A third different car headed the third practice session ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso lapped the extended Bahrain circuit in 1’54.099 to head the times by almost three-tenths of a second.
Nico Rosberg, fastest in yesterday’s session, was second for Mercedes.
Felipe Massa was fastest for much of the session but his final effort was only good enough for sixth.
World champion Jenson Button was seventh for McLaren but team mate Lewis Hamilton could only manage 12th after ending his session early to have a brake change.
At the back of the grid Karun Chandhok failed to set a time and faced being unable to start qualifying.
Another of the new teams was in trouble – Timo Glock’s Virgin shed a wheel during the session and team mate Lucas di Grassi failed to set a time.
Position | Car number | Driver | Car | Best lap | Laps | |
1 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’54.099 | 14 | |
2 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’54.368 | 0.269 | 13 |
3 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’54.500 | 0.401 | 15 |
4 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’54.533 | 0.434 | 13 |
5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’54.646 | 0.547 | 16 |
6 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’54.739 | 0.64 | 14 |
7 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’55.000 | 0.901 | 14 |
8 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’55.331 | 1.232 | 15 |
9 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’55.432 | 1.333 | 11 |
10 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’55.461 | 1.362 | 13 |
11 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’55.521 | 1.422 | 13 |
12 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’55.860 | 1.761 | 8 |
13 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’56.063 | 1.964 | 14 |
14 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’56.259 | 2.160 | 15 |
15 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’56.295 | 2.196 | 17 |
16 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’56.504 | 2.405 | 16 |
17 | 23 | Kamui Kobyashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’56.530 | 2.431 | 14 |
18 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’56.811 | 2.712 | 16 |
19 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’59.173 | 5.074 | 10 |
20 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’59.789 | 5.69 | 15 |
21 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 2’01.259 | 7.16 | 5 |
22 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 2’04.001 | 9.902 | 11 |
23 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 2 | ||
24 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth |
Victor
13th March 2010, 9:40
I’d love someone not from the big four to end on pole. Kubica is the closest from the midfield pack, so that’s fine by me :P
marc
14th March 2010, 9:32
whos on pole????????
makrifayee
13th March 2010, 9:44
still can’t figure out who is leading even after 3 practice sessons…boy’o’boy….Chewing away my thumbnails guessing who will come on top…
Damon
13th March 2010, 9:59
There’s no doubt the Big Four are the fastest, with Ferrari most probably leading the pack.
As Victor said in the opening comment – I think Kubica is the one to chase them.
Ben
13th March 2010, 9:45
Karun hasn’t even completed a lap (let alone a times lap) yet this weekend, as far as I can tell.
Any ideas why this may be? Anyone heard anything from the track?
Ben
13th March 2010, 9:47
*timed, not times
sorry, been sitting in the sun at a track watching racing all day, kinda buggered.
Prisoner Monkeys
13th March 2010, 9:47
Hydraulics problem. It’s plagued him all weekend.
rampante
13th March 2010, 9:56
Hydraulics can be put on a list of problems that must go on for at least 3 pages. Did anyone expect anything else from a team that has had more owners than it has completed laps?
adam23
13th March 2010, 10:09
According to autosport, the car couldnt find any gear, so he was unable to complete a lap in any practice session, and therefore is unable to take part in qualifying due to some rule.
Robbie
13th March 2010, 9:45
I hope McLaren do better than that in the actual qualifying. At least Red Bull were up to pace on this practice though. Still unpredictable.
Poor Chandhok.
statix
13th March 2010, 9:51
looks like macca is bit slowet than ferrari and merc. we’ll se in less than 1,5h.
nice surprise from renault… looks like they are the best from the rest… or maybe its just kubica good perf.
Dingle Dell
13th March 2010, 9:57
Will Chandhok be able to race then? If not, this is pretty sad. He should be at least allowed to race and start from the pit lane or something.
