Vettel beat off the challenge of Kimi Raikkonen who caught Vettel  halfway through the race even though he started from 11th on the grid.  Raikkonen’s Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean was third, while it was a bad weekend for McLaren’s British drivers as Lewis Hamilton finished in eighth and Jenson Button retired.

The highest place Britain was Paul di Resta who finished in sixth place for Force India after which was a great achievement after problems that started with the team getting involved in violent anti-government demonstrations on Friday.

The Bahrain Grand Prix Sakhir circuit is known for not being one of the most exciting tracks for F1 racing but this race, as with others this season, was a memorable one.  Vettel had a great start from the grid and looked untouchable.  But Kimi Raikonnen fought his way through the field to produce a spectacular drive that pushed Sebastian Vettel all the way.

The result means Vettel now leads the way in the F1 2012 season from Lewis Hamilton.

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Result

1 Sebastian Vettel  Red Bull-Renault  1:36.379 1:35:10.990
2 Kimi Raikkonen  Lotus-Renault  +00:03.333
3 Romain Grosjean  Lotus-Renault  +00:10.194
4 Mark Webber  Red Bull-Renault +00:38.788
5 Nico Rosberg  Mercedes GP +00:55.460
6 Paul Di Resta  Force India-Mercedes +00:57.543
7 Fernando Alonso  Ferrari +00:57.803
8 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +00:58.984
9 Felipe Massa  Ferrari +01:04.999
10 Michael Schumacher  Mercedes GP +01:11.490

FIA 2012 Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship

1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany)Red Bull-Renault 53 points
2 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 49
3 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 48
4 Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 43
5 Fernando Alonso (Spain Ferrari 43
6 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP 35
7 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus-Renault 34
8 Romain Grosjean (Switzerland) Lotus-Renault 23
9 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 22
10 Paul Di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes 15

Rosberg followed his debut pole position in F1 with his first Formula One race victory in a thoroughly exciting F1 race today.

Nico Rosberg led from start to finish in a race that was as much about tyre management as it was skill and speed.  Michael Schumacher started second on the grid to give Mercedes poll positions after Lewis Hamilton (second fastest in practice) was docked five places for changing his gearbox.  Unfortunately for Mercedes, Schumacher was forced to retire with a loose wheel nut.  But that didn’t take the shine off Nico Rosberg securing Mercedes’ first victory since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.

Rosberg had a superb race and won by an amazing 20 seconds.  But the real drama was in the chasing pack where at one point there were as many as seven cars vying for second.

Jenson Button eventually finished in second, though it could have been closer if it weren’t for a poor third pit stop that could have been very costly for Button and McLaren as he dropped to sixth place with just 10 laps remaining.  But fresh tyres and some great overtaking manoeuvres meant Jenson Button was able to once again finish on the podium.  Lewis Hamilton also had some great battles towards the end of the race as he passed the Red Bull’s of Mark Weber (4th) and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel (5th).

The track was littered with rubber and tyre management was essential; and Kimi Raikonnen was made to pay for losing his grip when on the 49th (of 56) lap he dropped back through the ranks, from second to tenth.

F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2012 Result
1 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:36:26.929
2 J Button (McLaren) 1:36:47.555
3 L Hamilton (McLaren) 1:36:52.941
4 Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:36:54.853
5 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1:36:57.412
6 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1:36:58.420
7 Bruno Senna (Williams) 1:37:01.526
8 Pastor Maldonado (Force India) 1:37:02.572
9 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:37:04.185
10 Kamui Kobayashi     (Sauber) 1:37:05.649

Lewis Hamilton’s podium finishes sees him leading the F1 Drivers Championship by three points from Jenson Button and sees Nico Rosberg move up to sixth.

FIA Formula One Drivers’ World Championship
1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 45
2 Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes     43
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 37
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 36
5 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 28
6 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP 25
7 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 22
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus-Renault 16
9 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams-Renault 14
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 9

This was Nico Rosberg’s first F1 victory and coupled with the superiority of the Mercedes car over the whole weekend, it could well be the beginning of a very interesting season as Mercedes go head-to-head with McLaren and the Red Bull Team.

