F1-Blog

That’s the news according to McLaren boss Ron Dennis, saying that the rumoured deal is ‘premature’.

The ProDrive team (owned by WRC Boss David Richards) will join the grid in 2008, and will be the first of the official ‘customer’ teams.

Dennis said that there has not been an agreement signed yet, but that it remains a possibility that the ProDrive cars will be brand engineered McLaren-Mercedes cars.

Dennis stated in an interview in F1 Racing that - “I’d never rule out having a partnership with another F1 team, but it would be somewhat premature to say it will be Prodrive.”

“If, however, as seems probable, the regulations for 2008 and beyond are such that running a B-team, or supplying chassis to partner teams, becomes possible - well then, along with our colleagues at Mercedes-Benz high performance engines (Ilmore - Ed), of course we’ll seriously consider it.”

“It’s not just about revenue. Doing it well would be challenging and would require extra resource, yes, and the company would therefore have to be properly compensated for it.”

“And the revenue stream, as you put it, would also allow for greater investment in car development and so on.

“So, overall, you’d have to say that there are more pluses than minuses.”

So then, it’s perhaps a closer reality than not. Only time will tell. Richards is set to announce his team lineup and details at this years British GP.

Or nearly locked up that is. The case that has been ongoing since 2003 against Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini has concluded with Mauro getting a 16 month jail sentence and Angelo a 9 month one.

The sentences have been suspended, but both people have said they are to challenge the decision.

The whole issue is around the suposed use of Ferrari aero designs on the 2003 Toyota.

That said, if it is true, the Toyota engineers obviously did not understand the information they received, as the car was not a competitor.

The number two drivers in each of the front running teams had a good day at Bahrain.

The race winner Filipe Massa managed to stop the eventual second place driver Lewis Hamilton from passing into the first corner.

Massa lead then all the way through the race, with the Ferrari proving that the car had just a little more pace than the McLaren cars.

Surprisingly however the Ferrari’s where both slower in the last stint of the race on the harder compound tyres, with Lewis Hamilton taking nearly 10 seconds out of the lead that Filipe had built up.

Raikkonen had a disappointing race, he seemed not to have the front running pace all weekend, and is obviously struggling to set the Ferrari up to his liking.

Nick Heidfeld had a good race coming in in fourth behind Kimi, with the world champion and joint championship leader Fernando Alonso bringing the second McLaren in for fifth.

Drive of the day however needs to go to the ‘aging’ Brit, David Coulthard. He managed to climb from the back of the grid, up and past his team mate Mark Webber with some amazing overtaking maneuvers. However it all went bang, quite literally with a right hand side drive shaft failure on his RB03 Red Bull. It’s good though, as it seems the team may finally be getting a grip on how to eek the performance out of the Adrian Newey car, they do need to work on reliability however, as Mark Webber’s car also failed (could be the Renault Engine on that car), he drove around for a fair few laps with the fuel filler cap open, ruining his aero package.

The Super Aguri Honda car of Anthony Davidson showed a clean pair of heels to the ‘works’ Honda team again. Button had an accident on the first lap and was the first to retire, and bring out the safety car.

So then three drivers now share the current points championship. Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, and Lewis Hamilton will go into the next race on equal pegging’s of 22 points.

Can Lewis make it a fourth successive podium, after all no-one else has done three before, so he is officially the most successful rookie driver so far. Lets see how he get’s on when back in the European part of the season.

Results

1 Felipe Massa Ferrari Winner
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +2.3 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +10.8 secs
4 Nick Heidfeld BMW +13.8 secs
5 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes +14.4 secs
6 Robert Kubica BMW +45.5 secs
7 Jarno Trulli Toyota +81.3 secs
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault +81.7 secs
9 Heikki Kovalainen Renault +89.4 secs
10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota +89.9 secs
11 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
12 Ralf Schumacher Toyota +1 Lap
13 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap
14 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari +2 Lap
15 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari +4 Lap
16 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda +6 Lap
Ret Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +16 Lap
Ret David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault +21 Laps
Ret Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda +23 Laps
Ret Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari +31 Laps
Ret Jenson Button Honda + secs
Ret Scott Speed STR-Ferrari + secs

The Qualification session went well again for young Brit Lewis Hamilton. Lewis has been the fastest car over the whole weekend so far, and managed to put his car on the front row of the grid in second place, even though his lap was a little scruffy.

Kimi Raikkonen and Filipe Massa seemed to be sandbagging all weekend, Massa came out quick on the Q3 session, and claimed the pole spot. The second Ferrari managed the third spot on the grid.

It seems the second McLaren was not on the pace of his team mate all season. Strange considering that Alonso has won the race for the last two seasons.

The race should be good tomorrow, the McLaren’s have both been quick off the line this season so far, and if they manage to get the jump on the Ferrari’s then they should dictate the race. It looks like Ferrari are trying to run light with Massa, hoping to dictate from the front.

The race will be interesting, will Massa hold his pole spot off the line? or will Lewis get the jump and claim his first F1 race win?

Time will tell.

1. Filipe Massa
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Nick Heidfeld
6. Robert Kubica
7. Giancarlo Fisichella
8. Mark Webber
9. Jarno Trulli
10. Nico Rosberg
11. Alexander Wurz
12. Heikki Kovalainen
13. Anthony Davidson
14. Ralf Schumacher
15. Rubens Barichello
16. Jenson Button
17. Takuma Sato
18. Antonio Luizzi
19. Scott Speed
20. Adrian Sutil
21. David Coulthard
22. Christijan Albers

McLaren have made it their first one-two finish for the first time since 2005.

The McLaren result comes from the move at the start by Lewis Hamilton. Lewis came from fourth place on the grid, and hung it out in the first corner, slotting in behind Alonso and even though his heavier McLaren was slower than the lighter Ferrari of Filipe Massa, he managed to hold on until a desperate move from Filipe at corner four allowed Lewis to break away.

Fernando Alonso had it ‘easy’ for the rest of the race distance, and for the mid part of the race so did Lewis. However after the last pit stop, and on the harder compound tyres, Lewis struggled for pace in comparison to Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando. Towards the end of the race Kimi piled the pressure on the young Englishman, however Lewis held on and crossed the line for the number two spot.

Further down the field, the BMW Sauber cars both showed pace. Third spot went to Nick Heidfeld ahead of the second Ferrari of Filipe.

The Williams Toyota cars both showed pace as well, which is a good sign for the team. The Renault’s after performing badly in the qualifying showed better race pace, Giancarlo Fisichella brought his Renault home in sixth, with his young team mate Heikki Kovalainen coming home eighth.

Jarno Trulli also managed a good performance to bring his Toyota home for two points in seventh place.

So, man of the race? Well Fernando drove well, and normally it would have gone to him, as after all this is his second GP in a new team, and on new tyres. However Lewis shone throughout the race, his opening couple of corner overtake on both Ferrari’s, then his ability to soak up the pressure applied by Filipe early on, add to that a great level headed second stint drive, where he took the fastest lap of the race, and a great drive on tyres that were not working for him, while taking the pressure of a fast approaching Kimi. It has to go to the youngster, and remember this is his second GP of all time! Incredible drive, and well justified hype over the Brit.

Do we have our next ‘Mansel’ in our midst? The complete race report will be coming soon, but for now I implore you to to watch the race for yourself, it’s worth it.