Sutil tops Ferrari and McLaren

Adrian Sutil claimed the first honours of the new season as the Force India driver topped the timesheets in Bahrain's Practice One, edging out Fernando Alonso.

Despite the hype surrounding the new season with its new regulations, new teams and returning drivers, the opening session in Bahrain failed to really impress.

Long distance heavy-fuelled runs were the order of the morning with Ferrari and McLaren appearing to have the advantage over their rivals, at least until Force India came into play.
Sutil moved to the top with a 1:56.583 beating Alonso and Renault's Robert Kubica while the two McLaren drivers were fourth and fifth ahead of Felipe Massa.

As for Michael Schumacher, the German was tenth quickest while Lotus, Virgin and Hispania followed their pre-season programme of slow, slower and not even pitching up.

Report: The 2010 Formula One season got underway in Bahrain on Friday morning with sweltering track conditions awaiting the drivers as they tackled the new Sakhir layout for the first time.

Lotus, Toro Rosso, Force India and Red Bull were the first teams to complete their installation laps while photogs waited patiently for the returning Michael Schumacher to venture out for his first lap. While their rivals pitted after their system checks, Hispania Racing, who have yet to complete a single lap, worked furiously to prepare their cars for Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok.

Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen completed the first timed lap of the new season, crossing the line with a 2:07.702 in his T127. The Finn continued lapping, shaving seconds off his time, while his team-mate Jarno Trulli joined the action. The Italian, though, struggled to keep his car on track, running wide on two occasions on his way to a 2:19.

With Trulli pitting, Lewis Hamilton headed out for what one expects should be the first indication of a competitive lap time at the Sakhir track. A 1:57.759 as the McLaren driver easily went quickest with his new team-mate Jenson Button slotting in behind him.

More drivers ventured out to set times with Felipe Massa third ahead of Robert Kubica, Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Tonio Liuzzi, Mark Webber and Vitaly Petrov.

Button overhauled Hamilton for the P1 slot, 0.095s up on his team-mate, Roberg moved up to third with Fernando Alonso going seventh quickest on his first run for Ferrari. Massa and Kubica both improved while an interesting tussle down the start-finish straight saw Ferrari appearing to have a major speed advantage to the Mercedes GP car.

That straight-line speed saw Alonso leap to the top of the timesheets with a 1:56.909 where he was soon joined by his team-mate Massa making it an all-Ferrari and McLaren battle for the top four slots.
With half an hour left on the clock, the F1 paddock still waited for a lap time from both Virgin and Hispania Racing. The latter had yet to even put a wheel on track while Virgin had three laps under their belts. Not a great start for these two rookie teams.

Adrian Sutil put in a blistering lap in his Force India, taking fourth off Hamilton while his team-mate Tonio Liuzzi went sixth quickest. However, the German then went even quicker, clocking a 1:56.888 to go top of the timesheets.

Behind the Force India, Ferrari and McLaren tussle, Mercedes GP, Renault and Toro Rosso were next in line with Rosberg ahead of Kubica, Schumacher and Jaime Alguersuari.

The final ten minutes saw Timo Glock venture out to complete a time in his VR01 but it was quickly apparent that his car was lacking in pace, holding up both a Red Bull and a Sauber. But once in clear air, Vettel in his Red Bull easily pulled away from Glock, so it came as no surprise when the German crossed the line with a 2:07.051, some ten seconds off the pace.

Kubica improved to third place, Mark Webber to ninth, but when the chequered flag fell, it was still Sutil in the P1 slot - and F1's newcomers are the very bottom of the timesheets.

Times:

1. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:56.583 18 laps
2. Alonso Ferrari 1:56.766 + 0.183 18 laps
3. Kubica Renault 1:57.041 + 0.458 19 laps
4. Massa Ferrari 1:57.055 + 0.472 19 laps
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.068 + 0.485 19 laps
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.163 + 0.580 19 laps
7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:57.194 + 0.611 19 laps
8. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:57.199 + 0.616 15 laps
9. Webber Red Bull Racing 1:57.255 + 0.672 17 laps
10. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:57.662 + 1.079 16 laps
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.722 + 1.139 18 laps
12. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:57.894 + 1.311 20 laps
13. Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:57.943 + 1.360 17 laps
14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:58.399 + 1.816 13 laps
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:58.782 + 2.199 11 laps
16. Petrov Renault 1:58.880 + 2.297 13 laps
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 2:00.250 + 3.667
18 laps18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2:01.388 + 4.805 11 laps
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:03.680 + 7.097 8 laps
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.848 + 7.265
21 laps21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2:03.970 + 7.387 15 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2 laps
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 3 laps
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth

Source: Planet-F1