FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Vettel believes Red Bull needs to extract more from its car to start winning races

Red Bull Racing still needs to bring more to its car than improved qualifying pace if it is going to turn its RB8 into a race winner, reckons world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Although the German and team-mate Mark Webber have enjoyed good form in the three races so far, the team has struggled to extract single-lap performance from the car - which has made its Sundays more difficult.

But just lifting itself nearer the front of the grid will not be enough to get Red Bull back to the front, says Vettel, as he suspects the teams needs to find more ultimate speed too.

"Surely we need something more," he said, when asked if better qualifying performance would be enough to win again. "In the races, for a reason, we get beaten so it is not as if we have the best race car and just because of our qualifying position we are not ahead. We are quite a bit away.

"But as I have said many times I believe the potential is there, the car is quick, and once we start putting everything together I think we will feel a bit more comfortable. Then, we should be in a much better position in qualifying and in the race."

Vettel will revert to the most recent exhaust configuration for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, after he went back to an earlier specification in China.

Although he has openly admitted he has a personal preference for the older version, because he says the car feels less nervous, he accept the newer concept is ultimately better.

"It is a better direction to go, so that is why it is back on the car," he said. "It was a good test for us to have a real back-to-back and what we introduced back in testing, we didn't have the best two days at the end, so I think that it was why it was a good test."

Vettel is cautious, however, on expecting too much from the car with the revised exhausts and at a warmer track like Bahrain that should suit its car better.

"Obviously it's a new weekend, a different track, different conditions, and it is quite hot, so we will see. Surely we cannot expect miracles it is one week since the last race. We hope we can do a step forward in qualifying which seemed to be a little bit of a weakness at that stage, but in terms of race pace we are not that far off. So let's see."

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Ricciardo says Toro Rosso is not giving up on Chinese Grand Prix updates

Daniel Ricciardo says Toro Rosso is not giving up on the updates introduced in the Chinese Grand Prix despite conceding they did not perform as expected.

Like most of the teams, the Faenza-based squad used the three-week break ahead of the Shanghai race to work on several updates that were introduced in the third round of the championship.

The team's performance, however, did not improve as much as it was hoped, and both Ricciardo and team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne struggled during the weekend.

The Australian qualified and finished in 17th, while the Frenchman was 16th in the race having started from the pitlane.

Ricciardo said in Bahrain on Thursday that the updates had not worked as expected, but insisted the team is not giving up on them yet.

"We definitely struggled a bit in China," Ricciardo told AUTOSPORT. "I guess because there was quite a big break quite a few teams had updates. We were one of them, but unfortunately they didn't work as well as we hoped, basically. That's in simple terms.

"It's not that we are going to give up on them. I think we'll find out in a few races why they didn't work as well as they should have. I think we will give them another crack this weekend and try to find a few ways to make them more effective.

"At least what we had in China didn't really work and we struggled. I struggled a bit, but Jean-Eric struggled more. I expect here to be better."

He said Toro Rosso is still pushing hard to have more upgrades for its cars for the start of the European season and for next month's test at Mugello.

"Obviously the team is pushing very hard for the first European race in Barcelona," he said. "I believe we are pushing to get some more stuff in Mugello for the test. It's a good opportunity to test new bits and pieces. In Barcelona we'll have a bit more. The team is definitely pushing hard."

Ricciardo said he was not worried about his team's drop in performance, and was confident that Toro Rosso will recover.

"It's still very close, but we definitely want to say in touch. We were on the limit in China, or falling back to the rest, but I'm not fearful that's how it will be in the end."

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Rubens Barrichello hits out at those comparing Bahrain and Brazil safety

Rubens Barrichello has hit out at those in Formula 1 who have compared the safety situation in Bahrain to that in Brazil.

Amid heightened tension in Bahrain about safety over the race weekend, following a number of Force India mechanics getting caught up in an incident on the way back from the track on Wednesday night, there have been renewed questions about the wisdom of racing in the Gulf State.

But with continued suggestions from some that being in Bahrain is no less dangerous than Brazil, Barrichello has responded angrily.

"I think it is horrible to compare [bahrain] to Brazil," he told the Brazilian TotalRace website. "It is completely different. There is no war.

"This kind of opinion comes from those television shows they have in Europe, where people are shown surfing on trains - which gives some of them a totally wrong view."

Although F1's stars have mostly remained silent about the matter, Barrichello has said he is not surprised that there has been no push to express concern about the situation by the drivers as a whole.

"Making everyone agree on something is impossible anywhere in the world," he said. "Those who are champions and who have had good results can decide for themselves, but those who have the chance of their lives, would they turn to their teams and say they will not race? This is very difficult.

"It is very complicated to get unanimity. But a lot of decisions at my time as GPDA president were taken and carried forward."

Many Formula 1 drivers refused to comment about the Bahrain situation during the Thursday build-up to the event.

Michael Schumacher said he wanted to totally separate the sporting situation from the political situation, while Jenson Button said he would only comment about racing issues.

"You're here interviewing me as a driver," explained the McLaren driver. "Exactly what I'm going to talk about is motor racing. That's the important thing at the moment. The outside issues, I'm not going to talk about, because it's not what I'm here to do."

World champion Sebastian Vettel was one of those who did compare the situation to Brazil.

"I heard about the Force India issue," he said when asked about his feelings on the event. "I think generally being in the paddock it seems to be no problem. Surely outside the paddock there is a risk, but there is a risk everywhere we go.

"You imagine when we go to Brazil it is not the place you want to be, depending on the area you are in. It is not a big problem and I am happy once we start testing tomorrow because then we worry about stuff that really matters - tyre temperatures, and cars."

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VETTEL TAKES SURPRISE FIRST POLE OF THE SEASON AS ROSBERG SLIPS UP:

Sebastian Vettel claimed his first pole position of 2012 in Bahrain today as he made the most of two runs in the final part of qualifying to beat Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber in an eventful session. It was a day for not making any mistakes, particularly front wheel lock ups under braking and for getting the perfect lap as the soft tyres were only good for one lap.

Vettel is the third different pole sitter in four races. It was his 31st career pole position. Red Bull has led just one racing lap in the first three Grands Prix of the season. At the same stage last year the team had led 127. Tomorrow in the race, Vettel and Webber have the chance to redress the numbers a little and given that they’ve enjoyed a race pace advantage in the first three events, there’s every reason to think they’ll take the honours tomorrow.

