Formula One 2011

[Katsuya]

...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I think I would actually die from laughter if Baumgartner comes back. I mean, he wasn't particularly that bad, but it makes no sense, unless he's another one of Kolles' old buddies ala Karthikeyan.

[LUKIE]

I've started playing F1 again, gearing up for the start of the season!

[METALMAN]

Normally I'd lend my full support to those wishing to rid themselves of a despotic monarchy but they could have picked a more convenient time. >_>

[Adam]

I hate the Bahrain GP, so if it doesn't go ahead it's not going to bother me too much.

[Lineker]

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone will wait until next week to make a decision on whether or not the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead in the wake of the political turmoil going on in the Gulf state.

With tensions high following a number of deaths and injuries to protesters after police forcefully confronted them in Manama in the early hours of Thursday, doubts have emerged about whether F1's season opener can still go ahead.

Bahrain GP officials are adamant, however, that they are still pushing ahead with plans for the March 13 race - and Ecclestone himself has said that he will not make a snap decision until the situation becomes clearer.

Speaking to The Press Association, Ecclestone said that he had been kept up-to-date with events by the Bahrain royal family - and that a call on the viability of the race will come next week.

"It's not good, is it?" he said. "We'll have to keep our eye on things and make a decision quickly.

"I spoke to the Crown Prince this morning. He doesn't know any more than you or I, but they're monitoring exactly what is going on.

"Next week we will make a decision on what we are going to do."

F1 teams are due to meet in Barcelona on Friday to discuss the Bahrain situation, with teams set to ship their cars to the Middle East next week for the final pre-season test that takes place on March 3-6.

I reckon it probably will end up going ahead, too much money to be lost and sponsor commitments etc. to warrant such a late cancellation.

[Katsuya]

So, turns out Hispania's big thing was that Liuzzi is testing for them this weekend. I'd say it's a surprise since I doubt that he's a particularly big sponsorship bringer.

ETA: Red Bull have asked the circuit owners at Catalunya if the teams would be able to stay on for the fourth test; they've said yes. Looks like they have a bit of a contingency plan there at least. Other people are suggesting they move the first race over to Abu Dhabi due to the fact it's close enough, or if there's a "backup" circuit they can go to (personally, I'd mark for something like a Jerez/Paul Ricard/whichever one of Hockenheim or Nurburgring they're not running this year).

Edited February 18, 2011 by Katsuya

[Lineker]

Sebastian Vettel snatched the fastest time from Fernando Alonso in the closing stages of day one of the latest winter test at Barcelona's Catalunya circuit.

On what may have been the hardest-to-read session of the winter so far, it took until lunchtime for the track to fully dry following Thursday's heavy rain.

That meant the majority of drivers' fastest times were set during short exploratory runs late in the morning just as the circuit was at the tipping point of being ready for slick tyres, before teams switched to longer runs in the afternoon.

Alonso's 1m25.485s in the Ferrari during this period looked set to stand as the day's best, as the Spaniard switched to mid-range stints in the afternoon, covering between eight and 17 laps at a time, with a pace generally starting in 1m27s then fading to 1m29s by the end of his run.

Vettel completed relatively little running until the closing stages of the day, when he started a pair of short runs, lapping mostly in the 1m26s during the first outing before re-emerging from the pits to blast in a 1m24.374s with nine minutes to go.

That pace deposed Alonso by a full second, although it seemed Red Bull might have been using super soft tyres, as Vettel's times dropped off by 1-2s for the remainder of his seven-lap run.

Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi again set good times during relatively short runs to put themselves third and fourth. Both also caused red flags during the day - the Sauber running dry during a fuel consumption evaluation, and Alguersuari going into the Turn 4 gravel.

McLaren had another fairly quiet day, with Jenson Button sitting out much of the afternoon and taking fifth.

Paul di Resta was not able to get the Force India on track until the final few hours, though when he did so he was able to swiftly move up to sixth despite only managing 24 laps all day.

There were more glitches at Williams, where Rubens Barrichello - the first to get good pace out of slicks in the morning - caused a red flag just before the lunch break and then was sidelined for nearly the whole afternoon while the team made a precautionary engine change. That left him seventh.

Eighth-placed Michael Schumacher spent his afternoon doing a race simulation in the Mercedes, covering a full grand prix distance broken up by quick pitstops. His pace tended to start in the 1m29s/1m30s region before going up by 2-3s over the course of his 13-15 lap stints.

His final total for the day was 89 laps, beaten only by Narain Karthikeyan in the 2010 Hispania (114 laps) and Jerome D'Ambrosio's Virgin (115). The latter pair were ninth and 11th, split by Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen, who lost some track time with a water leak.

It was a difficult day for Renault. Its intention had been to let Vitaly Petrov have most of the session after Nick Heidfeld had completed some pitstop practice, but after the German's early appearance, Petrov had to wait until late afternoon before he could join in, as a KERS software glitch kept the car in the garage.

Pos  Driver              Car/team              Time       Gap        Laps

 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m24.374s             37

 2.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m25.485s  + 1.111s   101

 3.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.638s  + 1.264s   57

 4.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.641s  + 1.267s   78

 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m26.365s  + 1.991s   77

 6.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m26.575s  + 2.201s   26

 7.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m26.912s  + 2.538s   52

 8.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m27.512s  + 3.138s   90

 9.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m28.393s  + 4.019s   116

10.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m30.065s  + 5.691s   54

11.  Jerome D-Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m30.950s  + 6.576s   116

12.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m35.174s  + 10.800s  20

13.  Nick Heidfeld       Renault               1m44.324s  + 19.950s  27


All timing unofficial[/code]

Robert Kubica has left the intensive care unit at the Santa Corona hospital following his final operation and has now been moved into the rehabilitation department.

 

The latest on the Bahrain and Lotus/Renault situations:

[spoiler]Bernie Ecclestone insists he is becoming more hopeful that the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix will be able to go ahead as planned, and that the political situation in the region will calm - despite continuing unrest.


