2010 Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Bahrain is the first grand prix on the schedule for the 2010 season. Qualifying has been completed and some clarity is starting to develop regarding the teams.

The qualifying bore out much of what many had suspected. The two top teams are Red Bull and Ferrari. Mercedes and McLaren follow these two with Robert Kubica making a nice showing in the Renault. The results have to be a relief for Ferrari in particular after their brutal season last year. The results have to be making people at McLaren and Mercedes very nervous. Why? They qualified well over a second slower than Vettel. In contrast, Massa nailed second only .141 slower with Massa following at half a second after some bad turns.

The results are:


1 Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull      1:54.101
2 Felipe Massa         Ferrari     +00.141
3 Fernando Alonso     Ferrari     +00.507
4 Lewis Hamilton     McLaren     +01.116
5 Nico Rosberg         Mercedes GP     +01.140
6 Mark Webber         Red Bull     +01.183
7 Michael Schumacher     Mercedes GP     +01.423
8 Jenson Button     McLaren     +01.571
9 Robert Kubica     Renault     +01.784
10 Adrian Sutil     Force India     +02.208
11 Rubens Barrichello     Williams     +01.229
12 Vitantonio Liuzzi     Force India     +01.552
13 Nico Hülkenberg     Williams     +01.756
14 Pedro de la Rosa     Sauber         +02.136
15 Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso     +02.164
16 Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber         +02.169
17 Vitaly Petrov     Renault     +02.518
18 Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso     +02.970
19 Timo Glock         Virgin         +05.627
20 Jarno Trulli     Lotus         +05.751
21 Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus         +06.212
22 Lucas Di Grassi     Virgin         +06.486
23 Bruno Senna         HRT         +09.139
24 Karun Chandhok     HRT         +10.803

Disappointment:

The McLaren team came on strong at the end of the 2009 season. They were rumored to have this funky, high tech rear wing contraption. Even with it, the car is surprisingly slow. Although Hamilton qualified 5th and Button 8th, both were well over a second slower. That is not good. If there is any consolation, the Mercedes/Brawn didn’t do much better. Still, this was supposed to be the year Ferrari and McLaren returned to dominance. First impressions are only one has achieved the result. Even if McLaren has a bad race, it will improve. Picking up a second with the very limited testing available will be a real challenge.

Race Prediction

The race looks like it may be Ferrari’s to lose. The Red Bull is blindingly fast, but it does not seem particularly reliable as of yet with both cars having problems through the weekend. Then there is the very simple question of tires. With temperatures in the 90s, it seems much of the result will depend on who can take care of their tires and who cannot.

Predicted Winner: Felipe Massa in his first race back from his nasty accident.

Check back tomorrow to see the results and round up. If I am right in my prediction, I’ll take a guess at the lotto. If not, I’ll start eating crow!

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