“It feels great and I completely owe this one to the team,” said Vettel. “It wasn’t an easy start to the season for us and there was a lot of expectation, but I think more than anything it was about what we expected from ourselves and we didn’t match it. We’ve been working extremely hard on the car, trimming here and there and finding the right way to go forward. The boys haven’t had much sleep the last few races!”

Vettel used a set of scrubbed option tyres to set a banker lap early on in the final phase of qualifying and at this point Hamilton and McLaren team mate Jenson Button occupied the front-row of the grid after using a new set of the soft compound tyre for their first run. During the second round of laps it was a case of leaving it as late as possible, due to the sandy conditions that make Sakhir an ever-evolving circuit. It looked as if Red Bull could have had a clean sweep of the front-row, until Hamilton knocked Webber back to third with a very late lap. But Webber took some satisfaction from seeing Vettel taking his set-up, as he told Australian Network 10 TV this evening.

Button, who’s been outpaced by his team mate all weekend, was unable to beat his first flying lap and ended the session in fourth place.

McLaren had earlier taken a huge risk, by not going out at the end of Q1 as many cars improved and they only just made the cut.

Behind the Red Bull and McLarens was the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Last week’s Grand Prix winner was unable to convert his practice pace into consecutive pole positions as he did just one run in the shoot-out and made a mistake with a small lock-up in the middle sector. However, Rosberg will be relatively pleased as he has a new set of soft tyres for what promises to be a race all about tyre life. Michael Schumacher had a problem with his rear-wing during the first part of qualifying which restricted him to just one run and left him down in 18th after a late charge from Heikki Kovalainen. After Pastor Maldonado takes his grid penalty for a forced gearbox change, this will move Schumacher up to 17th.

Daniel Ricciardo had a very strong session throughout, taking sixth position on the grid, the best for Toro Rosso since Jaime Alguersuari in Spa last year. The young Australian had shown good pace from the outset as he claimed second position in the first phase on qualifying. He will line up ahead of Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez. Grosjean put in a very good lap to reach the final shoot-out, however he was unable to find a significant amount of time in the final session to get in amongst the three top teams, as the Lotus was a little disappointing on the soft tyre.

The sister Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen will begin the race in eleventh after setting his flying lap too early in the second phase of qualifying and missing out on the track at its optimum condition at the end of the stint. Completing the top ten are Fernando Alonso and Paul Di Resta, neither of whom set a flying lap during the final session and will therefore have an extra set of options available for tomorrow and free choice of what tyre to start on.

Lining up behind Raikkonen is Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg who could not match the pace of their team mates. They start ahead of Felipe Massa, another victim of setting a flying lap too early. The Ferrari driver had looked like he was going to progress to the shoot-out, however late laps from those behind soon pushed him down the order to fourteenth place.

Bruno Senna is next up, just 0.3 seconds behind eleventh placed Raikkonen. Senna will share the eighth row of the grid with Heikki Kovalainen who put in a stunning lap that was just less than a second faster then team mate Vitaly Petrov. The two Caterham cars sandwich Schumacher and Vergne following Pastor Maldonado’s five place grid-penalty for a gearbox change which drops him back to twenty-second.

Behind Petrov is Charles Pic, the Marussia rookie out-qualifying Timo Glock for the first time. Glock will also start behind Pedro de la Rosa, who once again was the faster of the two HRT cars; Narain Karthikeyan bringing up the rear of the grid.

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX, Sakhir Circuit, Qualifying

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m32.422s

2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m32.520s + 0.098

3. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m32.637s + 0.215

4. Jenson Button McLaren 1m32.711s + 0.289

5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.821s + 0.399

6. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m32.912s + 0.490

7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m33.008s + 0.586

8. Sergio Perez Sauber 1m33.394s + 0.972

9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari No time

10. Paul di Resta Force India No time

11. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m33.789s + 1.367

12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m33.806s + 1.384

13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m33.807s + 1.385

14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m33.912s + 1.490

15. Bruno Senna Williams 1m34.017s + 1.595

16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1m36.132s + 3.710

17. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m34.865s + 2.443

18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m35.014s + 2.592

19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1m35.823s + 3.401

20. Charles Pic Marussia 1m37.683s + 5.261

21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1m37.883s + 5.461

22. Pastor Maldonado Williams No time

23. Timo Glock Marussia 1m37.905s + 5.483

24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1m38.314s + 5.892

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TODT SPEAKS OUT AS LAST ON BAHRIAN:

FIA president Jean Todt has carefully avoided making public comment on the security and political situation around this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, leaving most of the talking to Bernie Ecclestone. However today he broke his silence to speak to the BBC and said that, despite widespread protests and a security scare for Force India mechanics, there had been no compelling reason to call the race off.

There was, he said, “nothing (that) could allow us to stop the race. On rational facts, it was decided there was no reason to change our mind.”

An activist has been found dead in the garden of a private house in Manama today. The 37 year old, named as Salah Abbas Habib, was apparently dressed as a protester, with distinctive clothing and markings, had what appeared to be a gunshot wound in his side and an autopsy is taking place this afternoon. How he came to be shot and whether it had anything to do with Friday’s mass protest in Manama is not known.

Asked about the death, Todt said

“We know protests can have a negative result. We are a governing body running sport, you can have lots of protests and there can be consequences, and I am not sure the protests would not have happened if the Grand Prix would not have happened.”

There will be a long debate after this event about whether it should have happened, what damage it may have done to the image of the sport and to the FIA and also regarding what to do about the future; it’s very clear that the Sunni/Shia problem at the heart of the protests is not going to be solved before next year. So we will have to go through the whole thing again if and when Bahrain appears on the 2013 calendar.

Perhaps next year the opposition will be more organised, based on the learnings of this year’s race. Or conversely, perhaps their leadership will take the view that the Grand Prix taking place has actually given them enormous global media exposure for their plight, the like of which they could not possibly have achieved in any other way and so has been a ‘force for good’ in that respect for them. Certainly it appears to have done more for their cause than for the ruling regime, which has seen its country portrayed across the world as both violent and dysfunctional.

One obvious own goal has been the decision to allow the F1 brand to be used on the “UniF1ed” poster campaign for the race, a clear political use of the brand, which the FIA rules would appear not to allow and which contradicts all statements about sport and politics not mixing. As does the messaging of Bahrain being “back on track”. Asked about this by the BBC’s Jake Humphrey, Todt swerved the question,

“It can be a lot of interpretation,” he said. “I understand, in the UK, some opposition parties are against running the grand prix, if you take the comments of the actual prime minister he feels things are moving in the right direction.

