Formula One News — March 2006

The Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association met with the commercial rights holders of Formula 1 last night in Bahrain and we hear that the negotiations did not go as smoothly as had been hoped and the meeting broke up without any solution having been found.

Gulf Air has extended its sponsorship for the Bahrain Grand Prix sponsorship until 2010. The company has sponsored the race for the last three years but has now signed a four-year extension to the deal.

Michael Schumacher won pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but he did not set the fastest time in the qualifying session. That honour went to Fernando Alonso who set the fastest lap, two-tenths of a second faster than Michael's best in the second part of the three-part session.

Bahrain GP - Saturday Photos

Bahrain GP - Saturday Press Conference

Bahrain GP - Saturday Team Quotes

Bahrain GP - Qualifying Session Results

It was only in the last few minutes of the third session in Bahrain began to give us a clearer picture of the relative competitiveness of the various teams this year. In the final pre-qualifying dash Jenson Button emerged ahead in his Honda, squeezing out Michael Schumacher by 0.011s.

Bahrain GP - Practice Session 3 Results

Rioters trying to draw attention to domestic issues in Bahrain achieved their goal on Friday night in Bahrain, by targeting an area where many western press were staying for the Grand Prix.

The Autodromo Nazionale at Monza has cancelled a race meeting planned for March 18-19 because of the ongoing dispute over the noise produced by the racing cars.

Riot police in Bahrain last night clashed with demonstrators, who were burning tyres and rubbish bins in the outskirts of Manama. Eleven people were reported injured.

Anthony Davidson set the pace in the second session on Friday in his Honda, four-tenths of a second faster than Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Third fastest was Williams-Cosworth test driver Alexander Wurz but the question everyone was asking after the session was: What does it all mean?

Bahrain GP - Friday Photos

Bahrain GP - Friday Press Conference

Bahrain GP - Friday Team Quotes

There have been questions throughout the winter as to whether or nor the V10-V8 equivalency factor is correct. Scuderia Toro Rosso has benefited from good luck because the decision to build a V10 car was made before the team was sold by Paul Stoddart last year.

Bahrain GP - Practice Session 2 Results

Dieter Gummer, the mayor of Hockenheim has told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that the circuit will not host the German GP in 2008 unless the losses are reversed.

The new Super Aguri SA6 will not be ready for the San Marino Grand Prix. The team has been concentrating its resources on developing the SA5 and that means that inevitably the new car has had to take a back seat in the last few weeks and that means that the new chassis will appear later in the European season.

Robert Kubica topped the timesheets in the first session in Bahrain, although a number of teams did very little running, a precursor for the Friday morning sessions for the rest of the year, with teams staying in the garages to preserve their engines.

Bahrain GP - Practice Session 1 Results

The Bahrain circuit has given information about the attendance at the race in 2005, with a total of 77,257 over three days.

Bahrain GP - Thursday Press Conference