with a superb drive to second place in Bahrain, and at one stage looked like he might actually win.

The Lotus driver started 11^th and had the benefit of having two new sets of options and two new sets of primes. That helped him to charge up to second place in the first two stints. He then chased down leader Sebastian Vettel, just coming up short when his best chance came at the end of the second stints.

“I think we gave ourselves a chance at least,” said Raikkonen. “It’s a bit disappointing that I didn’t manage to do it. But I made a small mistake at the beginning and lost one place to Ferrari. I had to re-overtake him and it took a little time. I got past the people quite easily but if you look in the end I think we still took too long and we couldn’t win the race.

“But at least we got the podium with both cars. After the last race we tried hard and failed, and probably people thought we were a bit stupid. Even after yesterday what we did. But it turned out to be the right decision, and I think the team deserves what we have achieved now. We have been working hard. We’ve not been 100 per cent happy with how the weekends have run so far but finally we’ve got some proper results for the team, so it’s an important step.”

Raikkonen admitted that had he got past Romain Grosjean earlier, he might have had a better shot at passing Sebastian Vettel.

“Yeah, but there are no team orders and we know the rules,” said Kimi. “I try to get past as quickly as I can but it’s not easy with two similar cars. It’s always easy to say afterwards ‘if we had done that’ but in the end we were not fast enough to win and we have to take the second.

“I got one chance on Sebastian but I chose the wrong side under braking, so that was it really. In the end I didn’t have any other chances to try. It’s disappointing to finish second but after the last race we have to take it and be pretty happy.”

He said he did have one good go at passing Vettel: “I think like you saw on TV I got close enough once to have a chance to try but I chose the wrong side, so that’s about it. After that my tyres dropped off a bit and I couldn’t get close enough. Yep, next time we try, hopefully we can put ourselves in a similar position later on this season in the next coming races. It’s not going to be easy but we will try. And that would be nice.”

McLaren is to get a seat on the board of the F1 holding company, according to a report today.

If true it helps to explain why the team joined Ferrari and Red Bull in agreeing early to the terms of the 2013 Concorde Agreement, and why Bernie Ecclestone named the three teams together in his short press announcement a few weeks ago.

The ThisisMoney.co.uk website adds that plans for a float on the Singapore stock exchange have yet to be agreed by the board, and an initial date of June planned by CVC has been put back to October if it is practical and market conditions make sense.

Fernando Alonso starts the Bahrain GP from ninth place on the grid, but with a free choice of soft or medium tyres for the grid after he didn’t do a flying lap in Q3.

The Spaniard had used up all his option tyres just to make it into the top 10 and saw no point in trying a proper run in the final session.

“We used three sets on Q1 and Q2,” he explained, “so we arrived with our hands empty in Q3, so we decided not to run, because you cannot put too many laps on the tyres for tomorrow’s race. And also now we have to think if we want to start with the medium or we want to start with the soft in tomorrow’s race. Let’s see, because I think the strategy will be the big factor tomorrow.”

Alonso says he just wants to get a solid finish and some useful points.

“I think tomorrow it’s going to be very difficult. We need some strange conditions, and here I don’t expect rain for tomorrow or things like that. We need to score points.

“We have to do a good race, we’re starting ninth, so I think the top six is possible. We just need to overtake two or three cars, that can be possible if we do a good strategy and a good race pace. Let’s focus on that, top six, top seven tomorrow, and score good points.”

Sebastian Vettel put his season back on track by taking his first pole after a strong performance in Bahrain saw him trounce Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel has however used two sets of prime tyres when others have used one, and that may be something of a compromise come the race, when every lap on fresher rubber will count.

“I felt much happier with the car all weekend,” said Vettel. “I went out and I think we’ve always had the ability to go reasonably quick. Surely it depends a little bit when and where you are, which tyres etc., but I had a good feeling all throughout the weekend, and I’m very happy.

“I knew in qualifying we should be able to put the car higher up this time in qualifying. Q1 and Q2 wasn’t perfect, the laps I got in were not 100 per cent without mistakes and I knew in the third qualifying that getting everything together we should be in a better place.

“First run I obviously ran the set I scrubbed in Q2, wasn’t ideal, so I knew that with a new tyre there was a little bit again to gain and it did happen, so I’m very happy, very pleased and extremely happy for the team because the guys have done incredible lately.

“Four races so far but the last two weekends in particular, here and China, I don’t know how they managed, how they do it. They get hardly any sleep, probably an hour or two or three on average every night and still they’re full of energy and willing to work even harder – and I think we owe the result to those guys it the garage today.”

Vettel said the that Chinese experiment – where he ran the old spec exhaust and Webber had the new one – was very useful. This weekend they both have the newer exhaust, although there are still some small difference in the two packages. In essence the new exhaust gives more of a benefit on corner exits, and Vettel has accepted that it is the faster route to take.

“I think given the balance we had – or I had in particular – the first two races where I wasn’t happy, we decided in China to go back and see where we are. Equally, Mark carried on, which I think was good to get a straight comparison. And we found that the new car, or new package, has its advantages and the old package has its advantages and I think it was good to get an answer on that.

“So, we ended up with two cars, either one probably strong in a certain area so I think it helped us also going into this weekend trying to set up the car, working with the tyres, which seem to be tricky this year. We felt a little bit happier all around, also given the high temperatures here, which is not making life easier.”

Vettel admitted that the first pole of the season had come as a relief. 

“We’ve got a very good result today and I’m very happy. Of course I’m happy to be on pole for tomorrow’s race. For sure it feels good but zero points scored so far as the race is tomorrow. I think we are only a couple of races into the season, as I’ve mentioned many times now because I’ve had the same questions.