“We as a governing body had no reasons not to have the grand prix happening in Bahrain. If we had a new vote today to the world council, I am convinced there is no new evidence that would make the decision (to hold it) different.”

Meanwhile AMG Mercedes boss Ross Brawn has called for a proper internal discussion between teams, rights holders and the FIA on the race and what happens going forward.

‘After this event we need to sit down and discuss it,” he said. “We are committed to this race, we are having a race, and after the race with proper judgement of what happened and what we saw, we need to come to a conclusion.”

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Schumi suffered a DRS failure

Michael Schumacher's failure to get out of Q1 in Bahrain was not due to an error from Merc, rather it was down to a DRS problem.

The seven-time World Champ was sitting in his car in the pits as qualifying countdown. And with rivals out on track, his position quickly began to head towards the drop zone.

With the Mercedes driver on the cusp in 17th place, Caterhams' Heikki Kovalainen was one of the last to cross the line and the Finn better his time, pushing Schumacher out of qualifying.

And although it initially appeared to have been an error of judgement from those on the Mercedes pit wall, the team quickly Tweeted that it was in fact a "technical" problem.

Schumacher confirmed this, telling the BBC: "The so called RFA (DRS) rear wing failed on my last try. There was no need to go out again until it was fixed and then the time ran out."

That left Nico Rosberg to fly the flag for Mercedes with many expecting the German to launch an attack on pole position. However, instead he qualified P5 after losing time in the final sector.

"I'm not really happy, I would prefer to be first," said the Chinese Grand prix winner. "But that's the way it is, and generally we've been working more to the race.

"There are still really good chances for tomorrow, even from where we are. We're looking much better than we have been, especially in these conditions here, which are really, really hot and very difficult.

"It's nice to think that now with fifth place we're not happy, but we've been working well towards the race here. I'm quite happy about tomorrow, I think I can do well and move up. I saved one set of tyres, unlike many others, so that should help.

"Pole position has been changing all the time now, plus the race winner has been changing all the time, which makes it really interesting."

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Button: P4 is not too bad

Jenson Button had no complaints with his P4 in qualifying and in fact was surprised to have beaten Nico Rosberg.

Throughout the practices for the Bahrain weekend it looked as if Rosberg would be the one challenging for pole position come Saturday's qualifying.

But, when it mattered most, the Mercedes driver just didn't have the pace to get to the front.

Rosberg's miss was Button's joy as the McLaren driver, who was only 0.289s off the pace set by Sebastian Vettel, will line-up on the second row in fourth place.

"P4 is not too bad, it's pretty close at the front and unexpectedly we are ahead of Nico - which is a shock," Button told Sky Sports F1.

"We're pretty good at starts so hopefully we'll have another tomorrow."

He added: "You just don't know what is going to happen.

"We knew that the Red Bulls would be quick in qualifying, but we didn't expect to be so far up. So not a bad day at all.

"Obviously, I'd prefer to be a little further up, but all in all I think we should be pretty happy."

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Raikkonen an 'unfortunate victim'

Kimi Raikkonen has only himself to blame for his Q2 exit in Bahrain as his team revealed he was 'satisfied' with his pace.

Immediately after qualifying, Lotus released their report in which they stated that 'satisfied with his pace, the Finn remained parked for the remainder of the session. '

But as they pointed out, that proved to be a mistake.

The reports continues, calling Raikkonen an 'unfortunate victim of the final cut' as he missed out by 'fractions of a second as his time was bettered at the very last minute to demote the Finn to a starting slot of P11 for tomorrow's race.'

Explaining that happened, Raikkonen told reporters in Bahrain: "We took the risk to try to save one set of tyres and didn't go out afterwards when we could easily get in (to Q3).

"We thought it was worth it to save the tyres, so we'll see what happens."

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Alonso: P6 or 7 is the aim for Sunday

Having qualified ninth for the Bahrain GP, Fernando Alonso is hoping to at least move up two or three places as he makes use of his free tyre choice.

After opting not to put in a lap in Q3, Alonso can opt to start the 57-lap grand prix on either Pirelli compound; the soft or the mediums.

That choice, though, looks set to be the Spaniard's only advantage as once again Ferrari are sorely lacking in pace.

"Today, we were worth a place somewhere between eighth and twelfth, so ninth on the grid fits in with our current level," said the double World Champ

"Honestly, given the characteristics of this track, which are definitely not suited to our current car, so far the weekend has not in fact gone that badly.

"To be in with a chance of making it to Q3, we had to use all three sets of Soft tyres available, so we didn't have any left for the final part of the session.

"Doing a time on used tyres would have made no sense and would have forced us to start with a set of tyres that already had a few laps on them. Now we are free to choose either the Medium or the Soft for the start of a race that looks like being very hard, especially on tyres.

"To date, we have always gone a bit better on Sunday than Saturday: let's hope it's the same situation in Bahrain.

"Tomorrow, we must try and manage the tyres as well as possible, making the most of having three sets of new Mediums. The start will also be important, because it would be useful to make up some places right away, given that, for us, overtaking is certainly not straightforward."

As for his goal for Sunday's grand prix, round four of the Championship, he said: "To finish in the points, around sixth or seventh place. I know, it's not brilliant, but that's what we can do with the car we have today."

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Outrage as FOM apparently ignores Force India

Fans have taken to social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to share their disapproval of what looked like a deliberate ploy by FOM to ignore the Force India outfit during qualifying.

Despite Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta being the only drivers on-track at one point during Q2, the FOM world feed, which is broadcast worldwide, concentrated on the little action taking place in the pitlane instead.

Throughout the 40 minute coverage of the three sessions, the cars didn't appear on screen once. Whilst this in itself is unusual, it's made even stranger considering the fact that Paul di Resta managed to get through to the final top-ten shootout for the first time in 2012.

It could simply be a coincidence, but following events on Friday when the Silverstone based outfit chose not to participate in FP2 after fearing for its employees safety, the facts begin to point toward an intentional ploy to ignore the cars in retaliation.

According to a well respected reporter, this

wouldn't be the first time the race director has been instructed not to show a team on screen.

It certainly raises some interesting questions.

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Maldonado to drop five places on grid

Pastor Maldonado will require a new gearbox in his Williams FW34 for the Bahrain Grand Prix, and will therefore start five places lower than he qualifies.

