Manama: Bahrain is a safe place to race and this weekend's grand prix will go ahead as planned, Formula One's governing body and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone said in a joint statement on Friday. The short press release, surprising only in being issued so late in the day, came after calls from some British politicians and others for the race to be cancelled due to human rights concerns. The...
03:08 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Sakhir: Lewis Hamilton has the look of a man who has silenced the doubters. The Mercedes driver was derided when he abandoned McLaren for the less-glamorous Mercedes team this season. Critics questioned his integrity and accused him of being driven by money. But three races into the season, his gamble appears to be paying off. He had his second podium in three races last week at the Chinese Grand Prix...
02:33 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Sakhir: Felipe Massa set the fastest time in the first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix followed by Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso. Massa, who finished sixth at the Chinese GP, was 0.077 seconds faster than Alonso, who won the race in Shanghai. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was 0.134 behind in third followed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who was 0.303 off the pace. Vettel's teammate, Mark Webber, managed seventh fastest...
02:10 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Bahrain: With just three days to go for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull driver Mark Webber is in a big dilemma ahead of his career's 200th appearance. The 2013 season has also brought many troubles for the Australian. This season, just two drivers have reached the milestone of hitting the circuit for the 200th time in their glorious career. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari achieved the feat at the Malaysian...
12:33 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Manama: Feuding Sahara Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have resolved their differences over their clash at last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, team chief Bob Fernley said on Thursday. Germany's Sutil collided with Briton Di Resta and ran him off the circuit as they fought in a pack of cars on the opening lap of the race in Shanghai. "Most importantly, we had a look at it,...
12:02 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Manama: Mexican Sergio Perez is not afraid to admit he is feeling the pressure at McLaren. The 23-year-old, who took over from Lewis Hamilton after the 2008 Formula One world champion left for Mercedes at the end of last season, assured reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix that he could handle it, however. "I have definitely felt the pressure. At McLaren everyone is watching your performance - in every single...
11:23 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Sakhir, Bahrain: Having ended a 12-race drought with a dominant victory in China, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is quickly emerging as the most likely candidate to end the dominance of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. The two-time Formula One champion has the chance to overtake Vettel in the drivers' championship with a win on Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a race that has drawn the ire of rights groups who complain...
10:46 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Manama: Mark Webber left the big question unanswered at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday: Who paid for his dinner with Fernando Alonso? Ferrari's Alonso, the race winner in China last Sunday, set the ball rolling earlier in the week when he posted a picture on Twitter of himself and Webber dining together in Dubai. Alonso then deleted the image but Webber had copied and 'retweeted' it. Formula One's conspiracy...
10:24 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Manama: Formula One is a unifying force for Bahrain and local support for the grand prix is 'overwhelming' despite continuing unrest in the country, circuit chairman Zayed Alzayani said on Thursday. Speaking in his office at the Sakhir desert circuit, Alzayani told reporters security arrangements for Sunday's race were the same as last year and suggested that any protesters who resorted to violence would be guilty of 'terrorism'. "We don't...
06:43 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Manama: Formula One's most controversial race, the Bahrain Grand Prix with its simmering backdrop of teargas and petrol bombs, might just give Mark Webber something to celebrate on Sunday. Red Bull's Australian has had a pretty thin time of it recently but Sunday's race, in a tiny Gulf kingdom troubled by civil unrest since a 2011 uprising, will be the 200th grand prix of his career. The 36-year-old has been...
08:48 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Manama: Jean Todt, the head of Formula One's governing body, will not attend this weekend's controversial Bahrain Grand Prix but officials played down the significance of his absence on Wednesday. A spokesman for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said the Frenchman had never had Bahrain on his schedule after being at the first two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia. Todt's next Formula One appearance would be in...
06:46 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Bahrain: Finnish racing driver Heikki Kovalainen has returned to Caterham and will drive for the Formula 1 team in the first practice sessions in Bahrain and Spain. Kovalainen is rejoining the team as one of the two reserve drivers, alongside Alexander Rossi who moves to Caterham Racing to compete in the GP2 Series. The Finn was dropped as a Caterham race driver at the end of last season with the...
01:46 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Sakhir, Bahrain: Formula One returns this week to Bahrain, casting the spotlight on a series that has defied criticism to race on while a bloody, political crisis has engulfed one of the West's most important allies in the region. The Bahrain Grand Prix has drawn less attention than a year ago when F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone at the last minute decided to go ahead with the race despite calls by...
08:58 AM, Apr 17, 2013
Manama: Bernie Ecclestone has assured protesters in Bahrain that he understands their grievances and is willing to meet opposition figures ahead of the most controversial Formula One race of the year this weekend. However, in comments that could antagonise rights campaigners and pro-democracy activists, the F1 commercial supremo also compared civil unrest in the Gulf island kingdom to threatened protests against Wednesday's funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in...
02:57 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Sao Paulo: Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone says Sao Paulo could be taken off the calendar if the city fails to improve facilities at its Interlagos Grand Prix circuit. The F1 chief has given local officials an ultimatum to upgrade commercial boxes, event rooms and sanitary areas in addition to the paddock and pit-lane areas, reports Xinhua. "The design of the circuit is among the best in the world, but...
11:12 AM, Apr 16, 2013
Shanghai: Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta will be reprimanded by Force India for their opening lap collision at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix here. Both Sutil and Di Resta blamed each other for the incident, without which the Scot could have finished the race higher than eighth. Sutil had to retire after he was assaulted by Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez on Lap 4. Deputy team principal Robert Fernley said...
10:11 AM, Apr 16, 2013
Women may have the strength and stamina but they do not have the 'mental aptitude' to compete in Formula One, according to retired British grand prix great Stirling Moss. The 83-year-old, widely acclaimed as the greatest driver never to win the Formula One championship, made the controversial comments in an interview with BBC radio for a programme on women racers to be broadcast on Monday. "I think they have the...
10:47 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Manama: Pirelli are coming under pressure to make longer-lasting Formula One tyres after Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix saw drivers lifting off the throttle rather than go flat-out to the flag. Australian Mark Webber started from the Shanghai pit lane and pulled back in again after just one lap to get rid of his Red Bull's quick-wearing soft tyres as soon as he possibly could. After seven laps, there had been...
08:17 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Shanghai: Fernando Alonso has "no illusions" about his prospects in the Formula One championship despite ending a 12-race drought with a commanding victory at the Chinese Grand Prix. The dozen races without a win was the Ferrari driver's longest barren period since his winless 2009 season, and represented a sharp change of fortunes after a Did-Not-Finish result at the previous race in Malaysia. "It couldn't have gone better than this...
04:37 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Manama: McLaren new boy Sergio Perez has been told by team boss Martin Whitmarsh to use his elbows and make life harder for Formula One rivals. "I think he's been very polite so far this year, I think he needs to toughen up," Whitmarsh told reporters after the Mexican finished a disappointing 11th in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. "I think he's been generous in allowing people past him....
04:24 PM, Apr 15, 2013