Lewis Hamilton once again started on the grid in first place. But torrential rain stopped the race after just 10 laps.  After the worst of the rain had passed, the race continued with the safety car out and all cars ordered to resume on wet weather tyres.

Alonso soon built a lead of up to 7 seconds from Sauber’s Sergio Perez who had a great race.  Perez gave chase and had a chance to catch Alonso, but towards the end of the race he over ran a corner and settled for second.

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for his second third place finish once again ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber.  Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen was once again in the points with a fifth place finish.
Points were also scored by Bruno Senna (Williams-Renault), Paul Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP).

Both Sebastian Vettel (who finished in 11th place) & Jenson Button 14th) had frustrating races and finished out of the points after separately colliding in minor shunts in the ever-changing and therefore difficult racing conditions.

This was Fernando Alonso 28th Formula One win and leaves him behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell in the all-time F1 race winners list.

F1 Malaysian Grand Prix Result
Sunday, 25 March 2012

1 Fernando Alonso     (Ferrari) 2:44:51.812 25 points
2 Sergio Perez (Sauber) +00:02.263  18 points
3 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +00:14.591 15 points
4 Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +00:17.688 12 points
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) +00:29.456 10 points
6 Bruno Senna (Williams-Renault) +00:37.667 8 points
7 Paul Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +00:44.412 6 points
8 Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +00:46.985 4 points
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) +00:47.892 2 points
10 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP)+00:49.996 1 point
The next F1 race is the Chinese Grand Prix, 13-15 April

FIA F1 2012 Drivers’ World Championship

1 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 35 points
2 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 30 points
3 Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 25
4 Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 24
5 Sergio Perez (Sauber) 22
6 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 18
7 Kimi Raikkonen ( Lotus-Renault) 16
8 Bruno Senna (Williams-Renault) 8
9 Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)    8
10 Paul Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes)     7
11 Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)    4
12 Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)     2
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) 2
14 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP)1

Drivers yet to score…

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP)
Timo Glock (Marussia-Cosworth)
Charles Pic (Marussia-Cosworth)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham-Renault)
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham-Renault)
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth)
Pedro de la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth)
Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault)

The next F1 race is the Chinese Grand Prix on 15 April.

Lewis Hamilton finished in third place behind the current F1 Drivers World Champion Sebastian Vettel.  Red Bull’s Vettel took advantage of the saftey car and on lap 37 took a pit stop while the safety car was out on the track and managed to come out of the pits ahead of Hamilton.

So the F1 2012 season starts as the previous season ended with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber battling it out with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren’s.

Mark Webber finished in fourth place, ahead of the surprisingly quick Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Pastor Maldonado also had a good race until he crashed on the final lap while chasing Alonso.

Sixth place was taken by Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi. While Lotus Team’s Kimi Raikkonen had an impressive return to formula one, after a two year break racing rally cars. Raikkonen started in 17th place on the grid but finished the race in seventh ahead of the second Sauber of Sergio Perez.

Jenson Button told reporters it was great to win the first race of the new season. He said:

“It’s an amazing way to start the season […] we haven’t been so strong at this point in the season before, so all in all a great day. For the last couple of years our first races have been tricky. […] I’d say we’ve been pretty dominant today.”

Button went onto to say:

“We all think this is a very special year in Formula One, having six world champions and so many competitive teams. It’s great to see F1 is in a great place at the moment. I’m very excited heading to [the next race in] Malaysia.”

F1 World Drivers Championship & Australian Grand Prix Result

1 Jenson Button
McLaren-Mercedes 25 points

2 Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull-Renault 18

3 Lewis Hamilton
McLaren-Mercedes 15

4 Mark Webber
Red Bull-Renault 12

5 Fernando Alonso
Ferrari 10

6 Kamui Kobayashi
Sauber 8

7 Kimi Raikkonen
Lotus-Renault 6

8 Sergio Perez
Sauber 4

9 Daniel Ricciardo
Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

10 Paul Di Resta
Force India-Mercedes 1

The next race is the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang on 25 March.