The team discovered an issue with the unit on Friday and notified the FIA that they would be changing it prior to the race on Sunday.

As per article 28.6 A, of the

sporting regulations, a gearbox must last for five consecutive events.

"Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for five consecutive events in which his team competes. Should a driver use a replacement gearbox he will drop five places on the starting grid at that Event and an additional five places each time a further gearbox is used."

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Vergne reprimanded for missing weighbridge

Jean-Eric Vergne has avoided a grid penalty or even exclusion after he failed to stop at the scrutineering weighbridge during qualifying for the Bahrain GP.

Vergne entered the pits during Q1 and was signalled to stop in the FIA scrutineering bay to weighed, but he continued down the pitlane until he reached his garage.

However, after meeting with the stewards and explaining why he failed to stop, the FIA handed the Frenchman a reprimand rather than a grid penalty or exlusion from the race as per the regulations.

The FIA explained that "upon realising the error, the team, under supervision of a scrutineer, brought the car back to the FIA garage."

[riazp]

I'M hoping the McLaren boys can get a good start and battle for the lead going into the first corner. Shame Schumi had car issues during qualifying, but he will have a lot of nice fresh tyres at his disposition so with the right strategy he could charge back to the front. Should be a decent Race. Not a huge fan of the Bahrein circuit.

On another not i'm not seriously considering going to the Canadian GP...Went once before and I absolutly loved it.

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FAULTLESS VETTEL HOLDS OFF COMEBACK KING RAIKONEN TO WIN BAHRAIN GP:

Sebastian Vettel produced a faultless drive from pole position to win the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of the the two Lotus cars of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. This is Red Bull Racing's first victory of 2012 and makes it four different winners in as many races this season.

It was Vettel's 22nd career F1 victory and his first of the season. He is the fourth different winner in four races.

If Vettel's pace in qualifying was a surprise, it was the Lotus' performance on race day which caught the eye. Raikkonen, starting in 11th place, had a chance to win the race and was frustrated afterwards not to have done so. It's a sign of how sharp the 2007 champion is after his two year layoff and how Lotus has produced a very good car.

Lotus brought a raft of updates to this race including a new rear wing, floor and barge boards and this made an already fast and consistent car into arguably the fastest car of the weekend.

Vettel now leads the Drivers World Championship, whilst Red Bull take over the lead of the Constructors' World Championship as McLaren had a very poor day in the office which saw Jenson Button retire on the penultimate lap and Lewis Hamilton suffer two slow pit-stops resulting in an eighth position finish. In total he lost 16 seconds and inevitably ended up with a lot of traffic. But McLaren were struggling anyway with race pace and the rear tyre wear was clear from early on in the race.

Red Bull collected thirty-seven points this afternoon to McLaren's three as Mark Webber continued his consistent form and finished the Grand Prix in fourth place, for the fourth time this season.

Vettel led the race from lights-to-flag and a perfect start allowed him to open up a gap of almost six seconds before the first round of pit-stops. Behind him, both Lotus' had scythed through the field during the opening stint and found themselves knocking on the door of the podium after their first tyre change. During these stops Raikkonen opted for another set of the soft option tyre, unlike many of the field, and he was soon up into second position after passing Webber and Grosjean before the second phase of pit-stops.

During the second stops and seeing Lotus' pace on the soft tyre, Red Bull gave Vettel another set of softs to try and maintain the gap to Raikkonen as the Finn was now on a new set of prime tyres. The Lotus once again showed very good pace as the tyres got older and the former World Champion closed to within 0.5 seconds of the current World Champion. Raikkonen was unable to pass Vettel before the final set of pit-stops and barring a couple of fast laps from Raikkonen the gap stayed constant through to the end of the race.

Grosjean had a fairly quiet race after a brilliant first stint and he claimed France's first podium finish since Jean Alesi in 1998. The same can be said for Webber who had a fairly lonely afternoon, finishing the race in the middle on a fourty-five second chasm between third and fifth position.

Nico Rosberg had a very eventful race, having dropped down to ninth from the start he managed to claw his way back to fifth position, making two very aggressive defensive moves in the process on Hamilton and Fernando Alonso which landed him in trouble with the stewards. However they ruled that Hamilton was always behind Rosberg when he made the move to block and so awarded no penalty.

Rosberg, like Raikkonen, chose to run his extra set of option tyres during the second phase of the race, however he could not make them last the distance of the Lotus' and was unable to make any strides towards Webber.

Behind Rosberg was Paul Di Resta, the Scot making just two stops during the race as he defended very well to keep Alonso and Hamilton at bay until the chequered flag. Alonso was another very fast starter, making his way up to fifth position during the first lap, although the Ferrari driver was unable to match the pace of Rosberg and Webber. Hamilton had a frustrating race, compounded by two slow pit-stops which both surrounded the rear left corner that cost Button time in Shanghai.

Felipe Massa was much closer to his team mate than previously and finished the race in ninth place. Michael Schumacher added another point to his solitary point from Malaysia as he made his way from twenty-second on the grid to take the final points position.

Sergio Perez's Sauber headed the remainder of the field, as he too had a quiet race ahead of the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. Vergne was able to beat team mate Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian made a poor start from sixth on the grid and finished the race in fifteenth, the Toro Rosso's either side of Kamui Kobayashi in sister Sauber.

The Caterham cars came home line astern, with Vitaly Petrov beating Heikki Kovalainen to sixteenth place. Kovalainen received a puncture on the first lap, which ruined any chances of him progressing on from a great qualifying effort.

Timo Glock was the only finisher for Marussia after Charles Pic retired from the race on lap 25. Glock came home ahead of the HRT pairing, Pedro De La Rosa once again finishing ahead of Narain Karthikeyan.

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX, Sakhir Circuit, 57 laps

1. Vettel Red Bull 1h35:10.990

2. Raikkonen Lotus + 3.333

3. Grosjean Lotus + 10.194

4. Webber Red Bull + 38.788

5. Rosberg Mercedes + 55.460

6. Di Resta Force India + 57.543

7. Alonso Ferrari + 57.803

8. Hamilton McLaren + 58.984

9. Massa Ferrari + 1:04.999

10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:11.490

11. Perez Sauber + 1:12.702

12. Hulkenberg Force India + 1:16.539

13. Vergne Toro Rosso + 1:30.334

14. Kobayashi Sauber + 1:33.723

15. Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 1 lap

16. Petrov Caterham + 1 lap

17. Kovalainen Caterham + 1 lap

18. Button McLaren + 1 lap

19. Glock Marussia + 2 laps

20. De la Rosa HRT + 2 laps

21. Karthikeyan HRT + 2 laps

22. Senna Williams + 3 laps

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Alonso 'appreciates' early-season 'present'

Fernando Alonso is thankful that Ferrari have received a couple of "presents" so far this season, but raised concern about the performance of the car.

