F1 2010 Season

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2010 FIA Formula One World Championship Race Calendar

01 2010 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir) 12 - 14 Mar
02 2010 FORMULA 1 QANTAS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 26 - 28 Mar
03 2010 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 02 - 04 Apr
04 2010 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 16 - 18 Apr
05 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFÓNICA 2010 (Catalunya) 07 - 09 May
06 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2010 (Monte Carlo) 13 - 16 May
07 2010 FORMULA 1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 28 - 30 May
08 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2010 (Montreal) 11 - 13 Jun
09 2010 FORMULA 1 TELEFÓNICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 25 - 27 Jun
10 2010 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 09 - 11 Jul
11 FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2010 (Hockenheim) 23 - 25 Jul
12 FORMULA 1 MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2010 (Budapest) 30 Jul - 01 Aug
13 2010 FORMULA 1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 27 - 29 Aug
14 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2010 (Monza) 10 - 12 Sep
15 2010 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 24 - 26 Sep
16 2010 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 08 - 10 Oct
17 2010 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX (Yeongam) * 22 - 24 Oct
18 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2010 (Sao Paulo) 05 - 07 Nov
19 2010 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit) 12 - 14 Nov

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From formula1.com:

Thursday was highly significant for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship: It was the last day on which the true form for the year remained unclear. As of Friday, and the first practice sessions, we should finally begin to get some idea of the real pecking order.

And while neither Felipe Massa nor Fernando Alonso was turning cartwheels it was clear that both Ferrari men have great hopes for a really strong start to their title campaigns.

"Testing is okay but it is just preparation for the race itself, so Im looking forward to Sunday," the Alonso said.

"I think every time you change team you need to adapt yourself a little bit to the new people, the new philosophy of working, of preparing the season. It has been a great time so far. I have been very comfortable with the team from day one to now, so I think we arrive at the first race with a good preparation and ready for the fight.

"We are not comparing too much the times in winter or making many predictions for these first races. We have just been concentrating on our programme to try to be as prepared a possible for the first race. I think the four teams - Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari - any of the four teams can be a favourite for this race and for the first part of the championship with, I am sure, some teams also like Sauber and Force India, they will have a very good race as well. I think we will do our best.

"We are well prepared for this start of the season but we want to be world champions in November, not in March. We will do our best but the goal is to win the championship and we know this is not easy at all and we need to work very hard for 10 months, so it is only the start."

Team mate Massa looks relaxed and fit, and is raring to go into his first race meeting as a driver since Hungary last July.

"It is a long time," he said of the hiatus since his eye injury sustained in qualifying there. "I am looking forward to getting back to racing, to starting in a good direction after not many tests. But it is nice to be back racing.

"I think it is something that we understood in the past that the first race is important to finish, important to score points. Even in the last years we always had some problems in the car to finish the race. That I hope doesnt happen. I hope we can finish most of the races in good points as we know at the end of the season it is always important to be there on a good amount of points. Many people say at the beginning of the season what is important is the reliability. Reliability is always important. It is important to finish the race. We did a lot of kilometres in the winter test which helps when you have a good car to start the season."

In general the drivers seem to have welcomed the ban on refuelling.

"I think the regulations have to be good for everybody: for the drivers, for the teams but also a lot for the guys who are watching the race," the Brazilian said. "It's very difficult to say which ones [regulations] I prefer, the new ones or the ones from last year. We havent yet done a single race, it's very early to say which one I prefer, but I think if it's good to everybody - for the moment I dont think anybody is against the regulations - it should be no problem to change. It's also a new challenge for everybody, so we just need to focus on every new point and try to do the best."

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton thought: "It's a new challenge in the sport for all of us and the key is that were moving forward, so Im excited to see how it works and Im sure we will do everything we can, collectively, to put on a good show."

McLaren cleared a major potential hurdle yesterday when the FIA declared their controversial rear wing to be legal. It is believed that an air inlet on the left side of the monocoque chassis can be opened and closed by movement of the drivers left knee, to direct airflow over the rear wing and help stall it to make the car faster on the straights. It has been described as a simple but brilliant trick, and the scrutineers had no problem with it.

Further down the paddock there was also good news for one of the new teams. HRTs crew looked dog tired after all the endless hours of effort just to get to Bahrain. But they are here, and they fired up Bruno Senna's car and ran it through the gears for the first time on Thursday. That was a major milestone for the team whose first test session of the year begins in opening practice.

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From formula1.com:

Nico Rosberg put Mercedes GP at the top of the timesheets on Friday afternoon, ahead of McLaren, Red Bull and Williams. The young German took his Silver Arrow round the Sakhir Circuit in 1m 55.409s early in the hour and a half session, with Lewis Hamilton second for McLaren on 1m 55.854s ahead of Michael Schumacher on 1m 55.903s and Jenson Button on 1m 56.076s.

Nobody went quicker after the first 40 minutes, as everyone started to focus more on long-run work ready for the race.

Sebastian Vettel was fifth for Red Bull despite one quick off-track moment in Turn 22. The German lapped in 1m 56.459s to head fellow German Nico Hulkenberg, sixth for Williams on 1m 56.501s. Felipe Massa was one of few who improved late in the session, moving the Ferrari up to seventh on 1m 56.555s.

Vitaly Petrov was Renault’s better runner in eighth on 1m 56.750s, while Fernando Alonso took ninth in 1m 57.140s and Pedro de la Rosa gave Peter Sauber cause to smile with 1m 57.255s for 10th. Kamui Kobayashi backed his team mate with 1m 57.352s for 11th.

Adrian Sutil focused on high-fuel runs for Force India for the 12th best time of 1m 57.361s, which left him ahead of Rubens Barrichello (1m 57.452s) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (1m 57.833s).

Robert Kubica was 15th for Renault on 1m 58.155s, with a gap to Jaime Alguersuari who was Toro Rosso’s faster driver after Sebastien Buemi only did a lap before losing the rest of the session to mechanical gremlins. The Spaniard had a lucky escape when he spun in Turn 13 and just avoided backing his STR5 into a barrier. Mark Webber was another to concentrate on high fuel-load runs, lapping his Red Bull in 2m 00.444s for 17th.

Of the new teams, Lotus came through courtesy of Heikki Kovalainen for 18th place on 2m 00.873s. Team mate Jarno Trulli shadowed him with 2m 00.990s, which left the green and yellow cars comfortably ahead of the black and red Virgins. Timo Glock lapped his VR-01 in 2m 02.037s, with team mate Lucas di Grassi close on 2m 02.188s.

Bruno Senna did quite a few laps this time in his HRT, for a best of 2m 06.968s, but once again Karun Chandhok’s car could not be readied in time. Right at the end Senna stopped on the track, with suspected mechanical problems.

In many ways this was another inconclusive session because of the need to do race preparation work, but one way or another the true order of 2010 will be confirmed in qualifying on Saturday.

Qualifying tomorrow morning should be interesting.