This season will be the longest in F1 history with no less than 20 grand prix races, ending with the Brazil Grand Prix in November.  Also, there are more world champions on the grid than in any other F1 season including Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, the current world champion Sebastian Vettel, and the return to Formula One of Kimi Raikkonen who joins the Lotus Team.

Other news includes the Virgin Team name being dropped for Marussia - a Russian supercar manufacturer.

Sebastian Vettel is favourite to make it three world championships in a row, while Red Bull are favourites to pick up the Constructors World Championship.  I am keen to see how Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen get on; and believe Lewis Hamilton will be Vettel’s main challenger.

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Team-mate Jenson Button will start on poll position for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix followed by Lotus Team’s Romain Grosjean and Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher.  Red Bull’s Mark Weber and Sebatian Vettel have to make do with 5th & 6th respectively.

F1 2012 Season Teams & Drivers

Red Bull-Renault
1 Sebastian Vettel
2 Mark Webber

McLaren-Mercedes
3 Jenson Button
4 Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso
6 Felipe Massa

Mercedes GP
7 Michael Schumacher
8 Nico Rosberg

Lotus
9 Kimi Raikkonen
10 Romain Grosjean

Force India-Mercedes
11 Paul Di Resta
12 Nico Hulkenberg

Sauber
13 Kamui Kobayashi
14 Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso-Ferrari
15 Daniel Ricciardo
16 Jean-Eric Vergne

Williams-Renault
17 Pastor Maldonado
18 Bruno Senna

Caterham
19 Heikki Kovalainen
20 Vitaly Petrov

HRT-Cosworth
21 Pedro de la Rosa
22 Narain Karthikeyan

Marussia-Cosworth
23 Timo Glock
24 Charles Pic

F1 2012 Season 20 Grand Prix Races

Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne, 16-18 March

Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, 23-25 March

Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, 13-15 April

Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir, 20-22 April

Spanish Grand Prix
Montmelo, 11-13 May

Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 25-27 May

Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, 8-10 June

European Grand Prix
Valencia, 22-24 June

British Grand Prix
Silverstone, 6-8 July

German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, 20-22 July

Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungaroring, 27-29 July

Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, 31 August – 2 September

Italian Grand Prix
Monza, 7-9 September

Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore, 21-23 September

Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 5-7 October

Korean Grand Prix
Yeongam, 12-14 October

Indian Grand Prix
New Delhi, 26-28 October

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 2-4 November

United States Grand Prix
Austin, 16-18 November

Brazilian Grand Prix
Interlagos, 23-25 November

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner and Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey will compete as part of a Red Bull Racing senior management team along with Red Bull Racing employees and Formula One fans who have been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run with these F1 experts. The dedicated runners will be put through their paces at this sell-out event, each hoping to make it round three laps of the track.

In the build-up to the 13-mile challenge, the fundraisers will train with James De Montfort, Red Bull Racing’s Head Fitness Trainer, and will also be given a money-can’t-buy tour of the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes.

Wings for Life is Red Bull Racing’s official charity, with logos featured on both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s team kit and Formula One cars. Vettel, Webber and former British Formula One driver David Coulthard are all ambassadors of the charity. Wings for Life was established in 2004 and is committed to finding a cure for spinal cord injury. The charity organises a range of fundraising events for supporters in the UK and Silverstone Half Marathon will kick off their 2012 fundraising calendar.

Christian Horner, Team Manager of Red Bull Racing commented:
Red Bull Racing is proud to be supporting Wings for Life at the Silverstone Half Marathon. They are an inspiring charity doing great work for spinal cord research. I’m not sure I’m going to be setting any new lap records, but I’m looking forward to the event and to running the track!

Nikki Wilson, Head of Wings for Life UK commented:
The Silverstone Half Marathon is a brilliant event for Wings for Life to kick-start the beginning of a very exciting year of fundraising. We’re extremely grateful for all of the support given by our entrants and Red Bull Racing, whose efforts are integral to another year of great fundraising towards spinal cord injury research.

Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury. The foundation was established in Europe in 2004, and was registered as a charity in the UK at the end of 2010.  The charity was founded in 2004 by Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz and the two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner and ambassadors include Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

To date, some 2.7 million people worldwide are living with a spinal cord injury and there are 130,000 new people affected every year. Spinal cord injury can happen to anyone. Causes include road traffic accidents, awkward falls, sporting injuries and innocent tragedies like diving into the wrong end of a swimming pool. The average age at injury is 33 years and males are four times more likely to be affected than females.

Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button with 2012 McLaren Mercedes Car

Unveiled at the McLaren Technology Centre, the MP4-27 is the car that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes hope will deliver them back to the top of the rostrum in both the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships. The two British drivers and former World Champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton also share their thoughts on the upcoming 2012 F1 season, what drives them and their team in their pursuit for excellence.

In addition, McLaren MD Jonathan Neale also gives a unique insight into the development of the MP4-27 and how it differs from last season’s car.

Despite rumours, both British drivers have opted to stay with the McLaren Team and race together in the forthcoming 2012 F1 season.

Both have proved their class by winninng the Formula One Drivers Championship in recent years, but it was 2009 title winner Jenson Button who finished with more points, behind eventual champion Sebastian Vettel.

But Lewis Hamilton told the Daily Telegraph he is confident and looking forward to the 2012 F1 seaon as he has addressed personal problems.

“Considering last year, from my own personal feeling, that I wasn’t performing at my best and I was still … when you look at the qualifying positions – what was it, 13-6? – my performances were pretty good,”.

The Formula One 2012 season starts on on 18th March with the Australian Grand Prix.

Vettel got off to a flying start and took the lead on the first lap and went on to win his 10th race this season.

With both the Driver’s and the Constructor’s Championship already won this season Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull still have one record still in their sights.  Vettel has already been likened to fellow countryman Michael Schumacher and if he can win the remaining three races in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil he will equal Schumacher’s record 13 wins in a single season.

Over the past few seasons the FIA have attempted to address criticism aimed at F1 being dull and races becoming predictable with less overtaking and thrills.  But next season it will be up to the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Ferrari to catch the 24 year old Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team.

With four races still remaining Sebastian Vettel’s third place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix behind Jenson Button (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), was enough to clinch his second title.

Mark Webber hasn’t had a bad season but it is his Red Bull team-mate that has a sensational season.  Vettel has won nine of the 15 F1 races so far this year, and managed to start in pole position on no less than 12 pole occasions.  That is an amazing record.

I still believe, given the same car, Lewis Hamilton would have been much closer to Vettel this season.  That said, Jenson Button’s achievements this year have been somewhat overshadowed by Hamilton courting the headlines for all the wrong reasons and Vettel’s sheer brilliance.

2011 F1 Japanese Grand Prix

1  Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:36.568
2   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)  +00:01.160
3   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +00:02.006
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +00:08.071
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +00:24.268
6   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) +00:27.120
7   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +00:28.240
8   Sergio Perez (Sauber) +00:39.377
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +00:42.607
10 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) +00:44.322

F1 Drivers Championship 2011

1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 324
2   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 210
3   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 202
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 194
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 178
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 90
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 63
8   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 60
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 36
10 Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34

Jenson Button came second and is the only driver who can mathematically stop Vettel retaining the 2011 Formula One Drivers’ Championship, though realistically that is not going to happen.

F1 Singapore Grand Prix
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1 1:59:06.757 25
2  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:59:08.494 18
3 Mark Webber  Red Bull-Renault 2 1:59:36.036 15

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance of this year’s F1 season has been phenomenal.  The victory in Singapore was his ninth in 14 races this season.  He is now 124 points clear of second place Jenson Button with a maximum 125 points available with five races remaining. With his inevitable victory to come in the next few weeks, Vettel will be the youngest driver to retain the F1 Drivers’ Championship; and in doing so there is talk of Vettel dominating the sport in much the same way fellow German Michael Schumacher did before him.  And though Jenson Button has had a great season, both Button and Lewis Hamilton are not able to compete on a level playing field all the time the Red Bull cars are out performing their McLaren’s.

FIA Formula 1 2011 Drivers’ World Championship

1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 309
2   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 185
3   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 184
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 182
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 168
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 84
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 62
8   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 52
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 34
10 Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34

The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on 9th October.