Not much was expected from Alonso and Ferrari during the first few races of the 2012 after a pre-season campaign of doom and gloom. However, the Spaniard finds himself just 10 points behind Championship leader Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' standings after four races.

Although Alonso, who started P9 in Bahrain and finished P7, is delighted to be within touching distance of the leaders, he knows Ferrari can't always depend on gifts from their rivals.

"After four races, with 100 points to win, being eight or 10 points behind the leader is completely unthinkable," he is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"It's a bit like a present what we've had in these first four races. We appreciate it and we take it, but leaving the points aside, what worries the team is the performance of the car, and that we have to improve it right away for Barcelona."

There were positives and negatives for Ferrari in Bahrain as Alonso managed to finish ahead of both McLarens, but on the down side they were well off the pace of race winner Vettel.

"I think we have mixed feelings, because on the one hand we were in front of both the McLarens at the end of the race, which is something we didn't expect after quali," he said.

"On the other side we are 57 seconds away from the winner, so this is bigger than any other race in 2012. So we need to look at why we were so far from the podium positions."

Mika: Here's saying something (Steve OZCubans's jaw will hit the floor hearing this from me ): I used to REALLY dislike Alonso as I found him sulky and immature but of late, especially considering Ferrari are not really 'There' for podiums, I am finding Fernando rather grounded and mature in the way he presents himself. He's starting to grow on me as a driver and is behaving like a double world champion. You never know, with all the winners thus far, it's fair to assume we will have more newer winners which means clawing for points even those not winning podiums but rather consistant points scorers could be in the running for the WDC. Can Fernando win his third WDC?

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen: We weren't fast enough

Kimi Raikkonen has lamented Lotus' lack of pace which prevented him - along with a mistake of his own - from winning the Bahrain GP.

Four races into his Formula One career, the Finn was back on the podium, finishing runner-up to Sebastian Vettel at the Sakhir circuit.

Raikkonen, though, was left to wonder about what could have been if only his one serious attempt to overtake Vettel had come off.

"I think we gave ourselves a chance but I'm disappointed I didn't manage to win it," he said.

"I made a small mistake at the beginning, lost one place to Ferrari, and I had to get that place back.

"In the end we were not fast enough to win.

"I got one chance to get past Sebastian but I chose the wrong side.

"That was the only chance really."

The Finn at least found something to be cheer about as Lotus achieved a ouble podium finish with team-mate Romain Grosjean in third as, unlike in China, the team made the right calls.

"At least we got on the podium with both cars.

"In the last race we failed and probably people thought we were a bit stupid.

"But it turned out to be the right direction and the team deserves what it has achieved today."

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Whitmarsh rallies his troops

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has rallied his troops after their nightmare display in Bahrain, urging them to "pull together".

Many expected Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to challenge for the win at the Sakhir circuit, especially after they qualified P2 and P4 respectively, but they ended up scoring just four points between them.

Hamilton finished eighth, but his race was thrown off course very early on as the team's pit stop woes continued. A problem with the left rear meant that his first two stops were considerably slower than those of his main challengers.

It was not the first time that the team had issues with the left rear during pit stops as Button also suffered the same fate in China last week.

Whitmarsh concedes they need to get their act together during pit stops, but also urged the team not to be too hard on the mechanics responsible for the errors.

"We lost a lot of time and places for Lewis [during the stops]," he told BBC Sport.

"More of a concern is generally we weren't quick enough. The frustration gets compounded when you don't perform during the stops. Ultimately, we have got to look at technique and how we do it.

"These guys volunteer to put themselves in the spotlight. There is an enormous amount of stress on them. We changed him for the last stop because he was stressed but it's our job to protect them. Things go wrong and that's life. We need to make sure we pull together."

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Rosberg got 'the most' out

Nico Rosberg accepts his fifth placed finish in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix was the best he could have hoped for, especially after his dismal opening lap.

Although Mercedes are known for their flying starts, Rosberg's was anything but with the German dropping from fifth to ninth on lap one.

The Chinese GP winner fought his way back through the field but could only manage fifth place, almost a minute behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

"I had a pretty bad first lap today, but after that I was able to recover and get the most of our race," Rosberg said.

"We had a good strategy and the pace of the car was pretty strong compared to the start of the season, although it was difficult to make progress as there were a lot of cars fighting for the same positions.

"Overall I'm happy with our weekend as fifth place gives me a few more points and I can see that we are making progress.

"Now we have a short break where we can work hard in the factory ready for the start of the European season."

Meanwhile, the stewards cleared Rosberg of dangerous driver after he was investigated in two separate incidents, one involving Lewis Hamilton and another with Fernando Alonso.

However, the stewards "unanimously decided to take no further action."

Rosberg's team-mate had tough time on Sunday as Michael Schumacher had to fight his way through the field from 22nd place after a DRS issue in qualifying and a gearbox penalty.

But fight he did with the German finishing in 10th place and scoring only his second point of the season.

"Considering where I started the race today, it's a positive that I was able to fight up to 10th place, score a point and finish a dry race this season," he said.

"The tyres obviously played a large part in the race today, and in the conditions here, we had to adapt the driving style to keep the tyres together.

"It will be good to have the time now before Barcelona to sort out some issues and prepare our updates for the test days in Mugello."

[MIKA27]

Grosjean: Next step is a victory

Romain Grosjean may be fresh from his maiden F1 podium but already the Frenchman is dreaming of bigger and better - his first race win.

Starting seventh on the grid, the Lotus racer, who is in only his first full season in Formula One, put in a steady and mature drive on his way to third place.

Grosjean's first F1 podium came on the back of his first points, which he scored in China, and, he's hoping that the next step won't be too far off.

"It was great, a great feeling so far," he said. "I'm very proud of the team.

We knew we had a good car but I think we were a little bit surprised at the beginning about where we were.

"It turned out to be not too bad in the end and I think our car is very competitive. I think we can be very happy with what we did.