Concern has been growing over whether both the Bahrain Formula 1 race on 11-13 March and the final pre-season test at the Sakhir track on 3-6 March should take place following tension that saw several fatalities and large numbers of injuries when security forces dispersed protesters in Manama on Thursday.


Angry crowds have today gathered at the funerals of some of those killed in the violence, while pro-government demonstrations have also been held in Manama.


This weekend's scheduled GP2 Asia event at the Sakhir circuit has already been called off, but Ecclestone believes the situation is improving and that the GP2 races might have gone ahead had the decision been taken today.


"I haven't spoken to anyone in the Crown Prince's office this morning, but I've spoken to our people who are there," Ecclestone told the BBC.


"We've pulled the GP2 race because it's the Asia series so it's not terribly important and it doesn't send a bad message to anybody, so we don't want to take any chances.


"That was yesterday we decided to do that. Probably today if we had to make the same decision, on the information I've got, we wouldn't do that.


"They say it's quiet and no big problems. They're there. I don't know if I was there and you were there we would say there are problems, but that's what people have said.


"I'm more hopeful today than I was yesterday."


He insisted that it would be wrong for F1 to decide to cancel the race on purely political grounds.


"It seems as if people thought it was democratic [in Bahrain] a few weeks ago," Ecclestone said. "Let's wait and see. We don't know what the protest is really about.


"We've never ever, ever, ever been involved in religion and politics. We don't make decisions based on those things. It's not for us to run a country.


"I hope we don't have to do anything, I hope things will just carry on as usual."


Williams chairman Adam Parr said teams would be keen for the race to take place - but that F1 should be 'sensitive' to wider events in the regions it visits.


"We would be very disappointed if we were unable to start our season in Bahrain," Parr told Reuters.


"We want to make a positive contribution to the countries that we visit and our intention is always to be there as a positive presence. If that were not to be the case, we would not want to make a negative impact.


"Clearly if Formula 1 were to become a focal point of unrest, that would be a concern. It's not just about the safety of those involved but being sensitive to what is going on in the country."


One pressing consideration for teams is that equipment and personnel will have to head to Bahrain as early as next week if the 3-6 March test goes ahead.


Possible alternatives for the test will be top of the agenda at a pre-planned meeting of FOTA's sporting rules committee following the Barcelona test session this evening.


With only 15 days of pre-season testing, teams are eager that the Sakhir running is not cancelled outright. Barcelona and Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina track are available as potential alternative venues, and the Portimao circuit in Portugal has been keen to attract F1 testing again after a two-year gap.


Jerez has also been mooted, though it currently has a 125cc motorcycle test planned for the dates of the Bahrain F1 test.


AUTOSPORT understands that teams would like any substitute venue to offer warm weather conditions if possible so that temperatures are similar to Bahrain.


A final decision on the test plans tonight is unlikely, though FOTA is set to decide on a list of alternatives for if the Bahrain test is cancelled.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has admitted there is now more uncertainty about the Bahrain Grand Prix after the government cracked down on protests on Friday afternoon.


Ecclestone has said this morning in an interview with the BBC that he was "more hopeful" the race would take place despite the unrest in the country.


The situation, however, worsened in the afternoon, with Bahraini troops shooting at demonstrators and reportedly wounding many of them.


Speaking to the BBC again in the afternoon, Ecclestone conceded the situation was not as positive as before.


"We should wait and see what happens over the weekend," Ecclestone said.


"I don't know what has happened this afternoon because I've been travelling but from what I've been told it's a bit different to this morning because of this funeral that's gone on which is what you would expect I suppose."


He added: "I just think things have changed and that we should wait and see over the weekend exactly what changes there have been."


The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) was meeting in Barcelona this afternoon to discuss its stance on the Bahrain Grand Prix and possible alternatives for the final test of the winter if the Sakhir event is cancelled.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Team Lotus has hit back at Proton after the Malaysian car maker claimed the team had asked for a big sum of money to end their naming rights dispute.


As the public war of words continued between the two parties, Lotus issued a statement on Friday refuting claims from Proton, which had claimed in another statement on Thursday that Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes had asked for up to £37 million to settle the naming row.


"The statement contained a number of factual errors that are at best misleading and at worst straight lies," said Lotus on Friday about Proton's claims.


"The case concerns the unlawful termination of 1MRT's licence to use the Lotus Racing name and Team Lotus Ventures' rightful ownership and usage of the Team Lotus name in Formula 1.


"Proton's statement contains a number of points that are designed to paint a very negative picture of the shareholders and founders of 1MRT and to cloud the truth ahead of the court case between 1MRT and Group Lotus, beginning in London on 21st March:


"Proton has now stated for the first time that 1MRT could have remedied the breaches in the licence agreement and continued to use the Lotus Racing name in 2011. None of this is true and is in direct contradiction to the reasons given at the time for termination of the Licence which said that the breaches alleged were not capable of remedy.


"Additionally, in a number of recent media articles it has become clear that the Renault F1 team were working on black and gold livery designs for their 2011 car in August 2010, well before the licence allowing 1MRT to use the Lotus Racing name was terminated.


"The only possible reason this livery was being planned was to promote Renault F1's sponsorship with Lotus Cars, using a classic Team Lotus F1 livery to cement their brands' relationship in the public arena. This begs the obvious question - If Proton were happy to allow 1MRT to continue to operate under the Licence and use the Lotus name, why were their employees at Group Lotus working with Renault F1 arranging a sponsorship deal which was in direct contravention of the exclusive licence given to 1MRT and using a livery so obviously owned by Team Lotus Ventures and not Group Lotus.


"Unfortunately Proton's assertion that 1MRT could have continued to use the Lotus Racing name in 2011 is made to avoid the obvious conclusion that Group Lotus was itself in fundamental breach of the 1MRT licence, as is proved by their own partners at Renault F1 telling the truth about when they started working with Group Lotus on their proposed sponsorship deal. Fundamentally Proton made it very clear that they no longer wanted to work with 1MRT and the facts of this will be borne out in the upcoming court case.


"Reference is also made to the sum of money offered to 1MRT for the Team Lotus name, suggesting that 1MRT shareholders were making unreasonable compensation demands of Proton. However, what Proton fails to mention is that the vast majority of the compensation sought by 1MRT was to cover the loss of FOM revenue awarded to the team for their efforts on track in 2010.


