Formula 1 world descends on Bahrain

Fans from around the globe expected in Bahrain for Grand Prix weekend

Mar.9 (Manama) With the 2010 Formula 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix a few days away, Bahrain International Circuit is in full swing as it prepares to host the inaugural race of the FIA Formula 1™ World Championship’s 60th anniversary season. The majority of the competing teams, staff and equipment have arrived, and many drivers are currently in the process of travelling to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Jean Todt with Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa

FIA President Jean Todt arrived today, Sunday 7th March, and was received by Bahrain Motorsport Federation (BMF) President Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa at Bahrain International Airport. While this is not the first time Jean Todt has visited the Kingdom, it is his first trip as President of the FIA, the governing body of the world’s most renowned motorsport championship; the FIA Formula 1™. Todt expressed his delight at Bahrain’s position as the first race no this year’ calendar, stating that Race Number One was the most important motorsport event to be found in the region and was detrimental to the continued development of racing in the Middle East. His arrival will be followed by Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali tomorrow.

Drivers Fernando Alonso from Ferrari and Nico Rosberg from Mercedes GP were the first to arrive at Bahrain International Circuit. Felipe Massa is set to arrive early tomorrow morning along with several other competitors. The remainder of the drivers who will line the starting grid at Race Number One will continue to arrive in the coming days.

The Majority of the teams, staff and equipment have already arrived and are in the process of setting up at Bahrain International Circuit. Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes GP, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Lotus F1 Racing, BMW Sauber and many other teams have initiated their preparations for kick off of the 2010 Formula 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 2010 line-up brings with it new partnerships, new contenders and a raft of new regulations.  In one of the biggest shake-ups the sport has seen for some time the sport’s governing body, the FIA, has ruled that cars will not be able to refuel during the race, meaning that drivers must contend with a much heavier fuel load at the start of the race and conserve their tyres, brakes and fuel through the course of the race.

Timesheets in testing have shown that Ferrari has demonstrated the most consistent front-running pace in both race and qualifying simulations.  With 2005-06 world champion Fernando Alonso joining the fully-recovered Brazilian ace Felipe Massa, who was injured in qualifying for last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari has the only two drivers to have won the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix twice and hopes are high, with Alonso declaring Ferrari’s new F10 racer the ‘best I’ve ever had’.

Nevertheless Ferrari remains doubtful that it has a significant advantage over the rest of the top teams from testing.  Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has partnered 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton with 2009 title-winner Jenson Button for the new season, and its dramatic-looking MP4-25 has also inspired great confidence in the two British drivers.  Initially Button struggled to get comfortable in the car but with the team having solved his cockpit issues all looks good for the defending champion, while team-mate Hamilton ended pre-season testing as the fastest man on the track after a host of updates were made to the MP4-25 prior to its competitive debut in Bahrain.

Through the second half of 2009 the team to beat was Red Bull Racing, and its Renault-powered RB6 car is very much an evolution of the machine in which both German young gun Sebastian Vettel and Australian hero Mark Webber took victories last year.  Webber declared that his car feels as refined as a limousine and pointed out how many features from the team’s race-winning car been adopted by their rivals going in to the new season as evidence of Red Bull designer Adrian Newey’s .

Last year’s championship was of course won by the Brawn GP team, which has been bought by Mercedes-Benz over the winter months to form Mercedes GP and bringing the German giant back to the sport which it dominated in the 1950s.  Not only does Mercedes-Benz return to action in Bahrain but also the legendary seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, winner of the inaugural Formula 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in 2004.

Neither Schumacher nor his young German team-mate Nico Rosberg – who scored points on his debut with Williams at the 2006 Formula 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – has topped the official testing sheets.  After a very confident reaction to his first experience of the car, Schumacher expressed some concern about the team’s pace relative to Ferrari and McLaren prior to the final test but clarified that statement afterwards, having not seen all the data, and then posting a time comparable with the best of his rivals.

Schumacher is relishing the prospect of his return to Bahrain, saying: “No doubt Bahrain will be a very special race for me this year – it is where everything will start anew.  I have always liked to come to Sakhir and drive there as everybody seems to be so enthusiastic about it and we drivers feel so welcome there, still this year the track provides big hopes for me personally.  I would not have returned to Formula 1™ and moved to Mercedes GP if I did not think we can fight for the championship – and it will all start in Bahrain.”

Tickets to the Formula 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix are now available for purchase online at Bahrain International Circuit’s official website, www.bahraingp.com. They can also be bought by calling the circuit hotline on +973-17-450000, or by visiting the circuit stands at Seef Mall, Bahrain City Centre or at Race Zone. Tickets can also be purchased at the circuit premises in Sakhir, at the Welcome Centre located at the entrance

For in depth daily Formula 1 news from Bahrain throughout the Grand Prix weekend visit YallaF1.com

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Posted by Editor on 8 Mar 2010. Filed under Bahrain, Bahrain Int. Circuit, Main Stories, Motorsport News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry