Red Bull, the team that gave Brawn GP a good fight last year has started the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship with a bang! The team clinched pole position for the season-opening race in Bahrain with a lap time of 1:54.101 set by Sebastian Vettel.
The German will start tomorrow’s Middle Eastern event ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa who makes his return after a horrific crash last year. Massa was just about 0.1 seconds slower.
Although losing the pole position battle, the Prancing Horse is set to go head to head with Vettel’s Red Bull as Fernando Alonso secured third place. The double World Champion who wears red overalls this year was about 0.5 seconds behind Vettel’s lap time.
2008 Champion Lewis Hamilton will start from fourth place ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. The other Red Bull settled for sixth place with Mark Webber behind the wheel. 7 times World Champion Michael Schumacher who makes a sensational return with the “Shining Silver Star” outfit will start in seventh in front of reigning World Champion Jenson Button of McLaren and Robert Kubica of Renault. Force India is set to impress the paddock again this year with Adrian Sutil’s tenth place.
All rookie teams managed to qualify their cars for the Bahrain Grand Prix. However as most of us expected all three teams filled up the final six spots. Both Lotus Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were sandwiched by the Virgin Racing drivers. Virgin’s Timo Glock secured 19th place with Trulli and Kovalainen in 20th and 21st positions respectively.
Lucas Di Grassi in the other Virgin positioned himself in 22nd place. Hispania Racing also known as HRT will start the Grand Prix from the very back. This is not surprising as the team which was formerly known as Campos missed crucial pre-season tests. As a result, Bruno Senna who brings back the legendary Senna surname to Formula 1 only managed 23rd. His Indian teammate Karun Chandhok was about 1.7 seconds slower putting him in the final grid position.
Both Virgin and Lotus were about 6 seconds slower than the pole sitter’s lap time. HRT is further down with a gap of about 10 seconds behind Vettel’s time. With such a gap the front running teams should be able to lap these slower cars after about 20 laps. These Cosworth-powered cars are clearly much behind in terms of pace which is probably due to the lack of preparation compared to other teams. Williams is also using Cosworth engines but the team’s lead driver Rubens Barrichello finished in 11th and his team mate Nico Hulkenberg managed 13th. As always tomorrow should be an interesting 49-lap race at the Sakhir race track and dry weather is predicted.
To view the full results please click here.
at 5:52 am
haiyo…bad
at 6:06 am
lotus should work harder, 6s slower than pole position for a lap is a big gap. like kancil vs BMW
at 6:08 am
epic phail hahahaha
at 6:10 am
just change the engine..why do lotus still wanna use the same engine brand that minardi used b4?..
at 6:12 am
not a good start as expected.. improvement needed
at 6:16 am
Virgin 1 – Lotus 0.
Let's see what happens in the race.
at 6:25 am
On another note, looks like Tony Fernandes has to practice being an aircraft stewardess then. Looks like Virgin racing is the fastest among the slow runners. ho ho ho. But then the race counts, so there is still a long way to go.
at 6:55 am
not bad la. new team. less experience. give em time. there's still lot to learn.
at 6:55 am
Solely disappointed…..
at 7:08 am
Lost PRIDE regained by Alex Yoong.
It's not the driver it's the darn car.!!
Another back marker season… even Tony
Fernandez have no confidence in the team.
Joking that Lotus will do well if there is a major crash and when it rain !!
Good luck Lotus !!
at 7:15 am
Cosworth engines cannot come close to the bigger manufacturer names.
No matter how you tweak it.It's still a full 3 second/lap behind Sauber.
Probably Lotus should have gone for the Sauber-Ferrari option.
at 7:53 am
bravo to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
at 8:06 am
expected. unlike brawn gp last season, unexpected!
at 8:19 am
all i can say is cosWORTH engine is some WORTHless piece of horse poop..lol
at 8:22 am
Go alonso Goooooooooooo!!
at 8:31 am
as Vettel said… "tomorrow race should be very exciting or very boring (with all the new rules)".. whatever the outcome is, it's very interesting to see 4 World Champions go racing head to head… can't wait… should have been 6 WC if Kimster & Villeneuve join the club… hmmm…
at 8:50 am
vely, vely bad….
at 8:52 am
What did you expect???
at 9:18 am
where got bad…1st and 2nd from the back..good what. XD
sandwiched!! hahahha that's a mean word. LOL
at 9:56 am
a lot of reputation at stake… let's wait and see how they fare.
at 10:07 am
Phew! Both Merc Petronas cars are in the top 10.
Good effort by Schumi, managed to beat reigning world champion Button at the qualifying.
at 10:13 am
Both Lotus Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were sandwiched by the Virgin Racing drivers.