“We didn’t have the start that maybe we expected and people probably expected of us, but since day one, where we realised that maybe we weren’t as strong as we wanted to be, we’ve worked very, very hard and this is step one towards the right direction so we keep fighting and keep working hard to make sure that the results similar to today come more often again.”

Nico Rosberg is clearly frustrated to be starting only fifth in Bahrain after being on pole in China, but the German stressed that Mercedes has been working more towards the race.

“I’m not really happy, I would prefer to be first,” said Rosberg. “But that’s the way it is, and generally we’ve been working more to the race. There are still really good chances for tomorrow, even from where we are. We’re looking much better than we have been, especially in these conditions here, which are really, really hot and very difficult.

“It’s nice to think that now with fifth place we’re not happy, but we’ve been working well towards the race here. I’m quite happy about tomorrow, I think I can do well and move up. I saved one set of tyres, unlike many others, so that should help.

“Pole position has been changing all the time now, plus the race winner has been changing all the time, which makes it really interesting.”

Rosberg stressed that the race would be all about tyres.

“It’s just tyre management, driving carefully. It’s going to be a good challenge with the tyres, they overheat massively, so it’s going to be a very interesting race.

“Even in qualifying from one corner to the next then can overheat quickly.”

Much like their drivers the bosses of the leading F1 teams have been loathe to get into any meaningful debate about Bahrain and the safety concerns of team personnel, even though members of the Force India and Sauber teams have both been close to incidents while travelling into the city.

At an FIA press conference today team bosses were clearly uncomfortable with ongoing questioning on the subject, although most did at least offer some responses.

“There have undoubtedly been difficult times here but from a pure team perspective, we’ve been comfortable with the situation,” said McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh. “Clearly we race as an international sport all over the world and we have security concerns and issues at a number or races and we take that very seriously, and we’re cautious, and we try to take the right precautions. But ultimately we’re a race team. We’re here to go motor racing and that’s our number one priority.

“I think there is a lot of support for the race from all parts of society here, so I think that’s positive. Clearly often the majority aren’t heard on these occasions but I think there’s a fair amount of support, you can feel it here. I understand they’ve sold out the grandstand, so presumably that’s a tangible sign of support.”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner said: “Formula One is a sport at the end of the day and it’s wrong for it to be used politically. We’re here to race, we trust in the FIA, in the decisions that they made, and we’re comfortable with the decisions that they have made. For us, it’s about trying to extract the maximum from this weekend as a sporting team in a sporting championship. The calendar is obviously set by the FIA.

“I think the guys here have been very welcoming. They look after the teams very well and hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I think at the end of the day it’s a sport, we’re a sporting team competing in a sport that competes at 20 venues around the world. We’ll do our best as we do in all of those other events to do the best job we can on Sunday.”

Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali added: “You are speaking about security and I would say that we have received all the guarantees from the organisers, the federation, the embassy, and it is pretty clear at the moment that it is like that. We don’t seem to be the target of anyone that is protesting.

“We are here for the event that is racing, the race of the F1 World Championship and we are here to make the best of it. From a political point of view, the only thing I can is that there are a lot of things going on and we really hope that all the dialogue that has started within the different parts will do the best thing in the shortest time possible for everyone. This is really the hope that we have, as sportsmen and as a man of the world.”

Frustrated as the Bahrain questioning went on, Whitmarsh said: “Listen, I tell you, we’re at the start of a fantastic World Championship. There have been three outstanding races, and there’s a great championship ahead of us.

“We’ve had three different winners, it’s been a fantastic start to the championship and I think we can have a fantastic race here on Sunday. I don’t think that going into what’s happened over the last millennia or the politics around the world is something that most of us here are equipped to comment on.”

Norbert Haug of Mercedes meanwhile declined to make any signifcant contribution to the discussion.

World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton says that Mercedes still has the upper hand after Nico Rosberg topped the times in practice in Bahrain today.

Hamilton was fastest in FP1 but only fourth behind Rosberg and the two Red Bulls in the afternoon session, and like everyone else he found it hard to keep the tyres alive.

“It was the same as every test, really, just working on one set-up and trying to look after the tyres,” said Hamilton. “But it’s been a tough day. It’s quite a lot hotter here, so the tyres go off a lot quicker.

“Mercedes look quite quick out there. The wind direction plays a huge role here, one minute it’s a headwind into Turn 4, next lap it’s tail wind, next time it’s a cross wind, and it’s making a big difference around the circuit. I think we did our lap half an hour later than Rosberg did.

“I don’t know if that makes a big difference, but generally they seem to be quite quick as they were in the last race, I think we are there or thereabouts. But we won’t know until tomorrow.”

Regarding his chances of getting pole, he said: “I think it’s going to be the Mercedes, the Red Bull and ourselves. I honestly don’t feel we have the pace for pole, I think the Mercedes has pulled something out of the bag and generally in qualifying they have the upper hand at the moment with the straight speeds, but I think we’ll give them a good run for the money.

Hamilton said he likes the Sakhir track.

“I enjoy driving it, it’s a real challenge, and particularly looking after your tyres here as well. I don’t think people fully understand how hot it is out there and how hot the track surface is, and when you’re braking the amount of energy that goes through your tyres. The temperatures are just rising and rising and rising and it’s just like driving on an ice rink.

“I think it’s going to be very similar to the last race, I think everyone’s struggling with tyre degradation. It’s a real issue for everyone here. It’s really who can look after the tyres the most.”