"1MRT asked Proton to indemnify them against the potential loss of prize money from FOM which would have resulted from 1MRT having to change its chassis name. The compensation sums being discussed for 1MRT leaving aside the FOM revenue were not overly generous, which is specifically why Proton has not included that in their statement yesterday.


"With the FOM revenue included the sums are reasonable - without referring to it Proton are able to paint 1MRT as greedy which is why they are deliberately excluding that key point."[/spoiler]


Mercedes GP has announced it has recruited former Renault chief Bob Bell as its new technical director.


His new role, which commences from 1 April, will see Bell reporting to team principal Ross Brawn and heading up the chassis team at Mercedes' Brackley base, allowing Brawn to take more of an overview of both the chassis design and engine parts of the organisation.


In a three-decade motorsport career, Bell worked for McLaren, Benetton and Jordan before coming into the spotlight when he became deputy technical director at Renault in 2001, and then being promoted to technical director two years later.


In the wake of the 'race fixing' scandal erupting in late-2009, Bell became acting Renault team principal following the departures of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. He oversaw the transition to the new Genii era and stayed on as managing director until leaving Renault last October.


Bell said he was "delighted and honoured" to become part of Mercedes.


"It will be a privilege to be a part of such a strong and determined organisation, and to be able to contribute to furthering the enviable heritage of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport," he said.


Brawn added: "Bob's appointment is a key step in the strengthening of our excellent technical team and we are pleased to have recruited one of the most experienced engineers in the sport.


"Bob will be an important asset to our team, bringing with him a wealth of Formula 1 knowledge and championship-winning experience, and we look forward to welcoming him at the start of April."


Williams has announced that it will unveil its final livery for 2011 during an online event on 24th February at 11:00 GMT, with technical director Sam Michael presenting a technical overview of the new car. Also, Schumi says his current expectation is that Mercedes can aim for a grand prix victory in 2011 but probably not a world championship bid.


Pirelli are happy with their soft tyres wear rate:

[spoiler]Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery insists the wear rate of its soft tyres is were it needs to be in order to force drivers to make two pitstops during races.


"The wear level is probably where it needs to be," Hembery told AUTOSPORT during testing at the Barcelona circuit on Friday.


"If it's a two-stop strategy, you can't give them a tyre that will last for 35 laps - otherwise that's a one-stop strategy.


"Where we would like to understand better is putting more rubber down onto the circuit. We also want to avoid having a dirty circuit where drivers can't move off line without pick-up," he added.


Pirelli has announced that it will take its hard and soft tyres to the first four races of the season, hoping the gap between the compounds will help the show.


The Italian manufacturer made some changes to its softer tyres for the Barcelona test, and Hembery admitted he would like to be able to test in hotter conditions.


"There are changes from Jerez to here with the soft compound, which has evolved, intended to give us more durability, stability. We still have to see when we have some higher temperatures," he said.


"We're suffering from testing here with some very cold temperatures and certainly at Jerez. For here we'll see in the analysis tonight, but we're not seeing the evolution of the circuit, the rubber being put down which will affect your wear rate between 30 and 40 per cent between a Friday and a Sunday.


"That's something, strangely, we didn't see at Jerez and that's new for us. We've got some ideas about why that might be but we want to see the results from here to see if it's the same.


"We're also hoping to get some higher temperatures, say 25 degrees plus, on the track surface. The track is very cold, when it's eight degrees for most of the day it's almost a superficial track temperature and that's something we're trying to understand because we've tested, by and large, in higher temperatures.


"We're open to learning and we need to know how representative these conditions are."


Hembery also conceded Pirelli would want to be able to test its rain tyres properly before the start of the season.


"If we could have a very good simulation of a wet race that would be fantastic," he said. "We could do with a real downpour and then a drying track. That would be ideal because they could get out on the wets and go through the phases to the intermediates and back onto the slicks.


"That's what's needed for all the teams, to go from full rain through to dry, or the other way, then they can work out the change over points."


He also said he favoured Paul Ricard as the venue for the final test of the winter if the Bahrain test is cancelled due to the unrest in the country.


"If I had the chance to go to Paul Ricard and gain some wet testing with the teams, from a tyre point of view that would be ideal. To come back here or to go to Jerez, it's cold, it's not going to give us any extra information. If not Paul Ricard, we'd prefer to go to Abu Dhabi where there's some heat.


"But there are a lot of question marks over what is going to happen over the next couple of weeks. It's going to be very difficult because the logistical demands on everyone are huge. So we all have to hope everything goes forward as planned, though that's currently a very difficult situation."[/spoiler]

[LUKIE]

The only reason I could understand the FIA pulling out of the Bahrain Grand Prix is out of protest to what the Bahrain Monarchy are doing to its people. There is no way the Bahrain people will cause security problems for the teams or the Grand Prix, because their issues are not with them. It's the Monarchy and the corruption.

[Rich]

The Monarchy are the ones holding the race though, means it can not be ruled out as a target as it would make a very vocal statement. Is it also in F1's best interest to be involved with a regime that is hurting and oppressing its people?

[Lineker]

Well a lot of governments (such as France and Britain) are advising against travel to Bahrain now, so it really is still all up in the air. But the decision will definately be made soon.

Formula 1 teams will back the decision made by Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA over whether the under-threat Bahrain Grand Prix will take place, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

The 2011 season opener, scheduled to be held on March 13, is in doubt because of unrest in Bahrain - which forced this weekend's GP2 Asia race to be canned. Horner, speaking on behalf of the Formula 1 Teams' Association (FOTA) after a meeting held after today's testing in Barcelona, insists that it's not down to the teams to make the call.

"It's obviously a really difficult situation in Bahrain, but we have complete trust in Bernie, FOM and the FIA to make the right decision. They will only send us there if it is safe.

"It would be a great shame to lose the race, but it's not the teams' decision - it's down to the promoter. Bernie and the FIA will have much more information than us and we will trust their decisions."

