Vettel pips Button to Istanbul pole

Qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel claim the pole position for the Red Bull Renault team ahead of the dominant Brawn Mercedes duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. Behind there were a few surprises such as McLaren struggling more than expected and BMW Sauber picking up the pace with the new aero package.

Button got pole in Monaco ahead of Raikkonen

Jenson Button once again got pole position this season at Monaco Grand Prix. Despite his struggle in early stages of Qualify today he did an exceptional lap at dying moments of Q3 and secured pole position. Raikkonen was second just 0.025 seconds behind Button despite he was the fastest man in Q2 with almost six tenths quicker than last years best Q2 time. Barrichello from Brawn was third ahead of Vettel in fourth who didn’t seem to be on pace this week. Massa was fifth who crashed his car at the beginning of Q1 but was lucky enough to continue. Rosberg was sixth, Kovalainen seventh and Webber was eight before tomorrow’s race.

The real drama was Hamilton’s crash at first session after posting the best first sector time. Hamilton seemed very strong all week here and he could deliver a very strong performance today if he didn’t crash. Another big surprise was seeing both cars of teams BMW and Toyota to be knocked out in Q1 while Force India and Torro Rosso drivers were in top 15. Car weights are yet to be published by FIA, but most of the time strategy is more important at this circuit than the raw speed.

Button leads Brawn’s one & two in Spain

Jenson Button wins Spanish Grand Prix as this is his fourth victory of this season. Despite he has been passed by Barrichello at the start, Brawn changed him to a two stop strategy while Rubens was on a three stop. Barrichello finished second ahead of Webber who has made best use of softer tyre in his second long stint. He is followed by team mate Vettel. Vettel’s race passed at the rear of Massa thankls to a good start with use of KERS.

Due to a fuel rig problem at Mass’s last pit stop, Massa was forced to conserve fuel and drop two places during the closing laps. Alonso passed Massa at last lap while he was 16 seconds behind him until Massa started to slow down. Alonso finished fifth. Massa finished sixth just 1.6 seconds in front of Heidfeld. The last point scorer was Rosberg ashe finished eight.

Button wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Jenson Button claimed his third win of the year in front of Sebastian Vettel in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pole-sitter Jarno Truli finished third after they changed to prime tires at first pit stop which clearly didn’t pay-off. Last year’s world champion Lewis Hamilton became forth after a successful start thanks to the KERS, whereas Rubens Barrichello could only finish fifth after the team switched him to a three stop strategy.

Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth and scored Ferrari’s first points of this year. Timo Glock was seventh after a very early first pit stop and switch to the harder tyre compound. The last point scorer was Fernando Alonso from Renault.

Bahrain Friday Practice: Rosberg fastest as usual

First practice sessions for the fourth race of the season has been completed today. Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets at second practice while Lewis Hamilton was fastest at first session. Conditions very were hot and windy. Track was very dusty at the beginnings of both sessions. As this circuit is the first hard braking circuit of the year, teams worked mainly on the brakes and we have seen many lockouts from drivers especially at turn 1 and turn 10. Teams evaluated the available tyre compounds for the race as usual on a Friday. Most of the teams struggled to heat their prime tires while the option tires seemed better.

Teams will study the data that they have collected today and will be ready for tomorrow’s free practice session. As the competition is very close it will be interesting to see who will make it to Q3 tomorrow.