SaloolaS
13th March 2010, 10:01
He will not be allowed to race and that is completely fair. He can’t start the race without driving a single lap before that. That would be just stupid.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th March 2010, 10:07
If he can start qualifying (which counts as a practice session under the rules) then he can start the race.
Damon
13th March 2010, 10:22
Would just rolling out of the pits count as starting the qualifying? Or does he need a complete lap?
Younger Hamilton
13th March 2010, 9:58
The Two Mclarens are losing time in that second sector about a couple of tenths
ILoveVettel
13th March 2010, 9:58
Being an Indian, i feel very sorry for Chandak
cyanide
13th March 2010, 10:02
You could start by getting the name right.
statix
13th March 2010, 9:59
for chandhok race weekend is over.
Karan
13th March 2010, 10:00
He is unable to finish qualifying so does that mean he will start last on the grid?
SaloolaS
13th March 2010, 10:04
He won’t be allowed to race – so there will only be 23 drivers on the grid on sunday (or maybe even less).
Edu
13th March 2010, 10:01
In his best lap Rosberg was doing the best times in sector 1 and 2 and failed in sector 3. It’s very close, that 0.3 gap from Alonso it’s not realistic. Everything is going to change in Qualifying.
cyanide
13th March 2010, 10:01
I wonder what the race is going to be like. Might as well put GP2 cars in the same race, atleast those will be reliable.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th March 2010, 10:09
So hers’s what I’m wondering heading into qualifying:
Can Nico Hülkenberg keep up his Barrichello-beating form?
Does Schumacher have some pace in hand or is Barrichello really ahead of him?
How badly has this brake problem upset Hamilton?
Assuming the top eight is occupied by Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull, who gets the other two places? Kubica and Liuzzi look like good bets.
damonsmedley
13th March 2010, 10:25
“Does Schumacher have some pace in hand or is Barrichello really ahead of him?” Is that supposed to be Rosberg instead of Barrichello?
On another note, HRT are edging closer to being within 107% of the fastest time anyway courtesy of Bruno Senna. But he still needs to improve by around one second. I hope they get it up to speed by around Spain! Come on HRT, we’re all behind you!
sumedh
13th March 2010, 10:46
I think you mean Rosberg not Barrichello in the 3rd question.
I think Schumacher is genuinely slower than Rosberg, atleast at the Baharin weekend. This is going to grab q lot of headlines though.
But remember, Rosberg likes the Baharin track, he got the fastest lap here in his very first race.
May be next weekend, Michael may be quicker, but for qualifying today, definitely Rosberg is beating Schumacher.
For pole, I would say Alonso, Hamilton or Massa in order of increasing probability
Reynardb52
13th March 2010, 14:01
Yes but remember who has the undefeated lap record for this track.
geo132
13th March 2010, 10:19
i feel sorry for HRT !
And i think McLaren, who appeared like angels just couple of days ago with their statement about accepting new teams and “helping them” should put their leg down and help HRT with Chandhok’s car!
Or was that just silly talking and PR bullshi*?
Dev
13th March 2010, 11:02
i think Schumi is not gonna be going for strong qualifying, he will be focusing only on getting a strong car for the race… and making sure the tyres are in shape for a longer period…
since it’s all too tight for HRT for this race, i’ll only judge them on next race onwards… i feel in F1 team need to be prepared with the basics of the car… there need to be a minimum performance expectations in terms of speed and reliability… and all this must be confirmed before the season begins… not at the 1st race…. in my opinion this spoils the show!!
having said that, i hope they can sort this out and fight with the other new teams…
Oliver
13th March 2010, 11:08
I’m using my mobile phone at the moment so I have flash and graphics turned off most of the time so I can’t join the live session, but I cant help but say Hurray qualifying on the way finally.
f1db
13th March 2010, 18:10
Alonso the fastest one, but not on the pole..
marc
14th March 2010, 9:31
does any one know who is on pole position today???????
cant wait to watch it????
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th March 2010, 10:52
See here: Bahrain Grand Prix grid
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