During the meeting, teams also discussed the upcoming pre-season test in Bahrain, due to start on March 3. Alternative venues were considered, but the decision whether to run there or not will depend on the status of the grand prix. Should the race be cancelled, FOTA would switch to a different venue.

"One is linked to the other; they are only a week apart," said Horner. "It wouldn't make sense to go and test there if the race wasn't to happen. We will wait for feedback from FOM and the FIA and make a decision accordingly. We are looking at some alternatives because we don't know whether we can go to Bahrain."

Horner added that he expects a final decision "at some point during the next week."

[LUKIE]

The Monarchy are the ones holding the race though, means it can not be ruled out as a target as it would make a very vocal statement. Is it also in F1's best interest to be involved with a regime that is hurting and oppressing its people?

The only reason I could understand the FIA pulling out of the Bahrain Grand Prix is out of protest to what the Bahrain Monarchy are doing to its people.

[Rich]

Shorry...

My other point still stands

[Lineker]

Sebastian Vettel was fastest again on day two of the Barcelona test, as Red Bull went for shorter runs for the first time and gave a hint of its potential.

The world champion went for a string of qualifying-style one and two-lap runs late in the morning, during which he quickly went to the top of the times, and then repeatedly improved his pace until he reached the 1m23.315s that stood as the day's best.

In a very productive day for Red Bull, the team also got through a large number of pitstop simulations, though its attempt to get through a race distance in the afternoon was interrupted by first a red flag, then a problem with Vettel's car that caused a long pause in the garage.

Toro Rosso's good form continued as Jaime Alguersuari took second place. After some short runs in the 1m24s/1m25s region in the morning and then a longer stint through the middle of the day, the Spaniard's best time came on the first lap of a three-lap stint late on. He ended up 0.2 seconds slower than Vettel.

Ferrari's so-far excellent reliability took a slight downturn today, with an electrical problem stranding Fernando Alonso on an out-lap this morning. That was quickly rectified, but further mechanical problems kept Alonso in the garage for a while in the middle of the day.

Once repaired, the Ferrari was fast again, doing some very respectable long runs and then jumping to third with a 1m23.978s in the final half hour.

Another man to improve in the closing stages was Williams's Rubens Barrichello. He produced a string of low-1m24s at the start of 10-lap runs, and with 116 trouble-free laps completed, this was the team's best day of the winter so far in reliability terms.

Renault split the day between Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov as the latter had lost a lot of running to KERS issues yesterday. Petrov was 11th after 61 laps this morning, while Heidfeld did just 41 laps but made a late move into fifth place.

Sauber started the day with long runs for Kamui Kobayashi, before a five-lap stint this afternoon saw him set the 1m24.243s that would give him sixth place.

Nico Rosberg was seventh. He also started the day with some lengthy stints, as Mercedes showed better consistency over a run than of late, though it still appeared slightly lacking in outright pace compared to its main rivals. His best time of the day was on a qualifying-style one-lap dash.

McLaren had a troubled start to the day as hydraulic problems kept Jenson Button off-track for most of the morning. He only managed 54 laps during the day as he took eighth.

Paul di Resta was competitive in the morning with Force India but lost some afternoon running after going off at Turn 1 due to a throttle problem. He was ninth ahead of Lotus's Heikki Kovalainen, who lost a bit of time to a few mechanical issues during the day.

Lotus also gave Portuguese-Angolan driver Ricardo Teixeira 26 laps as the Formula 2 graduate pushes for a test position. He was 8.3s off the pace and slowest.

Another new sight today was Tonio Liuzzi in the Hispania. He had 70 laps to get used to the car and was 3.7s off the pace in 12th, ahead of Timo Glock. Virgin spent the whole morning during systems and aero checks, before picking up pace this afternoon once new parts had arrived.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver       Team                  Time                 Laps

 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      1m23.315s             104

 2.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.519s   + 0.204   97

 3.  Alonso       Ferrari               1m23.978s   + 0.663   90

 4.  Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m24.008s   + 0.693   118

 5.  Heidfeld     Renault               1m24.242s   + 0.927   41

 6.  Kobayashi    Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.243s   + 0.928   125

 7.  Rosberg      Mercedes              1m24.730s   + 1.415   131

 8.  Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.923s   + 1.608   54

 9.  Di Resta     Force India-Mercedes  1m25.194s   + 1.879   80

10.  Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m26.421s   + 3.106   58

11.  Petrov       Renault               1m26.884s   + 3.569   61

12.  Liuzzi       HRT-Coswrorth         1m27.044s   + 3.729   70

13.  Glock        Virgin-Cosworth       1m27.242s   + 3.927   66

14.  Teixeira     Lotus-Renault         1m31.584s   + 8.269   26


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on top with a rapid late lap in a Barcelona testing session that began wet before later drying.



A shower at the start of the morning and a combination of high humidity and low temperatures meant it was not until the eve of the lunchbreak that drivers were able to try slick tyres, and even then conditions remained treacherous, with lap times five seconds off yesterday's fully-dry pace even on slicks.



But by the afternoon only a few off-line damp patches remained, and Rosberg made the most of the clear running to go quickest with a 1m23.168s on a single-lap, qualifying-style, run with a quarter of an hour to go. He had earlier done a 15-lap stint mostly in the 1m29s/1m30s region.



Renault's Vitaly Petrov took second, 0.295 seconds slower than Rosberg. He had missed much of the wet early running, but a busy afternoon meant he still accumulated over 90 laps through the day. Like Rosberg, his best times came on some short one, two and three-lap runs in the closing stages.



McLaren suffered further reliability problems in the morning, forcing Lewis Hamilton to repeatedly abandon planned stints and return the garage after single laps.



Once the car was running, Hamilton was quick - setting some of the best slick-tyre times in the closing stages of the morning and then going third in the dry. His best laps were also from short qualifying-type bursts, with his pace nearer 1m29s, 1m30s when on longer runs, though this was clouded by the McLaren backing off to get aero data on occasion.



Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) all caused red flag stoppages by spinning in the wet - twice in Massa's case. While the Sauber and the Ferrari were soon cleaned and sent back out, Maldonado lost further time with an alternator problem, though he made up for it by taking fourth in the end - his 1m24.815s coming on the first tour of a five-lap run.