————
Hehehe…Where is that dumb arch808??!!!
Lotus occupied 20th & 21st places for the Bahrain starting line up. Ehemmm, behind one poor Virgin car…..
What a magnificant Lotus perfomance!!! Huh, are u watching, dumb arse808??? Fixed your eye already???
at 2:59 pm
hahaha…so bad huh…waasting money ah….
at 3:00 pm
i think fairuz wud be better…
at 3:19 pm
Although the T127 is slow even with two experienced drivers at the wheel, they still deserve some minor credit for outpacing Virgin and HRT who had more time to develop their respective cars.
The T127 has shown great reliability so far, while the other two were still sorting out problems with their cars during free practice. Lotus has managed to build up plenty of mileage and this proves their cars are capable of lasting an entire race without breaking down or retiring.
Aerodynamically, a lot of work has to be done but Mike Gascoyne has already said major updates will have to wait till a couple of races are done. Give them some time, and their pace might improve as the season progresses.
at 4:17 pm
yeoow..wat u expected.. a top 10 results ?, the 1st qualifying…and they are not the last…for a team that couple of months to prepare..
at 4:22 pm
Sure, the Lotus T127 is slow but it has proven its reliability during both testing and free practice yesterday while Virgin and HRT were still sorting out issues with their respective cars. I am confident that both Trulli and Kovalainen will finish the race with no problems today.
There;s still work to be done on the car's aerodynamics, but as Gascoyne has already mentioned, any major update will have to wait till a couple of races. I think their strategy is to focus on getting the T127 to run faultlessly first, then slowly introducing upgrades to amp up performance.
at 5:34 pm
Well..better wait for the race finish before jumping to any conclusion.
at 6:03 pm
Ruthlessly,low budget meaning that cosworth enginee will be used..who to blamed?? Cosworth?? lmao…phew..
Apart from that, all this fanatical 1 Malaysia lotus f1 supporter would only defend to the team blindly even if their favourite would have left behind by margin of 10 seconds or more for finishing the race..they would likely still shamelessly to ask: hello dude, what did u expect?!!! Simply put,all sort of excecuses would endlessly employed by them just to defend the team whenever one came to point out their poor result..criticizes would never accepted by them..what a typical loser..
at 6:23 pm
OMg some of u really were on cloud 9 if you think lotus could have got a higher finish. Don't compare that team to brawn. Brawn is formerly Honda which is formally BAR which is formally tyrell all major teams. Lotus isn't the same team as the one in the 50s this team is brand new with an old brand. Also do note the new teams were sort of cheated to think that the budget cap proposed by fia would take place this year. their budget is 1/6 th of major teams what you Expect ? This car barely even 1 month old…
And fairuz better than heikki or trulli? WTF?
at 6:31 pm
look at the t127 new rear spoiler,they already add something on it,good luck LOTUS!
at 7:04 pm
Funny when i read the comment above..
Obviously you guys dont know nuts about the world of F1..
Lotus being a backmarker is already expected this 2010 season since being only to develop the car with 5 months after being granted a slot bythe FIA…
Actually, 5 / 6 seconds off the pace from the faster car is a HUGE achievement by Lotus since being start up from zero…
It will take at least 2 years or so to reduce that gap. So, they will not even be on the top 15. Getting a point will be purely luck. It's understandable…
If you know the history that Ferrari was once a backmarker when they start their F1 campaign! Now that's a fact.
Anyway, just to share that, my support goes to team Mercedes & Red Bull…
schumi and baby schumi..!!! Go GO Go…..
at 7:05 pm
Why are you guys still comparing Lotus with Brawn? Last year Brawn was a continuity of Honda team which during 2008 season had already start developing 2009 spec car. Comparing with this year Lotus, they started from scratch, building car out of nothing. And they have to use Cosworth as it is the cheapest engine out there sanctioned by FIA. If they have the budget, they can opt for Mercedes or Ferrari. But they don't. Because all of your tax money (you guy thought they're using is being waste on something else, like buying opposition politicians).
The problem is that, most of the commenter do not understand at all how F1 works. They just come here complaining because it has something to do with their tax money (supposedly) and have nothing better to do than watching people laughing at their comments.
at 7:08 pm
Hmm? My comments didn't appear? Bloody celcom broadband, dam slow n like chipsmore, now u c it, now u don't %&^*%&^% RAAAGEEEEEE
In any case, I was just saying…
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!! GO VETTEL GO!!!
at 7:15 pm
Common guys its their 1st race. Be fortunate they qualified. Give it some time by the mid season i bet Lotus will improve tremendously.
at 7:16 pm
Squawk said,
March 13, 2010 @ 10:16 pm
Virgin 1 – Lotus 0.