"The first points is one step and the next step I thought it would take time but we can be happy and have a week off to enjoy."

He added: "I'm very happy to get my first podium. The next target is victory."

MIKA: Watch this guy!! I can easily see him becomming very much like Schumacher in years to come. Seems like a very level headed and grounded driver.

[MIKA27]

Sun: Ferrari, McLaren, Sauber, STR

There were points in Bahrain for Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and, finally, for Felipe Massa...

Ferrari:

Fernando Alonso: "It went a bit better than we feared and we managed to limit the damage. We had arrived here eight points down on the championship leader and we leave only two more points adrift. To finish this run of four races in this situation is positive, even if there is no point in denying that we cannot be happy with it in general terms. Now, it's clear we have to make a step forward, because we cannot always count on the failings of others. For example, we closed the points gap to McLaren, something which I certainly would not have believed possible if it had been suggested yesterday. At the same time, we finished the race almost a minute behind the winner, which had never happened so far this year. I expected Lotus to be very competitive because they have been all weekend. So far it's been good that there hasn't been just one driver picking up the maximum points, as happened for example last year. As for the race, I can't say anything I didn't say already a week ago in Shanghai: the car is practically the same. At some points we were strong, in others much less so, all dependent on tyre behaviour. We lack top speed and when you are in a tight duel, that is penalising. As for the incident with Rosberg, I can only say that if, instead of such a wide run-off area there had been a wall, I'm not sure I'd be here now to talk about it. A shame that I was missing one more straight to get past Di Resta in the end: we could have picked up a few more little points which would have been handy. I said it earlier, we have to improve the car as quickly as possible: in Barcelona, we will have some major updates but so will the others and how good a job we will have done we will only discover on track at Montmelo."

Felipe Massa: "It was definitely not a very easy race, but in the end, we managed to do a good job and, for the first time this year, finish in the points. It's a nice result at this time, but we are well aware that it is not Ferrari's style to be happy with a ninth place. Having said that, it is a performance that gives me confidence for the rest of the season. Clearly we have to improve the performance of the car as soon as possible to be able to fight for worthwhile positions. In Barcelona, everyone will bring major updates and we will have had to do have done a better job than the others because we have to make up the ground lost at the start of this championship. As for the race, I think the decision to save a set of new Softs yesterday was the right one. A shame I lost a place to Rosberg in the pit stop: if I had managed to stay ahead of him, maybe I could have got a better result. I suffered especially with the rears and, in the end, I was not going flat out because I did not want to end up in trouble with tyre degradation."

McLaren:

Lewis Hamilton: "There are good times and bad times in motor racing. I guess this was just one of those days. By rights we should have been fighting to finish in the top four today, but it didn't work out like that in the end. The delays in the pits were a big part of that, of course. For the driver sitting in the car, that's always frustrating, because you're just waiting and there's nothing you can do to help. We lost a bit of world championship momentum today - but, on the plus side, we still picked up four world championship points, and every point you score is valuable in a season as close-fought as this one. Now we'll head into the European season, and it's clear that we've got to do two things: we've got to work on the pace of our car and we've got to improve our pitstops."

Jenson Button: "I didn't have a very good balance today: I was struggling all afternoon with oversteer. We were taking front wing out of the car all the way through the race, in fact. However, my final stint was a long one, and, if I hadn't struck trouble, I reckon things would have got quite interesting in the final laps. Some drivers had pushed harder at the start of that stint, but I'd been looking after my tyres. Into the last five laps, I started pushing pretty hard, and I caught up with Paul [di Resta] and Nico [Rosberg]. But, just as I braked for the final corner [on lap 53], the right-front corner lifted up in the air and I realised I had a [left-rear] puncture. So I quickly radioed the team, and pitted. In the last few laps, the car sounded really noisy. I think the initial problem was an exhaust failure, then my puncture, and then a differential failure; so I had to retire. It's been a pretty difficult weekend for the whole team."

Sauber:

Sergio Perez: "We knew this circuit would not be an easy one for us and we were just too slow today. We tried both strategies and split them between the cars but today there was nothing that could have really helped us. I had a lot of tyre degradation and due to a problem at the pit stop we lost a place and a point to Michael (Schumacher). He was very fast on the straights. I had no chance to get him. Next time we'll do better again."

Kamui Kobayashi: "Well, for me the start was too slow. I had too much wheelspin and we will look into that. I started on a set of new medium compound tyres and we tried a two stop strategy but in the end it didn't work out. The tyres degraded quicker than we hoped and I had to do three stops as well with the last one seven laps before the end. I can't see anything that we could have actually done better in today's race. Our problem was a general lack of speed and we will work hard to fix it."

Toro Rosso:

Jean-Eric Vergne: "It's the same pattern as in China, in that I manage to have a good pace in the race, but I'm slow in qualifying. We must find a solution to this, because if we can start further forward with the pace we have, then we should see a more positive result on Sunday. I gave it my all today, even though I started from far back. Now we have a bit of a break in terms of races, but we will have the test at Mugello where we must look carefully at what we can do, hoping to arrive in Barcelona with an even better car for the Spanish Grand Prix. As for myself, I need to analyse what is not working for me in qualifying. As a Frenchman, I have say I think it's great that Romain is on the podium and I am super happy for him. It would be nice if I can end up with a car as competitive as his and fight with him for a podium place!"

Daniel Ricciardo: "That was not what I was hoping for after starting from sixth on the grid. The opening lap changed my whole race. My initial launch off the line wasn't great and after that I seemed to go backwards, which made for a very frustrating afternoon. The front wing damage also made matters worse. I had a good chance to have a strong race today, but losing all those places at the start cost me dear. I need to be hard on myself now and find out what I did wrong to make sure I don't do it again. It was a race to forget."

[MIKA27]

Sun: Red Bull, Lotus, Merc, FIndia

Sebastian Vettel claimed his first win of the season in Bahrain, beating the Lotus' of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean...

Red Bull:

Sebastian Vettel: "It was an incredible race, extremely tough. A good start was crucial and I was able to pull away from the pack, which was a big advantage as we always had to go on scrubbed tyres due to the fact we had used almost all of them in qualifying yesterday. Kimi was very quick and so was Grosjean. But everything seemed to work well today; strategy was good and I can only say a big thank you to the whole team and the guys in the garage. I said it yesterday, but they have done an incredible job over the last four races, the amount of work they had to do was so much. We asked them for this and for that, for tweaks here and there and they came with new parts, then old parts, then news parts again, back and forth and spent a lot of time in the garage trying to get the car to our liking. But we got there. I was very happy with qualifying today and all throughout the race. Kimi was fast today and it was close, but I am extremely happy and very proud of the team."

