Rosberg claims first F1 pole at Chinese GP

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Shanghai: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed the first Formula One pole position of his career on Saturday, topping qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. The German swept to the top slot by a massive margin, with a best lap of one minute 35.121 seconds compared to Lewis Hamilton's 1:35.626.

McLaren's Hamilton qualified second, but will have to start Sunday's race from seventh due to a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

Hill does U-turn on Bahrain GP statement

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Former world champion Damon Hill threw his weight back behind the controversial Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on Friday, one week after he urged the authorities to reconsider going ahead with the race. The 1996 champion had supported the race after taking part in a fact-finding mission last December but had a re-think following reports of almost daily clashes between anti-government protestors and police.

The television pundit changed his stance again on Friday after the sport's governing body decided the race should go ahead on April 22. "I am now 100 percent behind the FIA decision to race in Bahrain. All the arguments have been made for and against," the Hill said in an e-mail.

Teams to take extra security in Bahrain

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Formula One teams will take extra security measures when they go to Bahrain next week, Red Bull principal Christian Horner said on Friday after the sport's governing body confirmed the race was on. "We take the security of all our employees very carefully and so inevitably as with other races sometimes extra precautions are taken," he told reporters at the Chinese Grand Prix.

"We'll do our best to ensure that all our guys and girls are in a secure environment." Daily street clashes in Bahrain and threats to target the race by anti-government protesters have heightened concerns in the travelling Formula One community ahead of the fourth race of the season. An explosion, apparently caused by a gas canister, damaged two cars in Manama on Thursday night while seven policemen were wounded by a home-made bomb outside the capital on Monday in what the Interior Ministry called an "act of terrorism".

Chinese GP: McLaren win final practice

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Shanghai: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button showed that McLaren is the team to beat in Saturday's qualifying for the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix after the drivers set the two fastest times in the final practice session. Hamilton was one-tenth of a second faster than his team-mate after switching to soft tyres late in the session.

They were followed on the timesheets by the Mercedes team, with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher clocking the third- and fourth-fastest times. McLaren and Mercedes have been the leaders in all three practice sessions on the Shanghai circuit this week, suggesting the qualifying race could come down to a duel between the two teams.

Force India finish in top 10 in Shanghai practice

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Shanghai: Sahara Force India had a good outing during the practice sessions for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix on Friday as both their drivers recorded a top-10 timing, with Paul di Resta lapping the eighth-fastest time while Nico Hulkenberg was the ninth-quickest in Shanghai. Di Resta clocked 1:36.966s in the FP2 for his fastest lap, while Nico managed a 1:37.191s timing.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher set the fastest time of the day for Mercedes when he clocked 1:35.973s, just ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who was just 0.172 seconds behind the legendary German.

Bahrain GP to go ahead as scheduled

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Shanghai: Formula One will race in Bahrain as scheduled next week despite security concerns and calls from anti-government activists for the grand prix to be cancelled, the sport's decision makers said on Friday. The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) declared in a statement that the race, cancelled last year after a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protestors and in doubt again due to ongoing violence, was on.

It said it had made the decision after regular briefings from senior diplomatic officials and "independent experts" in the Gulf kingdom. Formula One's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, mobbed by reporters after a meeting with representatives of the 12 teams at the Chinese Grand Prix, declared the race "200 percent" certain to go ahead. "All the teams are happy to be there," said the 81-year-old. "There's nothing happening. I know people who live there and it's all very quiet and peaceful."

Chinese GP: Schumi tops opening-day practice

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Shanghai: Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher topped the timesheets in Friday's second practice session for the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix. Schumacher's best lap put him ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was fifth fastest, finishing ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi. Force India's Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, then Ferrari's Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten. In the third year of his comeback, Schumacher has yet to record a pole position or a podium finish, but Friday's performance indicated potential for a strong qualifying performance.

Hamilton aims for Chinese GP hat-trick

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Shanghai: The Bahrain Grand Prix has so dominated Formula One's news agenda this week that teams and drivers in China for Sunday's race could almost be wondering whether they have landed in the wrong country. There may be a lack of desert sands but Shanghai does offer some guaranteed action while the sport decides whether to travel to the troubled Gulf kingdom as scheduled on the way back to Europe next week.

The unrest in Bahrain, bringing with it concerns for both the safety of teams and the far from unblemished image of the sport, has overshadowed what promises to be a fascinating race this weekend. Team bosses will discuss the situation with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt over the next few days but in the meantime there is a job to be done on the track.

Bahrain race is on, says Ecclestone

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Shanghai: Next week's Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead unless local officials decide otherwise, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday. "The race is on the calendar, it's scheduled. The only people that can do anything about it is the national sporting authority in the country that can ask for it to be withdrawn from the calendar," he told Reuters at the Chinese Grand Prix.

"Unless it gets withdrawn by the national sporting authority in the country, then we'll be there." Local organisers, who had to cancel last year's race at Sakhir due to civil unrest, have been adamant that this year's event is safe to go ahead despite continuing sectarian divisions and street violence in the kingdom as well as threats targetting the grand prix. They have denounced "scaremongering" and "huge misconceptions" about the situation.

Force India confident of good Shanghai outing

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Paris: Force India driver Paul di Resta is content with the way the season has begun for the team. "It was important that we picked up some good points on such an unpredictable day in Malaysia. We've seen how close all the teams are this year and getting points isn't easy, so it feels good to start as we mean to continue," the Scotsman remarked en route to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Speaking about this weekend's race, di Resta said that the track has some unusual features. "Turn one is very long and feels like it goes on forever. The key to getting it right is how much entry speed you can carry into the corner. We also saw the effectiveness of DRS last year, which helped produce some good racing and it should be the same this year."