Its 1 all i think
yea, cant wait for the race today.
at 7:18 pm
pitstop said,
March 13, 2010 @ 11:15 pm
Cosworth engines cannot come close to the bigger manufacturer names.
No matter how you tweak it.It’s still a full 3 second/lap behind Sauber.
Probably Lotus should have gone for the Sauber-Ferrari option.
_______________________________________________________________
Oh really? Than what on earth is powering WILLIAMS??
As they say, "Beggars cannot be choosers"!
Lotus chose Cosworth because of cost. They didn't really have a choice and their goal was to scrap a car together in time for Bahrain.
Before anyone blindly lambast Cosworth for Lotus' pace do some research. The Cosworth CA2010 is powering WILLIAMS, Lotus, Virgin, HRT.
WILLIAMS (Barrichello) qualified 11th. Identical engine to Lotus. Next all of them are using Xtrac gearbox with Willams opting to design (at higher cost)
their own gbox casing to house the std Xtrac gear package. I hope no one is about to say that Xtrac is crap too!
Really guys, where on earth did u expect Lotus(and Virgin) to qualify given the cards they were dealt with? Top 3??
Finishing the race would be an important milestone for them. Especially since they started work on their car later than Virgin.
at 8:07 pm
bb said,
March 13, 2010 @ 10:10 pm
just change the engine..why do lotus still wanna use the same engine brand that minardi used b4?..
——————
then the cost will be high n u all whining our tax money waste..sigh
at 8:11 pm
donadoni said,
March 14, 2010 @ 12:19 am
all i can say is cosWORTH engine is some WORTHless piece of horse poop..lol
—————–
but still williamF1 use the engine
at 8:34 pm
well, at least Lotus F1 is promoting nasi lemak in Bahrain now. lets be proud of it.
wonder what's next.
at 9:18 pm
got teh tarik. ppl ferrari drink illy coffee….we have old town white coffee
at 9:37 pm
kingv6 – don't call vettel baby schumi – he's got loads more pesonality than that old guy!
And for those waiting to see Tony Fernandes wear stewardess dress, you don't have to wait.. Just go to his blog tonyfernandesblog.com – he's already wearing a girl's dress!
at 9:39 pm
pathetic… i was so keen to see some miricle. oh well.
at 9:50 pm
i tink its what steve slatter said wen comentationg the f1 Q yesterday , cosworth need all those teams that use their engines to collect as much as data as possible , since thy have been away from f1 since 2006 , so it will take few races and alot of data extracted form those customer teams only then u see improvement in engine power , bt main problem for those small teams is not the engine so much bt the AERODYNAMICS….other teams building cars on evolution from previous seasons so thy are very fine tuned , all those new teams have no previous data to improve upon , it jus takes time on race track and wind tunnel to get ur aerodynamics right……
at 10:14 pm
good to see the legend and newcomers fight for the position!!
at 11:17 pm
go vettel, go to break LEWIS bajet bagus record.. bajet pling mude,bajet pling power..
at 11:19 pm
Moral of the story: be a sponsor enough. Let the manufacturers do the team management. Look at what a mess it is now. Using the Lotus brand name with no actual Lotus participation. Now say 'they are a new team' bla bla bla. Hey you're spoiling any chance of the ACTUAL Lotus coming back into the game with it's name tarnished like that.
at 11:34 pm
huh. waste tax payer money
at 11:45 pm
Teams are confident of the Cosworth V8 particularly with power and consumption. The area which is still a little uncertain is durability as Cosworth could bench test their engines all they want but nothing is certain until it's track tested in real races
at 12:26 am
Lotus, develop your own F1 engine and use it next season… Sure beat Virgin one!
at 1:24 am
@frossonice;
yeah… i agree. some people just don't know between crap and facts. they always use Brawn as a benchmark for F1 newbies. comon guys… get your facts straight before commenting and making a fool of yourselves.
at 4:39 am
Better wait 4 the race guys. Then UR comments will be worth the typing.
at 5:51 am
Lotus F1 finished the race. well done
at 6:11 am
LOL.. Congratulations Lotus, You did it ! Both cars crossed the finish line. The best new team in the race..better than Sauber.
at 6:27 am
Well done for the Lotus team. 1st time racing with both cars made it to the finishing line, which is considered an achievement considered even Hispania n Virgin retired both their cars.
Congratulations to everyone in Lotus F1!
at 10:38 pm
first outing by Lotus exceeds expectations. although Trulli's car didn't see the chequered flag… it is still worth mentioning that his car ran almost the entire race distance. congrats to Kovalanien for a great drive… bringing his car across the finish line.
hopefully Lotus can bring this momentum to Australia and beyond.
go Lotus!!!