Mark Webber: "It wasn't a bad start. I didn't have KERS for the first lap, so it was difficult to put pressure on Lewis, but then I got it back. In the first two stints, I couldn't stay with those guys - the two Lotus' and Seb - so I had to consolidate from there. Lotus has a tidy car and when everything comes together, it works well - they did a good job today and it shows how tight the Championship is; there have been four different winners. I got some good points today and both drivers and Red Bull Racing are doing well in the Championships. It wasn't the most exciting race for me, but it's been a good start to the Championship. I'm looking forward to getting back to racing in Europe."

Lotus F1:

Kimi Raikkonen: "It's a great result for the team and we deserve it as everyone has been working very hard. To be honest, I'm slightly disappointed we didn't take the win because we had the pace. I only had one chance to overtake Sebastian (Vettel) and unfortunately I chose the wrong side to try and get past. If I hadn't made a small mistake at the start and allowed Felipe (Massa) to get through then maybe it would have been a different story, as we spent quite a lot of time fighting with him. At the end of the day, it's good to have both cars on the podium, especially after last race which didn't go to plan, but I honestly think we could have taken the victory today."

Romain Grosjean: "It's a great feeling to get my first podium, and I'm really proud of the whole team for doing an incredible job today. We've known all season how quick the car can be, but with such a tight field any small mistakes can make a huge difference. Today I think we got everything right, and we've finally been able to prove how competitive we are. Last week I was aiming for my first points, this week I was hoping for top five, but here we are on the podium so who knows where we can go from here! We can be very happy with what we've achieved today; hopefully we can now head to the Mugello test and find that last bit of to push us right to the top."

Mercedes:

Nico Rosberg: "I had a pretty bad first lap today, but after that I was able to recover and get the most of our race. We had a good strategy and the pace of the car was pretty strong compared to the start of the season, although it was difficult to make progress as there were a lot of cars fighting for the same positions. Overall I'm happy with our weekend as fifth place gives me a few more points and I can see that we are making progress. Now we have a short break where we can work hard in the factory ready for the start of the European season. Before that, I'm looking forward to visiting the DTM opening race in Hockenheim next Saturday. It's my first chance to return to Germany after two good weekends, particularly of course the win in China, and I look forward to celebrating that together with our fans."

Michael Schumacher: "Considering where I started the race today, it's a positive that I was able to fight up to 10th place, score a point and finish a dry race this season. The tyres obviously played a large part in the race today, and in the conditions here, we had to adapt the driving style to keep the tyres together. It will be good to have the time now before Barcelona to sort out some issues and prepare our updates for the test days in Mugello. Next weekend, the DTM starts in Hockenheim and I am looking forward to my first visit to a DTM race for twenty years."

Force India:

Paul di Resta: "The result today is massive for us. The team did an amazing job all weekend, the strategy came together and the pit-stops were perfect. We knew it would be a big ask to make only two stops and it was a close run thing at the end because my tyres completely went away on the final lap. I had Fernando [Alonso] very close behind me, but I saved a bit of KERS coming out of the final corner and managed to stay ahead. Apart from that, the car has been awesome. So we go away from here as a very happy team with a few weeks to reflect on things and determined to arrive in Barcelona in fighting form."

Nico Hulkenberg: "I think my race was decided at the very start when I had some clutch issues and the anti-stall kicked in, which really compromised my getaway and dropped me right to the back of the pack. From then on it was a long, hard fight back through the field, and it was hard work coming through the traffic. I made it to P12, but there wasn't much more I could do. So a tough race for me, but great to see Paul pick up some points."

[MIKA27]

Sun: Caterham, Marussia, HRT, Williams

Caterham had a solid afternoon, finishing 16th and 17th, and again ahead of Marussia and HRT while Williams retired...

Caterham:

Vitaly Petrov: "That was a really interesting race, particularly at the start when there was a lot of overtaking and it was good to be right in the middle of the early battles. We made some very good pitstops, quicker than in China and good enough to help me stay out ahead of Ricciardo who I had a good battle with for quite a lot of the race. It was only towards the end when we had to let the leaders pass that we started losing a bit of time but today's performance shows again how strong we can be on Sundays. This has been a good weekend all round and a great way to end the first four flyaway races. We have a couple of weeks now until the next race in Spain and we'll head there feeling very positive about how we keep progressing."

Heikki Kovalainen: "I had a good start but then had contact with a car behind in turn 10 which caused a rear left puncture. We pitted immediately and from then on it was basically about putting in as strong a race as I could. I passed Glock quickly and pulled out a good gap to him and then went after my team mate and Ricciardo. It's obviously a bit frustrating to have had the puncture on the first lap, but we can take a number of positives from this weekend, particularly from the pace we showed in qualifying and from the way we were able to look after the tyres, so overall it's been pretty good."

Marussia:

Timo Glock: "It was a very difficult race today. I had no balance in the car, no speed and no chance to push after the second or third la. The rear tyres dropped off massively and every time I did try to push, the rears locked under braking and I had no braking stability. Unfortunately this is a weekend to learn from then put behind us quite quickly. We have had a complex journey from Friday to Sunday and we need to retrace our steps and look at the set-up decisions we made in order to understand how we can improve and apply the updated package from Spain."

Charles Pic: "Naturally I am disappointed, as the race was tough but I was quite happy with the car and managing the tyre wear quite well. Despite the challenging track conditions I was still able to push and I think we were sitting quite well versus the pace of the Caterhams. Unfortunately on lap 24 I had a problem with the Air Valve System and I had no option but to retire the car, which is frustrating for me and the team as they have worked very hard to keep us moving forward here all weekend. As we head to Europe now I have to be pleased with the opening few races in general, but we need to be focused now on improvements for Spain."

HRT:

Pedro de la Rosa: "It was a tough race, but we finished with both cars and that is positive for the team. The truth is that our rhythm wasn't what we'd hoped for. We have to gain some speed per lap, more than anything because we want to be fighting our rivals on a consistent basis. In today's race we didn't have sufficient rhythm. Looking back it's true that we've taken a giant stride but we can't be satisfied with just that. We've improved a lot but we're at the starting blocks, where we should have been in Australia. We've got very good individuals on board, a new workshop where we can build on a solid base, and that is the most positive thing. Now we want to get back to work on the car and try new things out. We're really looking forward to Europe.'

Narain Karthikeyan: "The start today was good, but then the first few laps were quite tough because there was dust everywhere. I settled behind Pedro but I think I pushed too hard in the first stint because my tyres were dead very quickly. After my first pitstop, I improved a lot and from there my lap times were consistent. We did a four-stop strategy, which I think went very well, and in the end we were only half a second behind Pedro at the checkered flag. My race performance was extremely good, I'd say it was my best Grand Prix so far this season, so I'm very happy about that."

Williams:

Bruno Senna: "We did everything right on the first lap but unfortunately I was struggling to keep the pace to the cars in front. I think we were quite aggressive with the set-up today but sometimes you don't get it right. Towards the end I started feeling a lot of vibration in the brake pedal. The engineers were looking at it, so I kept pushing as you never know what will happen, but the vibration got worse and the decision was made to pit to avoid risking an accident. It's disappointing after two points finishes, but it's a long season."

Pastor Maldonado: "I had a puncture in the exit of Turn 1 and then spun on the straight. I'm disappointed for the team as the performance was there. Starting from the back of the pack I was fighting every lap. The car was responding well and I was able to make up many positions. I feel today we could have scored more points but unfortunately it wasn't to be."

[MIKA27]

Stewards clear Rosberg of dangerous driving

The FIA has cleared Nico Rosberg of dangerous driving after he was involved in two racing incidents, one with Lewis Hamilton and the other with Fernando Alonso.

The first incident involving the McLaren driver happened on lap 10 between turns three and four. Rosberg forced Hamilton onto the concrete run-off as he attempted an overtake which he successfully completed.

The second incident with Alonso was almost an exact clone, but the Spaniard failed to complete his pass on Rosberg and later complained over the radio that he was pushed wide by the German.

Both drivers came dangerously close to hitting the barrier which protrudes into the run-off to give access to an escape road.

The stewards announced that both incidents would be investigated after the race, but both have been put down to 'racing incidents' and therefore no action will be taken against any of the three drivers.

Another incident involving Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez in the pitlane was also dismissed.

The FIA gave the following explanations:

Rosberg vs. Hamilton

In relation to the incident involving Car 8 Nico Rosberg and Car 4 Lewis Hamilton the Stewards, having heard from both drivers and team representatives Messrs R Meadows and S Michael, and having examined the video and telemetry evidence, unanimously decide to take no further action.

In accordance with Article 16.1 (last paragraph) the matter was investigated after the Race.

Reasons

1. The driver of Car 8 commenced his move to the right after the exit from T3 and moved to the right in a constant and continuous straight line manner, not making any sudden movements (as evidenced by telemetry and video evidence) and;

2. At the time he commenced his move, Car 4 was behind him and no part of his car was alongside Car 8 and;

3. The driver of Car 8 made the move to the right prior to the driver of Car 4 making the same move and;

4. For more than half of the distance travelled by Car 8 in moving in a straight line towards the right hand edge of the track, Car 4 remained behind Car 8 and;

5. Because the delta speed between the two cars was quite significant it was difficult for Car 8 to detect the exact position of Car 4 in relation to his own car;

6. Had a significant portion of Car 4 been alongside that of Car 8 whilst Car 4 still remained within the confines of the track, then the actions of Car 8 may not have been considered legitimate.

Rosberg vs. Alonso

In relation to the incident involving Car 8 Nico Rosberg and Car 5 Fernando Alonso the Stewards, having heard from both drivers and team representatives Messrs R Meadows and M Rivola, and having examined the video and telemetry evidence, unanimously decide to take no further action.

In accordance with Article 16.1 (last paragraph) the matter was investigated after the Race.

Reasons

1. The driver of Car 8 commenced his move to the right after the exit from T3 and moved to the right in a

constant and continuous straight line manner, not making any sudden movements (as evidenced by

telemetry and video evidence) and;

2. At the time he commenced his move, Car 5 was behind him and no part of his car was alongside Car 8 and;

3. The driver of Car 8 made the move to the right prior to the driver of Car 5 making the same move and;

4. For more than half of the distance travelled by Car 8 in moving in a straight line towards the right hand

edge of the track, Car 5 remained behind Car 8 and;

5. Because the delta speed between the two cars was quite significant it was difficult for Car 8 to detect the exact position of Car 5 in relation to his own car;

6. No part of Car 5 was alongside that of Car 8.

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Schumacher criticises limiting Pirelli tyres

Michael Schumacher has criticised Pirelli for the way in which their tyres degrade during a race, which means drivers are forced to race conservatively.

The Mercedes driver couldn't make the progress he had hoped to make in Bahrain after starting 22nd. He finished tenth, but said the tyres were the limiting factor.

"The tyres obviously played a large part in the race today, and in the conditions here, we had to adapt the driving style to keep the tyres together," he said after the race.

"The main thing I feel unhappy about is that everyone has to drive well below a driver's, and in particular, the cars limit to maintain the tyres.

"I just question whether the tyres should play such a big importance, or whether they should last a bit longer - and that you can drive at normal racing car speed and not cruise around like we have a safety car."

The seven-time world champion says it's unacceptable for Pirelli to construct tyres which limit the car's and driver's performance and says they should think about changing them in the future.

"I'm not happy about the situation, lets see what happens in future. If it would be a one-off car issue, then you could say it's up on us to deal with it. But basically it is everybody with maybe one or two exceptions. And if it is 80 per cent of the field that has this problem, then maybe the tyre supplier should think about that."

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Ecclestone: 'Deal done for French GP return'

Bernie Ecclestone confirmed on Sunday during the Bahrain Grand Prix that a deal for France to return to the Formula 1 calendar is 'done'.

The 81-year-old didn't mention which track would host the event, but it's more than likely the Paul Ricard circuit, which is owned by Ecclestone.

"Yes," he told L'Equipe when asked if France would make its return in 2013. "The deal is done.

"We agreed the financial terms with the sports minister David Douillet, in my office on Tuesday."

Ecclestone added that contracts are yet to be signed, but it's just a matter of time before they are.

"We are still discussing a few things about money, but for me, there is no doubt, we will sign it now."

Presidential elections in the country aren't a concern either: "Whatever happens, I don't care. That's a local issue that doesn't concern me," he concluded.