Race highlights - Bahrain

Welcome the 4th race of the 2009 Formula One - Bahrain

THE LIGHTS GO OUT!

LAP1

• -Into turn one Glock leads then Trulli, Hamilton, Button
• -Hamilton takes 2nd briefly but Trulli fights back
• -Raikkonen up 4 places to 6th
• -Barrichello passes the Finn

LAP2

• -Button passes Hamilton into turn one
• -Lap charts show poor 1st laps for Kovalainen, Nakajima, Kubica and Buemi
• -Webber charging his way through the field.. now 14th from 18th

LAP3

• -Kubica and Nakajima pit
• -Kubica takes on a new nose, as does Nakajima

LAP4

• -Massa pits
• -So does Heidfeld
  

LAP5

• -Leader Glock sets a new fastest lap, his lead now up to 1.6s
• -Webber closing on Piquet now as he fights for P10

LAP6

• -Trulli sets a new fastest lap as he tries to keep team mate Glock in sight
• -Replays of the start show contact between Kovalainen and Kubica, which would explain the need for the nose change
• -Leader Glock should be 1st to make his scheduled stop around lap 11
• -No word yet on why Massa and Heidfeld had to make early stops

LAP9

• -Button the fastest man on the track right now and closing in on Trulli

LAP10

• -Glock's lead now up to 2s
• -Both Glock and Trulli have upped their pace in response to the charging Button
• -Webber now up to 11th and all over the rear of Piquets Renault, With team mate Vettel pressuring Hamilton for P4

LAP11

• -Trulli sets new fastest lap and cuts Glocks lead to 1.8s
• -A poor lap from Vettel sees him drop off from Hamilton and into the clutches of Barrichello

LAP12

• -Glock pits from the lead and swaps to the harder tyre - 9.8s
• -He rejoins in P9 just behind Rosberg

LAP13

• -Trulli pits in now, he too takes on the harder tyre - 8.9s
• -He rejoins just ahead of Alonso in P6
• -Button leads in Bahrain
• -Kovalainen pits
• -Its hotter than was expected, hence why the medium tyre is becoming the favoured tyre choice.

LAP14

• -Alonso pressuring Trulli for P6, Trulli defends well and keeps his position
• -Alonso goes around the outside, KERS surely helping to set up the move
• EXCELENT DRIVING USING THE KERS THERE!!
• -Barrichello pits and stays on the super soft - 7.1s

LAP15

• -Webber pits
• -Barrichello rejoins just ahead of Fisichella
• -Button now into the pits
• -As is Hamilton
• -Both of them stay on the softer tyre
• -Button 9.4s, Hamilton 7.6s

LAP16

• -Fisichella pits
• -Hamilton rejoins in 7th
• -Piquet under extreme pressure from Barrichello

LAP17

• -Alonso pits, he too stays on the softer tyre - 8.5s
• -Massa tries to take P15 from Webber but the Australian defends well enough to keep the place

LAP18

• -Vettel leads Raikkonen, but neither have stopped yet
• -Button has leapfrogged the Toyota's in the 1st stops
• -Trulli also moving ahead of team mate Glock

LAP19

• -Piquet using the KERS to good effect just to stay ahead of the obviously quicker Barrichello
• -Bourdais pits, he goes back out on the softer tyre
• -Barrichello finally passes Piquet

LAP20

• -Vettel pits after an excellent in-lap
• -He stays on the softer tyre - 8.6s, as Raikkonen leads
• -Vettel rejoins in P4
• -Glock losing the most time so far in the 1st round of stops
• -Yet to stop are Raikkonen, Rosberg, Piquet, Sutil and Buemi

LAP21

• -Replays show Barrichello cruising past Glock for P7
• -A very slow lap from the Toyota driver
• -Vettel looks to make a move past Trulli for P3
• -Raikkonen pits from the lead, with another set of used super soft - 10.2s
• -Raikkonen rejoins in 8th

LAP22

• -Buemi pits
• -Rosberg makes his 1st stop of the day too

LAP24

• -Piquet in from P8
• -Sutil also into the pits

LAP25

• -Trulli has Vettel and Hamilton in close attention now as all 3 scrap over P2
• -Trulli looks to be holding them up
• -Barrichello closing in fast too
• -Trulli the only one in that fight on the medium tyre showing that its the slower tyre choice at this stage

LAP26

• -Brawn tells Barrichello to squeeze more out of his car

LAP27

• -Barrichello pits, another set of super softs... is he three stopping?
• -He rejoins just ahead of Rosberg
• -BMW Sauber still having a bad race with Kubica 18th, Heidfeld 20th

LAP30

• -Massa makes his 2nd stop of the day
• -McLaren tells Hamilton they believe he can go a couple of laps longer than Trulli on this stint

LAP31

• -Button has just lapped the BMW Sauber of Heidfeld
• -Nakajima pits and he too stays on the softer tyre

LAP33

• -Raikkonen looking to pass Glock - Not close enough yet

LAP34

• -Glock pits and swaps back to the super soft tyres - 6.9s
• -He rejoins the race behind Piquet in P10

LAP35

• -Kubica pits from P18

LAP36

• Button's lead now over 16s and looking like a sure win as he is about to lap Massa's Ferrari, Last years winner!

LAP37

• -Bourdais pits from P14
• -Button also pits in from the lead

LAP38

• -Heidfeld, Trulli, Hamilton also in the pits now
• -Button and Hamilton switch to the harder tyre. Button is two stopping
• -Trulli goes back onto the super softs
• -Alonso also into the pits
• -Fisichella pits, as does Kovalainen and Webber
• -Vettel now leads then Button, Raikkonen and Trulli

LAP39

• -Barrichello tries to pass Glock but runs wide

LAP40

• -Vettel now in from the lead, he switches to the harder tyre - 7.3s
• -And rejoins ahead of Trully in 3rd

LAP41

• -Replays show Webber passing Kovalainen

LAP42

• -Still no retirements, despite the extreme heat
• -Sutil pits from P11

LAP43

• -Piquet pits from P8

LAP44

• -Things looking very tight between Vettel, Trulli and Barrichello

LAP45

• -Raikkonen is in the pits for his 2nd stop, he goes onto the harder tyre - 9.1s
• -He rejoins alongside Glock, but loses out to the German, before blasting back past him a couple of corners later
• -So Raikkonen 7th, Glock 8th
• -Ferrari must score a point today to avoid the worst start to the season in the team's history

LAP46

• -Rosberg pits from P6

LAP47

• -Replays show Kubica spinning and recovering after an attempted pass on Nakajima
• -Massa pits from P11, his 3rd stop of the afternoon - 7.3s

LAP48

• -Barrichello in for his 3rd stop too, he goes onto the harder tyre - 6.6s
• -He rejoins just in front of the Raikkonen Glock battle,
• -Good work from Brawn as that now puts him 5th

LAP50

• -Nakajima pits from P18, he's out of the Williams and first out of the race

5LAPS TO GO.

• -Closest battles are Vettel and Trulli for P2 and Glock and Raikkonen for P6

4LAPS TO GO.

• -Raikkonen all over the back of the Toyota but Glock refusing to give up on that potential extra point

3LAPS TO GO.

• -Ferrari at least set to score their first points in 2009

FINAL LAP!

• -Button set for his 3rd win of 2009 after a dominating performance here in Bahrain

Button wins as he takes the chequered flag and wins the 2009 Grand Prix in Bahrain

Don't forget to visit in 2weeks for the Spanish Grand Prix, which gets away in Barcelona from May 8-10.