Mark Webber caused the final red flag, bringing the session to an end two minutes ahead of schedule as he stopped his Red Bull on the circuit. He was fifth in the order, his session-best 1m24.995s coming on his first lap out of the pits following a tyre change during an afternoon race simulation, and at the start of a 17-lap stint before his next stop.



Water leaks again hampered Lotus, but the car showed good pace as Jarno Trulli took sixth ahead of Perez and Force India's Adrian Sutil.



Toro Rosso running was shared between test driver Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastien Buemi. Ricciardo was a star of the morning, setting a very impressive pace on slicks during the changeover in conditions. He was only narrowly beaten by Hamilton as the lunchbreak began, leaving him 13th in the end-of-day times having not run in fully dry conditions. Buemi was ninth after his 31 laps.



Hispania also split its running between two drivers. Narain Karthikeyan was well up among the established teams in the mixed wet/drying conditions of late morning, though he was last in the order in the end having sat out the afternoon so that Giorgio Mondini - a former Midland test driver - could make a Formula 1 return.



The Swiss driver covered 39 laps and did a respectable job considering his long absence from the F1 cockpit. He was 5s off the outright pace and within 1.6s of Timo Glock's Virgin.



[code]Pos  Driver              Team/car              Time       Gap       Laps

 1.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m23.168s            92

 2.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m23.463s  + 0.295s  93

 3.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.858s  + 0.690s  93

 4.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m24.815s  + 1.647s  60

 5.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m24.995s  + 1.827s  139

 6.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m25.454s  + 2.286s  48

 7.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.557s  + 2.389s  115

 8.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m25.720s  + 2.552s  102

 9.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.155s  + 2.987s  31

10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m26.508s  + 3.340s  123

11.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m26.598s  + 3.430s  97

12.  Giorgio Mondini     Hispania-Cosworth     1m28.178s  + 5.010s  39

13.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m28.329s  + 5.161s  42

14.  Narain Karthikeyan  Hispania-Cosworth     1m30.722s  + 7.554s  32


All timing unofficial

Bernie has said that he will let Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa make the decision on whether the race goes ahead. However (this is yet to be officially confirmed) the Bahrain test will not be taking place, and the race has been postponed - according to reliable sources. Mark Webber sums it up really:

Red Bull driver Mark Webber says whether the Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead or not is a very low priority issue amid the political tension in the country.

Both the Sakhir race and the pre-event test scheduled to happen at the Bahrain venue on 3-6 March have been in doubt following the violent events in Manama this week, when there were fatalities and a large number of injuries when security forces dispersed protesters.

The situation now appears calmer, with Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifah ordering the military and police to withdraw, and beginning talks between the opposing factions.

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he will accept the Crown Prince's instruction on whether the race should go ahead or not, with a decision expected with two or three days.

Webber reckons that in light of other events in the country, whether the F1 race happens or not is "no big deal."

He said: "First of all I'm really, really sorry to hear what's happening out there. It's always been a good place for us to visit that part of the world, whether it's Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Bahrain, so shocked and sad to see the news.

"But as always you don't really know the whole picture if you're not there. So let's see what happens. I'm sure the right decision will be made in terms of us.

"We know in terms of Formula 1 and priorities we're not high on the list, they've got other things that clearly should come first. Then if we can still go there and hold a sporting event in a few weeks then it would be great. But if we can't then it's not a big deal.

"We need to let them sort their things out and we'll go to Melbourne [to start the season] if that's the case."

Other drivers have also voiced concerns about Bahrain during the test weekend at Catalunya, with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi admitting the prospect of travelling to the troubled country unnerved him.

"Nobody knows, I'm not judging it. I hear there's a lot of machine guns around..." he said.

"I'm scared. If I have to go, I have to go, but scared. That's it.

"I mean, if I have to go, I have to go. It's my job. But do you want to go for a holiday there?"

Renault's Vitaly Petrov believes the political situation in Bahrain must be completely resolved before F1 can consider going to the country.

"In the moment I don't really know what to say but for sure they must sort out this problem because I think no teams will [want to go] because they have fights and violence," he said. "It's quite dangerous also there and a lot of teams can lose a lot of things.

"I think it's most important to save the people there because now even GP2 was cancelled because there was not enough medical people.

"Anyway, we can change to another country or cancel this event. I think the bosses know what to do."

Tyre talk:

Leading Formula 1 drivers say the need to preserve the new-for-2011 Pirelli tyres will totally change the way they go racing - though Mark Webber has warned that judgement should be withheld until they are tried in race conditions.

Pirelli has responded to calls for higher tyre-wear rates and deliberately designed rubber that will not be capable of lasting as long as the 2010 Bridgestones. The aim is to create more exciting grands prix both by prompting extra pitstops and creating a situation where drivers will be running at different pace depending on how they are handling their tyres.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton said he was not enjoying having to nurse the tyres.

"It's very strange. Even [compared to] last year when we had heavy fuel and you had to drive it a little bit easier at the beginning of the race to preserve the tyres," he said.

"Today I probably drove a little bit easier on the first long run, but the tyres just go away so fast and there's nothing you can do about it.

"The second run I tried to look after it even more and it was like driving an out-lap, very slow and not particularly exciting. It lasted a little bit longer but it didn't feel like I was really racing the car."

He feels the tyre strategy is making driving less of a challenge.

"On these tyres you have to drive very slow and it's not very physical at the moment," said Hamilton. "I did 90 laps today and I feel like I could start all over again, it was that easy to drive."

Hamilton suggested that it was also harder to judge the new McLaren's true performance because the team could not tell whether issues were car or tyre-related.

"It feels difficult to know how much of it is car and how much is tyres," he said after today's Barcelona test session. "The tyres are very difficult to use this year, and when you come here even more hardcore than it was in the last two tests we had."

Red Bull's Webber is convinced that the new tyre philosophy will mean more overtaking, though he suspects performance disparities will be so big that passing moves could become too easy.

"I think there will be more overtaking," he said. "It's easier for us to look average. You're even talking to yourself in the cockpit 'come on Mark, that was messy, that was scrappy', it's very easy to be losing time when the tyre goes away a little bit, so you've got to have that in mind.

"If that was in a race situation and someone was on a different strategy then we might have some racing, but the only thing we've got to keep an eye on, unfortunately, is that we're going to have such a big difference in speed that if someone is doing something different and you're trying to go longer or whatever, it won't be a fight, you'll just go straight through and disappear.

"So that's the only thing, there's such an extreme difference in pace that there will be some overtaking but I don't know how spectacular it will be."

He added that the drivers' current feelings about the tyres could be proved totally wrong once the season got underway.

"This has happened in the past. Last year at Jerez we were completely s**tting ourselves with the Bridgestones doing long runs, thinking 'oh my God, we're going to be stopping every...' you know, then we get to the first races and drive around all day [on one set]," said Webber. "We need to go racing."

The teams have had their first chance to try Pirelli's intermediates and wets properly at Catalunya this week, with both this morning and the early part of Friday's test taking place on a damp track.

Force India's Adrian Sutil said his first impression of Pirelli's rain tyres was not positive.

"It's very different. Pirelli is not good in the rain," he said. "The tyres are not lasting long and it's just very slow compared to Bridgestone.

"But we did some running, it was very bad at the beginning, we did a few changes and at least we got it under control in the end and it was a pretty decent run. But performance-wise it was quite far off what I'm used to.

"But that's how it is. The tyres are very different to last year. It's a new challenge, it's not a bad thing."

Webber said the intermediates were very durable, though when asked if he felt they were 'good', he replied: "not bad."

The Australian added: "You get bang for your buck. You buy a set and they last a while. I did a lot of laps on mine, I had one set all morning, so 43 laps."

A member of Australia's parliament has called for the country's F1 grand prix to be dropped once the current contract comes to an end.

Michael Danby, whose Melbourne Ports electorate includes the Albert Park circuit where the race is held, said locals are tired of the event, and that the rising costs are not justified anymore.

"The grand prix may have been a good deal in 1996, when it cost the government only $1.7 million; but, with falling crowd numbers and taxpayers footing a $50 million-a-year bill, the government should cut its losses and walk away," he told parliament according to Reuters.

"Rising costs, dwindling crowds, fed-up local residents, an ambivalent Melbourne mayor... to me, everything points to Melbourne saying 'thanks for the memories' but gracefully declining to renew the grand prix contract."

Last month, Melbourne's lord mayor Robert Doyle also called for the event not to continue at the end of its current deal in 2015.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said earlier this month he was open to cancelling the deal if the country wanted to get rid of its grand prix.

"If the mayor thinks I'm cranky, I can probably be able to help him by proving it," said Ecclestone. "If he's not happy with the event in Australia, if he wants to cancel the contract, we'd be happy to talk to him about that.

"If he wishes to cease having the event in Melbourne, I am happy to discuss that with him."

Having lived in Oz (including a brief stint in Melbourne), I know that there is some aggreivance about there being a race as the tax-payers are paying for it but it is a top race and I really do hope it stays where it is! However Barcelona I'm not too bothered about.

The future of the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona beyond the 2012 season will depend on economic factors, according to Catalunya's president Artur Mas.

"The continuity of the F1 race at this circuit is guaranteed this year and, probably, next year too," Mas was quoted as saying by El Pais newspaper.

"And I trust it can have continuity also in the future. But that will depend on how the economic situation develops and on the results we have over these two years.

"Everybody knows that we have restrictions on the budgets and that F1 is loss-making. But we also have to consider the economic impact that it has and how it promotes the country. It places Catalunya in the world," he added.

Back in 2007, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone announced a new deal with Barcelona to host the race until 2016.

Mas said he will do everything possible to keep the event, but admitted that there were no guarantees.

"The situation is what it is and I'm not trying to fool anyone," he said. "I said from day one that I would speak the truth and that I would speak clearly. I know the value of hosting an F1 race and I'm here to give all my support to the people at the circuit.

"I will do all I can to keep that F1 race, but we can't hide the truth. We have to reduce the budgets. The Generalitat (Catalunyas's government) must tighten its belt and that will affect all fields. We will see what happens this year and in 2012."

Barcelona has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix since the 1991 season.

[LUKIE]

The Aussie news is old hat. They reckon it won't be dropped, and it was basically one guy voicing his opinion that the costs on taxpayers were a lot to begin with. But it still brings in solid revenue.

[Lineker]

Bahrain GP organisers have used the terms 'cancelled' and 'withdrawn'. So no official word on whether it will get crammed in at the end of the season in a massive clusterfuck, but we'll have to wait and see I suppose.

HRH CP: "We felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest. Bahrain's priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together."

Ecclestone: “It's sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race, we wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country"

It was the only decision that could have been taken, to be fair.

[Lineker]

Red Bull say teams will test in Barcelona March 8-11. And here's a full statement on Bahrain:

The Bahrain GP is now officially off, although it remains to be seen if and when it will be rescheduled.

The Crown Prince said this afternoon: “We felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest. Bahrain’spriority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together to remind the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

An official statement from the organisers reads as follows:

The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) today announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain would withdraw from hosting this year’s F1 Grand Prix race so that the country can focus on its process of national dialogue.

Last Friday, Bahrain’s Crown Prince – HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa – initiated a new national dialogue involving all sections of Bahraini society in order to resolve the current political situation in the Kingdom. The Crown Prince informed Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone of the BIC’s decision by telephone earlier today.

HRH Prince Salman said:

“At the present time the country’s entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain.

“Although Bernie Ecclestone had graciously made clear that a decision on the race was entirely Bahrain’s to make and was not yet required, we felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain’s Formula 1 race to a later date.

“I would like to extend my personal gratitude to Bernie Ecclestone for his support and understanding.

“After the events of the past week, our nation’s priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together; reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

Chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit, Zayed R. Alzayani said:

“Bahrain’s Grand Prix is a time of celebration and hosting the race is a source of great pride for Bahrain and Bahrainis. It is a showcase to the world and we look forward to welcoming the teams and drivers and everyone involved in Formula One back to Bahrain in the very near future.

