Full year report: Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso have been invisible much of the year, mainly because they have been nowhere on pace, perhaps because you always assume that it’s a Red Bull. For the first year in which they have built their own car I guess it’s not that bad but I wonder what was expected.
Jaime Alguersuari has had a solid year, he has built on previous experience and puts in solid performances, though he can still be prone to some of his more childish behaviours. He needs to show next year that he is a quality driver that has been learning the ropes if he wants to move up the grid, I don’t think that Toro Rosso can do it for him.
Sebastien Buemi hasn’t really featured in anything this year, apart from the odd accident. Which is the same as last year, how many more ‘goes’ does he get before he ends up on [...]

Bahrain qualifying, Red Bull and Sebastien Vettel storm to Pole ahead of the Ferraris

Sebastien Vettel took pole position with an outstanding lap to ensure that the Red Bull has a chance in the race tomorrow. It seems that the team that finished last year strongest continues that form. The Ferrari looks quick though so watch out tomorrow Sebastien.
Q1
The first session saw the elimination of all the new teams cars along with Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso. Senna beat Chandhok, Timo Glock beat both the Lotus‘ along with his Virgin team mate and Trulli outqualified Kovalainen.
Q2
Q3 saw all the teams go for the soft tyres as they are all unsure of everybody elses pace, this is the key session for the midfield teams and it was the Renault of Kubica and the Force India of Sutil that managed to get through. Jenson Button only just squeezed through in the last few seconds as the McLarens still seem berift of pace today.
Q3
In the final [...]

Free Practice 3, Alonso and Ferrari take the honours

The last free practice session has finished and Fernando Alonso underlined the pace of the Ferrari by topping the times in the last free practice session for the Bahrain GP, he beat Nico Rosberg into second place in the Mercedes.
Red Bull finally move to the sharp end of the times taking 3rd and 5th places and pushing the McLarens down to 7th and 12th. The Mercedes still look strong with Rosberg their fastest driver. The Sauber still seems to be disappointing with only managing 13th and 17th after the pace that they showed in pre-season testing.
Karun Chandhok still didn’t get the HRT car out of the garage, hopefully he’ll be able to complete a lap in qualifying so that he can compete in the race otherwise it makes a bit of a mockery of the team getting to the race.
Times in full:
1. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.099
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:54.368
3. Webber Red [...]

Practice 2 in Bahrain and Nico Rosberg takes the top spot for Mercedes

With the second practice session over Nico Rosberg sits at the top of the times for Mercedes beating Michael Schumacher for the second session. McLaren and Mercedes took the top spots for the session to show that they are the teams to beat.

There was also some good times for Nico Hulkenberg who hauled himself up to 6th place in the times. The Ferrari’s seemed to be concentrating on long runs and so don’t really feature in the times but don’t let that fool you – they are faster than that.
It seems that tyre wear is going to play a big part in Sunday’s GP with some teams treating their tyres nicely and some chewing through them extremely fast. The Red Bull seems to be hard on it’s tyres whereas the McLaren is able to look after them better. If this is the case it will play into the hands of [...]