The big news from
BMW ahead of round three, however, is that Heidfeld and Kubica will get 100 per cent of the possible track time, with both the team's reserve drivers otherwise engaged -
Sebastian Vettel in the opening round of the World Series by
Renault at Monza and
Timo Glock racing on the same bill as
F1 when the GP2 Series gets underway.
Toyota – Ralf Schumacher (#11), Jarno Trulli (#12):
Toyota again broke into the points positions in Malaysia, this time with
Jarno Trulli, but still remained far from convincing as a force to be reckoned with. The Bahrain Grand Prix has so far provided mixed memories for the Cologne-based team, with Trulli making the podium in 2005, but last year being a race to forget, but general manager Pascal Vasselon insists that the team has to look at the positives provided so far in 2007..
"The Malaysian Grand Prix showed we had progressed since Melbourne, so we must now look to build on that," he said, "Bahrain was the first race of 2006 and our worst race of the year and, because we hadn't tested in warm weather before the start of the season, we didn't discover that we had bigger than expected warming up issues with our new tyres. Our pre-season test at Bahrain this year didn't go too well - which triggered most of the alarms in the outside world about our form - but the main problem was that we had many reliability issues. They were all minor and have since been solved, but it limited our running time and limited our pace. At the following test at
Jerez our reliability was better and so was the pace. In Malaysia we had developments to the suspension and a new floor and engine cover. We will run the same package in Bahrain before a big aero update for the next race at Barcelona. We will hope to return to Europe on the back of another strong performance."
Ralf Schumacher admits to not having had the best of races in Malaysia, and is targeting an improved performance and better finish this weekend, saying it is too early to judge
Toyota's potential.
"We had a mixed time here during the two weeks of testing before the season, but we were able to make some improvements towards the end," he reasoned, "Since then, we have made a strong start to the season, but we clearly have some work to do to catch the top teams. Still, you need to watch a few races before you get a clear picture of the situation."
Despite not being 100 per cent happy with his car at either of the first two rounds, Trulli is counting on the TF107's reliability to get him more points this weekend.
"We have had a solid start to 2007, and a reliable start, so we head to Bahrain looking to improve our fortunes in the kingdom with a good result," he noted, "Bahrain has proved difficult for us in the past and, at this year's pre-season test, we struggled too. So it's never been our track, but there is no particular reason why it should be hard for us."
Red Bull Racing – David Coulthard (#14), Mark Webber (#15):
Mark Webber and David Coulthard both showed improved performance in Malaysia, with the Australian once again making the final phase of qualifying - before settling for tenth - and DC slotting into 13th to sandwich the 'works' Renaults.
Shrugging off a rumoured engine change, the Scot then ran towards the head of the midfield before a reoccurrence of the freak problems that affected his practice time on Friday returned to cause his retirement. Although the already cramped RB3 has been eased, DC found that his pedals were fouling on the steering column leaving him with no option but to park up.
Webber, meanwhile, pressed on, but could not better his tenth place starting position - and had the added frustration of being forced to chase Alex Wurz for a large part of the race - the Austrian piloting the Williams-Toyota that could have been Webber's had he not opted to quit the Grove team...
Williams – Nico Rosberg (#16), Alex Wurz (#17):
Williams was again the surprise package of the Malaysian Grand Prix, with both Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz underlining the turnaround in form being enjoyed by the Grove team since last season.
The Bahrain race comes just a week after another promising demonstration of race pace from both drivers - with Wurz coming from a gearbox-affected 20th on the grid to take ninth place at the flag - but a poor result as Rosberg was forced to retire within sight of more points. The team was one of two, however, not to test at Sakhir in February, leaving it with a little more work to do than its rivals this weekend.
"After an encouraging third row grid position in Malaysia, but a disappointing race result, we are going to Bahrain with the target of getting more points," technical director Sam Michael commented, "Our understanding of the tyres has improved and this is helping us to get more performance out of the FW29. Pit-stop strategy will be interesting, as a variety of strategies were used in last year’s race, but Williams set the fastest lap of the race last year and we aim to continue in that vein."