“I hope that F1 and our friends around the world will understand our decision at this difficult time.”

Following the Crown Prince’s decision, Bernie Ecclestone commented:

“It is sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race, we wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country.

“The hospitality and warmth of the people of Bahrain is a hallmark of the race there, as anyone who has been at a Bahrain Grand Prix will testify. We look forward to being back in Bahrain soon.”

No decision has been made on a new date for the rescheduling of the race, which was due to take place from March 11th to 13th.

[Katsuya]

The most annoying thing about this is that Bahrain will probably be back next year regardless of this. It's such a depressing and drab race, the only other race I can think of with less charm is Valencia, which looks like a construction site gone awry (maybe Korea, but that is a construction site to be fair given the work they're putting in to it >_>).

[Katsuya]

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 22.625s

2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 23.168s

3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 23.315s

4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 23.442s

5. Vitaly Petrov Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 23.463s

6. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 23.519s

7. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 23.550s

8. Nick Heidfeld Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 23.657s

9. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 23.858s

10. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 23.978s

11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 24.008s

12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m 24.057s

13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m 24.177s

14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m 24.243s

15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m 24.515s

16. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 24.923s

17. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m 25.194s

18. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus-Renault 1m 25.454s

19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus-Renault 1m 26.421s

20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m 26.501s

21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 26.598s

22. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania-Cosworth 1m 27.044s

23. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 27.079s

24. Giorgio Mondini Hispania-Cosworth 1m 28.178s

25. Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.329s

26. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania-Cosworth 1m 28.393s

27. Riccardo Teixeira Team Lotus-Renault 1m 31.584s

Those are the combined times of all four sessions from Barcelona. Seems to be pretty obvious where things are going; Ferrari & Red Bull are clearly the top two teams, although I'm thinking Massa's time today was set on very low fuel since there's no reason to see such a huge gap between him the RBR's. Same with Rosberg - no way is that a good representation of where Mercedes are right now. I LOVE the fact that Toro Rosso are right up there though; I have a feeling that by the time the Australian GP comes around though, McLaren will be back up there, but a three way fight for third between McLaren, Toro Rosso and Renault would be pretty fun to see I think, considering they all have different driver combinations; the "veteran"/veteran of Hamilton/Button, the veteran/rookie in Heidfeld/Petrov and the rookie/rookie in Alguesuari and Buemi (I get that Buemi's been in F1 for about 2-3 years now, but the point still stands considerign he's been with Toro Rosso >_>).

Williams/Force India/Sauber situation could be good for those final few points too. Shame to see that Lotus still aren't going to be challenging the established teams based on their times so far, but they've closed the gap to under a second by the looks of it overall and they've pulled out on Virgin and Hispania.

[Sam]

Hmm I think the reason McLaren are lagging behind is because they're a test behind the other front runners who will have been improving things all the time, I daresay come Australia they'll be a lot closer. I suspect Renault may be fast though.

[Lineker]

..and here are the times for the final day of the test alone:

Felipe Massa put Ferrari on top of the times on the final day of testing at the Barcelona circuit on Monday.

The Ferrari driver posted a best time of 1m22.625s to go over eight tenths of a second faster than Red Bull rival Mark Webber, second today.

Massa, who had another very productive day with 121 laps covered, posted his best time over a two-lap stint, the same as Webber.

Sebastien Buemi continued with Toro Rosso's impressive pre-season by posting the third quickest time of the day, set over a three-lap run.

Despite having a KERS problem that cut his running short in the morning, Nick Heidfeld ended as fourth fastest in the Renault, the German managing 95 laps in the end.

Lewis Hamilton finally got some decent running in the McLaren, finishing in fifth after 107 laps, ahead of Williams's Pastor Maldonado, who caused one of the red flags of the day when he stopped on track in the afternoon.

Michael Schumacher caused the final red flag of the day with some 20 minutes of the session left when his Mercedes stopped at Turn 10.

The German still enjoyed a productive session, covering over 100 laps, but he finish over four seconds off the pace.

Jerome D'Ambrosio posted the ninth quickest time with the Virgin, the Belgian losing a lot of track time following a problem in the morning.

D'Ambrosio stopped on track at around 11am with a car problem and was only able to return to action with some 90 minutes of the session left.

It was a very short day for the Lotus team, which was forced to end the test early after Jarno Trulli crashed his car in the morning. The team said the accident had been caused by an unspecified car problem and, not having enough parts to rebuild it, has to pack up early.

Before his crash, Trulli had managed just 18 laps on his way to the slowest time of the day.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                   Time               Laps

 1.  Massa         Ferrari                1m22.625s           121

 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault       1m23.442s  + 0.817   69

 3.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m23.550s  + 0.925   90

 4.  Heidfeld      Renault                1m23.657s  + 1.032   95

 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes       1m24.003s  + 1.378  107

 6.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth      1m24.057s  + 1.432  121

 7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   1m24.177s  + 1.552   64

 8.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari         1m24.515s  + 1.890   74

 9.  D-Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth        1m26.501s  + 3.876   50

10.  Schumacher    Mercedes               1m27.079s  + 4.454  114

11.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault          1m29.992s  + 7.367   18


All Timing Unofficial[/code]


More Bahrain reaction:

[spoiler]Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have announced that the event will not host the opening round of the 2011 Formula 1 season, after days of uncertainty following unrest in the country.


The decision was finally confirmed by the track organisers on Monday afternoon.


The Crown Prince informed Bernie Ecclestone of the decision by telephone earlier today.


"At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain," Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.


"Although Bernie Ecclestone had graciously made clear that a decision on the race was entirely Bahrain's to make and was not yet required, we felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain's Formula 1 race to a later date.


"I would like to extend my personal gratitude to Bernie Ecclestone for his support and understanding.


"After the events of the past week, our nation's priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together; reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united."


Ecclestone added: "It is sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race, we wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country.


"The hospitality and warmth of the people of Bahrain is a hallmark of the race there, as anyone who has been at a Bahrain Grand Prix will testify. We look forward to being back in Bahrain soon."


