2005 Bahrain GP Practice and First Qualifying
B.A.R Honda Press Information Saturday 2 April 2005 CLOSING THE GULF B.A.R Honda drivers completed good laps in today’s first qualifying session, but were penalised by having to run so early in the session ------------------------------------------------ During the first qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda drivers Jenson Button and Takuma Sato paid the price for the team’s double retirement in Malaysia a fortnight ago. The running order for this first session is based on the finishing positions in Malaysia, and with both cars retiring on lap two in Sepang, Takuma and Jenson were the second and fourth cars out on track at Sakhir this afternoon. As a result, they were unable to benefit from the better track conditions late-on in the one-lap session, which was when the fastest times were set. Jenson’s time of 1:30.957s placed him 12th on the timesheets ahead of tomorrow morning’s second qualifying session, while Takuma was one place behind, just 0.1s slower than his team-mate. Takuma’s impressive pace demonstrates that he has completely recovered from the virus that prevented him from racing in Sepang. Surprisingly, today’s weather conditions were hotter than at any point in Malaysia two weeks ago. The air temperature throughout the session was 41 degrees, with the track temperature topping 56 degrees in the middle of the session. The emphasis for the remainder of the weekend will now be on tyre conservation rather than out-right pace, because the track surface at Sakhir is one of the most abrasive on the F1 calendar. A big positive for the team is that the B.A.R Honda 007 conserves its tyres well, so both cars should be competitive throughout tomorrow’s race. The team also appears to have overcome yesterday’s reliability problems. Both cars had trouble-free practice sessions this morning, and Honda are confident that they have overcome the engine problems that blighted the team at Sepang, despite the unprecedented heat of the desert. At the front of the grid, Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli battled it out for the front row, with Alonso finishing 0.1s ahead. Michael Schumacher, using the new F2005 for the first time this weekend, was third fastest. JENSON BUTTON Free Practice 3 – Position: 11th / Fastest lap time: 1:33.683 Free Practice 4 – Position: 11th / Fastest lap time: 1:30.324 First Qualifying – Position: 12th / Lap time: 1:30.957 "It was a reasonable lap, but the track is so hot and there is very little grip. At turn 8 I had a little bit of oversteer so I lost some time there but generally, given the timing of our qualifying slot and the relative track conditions, there was little opportunity to improve on my time. We will have to see what tomorrow’s final qualifying brings but it seems that we will start the race from the middle of the grid. Hopefully the car will be as strong as it was when we started the race in Malaysia and if we can stay reliable then we should be able to finish in the points." TAKUMA SATO Free Practice 3 – Position: 13th / Fastest lap time: 1:34.163 Free Practice 4 – Position: 13th / Fastest lap time: 1.30.902 First Qualifying – Position: 13th / Lap time: 1:31.113 “It was a bit difficult to achieve good stability because we were one of the early runners on a dusty track, and because of the wind, especially when I was braking under the tail wind. It is also incredibly hot out there! The balance was much better today and obviously I achieved a lot more running than yesterday, so I am happier in the car and looking forward to tomorrow’s final session and then a stronger race.” GEOFFREY WILLIS, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR "Given our early qualifying slots, our result today was much as we expected. We have not been as happy with the car's handling here as we were at Malaysia, so during this morning's running we ran through a busy programme of set-up changes on both cars. The important thing for us this weekend is to get a good race finish, so we have concentrated on getting a consistent balance for the race tomorrow." SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT "We had a productive morning and did a lot of work on our race set-up. Qualifying shows our true speed at this point over a single lap but I think we can fight for some points in the race tomorrow." Bahrain GP – First Qualifying 1 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:29.848 2 Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:29.993 3 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:30.237 4 Nick Heidfeld (Williams-BMW) 1:30.390 5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 1:30.445 6 Mark Webber (Williams-BMW) 1:30.592 7 Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:30.594 8 Christian Klien (Red Bull Racing) 1:30.646 9 Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:30.725 10 Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1:30.933 11 Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:30.952 12 Jenson Button (B.A.R Honda) 1:30.957 13 Takuma Sato (B.A.R Honda) 1:31.113 14 David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) 1:31.211 15 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:31.826 16 Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas) 1:32.318 17 Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan-Toyota) 1:33.190 18 Tiago Monteiro (Jordan-Toyota) 1:33.424 19 Christijan Albers (Minardi-Cosworth) 1:34.005 20 Patrick Friesacher (Minardi-Cosworth) 1:34.848