The postponement of the race means the season will now start in Australia on 27 March, two weeks later than originally scheduled.


Renault boss Eric Boullier said his team fully supported the decision.


"The recent situation in Bahrain has been very difficult for the country. We feel the decision taken by the Crown Prince is wise and we fully support it," he said.


"The Bahrain Grand Prix has always been welcomed with enthusiasm from the Bahraini people, and we're looking forward to going back there when they have healed their country. We will now amend our logistics accordingly and will get ready for Australia."


No decision has been made on a new date for the rescheduling of the race, which was due to take place from March 11th to 13th.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Mark Webber believes that the extended gap prior to the first grand prix in Melbourne is unlikely to have a massive effect on the competitive order of the teams.


Organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix today announced that they have withdrawn the event from its opening slot on the calendar.


Red Bull and Ferrari have stood out as two of the early favourites with their cars having performed strongly in the first three pre-season tests.


But while Bahrain's omission means the season will not now begin until March 27 in Melbourne, buying the teams extra time to prepare, Webber says Red Bull would have been ready to race had the Sakhir event gone ahead as scheduled.


"Everybody, to be honest, doesn't matter what team or what situation you are in, you need a little more time," said Webber. "I think we are absolutely prepared to race in two weeks and we would have been there of course and obviously you've got another 10 days headroom, I suppose.


"The freight has probably got to leave pretty early to Melbourne so, you know, same for everybody, swings and roundabouts. I don't think having that extra two weeks is going to make a huge difference to many teams for the first result in Melbourne.


"Might do in terms of the races after that in terms of being a little bit further prepared."


Webber added that while he was looking forward to the start of the season in Bahrain, he is happy that his campaign will now kick-off on home territory: "It would have been nice to go to Bahrain but we have to wait a bit longer to have our first race and that just happens to be my home race so, as always, looking forward to going down there.


"It's a sensational event and and we're in good shape as a team so I hope to go there and have a very good result of course," he added.


"A lot to answer going into the first grand prix of course. Another test still to go, depending on what happens to the testing, but I assume there will be one more test. First race there, back to the good old days."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The final test of the pre-season will take place at the Barcelona circuit following the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix.


Bahrain was scheduled to host the test from the start of next week, but with the news that the Sakhir event has been withdrawn, teams have decided to do all their winter testing in Spain.


The Barcelona test will take place on March 8-11, some two weeks before the start of the season in Australia.


"It is obviously disappointing for everyone involved in the organisation of the event, but it is clear that to race in Bahrain at this time would be inappropriate given the current circumstances," said Williams CEO Adam Parr.


"It is always Williams' intention to contribute positively to the countries we compete in and so we fully support the Crown Prince's decision to cancel the test and forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. We now look forward to a season debut in Melbourne and returning to Bahrain when it is right to do so."


The decision means the teams are likely to be unable to test Pirelli's tyres in hot conditions before they travel to Melbourne.


"To be honest it's a big pity for us," said Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari. "I think it should be a big pity for everyone. It's a really good example to see how these tyres work in different temperatures, hotter, different humidity levels. It's really crucial for us if we don't do that test.


"I would rather prefer to do the test there after this test to keep our training period in Spain because at the end you always find the same kind of temperatures and humidity here. I wanted to see different situations and circumstances on the tyres."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Bahrain is hoping to be able to return to the Formula 1 calendar "in the very near future".


The race was today withdrawn as the opening event of the 2011 championship, but no decision has yet been made on whether it will be rescheduled for later in the season or cancelled completely.


Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed Alzayani says only that he hopes F1 will be able to return to Bahrain soon.


"We look forward to welcoming the teams, drivers and everyone involved in Formula 1

back to Bahrain in the very near future," he said.


"Bahrain's grand prix is a time of celebration, and hosting the race is a source of great pride for Bahrain and Bahrainis. It is a showcase to the world. I hope that F1 and our friends around the world will understand our decision at this difficult time."


Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al-Khalifa indicated that discussions to reschedule the race are already under way, telling CNN: "We still hope to host an F1 grand prix in this calendar year - we are already in negotiations. We hope that we can reschedule the race later this year and be a valuable addition to the F1 calendar."


Felipe Massa hopes the Bahrain GP will be rescheduled for later this year, but agrees that the Gulf state has more important things to focus on at present.


The Ferrari driver, who has won the Bahrain GP twice, said: "I like Bahrain, so if we go back there I will be happy.


"Bahrain is a track I like, so I would have liked to start the championship there. But maybe we will go back and race there again - I like the track and I like to be there.


"But if we don't go, it's okay. It's for more important reasons. The human side is much stronger than the professional side, what is happening there is very serious and I hope everything will be normal. The safe side is much more important."


Red Bull team boss Christian Horner added: "It's a shame, but the country has got bigger issues than a Formula 1 race at the moment. It is important that they address those.


"It's a great shame not to be going, it's always been an enjoyable place to visit, they've always made us feel very welcome, but understandably with the issues the country faces, the responsible decision has been made and the first race will be in Australia.


"At the end of the day, we're a sport and we can always go back there, if not this year then in future years."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Formula 1's ruling body, the FIA, says it fully supports Bahrain's decision to withdraw the opening race of the 2011 season.


Following days of uncertainty, the Bahrain International Circuit announced on Monday it was withdrawing the race as the country needed to focus on calming the unrest that has made the headlines in recent days.


The season will now start in Australian on March 27.


The governing body also hinted at a possible rescheduling of the Bahrain Grand Prix by saying it supported the decision to "postpone" the event.


"The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile supports the decision of the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit to postpone the scheduled first Grand Prix of the 2011 season due to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain on March 11-13," said the FIA in a statement.


"This decision is the outcome of the close co-operation between the FIA, Formula One Management, the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit."


At the same time, however, it also suggested it will be down to the FIA alone to decide if the race is back on the calendar this year.


"The FIA is Formula One's governing body and is responsible for the international calendar as well as all matters of safety relating to the stakeholders involved in Grand Prix racing," it added.[/spoiler]